TRAMWAY BUNGLES.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 5733, 31 October 1905, Page 7

TRAMWAY BUNGLES.

(To tho Editor “N.Z. Times.”) Sir,—ln your leaderette of Thursday’s issue, referring to tho needless!}* sharp curves in our tramwav system, you state very pertinently, “Why an intelligent Mayor and Council should have lent themselves to the Aitken street route is past understanding.” In another place, yon state. “The route within the city was loft to an utter stranger to determine, with the result that, though it was I obvious at the time, many expensive mistakes were made.” Perhaps it. will surprise you, sir, as well as most of yoiir readers, when I inform you that this person was left to draw up the table of fares under which the trams have since been running. That "utter strangor” drew up his time-table in a way that had little care for the long-snfforing public. Let me give just two examples. Prom Newtown Park to the corner of Vivian and Cuba street—a distance of about two miles—tho faro was fixed at one penny. Prom the corner ot Tinakori road - and Molesworth street to the Government Buildings—a distance of a quarter of a mile or less—the fee was twopence, with the result that hundreds of Civil servants walk to and from their work and homes in tho morning and evening, and at one o’clock to the midday meal. If the fee had been fixed at a penny tho majority would havo been contributing their quota of "browns” to the city treasury. .The gentleman who was then traffic manager had entered the tramway service as a youth in the days of the late Dr Grace and Mr Greenfield; had served under Mr Hall during tho term of his nine years’ lease of the horse-trams, and been’ bis first lieutenant; and on air Hall’s retirement from the management of the trams had received that promotion to which ho was so justly entitled. You would naturally think that tho City Council would have asked that gentleman to draw up a (able of fares and a time-table for tho city in which he had grown up, and whose every alley and by-way and main street ho knew so well. I believe -ho was so requested, but I am credibly informed for aa an old Councillor I naturally made some inquiry in the matter that his time - table and table of fares got relegated to some pigeon-hole, out of whose dusty recesses it may one day be dug. And may I commend the diggingont process to’ hie Worship tho Mayor, who is exorcising such wise supervision over our civic affairs. Whenever an alteration in fares or time-table was asked for by Councillors or ratepayers, the answer invariably was, "Oh, wait till the trams have been running a year.” Well, they havo now been running a year, and qur present able electrical engineer has discovered some of the weak curves. Is it not time that some of tho business men in the Council —such as Councillors Gibbs, Biss, and itorrah—should investigate the "curves" in the table of farce, with the view of straightening them up, and thereby augmenting the receipts by a considerable amount. And is it not time to investigate the tomfoolery of applying the same ■nme-tablo to tho busy portions of the day and tho hours When so few passengers have a need to travel? Wo cried out in onr wrath for some new transfusion of blood in the veins of our civic government. But what has that new blood to show? Has it'become as inert as the mass into which it has gravitated ? —I am, etc., OLD COUNCILLOR. October 26th.