RESUME OF PROCEEDINGS HAD BEFORE THE PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION FOR THE FIRST DISTRICT IN 1907, AND OPINIONS OF COUNSEL AND COMMISSION RENDERED IN SAID PROCEED INGS. Railroad Corporations, Street Railroad Corporations and Common Carriers.- Filing reports of accidents. Filing Order No. 1, issued July 30, 1907, p. 682, 1907 Rep. JURISDICTION OF THE COMMISSION FOR THE FIRST DISTRICT OPINION OF COUNSEL. I am in receipt of your letter bearing date August 3, transmitting a communication from Ralph Peters, president and general manager, respecting Qrder No. 1, covering the New York and Rockaway Beach Railway Company, the New York, Brooklyn and Manhattan Beach Railway Company, and the Glendale and East River Railroad Company, in which you note that it seems significant that Mr. Peters has not included the Long Island Railroad in the list of companies for You ask me to suggest a proper answer which he has given written acceptance. in this matter. I would suggest that you write to Mr. Peters, that inasmuch as by the provisions of the Public Service Commissions Law, the Public Service Commision for the First District is given jurisdiction over the Long Island Railroad, in so far as concerns the construction, maintenance, equipments, terminal facilities, local transportation facilities and local transportation of persons or property within the First District, and is directed to investigate the cause of all accidents and to require railroad corporations to give notice of every accident happening upon any line of railroad operated within the territory over which the Commission has jurisdiction, it will be necessary for the Long Island Railroad to give written acceptance of Order No. 1, and to make to this Commission the report therein required. Dated August 8, 1907. DELAY IN REPORTING ACCIDENTS. [Delays of from 53 minutes to 2 hours and 43 minutes in reporting accidents are in violation of an order requiring that they be reported immediately.] The order covering reports of accidents, among other things, provided: "Every common carrier, railroad corporation and street railroad corporation over which this commission has jurisdiction, is hereby required to give notice to this commission of every accident happening upon any line of railroad or street railroad, owned, operated or leased by it, in the following manner : "First. In case of 1. Accident resulting in death or serious injury to persons; II. Collision resulting in serious damage to cars: "III. Derailment of elevated or subway trains or railroad passenger trains; or " IV. Serious interference with or stoppage of traffic. "Such notice shall be given by telephone immediately after the happening of the accident, or, if the accident happens after 11 o'clock P. M., then at 8 o'clock A. M. of the following day, and such notice shall give the nature and location of the accident or event." The head notes and other matter preceding opinions and reports were not parts of the opinions or reports as made and printed in the minutes of the Commission. They have been added for the convenience of the reader and form no part of the actual decision in any case. There are included with the opinions and reports some of the opinions of counsel, which have been regarded as settling particular questions covered by such opinions. [9] The Secretary offered a memorandum with regard to the records of accidents by the companies upon whom the order of the Commission was served, showing that certain companies made delays in the telephone reports as follows: "The average delay of each company in recording accidents, covering the six days, August 12 to 17, inclusive, from the exact time of the happening of the accident to the telephonic report to this office was as follows: Brooklyn Heights Railroad Company, 1 hour and 12 minutes. Coney Island and Brooklyn Railroad Company, 1 hour and 15 minutes. New York Central and Hudson River Railroad, 1 hour and 53 minutes. New York City Railway Company, 2 hours and 23 minutes. New York and Queens County Railroad Company, 1 hour and 7 minutes. The average delay of all companies reporting was 1 hour and 41 minutes." Thereupon the following resolution, offered by Commissioner Eustis, was adopted August 29, 1907: Resolved, That the Secretary be directed to write to the corporations that have failed to comply with Rule 4 in not reporting accidents immediately, calling their attention to their delay and asking them to explain why they have been so delinquent. ACCIDENTS NOTICE OF- RAILROAD TERMINALS, ETC.- PUBLIC SER- OPINION OF COUNSEL. I am in receipt of your letter bearing date September 3d, inquiring as to whether you should have the order_requesting reports of accidents served on the Pennsylvania Railroad, Delaware, Lackawanna and Western, and railways of that description which have ferry terminals or freight yards in the First District. I have considered a provision of section 86 of the Public Service Commissions Law, to the effect that nothing in the acts contained should be deemed to apply to or operate upon interstate or foreign commerce. I think, nevertheless, that such railroads as you mention are within the jurisdiction of the Commission in respect of their terminal facilities; that they are subject to the provisions of section 47 of the Public Service Commissions Law, and that the order mentioned should be served upon them and that reports pursuant thereto required from them respecting accidents happening within the territory of the First District. Dated, September 6, 1907. Railroad Corporations, Street Railroad Corporations and Common Carriers Filing copies of accounts, records and memoranda Uniform system of accounts. Filing Order No. 2, issued July 8, 1907, p. 683, 1907 Rep. Gas and Electrical Corporations.- Filing copies of accounts, records and memoranda - Uniform system of accounts. Filing Order No. 3, issued July 8, 1907, p. 683, 1907 Rep. Railroad Corporations, Street Railroad Corporations and Common Carriers. Filing copies of accounts, records and memoranda, relating to movements of traffic and schedules and other traffic data. Filing Order No. 4, issued July 8, 1907, p. 683, 1907 Rep. Union Railway Company of New York City.-Dangerous loca- Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company, Interborough Metropolitan Company, Metropolitan Securities Company.- Investigation into general condition. Order No. 6, issued July 18, 1907, p. 684, 1907 Rep. Order No. 12, issued September 29, 1907, p. 689, 1907 Rep. Order No. 17, issued September 29, 1907, p. 690, 1907 Rep. Union Railway Company of New York City and Westchester Electric Railroad Company.-Operation of Williamsbridge cars to the city limits. Complaint Order No. 7, issued July 29, 1907, p. 685, 1907 Rep. Final Order No. 45, issued October 25, 1907, p. 705, 1907 Rep. COMMISSIONER EUSTIS: OPINION OF COMMISSION. "Mr. Chairman, I have another matter to report on a hearing. There was a complaint made some time ago by various people in the upper part of The Bronx against the Union Railway Company in stopping a certain line of cars, the Williamsbridge cars, at Two Hundred and Thirty-third street, while formerly they had continued them to the city line at Two Hundred and Forty-second street. There has been a hearing on that matter, we have taken testimony, and believe that the complaint is well founded, and unjust to the people, and I wish to submit the following report and order: Order No. 45 was thereupon adopted requiring the company to operate its Williamsbridge line of cars to the City line. (Separate final orders were issued after Complaint Order No. 7 and Hearing Order No. 20, viz.: Final Orders Nos. 46 and 62 relating to service on Bedford Park and New Rochelle Express Line and Final Orders Nos. 45 and 63 relating to the operation of Williamsbridge cars to the city limits.) Union Railway Company of New York City and Westchester Complaint Order No. 7, issued July 29, 1907, p. 685, 1907 Rep. Final Order No. 46, issued October 25, 1907, p. 706, 1907 Rep. Final Order No. 62, issued November 1, 1907, p. 717, 1907 Rep. COMMISSIONER EUSTIS: OPINION OF COMMISSION. (Adopted October 25, 1907.) "I have also, Mr. Chairman, another report to make against the same company on the complaint made by the people in the upper part of The Bronx, against the Union Railway Company. They run a certain number of cars between One Hundred and Twenty-eighth street and New Rochelle, on which they charge a separate fare and refuse to take transfers. This also was considered by the Committee of the Whole, and I would, like to make an order, which is as follows: " Order No. 46 was thereupon adopted requiring As to the operation in the First District on Webster avenue, Olin avenue and White Plains road, in the city of New York, of the Bedford Park and New Rochelle express cars, as follows: 1. That the Westchester Electric Railroad Company shall, in the city of New York, issue to its passengers on said cars transfer slips for further transportation in a continuous trip in the said city upon the cars of the Union Railway Company at One Hundred and Ninety-eighth street, Bedford Park, and at the terminus of the Williamsbridge car lines on White Plains road; that said Union Railway Company shall, at said places, accept from the said passengers said transfer slips for such further transportation in said city; that the said Union Railway Company shall, at the said places, issue to its passengers transfer slips for further transportation in a continuous trip in said city upon said Bedford Park and New Rochelle express cars, and that said Westchester Electric Railroad Company shall, at said places, accept on said Bedford Park and New Rochelle express cars from said passengers such Union Railway transfer slips for the said further transportation in said city. All in the same manner and to the same extent as said companies issue to and accept from each other transfer slips at said places in respect of any other car or line of cars and without discrimination against or preference to any. Street Railroad Corporations.- Filing of corporate documents. Filing Order No. 8, issued August 2, 1907, p. 686, 1907 Rep. FILING OF CORPORATE DOCUMENTS. [Railroad companies will not be relieved from the order of the Commission requiring the filing of copies of deeds in their chain of title, although compliance requires the filing of copies of two thousand deeds, but time for compliance will be extended as necessary.] The Commission had adopted an order requiring the various street surface, elevated and subway railroads in the district to file copies of various franchise documents including deeds and other documents in the chain of title. The Long Island Railroad Company asked to be allowed to omit from among the documents to be supplied to the Commission deeds and other documents in the chain of title. COMMISSIONER BASSETT : OPINION OF COMMISSION. On August 19, 1907, the undersigned was appointed a committee of one to investigate the report upon the subject-matter of the letter dated August 14, 1907, from the Long Island Railroad Company, a copy of which is attached. I have taken up the matter personally with Messrs. Keany and Haff of the Long Island Railroad Company. It appears that the deeds to that company within Greater New York would number about two thousand. These are practically all deeds of the fee simple of land. Probably this is a larger number than run to any other corporation in this city, certainly larger than any number in the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens. After hearing their statement, I told them that I did not think the Commission would be willing to make an exception in their case, although we appreciated that it placed an especially large task upon them. The discussion was then limited to determining an order in which various deeds should be pro See footnote, page 9. vided, for instance, deeds of lands now within streets, deeds of easements, etc., but as nearly every deed conveys property now within mapped street lines, even though the street may not be opened, it would seem to make an unnecessary amount of labor to differentiate between the classes of deeds. Most of these deeds will need to be procured from the Queens county clerk's office, which is about four months behind in its work. The Kings county register's office is even more behind. I pointed out that the respective clerks would charge as much for preparing and certifying copies as they would for certifying them alone. This being the case they thought that it would be best to throw the entire task upon the Queens county clerk and the Kings county register, and pay the legal fees. If they do this, it will require considerably more than a month to comply with our order in this regard. It was brought out in the course of the conference that on Atlantic avenue this corporation operates under a lease, and has no deeds. The deeds will be found to run to the Brooklyn and Jamaica Railroad Company, beginning about 1832. The Atlantic Avenue Railroad Company, now under control of the Brooklyn Rapid Transit, and the Nassau Electric Railroad Company, under the same control, have to do with the title along Atlantic avenue, and in the course of time request should be made upon these three companies for information. I therefore report that, in my opinion, the Commission should not comply with the request of the Long Island Railroad Company, but should, from time to time. as it may be found necessary, extend the time for supplying these deeds upon proof being furnished that the order of this Commission is being complied with by them as rapidly as possible. The following resolution was adopted: "Resolved, That the report of Commissioner Bassett be received and the recommendations therein contained be adopted." August 26, 1907. Railroad and Street Railroad Corporations and Common Carriers. -Filing corporate documents. Order No. 8A, issued September 12, 1907, p. 692, 1907 Rep. (Published in 1907 Report as Order No. 22.) Nassau Electric Railroad Company.- Petition for consent to construct an extension. Final Order No. 9, issued August 13, 1907, p. 687, 1907 Rep. New York City Railway Company.- Service on Fourth and Hearing Order No. 10, issued August 29, 1907, p. 688, 1907 Rep. Final Order No. 52, issued October 28, 1907, p. 710, 1907 Rep. [Wages, hours of labor, and conditions of employment of motormen and conductors are under the control of the street railrod companies and may be changed by them so as to attract men to the service. It is not, therefore, any excuse for not rendering adequate service that under present conditions a sufficient number cannot be secured.] • See footnote, page 9. |