Page:Vincent F. Seyfried - The Long Island Rail Road A Comprehensive History - Vol. 2 (1963).pdf/141

 Collapse of the Poppenhusen System ings for railroad purposes, and also the right to use the rolling stock of each company on any of the tracks.

The union of the three roads was achieved not entirely without opposition. In February a stockholder's suit was commenced against President Havemeyer to restrain him from selling Long Island R.R. stock to the Poppenhusens on the ground that it would transfer the leadership of the road to the inexperienced hands of the Poppenhusens. The court found that "it is by no means clear that the transfer of control … to persons interested in other roads would be injurious to the stockholders." In June a second suit was filed to prevent the leasing of the other roads to the Long Island R.R. on the ground that it would lead to the bankruptcy of the parent company, but this suit also failed.

The union of all the roads met with apprehension in some quarters and approval in others. Some wits suggested that the Germanization of the entire system by the Poppenhusens was just a matter of time, with Germanized names of the communities in Gothic script, and German-speaking conductors conducting all train business. Other newspaper editors approved the change and placed the highest confidence in the Poppenhusens. In mid-April the new master and his officials made a triumphal tour of the road in a special train, consisting of one engine and a dazzlingly splendid palace car, reputed to have cost $11,000. The tour was completed from Greenport to Hunter's Point, a distance of 94 miles, in one hour and forty-nine minutes, an average of 52 MPH.

The Poppenhusens lost no time in making changes on the railroads. The first and most critical reform was the raising of the ruinously low tariffs prevailing in the Flushing area. The newspapers gloomily anticipated this move, and grudgingly admitted that the fares were too low; they warned, however, that Poppenhusen should not succumb to the temptation of raising rates to a point that would injure the community and ultimately the railroad itself, and pointed out that the state set a maximum of 2¢ per mile on passenger fares.

A few commuters, sensing the change to come, rushed to the ticket offices and bought $20 worth of package tickets on the White Line. Most, however, were caught by surprise. Very quietly, on the morning of February 1, the new rates went into effect. To everyone's relief the new tariff proved to be the old