DECISIONS OF COMMISSIONERS. No. 1867-1898. COMPLAINT AGAINST F. M. HUBBELL, DES MOINES UNION RAILWAY COM- COMPANY. To provide better depot accommodations and facilities at the city of Des Moines, Iowa. The attention of the board of railroad commissioners had been called upon several occasions, prior to the date of the notice hereinafter mentioned, to the unsafe and unsanitary condition of the building then in use by the above named railway companies as a depot at the city of Des Moines. The board had at that time, however, what it deemed reliable information that the owner of the property used as such depot was about to construct a suitable building, and relying upon that information, the board deferred taking immediate action in the premises. After waiting what it deemed a reasonable time, and being satisfied that no immediate steps were being taken to provide a suitable station or depot, the board caused to be served upon the different railway companies using the same, and the owner of said building, a notice in writing on the 11th day of March, 1897, which notice is as follows: "You, and each of you, are hereby notified that the building now used and occupied by you as a railway passenger depot, or station, situated in block 15 of the Town of Fort Des Moines, now included in and made a part of the city of Des Moines, Iowa, is unsafe and unfit for use as a railway passenger depot or station; that the building is weak, defective, and dangerous to both life and property; that it is a menace to the health and safety of the traveling public and employes of the different lines of railway using the same for passenger depot or station purposes; that you are hereby required and ordered, without unnecessary delay, and on or before May 1, 1897, to provide a safe, suitable and convenient passenger depot and station facilities at some reasonable, proper and convenient point on the west side of the Des Moines river, within said city of Des Moines, for the use and convenience of the traveling public and the employes required in and about said station, easily accessible to the traveling public having business at said depot and station; and that unless the request or order herein is obeyed and fully complied with as aforesaid, the board of railroad commissioners of the state of Iowa will invoke the aid of the courts to enforce the order herein." In behalf of the Wabash Railroad company, Mr. Ramsey, Jr., vice-president and general manager, by letter under date of March 14th, 1897, answered in substance that as the Wabash company, being simply a tenant of the Des Moines Union railway and therefore having nothing to do with the erection of a new station at Des Moines, he had sent the notice to Mr. F. M. Hubbell, president of the Des Moines Union Railway company. Upon receipt of this letter by the commission it at once replied in substance that the order of the board referred to therein asks that company to provide suitable depot facilities for the traveling public using that line of railway at Des Moines, and that the construction which Mr. Ramsey placed upon the notice was not the one intended by the board; that no requirements were made in said notice for the erection of a new station building, but only that his company provide suitable and convenient depot facilities; that the fact that the Wabash company may have a lease of the building then used by it for station purposes would not excuse it or justify the board in permitting the railway company to use such building in the condition it was then in; that it was deemed by the board as unsafe, unwholesome and unfit for use as a railway station. In closing, the commission stated that it "trusts it is plain to you that you are required to furnish station facilities required in that notice independent of any action that your landlord may take in regard to the building now used by you, unless he should erect or provide a suitable building as required in said order. This letter is not in any manner intended as a modification or in any other way a change of the order referred to by you in your letter of March 11th to this board." Under date of March 16, 1897, Mr. F. C. Hubbell, president, answered in behalf of himself and the Des Moines Union Railway company and the Des Moines, Northern & Western Railway company, stating in substance that he was then negotiating with the city council at Des Moines, with a view of building a union passenger station on the site at present occupied by the old depot, and further stating that the negotiation would not be a long one, as the proposition was not new and the council would either pass or reject the necessary ordinance without delay, in which event they would at once prepare plans and build a new passenger station sufficient for the needs of the roads using their property, and which would be free from the objections which were made against the present depot. Mr. Hubbell stated further that his architect believed there was nothing unsafe in the present passenger station and that while it was a very old and uninviting building, it was nothing worse, and in closing he stated: "I wish to call your attention to the date fixed in your notice for the building of the new station, i. e., May 1, 1897. The time fixed is altogether too short to construct even a small station, such as we would build in any event, and of course it is too short to construct a union station. Inasmuch as there is no question raised by our company as to the sufficiency of our facilities and we state we are ready and willing to build a new station, are we cot entitled to sufficient time to construct a proper building, providing we commence at once in good faith?” Upon several different occasions and subsequent to the foregoing correspondence, the board had personal interviews with Mr. Hubbell respecting the duty of the different lines of railway using the station in question, to provide suitable station facilities; that upon each and all of such conferences it was stated on behalf of Mr. Hubbell that they were using all possible efforts to obtain from the city council of Des Moines, certain concessions expressed in the form of an ordinance, granting to Mr. Jubbell the right to build upon or use a part of certain of the streets and alleys of said city; that on the 18th day of September, 1897, the board not being satisfied with the progress made in carrying out the request of the board, addressed a letter to Mr. Hubbell, in substance, as follows: "This board, under date of March 16, 1897, received a communication addressed to this board from you, and which communication contains the following statement, among others: 'Referring to your notice, dated March 11, 1897, ordering us to construct a new passenger station at Des Moines on or before the first day of May, 1897, beg to advise we are now negotiating with the city council at Des Moines with view of building a union passenger station on the site at present occupied by our old depot. This negotiation will not be a long one, as the proposition is not new, and the council will either pass the necessary ordinance or it will be rejected without delay; in which event we will at once prepare plans and build a new passenger station sufficient for the needs of the roads using our property, and which will be free from the objections which you raise against our present depot.'" And in closing Mr. Hubbell was requested to at once, without further delay, inform the board what progress he had made toward procuring a suitable depot for passengers having occasion to take passage from Des Moines over and upon the different lines of railway using the station referred to in his communication of March 16, 1897. Thereafter several appointments were made with Mr. Hubbell, and the answers were made that Mr. Hubbell, on account of other pressing business engagements, was unable to meet with the board. However, under date of September 24, 1897, Mr. Hubbell answered the letter of September 18th sent him by the board, which is in substance as follows: “Yours of the 18th, respecting the new union station at Des Moines, laid on my desk unanswered owing to my anticipation of a meeting of the board of directors of our company. This, however, has been delayed from day to day owing to Mr. Ramsey being a very busy man and unable to meet with us as anticipated. "I can say, however, in a preliminary way, that we have had general plans of a passenger station completed, including a plan of our tracks at the union station, so that all general dimensions of the station are settled. We are arranging our tracks to accommodate our new station, which required the shifting of every track in our yard from West Seventh street to First street, and also required us to build trestle approaches at the Des Moines river bridge to connect our tracks at the east end and thus remove this very annoying and dangerous feature from our passenger station grounds. The tracks which we have had to move are the busiest which we have, and we have worked faithfully all summer with as large force of men as practicable upon the work. While we have not perfected the working drawings for our depot, or broken the ground for foundations, we have in our estimation made very satisfactory progress toward our new structure, which we anticipate will be a very satisfactory building to the commissioners and also to the traveling public. "If this letter does not fully answer your inquiries, I will be pleased, if so desired, to appear before the commissioners at any time you will telephone me, and I can explain the whole case at greater length." Upon the receipt of the foregoing communication, the commissioners requested Mr. Hubbell to meet them at their office to explain more fully the details of the work done and what could reasonably be expected on the part of Mr. Hubbell, as the board, under no circumstances, would permit any unnecessary delay. Thereupon the following statement was submitted by Mr. Hubbell, showing the amount of labor, material and money expended preparatory to the construction of the station, the substance of which is as follows: |