, 1876-08-27
SIGNS.
4 Talk with Corporation counsel
Anthony on Street 0bstructlons.
Necessity for Revising the Ordinances
on the Subject.


crs Of signs should be limited and brought un-
der proper control, both for the sake OF preserV-
ing the beauty Of the streets, and OF preventing
the danger Of any Of these multitudinous signs
taking sudden tumble some day and LANDING
upon the person of some unofEending individual
who happens to be pursuing tile even tenor u
his way. In these days, when aoVertls'nS I'D.
almost been reduced to one OF the cSae.
sciences, The sign man has had IN unl'.nteo
field in viii i to display his originality III % ~
ycntiop, an,. among the most won terful pto!-
ucts Of his teeu1ing brain is thc MEs E, o 4Ent
1t is one Of the most conspicuous, anu III sua'
sense successful, signs ever known, La15e 49, the
bers have been made and suspended aefooa .ns
streets, and the inventor and mahu!atsuhl.tt thet
have made money, in spite OF tne aue1 .,u AMI
many people consider tho signs u1lsalc Tt'a TIa
raised Their voices in opposition thereto I. !ns
following is a specimen Of the letters WHILE "'e
received at this office OH the suojest'
Chicago Au.,, .4.-Whose business Is II 70 Gu
force the ordnance which prohibits the erection o.
any sign that projects moFs tnap aheet Of such IN
dnance is to prevent the multiplication u au'c 81
tisng contriyanccs to such an extent ~ "ouiu ~
struct the sight and impair ,at tae would
also forbid the suspension across our staeGts ~.
those upcn work signs which are mnilluf!hs !s
SO N The soata Tee and as bid mir to Be-
cnmc nubiic nuisance. Should the existing ordi-
nance not cover the case, let the touncll pass
Sims. Il il policy to do it now while tie custom
is in its infancy And little money compatailsey n
been invested by business men IN thcse ao' t477
The same ordinance might also prohtblt the
fastening OF sign boards to tres ond Telegram
poes and the passing and Iepassins on nint5 1usies5
streets Of huge advertising bcllWagons tca4cnlteu
to frichtcn teams}, and al~o professions OF @ nasn
and 6oys carrying elevated sign boards. bnt,
aside from the obstruction of vlew+ taeRe 'anded IS
mcnt Of danger connected with t1c e. suspelsIi1o in
wire sign .nuisunce. The 1ust,ng Of tue wires n
cessantly swayed by the wind may cause tne :asn'
to fall Ut any time upon the heads OF tni;r
Frightening horses with feet entansiea a. IN tne!i
meshes), and doing serious mischief. Ine a!no5 9o
ance which these wire signs would Cause - Jug
Fire Department alone in tine o. nm oir ;mme
diate removal.
THE EXISTING ORDINANCES
on this subject were undoubtedly meant ~ G tll5
wise and good men who introduced them anu
Voted for them and made them laws to cover
every kind Of sign under the sun, past, present,
and to come. IN this they were, like great
many wise men, wholly mistaken. lhe lhse-
nuity Of the wire-sgn tiend has trlumpneu orel
the foresight Of the Lawmakers, and To-Day lne
wire sfrn swings across the streets, and no man
is able to put his finger on an ordinance Whlch
in so many words, prohibits its right TO DC ,,, anu
~ swing lust rs much us it may choose. Inc
oriinancss on this subject mean just about THIS
much: .,,-,;,,or-
nosts. and hitching- posts, shall be erected Oh
any sidewalk. T.. tuo,,+ ~
stores or shops, on or above the sidewalk, or m
an 4hsy iS 70 t6et they o shall not
extend more than feet above the top o. the
sidewalk: and that, where they are hung out,
the lowest part shall be at least ~ hct above
the top of the sidewalk, aud shall mol SWING
moro than feet from the building
THE WIRE SIGN
escanes MI these provisions-that Is, the wire
sisn which hangs in mid-ar, suspended across across
tie street. The only part OF the proy,,s.. p,.
ions which even at first isn - tie nfer later
assa polsoa to al sPp'{h The Is above law But even
kcre the sign-,nan's Satanic ingenuity rose su-
perior to ali restrictions. and, instead or hang
| ing his sign out Window, or hanging It II any
va ray as fhe trc, .ncc specifies. he simply
stretched it across r.le street, fastening the
rope or wire, to tho roofs OF houses and stores,
| and keeping his swinging advertisement con-
| sdcrably mbre than ~ feet above the side.
walk. As to the provision that 1t shall not
| swing more than 8 feet from the building, tue
| sigu-1nan would undoubtedly escape that by
refreating behind the statement that his sign
| was not hung out Of anywhere, but that ne
simply stretched it across the Etrect. Inc
fertility of resources which this industrious in
diyidual possesses has frequently enabled him
! to crawl out Of much smaller holes than that.
| The small wire signs which are suspended on
iron rods in front OF buildings come within the
hanging them complies with those provisions
as rule. They are the requisite distance from
the sidewalk, aud do not swing more than 3teet
| from the building.
which objections are taken. Besides them, anti
the signs on trees and tccgraph-poles, the sign
wagons, and the boys carrying signs OF every
| description, the eye can take in, as person
walks along any one Of the principal Streets
/ SEVERAL ABUSES
of the s5rn ordinance. The theatre managers
have. with scarcely an exception, boxed up the
| lomp-posts in front Of their theatres, and thus
made the combination serve two different pur-
poses-a lamp-post and an advertisement. what
nice ,ngehuityl To build sign-post on the
| sidewalk at the edge Of the curb, or anywhere
except within feet OF the building, would be i'll
onnosition to the ordinance. The theatre man
| IS determined to utilize every available object,
to gst out o. tue % sarv ne e
thipg, turns his lamp-post into one. Were the
theatres alone to continue to thus utilize space
the abuse would not perhaps. ever grow to
be one Of any great mag nltudc, bnt Ill
example Of the manager is contagious, and in
short time the Stranger may walk along the
streets and see nearly every 1amp-post convert
ed into standing advertisement for somebody
or something. Indeed, the oyster-ouscs, the
| restaurants, and the dollar-storcs, lave given
up the pretcnse Of boxing In la'np-posts and
spreading their advertisements on the incloslng
framework, ard, instead, have planted iron, or
wooden, posts near the curb and mounted them
with illuminated glass signs. But for all that
is known to tie contrary, they might claim that
these were lanp-posts, Or, if not, certainly Us
GOOD rs lamp.posts. AS long as Mr., Billings
furnishes the tlty with the kind OF gas lie now
supplies, then is little doubt but that they
arc much better than the regulation lamp-post.
The railroad-icket scalpers have cyinced
fonGness for bo1ing up teegraph-poles and the
like, and advertising themselves on tile sign
boards thus prmcd. Sometimes they don't
wait till they cme to telegraph-po1e, but rear
their sign near the curb, setting two boards so
Us the for1n triangle, and decorating their
faces with the latest scalpers' rates to nearly
every city in tie country. a sign man on Ma-
SOU Street, nca Fifth avenue, has planted q
poe adorned vith elaborate specimens OF lis
art, right on tie edge Of the sidewalk.
| 4 TRIBUNE epOrtcr saw
! OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES ANTHONY
| Yesterday, aniaskcl him about this sign busl-
.sTherc usedto be law" said Mr.. Anthony,
"asainst hanging signs, but find no
record OF ary such law on the statute
hooks Of tic city. For some reason
or other, it scens to have been dropped aud lost
sight OF in the :evision: There should he such
law, remember, when was City Attorney,
I A. 1.1&,r rrSt@Fr fFf%C Hr7 irHC