Waterbury evening Democrat., 1888-03-23
IN A BIG CITY.
a BRIEF CHAT ON THE ETHICS
 OF STREET TRAVEL.

in Getting About the DIetropolis-The
 Street-IIa. chways.
 ''It always does me good to do that" said friend to a report ter, as he trod heavily on the heel of man who had rudely crowded past and placed himself squarely in front of the two pedestrians The offender turned around in fury, but becoming conscious either of the unequal match of his being in the wrong, he transferred the "insult" from his heel to his pocket and walked of.
 'These big fellows seem to think that they own the town,' continued the triumphant social reformer. "They elbow their way without regard for others. If they are be- hind you in dense crowd they press you closely, and they never seem to like 1t when you turn your side tt, them, put your hand on your hip and give them the point of your elbow to impale themselves on. In street car they will back up to a six inch interval between two passengers and settle into it, leav- ing their cighbors to choose between stand ing the crush or making room to the right and left The fact is, there is great deal of ignorance as to how to get about ill a big city like New York, with convenience to ones self and deference to the rights of others. Clowns liko this fellow do not mean to annoy any one-only to make their own way. But there is widespread ignorance as to what Is polite and proper, what tactful good sense requires, what is safe or danger ous, il using the crowded streets and public pla ;es, and it ought to be a part of a common school education to give a little instruction and lay down few general principles that ought to be- but are not, universally accepted.
 DIFFERENCE TO LADIES.
 ttNfar i6ooc to what difference they should pay to ladies ill public places. It is we'll understood that in the elevator of Q hotel man should conduct himself as he would in any other rocm-the parlOr, for instance-of the hotel, and should rise and stand uncovered when lady enters the elevator. But Ill the elevator of down. town building the conditions are changed. That is a public conveyance not an apart ment, and in it a man may do exactly he would in street car The rights and privi- leges of pedestrians are very well defined, if people only knew it. That lubber whose heel 1 just scrunched had perfect right to pass me, but he was bound to keep ahead I can't stop walking just because he chooses to get in front of me. 1 used to do SO, as most people do; one instinctively draws up rather than stCD ol another; but ] have cOnscienJiously trained myself out of that habit, and now rather step out than step short.
 ''Fery few people know how to 1pk out for themselves about the city, and most of them plunge into inconvenience and even danger which a1ittle headwork would avoid. N,Aety-nine men ill 100 will hurry forward to catch swinging door before it closes be- hind some one who has just passed through, and run the risk of broken wrist in receiv- ing it's full weight. They don't seem to think that if they let it swing freely toward them it will immediately swing back again, when they may pass through almost without touch ing their hands to it. But the best way is to disregard entirely the door that another has just passed through--use the other, and let the first one swing off its hinges if i, will.
 CROSSING THE STREET.
 "A New Y York American has no need to be in hurry in order to take tremendous risks ill crossing the street. He never will learn that there is more room behind moving hiclc than in front of it, and dashes over ap- parcntly for the mere satisfaction of accom- pl;sl1nr a feat Tho New York drivers are not quite SO reckless as tho Paris cabbics who are said to run q man down whenever they can, but even in New York pedestrian has few rights a driver feels bound to re- spect, and the best way to deal with tho case is to give the tIucknlan the right of way. Occasionally an imperouS old gentleman ad- vances boldly into HidStreet and holds up his cane to stop the approaching express wagon. It may work and it may not; but 1 to be sure of it one needs to be q police man armed with the rattan of official , authority. How many men have narrowly escaped braining by bales and boxes dropped l from a hatchway hoist. And how many, even of those who understand the danger, secure their peace of mind by adopting the only infallible rulo of safety, never to pass 1 ct ic o1y f0 (rN around the hatchway, and I never fail to do that.
 ''If people arc foolish and untaught about the avoidance of danger, how much more so are they regarding the avoidance of incon- venience? Never a train stops on the ele- vated road or the Bridge but there is process sion of geese, eager to alight, standing ill the aislo of the cars, ready to be pitched, first headlong and then backward, yanked to and fro, clutching wildly at the door frames and at their neighbors, as the engineer applies the jerky air brakes. I usually get off the car ahead of most of them, although I remain seated until the train comes to a full stop, for sit near the door, and when get up l rise ill my place in the very van of tho procession. A little hcatlworl1 saves great deal of leg work "-New York Tribune.
 The Cheery Wet Weather Daisy.
 Athletics are not left to men. Women and girls go in for them, at least in their own
 mild way. and they arc as enthusiastic as the most successful college oarsmen. What do they do? Well they ride and they fence
 and do the trapeze act in boomers and short
 jackets; they walk, and they go in for dumf
 bells and Indian clubs, and indulge in a va
 rioty of other feats that give muscle ane
 abundant breath No weather has terror for them any more, and if you wish to see
 procession of Philadelphia beauties, bigger
 and brighter than you will ever behold it a
 any other time, you must take Q walk in tn
 fashionable quarter on a wet day.
 There you will see them, ones, twos ane thrccs, in groups and detachments, swing
 ing nc1rily along in their rubber coats an' dainty. galoshes, their cheeks aglow, thei
 eyes shining, and their breath kissing
 tho moist air. They are all bound-well, n
 where in particular. But they must be ou in tho wet. It is the new caprice. It ind
 cates that they arc up to the days; days i
 which the Philadelphia girl, who know
 what is the latest, insists on being healthy, O , daring tho perils of all weather, on ignorin , horse cars, and saving the pennies whic erstwhile went to make the ''horse car' fan ' | flies of the Quaker city so rich and powerful