Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-04-27
Municipal Annoyances.
To the Editor of The Evening Star:

10 the EuitOr OF The Evening Star:
AS a resident of the District am much
pleased at the action Of the Commissioners
in adopting a regulation for the identifl-
cation OF automobiles. and it is equally
gratifying to see that such Of the owners
of these vehicles as desire and intend to
respect the rights and safety of citizens
approve the regulation. The objection Of
a few, that to require them to have
number would brand them as criminals Is
simply ridiculous. If that brands them as
criminals. then the regulation which re-
quires all who take out licenses, the milk
dealers, hacks, ETC.. brands them as well,
and yet who ever so thought or pretended?
1t is a great pity that the same regulation
was not applied to bicycles, as was pro-
posed years ago, and as Is done in most, IL
not all. European cities. Only a few days
ago The Star stated that an eight-year-old
boy was knocked down by a colored BIZ
bicycliat. had his arm broken and several
teeth knocked out, and the negro made
his escape on his wheel. Some such out
rage occurs every few days. and 1t is sell
dom, II ever, that any one Is punished,
simply because there is no means Of tden-
tifying the reckless riders, of whom there
are many In the District.
There 10 probably no city In the country
where there Is such an utter disregard of
the well-settled law which gives to pedes-
TRANS the right OF way as in the national
capital Only day since was nearly
run GOWN Dy the young Qr1Ver OF q delivery
wagon, who deliberately drew his horse
close to the curb where I was crossing the
street. and who then impudently yelled at
me to get out of the way" when he had
things happen every day, and many times
in day, generally by the negro and the
younger white drivers. If the police would
give more attention to this matter and ar
rest such drivers, and the Police Court
would punish them as they ought to be,
the practice would soon be broken up
Another matter that requires attention
at the hands of the authorities Is the de-
and street gamins. All over the city the
walls of buildings, the porches, ratings
etc. are being constantly defaced by mark
ing them with chalk. scratching them with
nails and the like; and in many instances
by breaking off the pickets. It is extremely
aggfavating to citizens who spend money
to make nice improvements. and then have
them defaced and disfgured, and not un-
frequently seriously injured by such prac-
tees. They can be stopped IL the authori-
ties will go about 1t in earnest. Probably
the most effective means would be to I'M
pose fine and give one-half to the In
by the five thousand or more of the chill
dren who do not attend school and
instead loaf about the streets. If they
were arrested and their parents made to
pay fine, or be imprisoned, they would
soon break them of the habit. Much might
also be done in the schools by a few words
from the teachers occasionally, impressing
on the minds OF the pupils the wrongful
ness of these and similar practices and
still more by the parents IL they would give
such matters attention.
These may appear to some as too trivial
matters to receive attention. but they all
help to give to the city its good or bad ap-
pearance, to say nothing of the annoyance
to respectable citizens who seek to make
the national capital what 1t ought to be-
the finest city In the land.
OBSERVER