The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1907-07-28
FORUM OF THE PEOPLE
OPEN TO ALL.
TENDENCY is DANGEROUS.

Editor Palladium:
Certain automobilists seem to be
troubled with tendency, rather dan
gerous these warm days, to heated
criticisms of alleged cruel treatment at
the hands of the authorities in Cam
bridge City. A statement of another
side of the case may not be amiss. We
of Cambridge City are not of the num-
Der of those who would deny our roads
to any vehicle that IS run with regard
to the rights of others, but regarding
the matter from the standpoint OF a
woman who finds it necessary to drive
a horse on these roads, some points
seem to have been overlooked.
Our fathers before us paid heavy
taxes to make and maintain these
roads, and we of the present day who
live in the community, pay even heav-
Ter taxes for the purpose of keeping
them in order. That we have the first
right to use them cannot be disputed.
Again, we are peculiarly situated as to
roads in western Wayne county. East
of Cambridge there is no road that par
allels the National road either to the
lance If it had been absolutely nee
essary for any one to drive from Penn
Vile to Cambridge City on July IL
with horse whose capacity for au-
tos was less than 10 per hour, he would
have had to go as far south as Milton
or as far north as Jacksonburg, in the
first case doubling the distance, in the
second trebling it. 1t might be well
for a committee of the Richmond Auto
club to make that tour in imagination
at least, on a hot day in buggy with
a horse equally capable of only a mod
crate rate of speed and all sorts of
gymnastics upon meeting an auto ram
pant. After such healthful and enlight-
ening exercise let the committee fairly
Judge as to whom apologies are due.
In the main, autoists are more con-
siderate. except at night, than former
ly. About two years ago it was nee
essary for my sister and myself to be
driving into town from the east at
noon on hot, dusty day. On the
narrow road west of the bridge be-
tween here and Germantown. we saw
coming down the hill at high rate of |
speed, in a great cloud of dust what
proved to be an interurDan car and an
automobile racing. We were COM
PEELED to drive between them, and ow-
ing entirely to the advanced age and
feebleness of our horse came through |
without accident. And this is not an
isolated incident. as another member
of our family had just such an expert |
ence at almost the same place less than
a year before. In neither case were
we driving for pleasure. Such pieces
of recklessness. even if they do not
cost lives, may entirely ruin valuable
horses for driving. Such things are
not so common now. The mania is
milder and the numbers correspond |
ingly larger But twice during tho last |
week. after it was too dark too see
numbers, our carriage was compelled
to turn entirely off the road by auto
mobiles, in one case where the post of /
q rural mail box might have caused /
trouble. The lights of the auto In
both cases must have shown the car
riage plainly. If the horse had not /
evidently been rendered almost uncon-
scious by the odor of the machine, no /
telling what might have happened.
To such incidents that seem to show
either a dense ignorance of the proper
uses of roads, or entire disregard for
the rights of others, and the laws of
the country on the part of these reclS-
less drivers of autos, is due entirely, |
the feeling against said autos and |
their seemingly temporarily insane
drivers. 1t is necessary for such per-
sons to be taught the right of the mat
ter in some way and the strong arm of
the Law seems SO far to be the most po-
tent agency.
HANNAH B. OvERBECK.