The Washington herald., 1908-08-03
AUTOMOBILE NUISANCES.

[ Editor The wssainS-oa Herald.
! Automobile NUIsances.~ one OF your
/ editorials OF July 3. 1915. is timely. That
/ the automobile Is a sacred subject. which
I even editors dare not touch. has long
/ been my information. impeuing my be
/ lief IN its truth IN the sign OF its absence
Z from editorial columns. save in your be
ginning. Better late than never" Is
an old saying. and The Washington
Herald Is the first 70 invade the sacred
precincts OF automobile nuisances. We
give praise to your high courage Courage p
Courage is an act born or the thought Of
consequences. Was Il not b-avery-an
act born without thought. a hea6lonE
pitch into the Jaws Of death without con
sideration OF harn7 Anyway. We thank
you again. and beg you TO repeat It
daily. Il IS necessary. Il IS beneficial
1t reaches automobile offenders and law
officers. and points out TO each that there
Is wrong awaiting a remedy. and that
the remedy IS IN their hands There IS
no power for good equal to a well direct
ed press. II the name OF We. I have
thanked you. but here is my own reason:
I have barely escaped death. OF MAIN
ing, many times IN this present year OF
1905. and many more times in 1907. not
to say anything OF other years. and II
some OF the kind OF automobiles YOU de-
CRY were excluded from the streets. a.
you recommend. my chances to live would
be brighter. and the enjoyment OF living
a little more serene So, indeed. would
be the life Of all.
The fate OF my friend Elmer r Rev
nolds has many times nearly been nv
own Just as Mr.. Reynolds. while alight-
Ing from a street car a few months axo.
was run over and killed BY a rushing
automobile on our public streets. so I
have many times barely missed death or
mutilatiOn al the corner Of Fourteenth
and Clifton streets northwest. There I
leave the street car daily between 3 and /
$50 O'Clock in the afternoon. Il IS a.
ways with fear and trembling; with ny
heart in my mouth and my life in nv 1
hand
7 am not a tendsrfoot. A farmers boy.
rugged in a thousand and one kinds Of 1
exercise-in pastime. bareback colt break
ing-in with many a head bump and BODY
jolt, bringing aashlight and stars in
Kaleidoscope splendOr; IN uischievous
boyish glee leaping astride Of great big \
steers broad bare backs. the hardest OF /,
all to sit in their rolling. wobblinE runs: Z
n racing horse over hill and meadow [
-aking fence and stream. hedge and ditch
IN moonlight as in day. IN summers sun
md winters FROST OfJenumes in nights
mad race over rough roads. gully crossed \
and fUrrowed. leaving safety to flying
steed unseen but seeing, in the pitchy
seemingly enjoying the pine
)rush, swishing or cap OF scratching out
yes IN leading the pace, or tearing on ,
egs in passing rival
In travelling over twenty States IN thou ,
ands OF miles by rail. river. and road. !
many hundreds a month by buggy over ,
mountain and plain, hill and valley. in
ummer and winter. in storm and calm. .
n sunshine, rain, sleet hail, and snow, ,
ording swollen streams and facing fear
Vi cyclones, in meeting all kinds Of peo- ,
lie in all sorts Of places. I found no more ]
angerOUs or vicious minded than the :
negligent automobile engineer
1festing our streets; and in IL al I never -
cit fear. never owned or possessed a / =
istol- or weapon Of defense. save Of na-
ure, feeling that in the possession was Z
owardfce and moral weakness, but when Z
arise TO leave the street car at Four 7
zenith and Clifton streets my heart is in :
" mouth. for my life is in my hand. and I / ,
the danger Of being ground into S
ulp by rushing engines in the hands Of | I
srsonsS criminally negligent Of life and d
NIB OF relative and friend-Of all II is :
len 1 forget II is cowardly to carry a ! n
stoL II IS then I long for a gun to :
loot TO kill. as I would shoot to kin an z
-tacking mad Cog, the viciously criminal h