Evening star., 1909-06-14

| ministration resulted soon in a larger
| increase of men for traffic duty, but also
printed traffic regulations. the only means
| or educating drivers. the keynote of
| traffic regulations, without which moth
ing can be accomplished speedily or eco
| nomically.
| The saving OF money in time to the
citizens would undoubtedly pay the en-
tire expense Of several police departments
| as large as the present one. The saving
of life cannot be accurately computed.
but probably several hundred lives are
| saved every year. while the addition to
| comfort and pleasure is not to be lost
sight of. 1t Is extremely important that
the police department in every city be
| given the power Of summons and COM
plant, as Is done in London, Paris and
| Boston. which usually answers better
| than an arrest without accompanying &
hardships and delays, and does not take
the officer from his post, on which as
sumption the drivers now often presume
to break the regulations"
| Ways Of Improvement.
"Are there any other ways that traffic
regulations can be improved?"
Most decidedly! BY perfecting the
office work of the bureau so that COM
plete records can be kept Of licensed
and numbered vehicles. Of accidents,
| breaches of regulations, speed laws driv-
horses. Other things Of minor Importance
are transferring the license bureau to
the bureau of street traffic, improving the
management of parades. giving the bu-
reau authority over the street-cleaning
department to direct what streets and
parts of streets shall be first cleared
OF snow, empowering it to control the
watering and the sanding OF streets and
| many other things of q technical nature
Streets paved with asphalt should new
er be sprinkled, but be regularly flushed
| at night by the department of street
| cleaning. The Society OF Prevention Of
Cruelty to Animals and some of the civic
clubs have attempted to obtain an ordi-
nance in New York forbidding the sprink-
ling of asphalt. but perhaps some of the
aldermen are directly or indirectly inter-
ested In sprinkling jobs. At any rate. no
ordinance has yet been passed and 1t Is
not worth while to wait for it. as there
is very simple method available Sprink-
| ling is done by contract with the occu-
pants of buildings. most Of whom do not
realize what harm they are encouraging
by agreeing to pay for 1t. II they were
informed of this through the press Or by
circular. and that there is no obligation
on their part, probably most Of those who
now sign would refuse to do 30 next time.
and the sprinkling would cease, because
1t would not pay to do 1t. After this is
done 1t will be easier to get an ordinance
passed. as there will be but little inf1u-
ence brought to bear against it,
Attempted in Other Cities.
HAS traffic regulation been tried in
other cities?
| Lexington and Louisville, KY, have
| taken it up in the most sensible way, hav-
ing adopted the New York regulations
practically verbatim, with a few slight
| changes required for local conditions.
Boston issued a pamphlet January l, 49,,
Of street traffic regulations, containing
practically all of the New York sections.
and. in addition, a number of new and
rather complicated ones, some Of which
have already been modified, and eventual
| ly may have to be discarded. Baltimore,
instead of adopting the present New York
regulations took as basis the long since
discarded regulations contained In the
| New York city ordinance. 1t Is quite as
| important to know what to leave out as to
know what to put in, and new regulations
| adopted by those who have not had much
practical experience are dangerous. Those
| in New York have been the result of
| long study and observation. Each new
clause has been mulled over before be-
ing recommended and introduced. Every
| thing that has been adopted is necessary,
| and brevity and simplicity have been
| sought 1t is of the greatest Importance
that the regulations for all cities should
be practically Identical, differing only as
local conditions require"
How is traffic handled in foreign
| cites?''
Methods Employed Abroad.
| '1n London the work on the streets
by the officers is no better than it now
is in New York, but the Office work Is
developed to perfection and the drivers
know their duties more generally. In
Paris the officers know their duties, but
the drivers have no rules to go by, and
when the police are absent everything is
confusion. small amount Of money
~, rJictrt1 t1,,fi fhn frofE ocr,llo
tions in Paris would enable the officers to
do more effective work and probably re-
duce accident and delays more than so
per cent"
The elemental stages of the work are
now passed, If these suggestions are fol-
| lowed. New York can shortly have as
| perfect street traffic management as
exists anywhere in the world. 1t Is very
traffic a capable man who has no other
| duties. His tenure of Office should be
continued during efficient service No
one can do this work properly until he
has spent months and probably years at
it, l believe New York has the right
man now and that he should be re-
tanned. Some one must give this matter
his constant attention and study. or it
will continue in an unsatisfactory state
| of development. The problems of street
| traffic management in every city are COM
plicated and are increasing all the time
in numbers. difficulty and Importance
| Every city needs not only the best abli-
ity, but the necessary time to study in
| order to solve them in the simplest way.
| l am pretty well acquainted with many
of the traffic squad and l doubt if there
| is finer army in the world. Very little
| of the bad that has been said of our
police officers can apply to them, and
| if the esprit de corps that obtains now
| continues, it cannot help but prove an
| inspiration for a better standard for the
police force at large, not only in New
| York, but in all progressive cities"
| What are the qualifications necessary
| for good traffic policeman"
| "A good physique ability and willing
| ness to do a hard days work, unfailing
| courtesy, courage, firmness, fairness, in
| tellgence and common sense, and, for
| horsemen, the additional ability to ride
| well. The men on foot must be five feet
ten In statue, but this does not apply to
men on horses, for which purpose they
| should not be too heavy"
| Where does the New York police force
| get its horses?"
| 1t advertises for bids in the City
| Record. The horses must be bay with
| black points. and little no white,
and practically sound. They must be
151a hands or over, and are taken on
| trial for thirty days and sent to the
| training farm. II they are not suit
able, especially as regards intelligence,
| they are returned. Their present cost is
| 1910 per head. In the last year or two
| they have been generally selected by
Maj c. A. Benton. U. S. A., retired, who