Evening journal., 1909-05-03
THE CURFEW RINGS
But Nobody in ST. Louis Pays Any At
tention to II.

Curfew shall ring tonight and to-
morrow night in this village of st.
Louis just as It rang throughout
Europe long before the Norman con-
quest. Besides the whistles will blow
"curfew'' in this lonesome town. Every
one hears the bells ring and the
whistles blow each night, but not ono
person IN 100000 Of the 100000 popu-
lation gives heed TO the curfew or
thinks Of its historic meaning.
Curfew means in st. Louis that all
little boys and girls must be Off the
streets at Q o'clock, SO that the modern
watchman of the night may cry "All's
welr' by rapping his 1iqhtstick against
the curb. Mothers have gotten into
the habit Of putting their youngsters
to bed by 80 o'clock Whistles or bells"
thereby unconsciously obeying the cur
few ordinance on the municipal statute
books
But for the youths under their ma
iorities. who smoke cigarettes and
hang around street corners and spit
on the sidewalk. the curfew is a mere
old blue law that might as well not
be on the books so far as it's enforce
ment by the police is concerned. Not
orc Oh iNtHt young fhUsSNflo 'Ntt
heard of n "curfcw." Ask one of them
and he will reply that il is bird, pos
siby a curlew.
Tho habit of blowing whistles and
ringing bells is an unconscious habit
that is the proper word, since habits
arc second nature and wear off more
slowly than impulses. Not "a factory
engineer or "A belfry ciapper out OF
100000 ever stops to think that here in
St Louis he is fulfilling the habit bred
in him by long lines of progenitors
when he pulls his whistle cord or bell
cord. IL you ask him very suddenly
what he meant by blowing that whistle
or ringing that bell he would look at
you osSance and begin to make g
noise like an ambulance call. Yet he
is ringing the bell like a clam or blow
ing the whistle like an oyster. He
simply cannot answer the question
unless he RECEIVERS sufficiently from
I your interrogation TO say: why. it's
/ o o'clock" To be cure. the watch
confirms him. but why does he blow
the whistle and ring the bell? Be
cause it's Q o'clock. OF course it's
o'clock. and there we 60, getting away
in good stride FOR the average vaude.
! vile stunt.
If you were to tell these bell ringer,
and whistle blowers Of this centur.
that they were ringing fires and light:
out. they would laugh at you. But IN,
curfew is a relic of medieval history
a police regulation that meant "dous,
the glim' and bank the fires. In som,
places the curfew hour was o'clocl
and i'm others 9 o'clock. In thos,
days before the steel and concret'
buildings, when homes were of wood
fires frequently broke out in the nigh
during the sleep Of the inmates. Th'
curfew was to prevent these midnigh
fires.
The curfew bell was placed i'm th'
center Of the town. where its tollingi
We're heard in all parts Of tho village
The watchman had the right. after th'
curfew had been rung. to rap ON door
of houses where a light was yet burn
ing or from the chimney Of which hl
detected "A rising smoke. on his re
turn trip he could arrest offenders j
the lights were not out and every sigi
of fire gone
The practice OF ringing the curfey
was supposed TO have been introduces
. by William the Conqueror Of Eng
land, but was abolished by Henry ]
The custom, however. prevails in man,
! localities of the United states an
France, although it has come TO meai
! IN this country that children unde
certain ages shall not be found unac
t companied by guardians on the stree
after o'clock. That is the meanin
! of the ordinance in st. Louis. but
is not enforced; therefore it is a dea
r letter.
All that remains of the time-honore
custom is the unconscious habit of III
bell ringer and the whistle blower, an
the fact that the mother puts he
1 small ones to bed by the 9 ocloc
e whistle. Just about the time the bell
D ring or the whistles blow here in S
e Louis the street corner loafer and th
( back alley rowdy is lighting the fir
4 of the cigarette or building up th
:. furnace of his stomach with a tanlar
or two. The policeman who. harls to I'll
whistle and arrests a tender sprig, OF
after 9, is a curiosity.
n Soul-saving organizations that tai
e more than act rush into print abol
e the devils that lurlS around movin
h picture shows and the saloons. Y,
they have forgotten that the curfe
ordinance might be operated to goo
: advantage. 1t is very positive in il
. terms and If enforced to the ilett'
would prevent every young sprig froi
polSing his nose out on the street aft
o'clock in st. Louis.-St. Louis RI
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