Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1911-12-16
have NO TIME TO
PICK up The PINS
Result of Little Experiment in
Rock Islands Busy Business
Thoroughfare.
SCATTER USEFUL ARTICLES
Yet in All the Throng But One Stop
ped TO Rescue One in Half an
Hours Watching.
See a pin and pick 1t up.
All the day you'll have good luz

All the day you'll have good luck.
Have people forgotten this old
adage? Are they becoming less OBJ
servant nowadays? Is pin too small
for the average person to notice and
stoop for? or is everybody too busy
to stop in the rush to pick up the
most common and servicable of house
hold articles?
In a quest for the answers to these
questions, two Argus representatives
scattered promiscuously along the
walks of Second avenue at $3.50 yes
terday afternoon four score Of the
small cylindrical pieces of timed
brass and in a half hour OF watching
but one pin was picked from the walk.
In that time nearly 300 people passed
by the pins and either their attention
was drawn TO something else along
their path, or pin was too small a
thing to bother with in the rush to
secure Christmas presents Then, too,
the extremely pretty and novel win
dow decorations attracted a great deal
of attention from all passersby and
they had little time to stop for a pin.
ONE STOPPED TO PICK.
There was much humor In the one
instance where the pin was picked
from the walk. AS she was coming
from one OF the large department
stores, one rather corpulent woman
cast her gaze upon the article that
is so often used in place of a missing
button on a frock, stopped with great
care and as much decorum as she
could summon to her command,
grasped the pin firmly between her
thumb and forehnger, wiped It on her
skirt and then placed 1t between her
teeth. She case a glance at the walk
for another pin, saw none, though
many were there, waited for her brood
OF children to satisfy their desires to
see the Santa Claus decorations. and
when they had Joined her, continued
on her way.
IL Is matter for conjecture whether
or not this woman thought at all of
the old adage which heads this ar
ticle. To all appearances, her one de.
sire was to use the pin as the hand.
lest article in place Of a toothpick.
RESULT OF THE OBSERVATIONS.
From the result of the observations,
IL would appear that the answer 10
the question is that people have for
gotten the adage, and If they have not,
think that there Is little in the wish
that comes along with finding the ar.
ticle, so valueless from a monetary
standpoint. yet so vital in the affairs
of life. II is all too apparent that the
average person is becoming less OBJ
servant while walking along the
streets. Possibly had a penny been
thrown in place OF each pin, some
one person would have seen one and
searched for another. but that would
not have shown that that persons
makeup included that observant quail
fly. Outlines so valuable in every day
events. Finding a coin would have
been chronicled as that persons luck
is A PIN OF NO ImPoRTANCEs
In answer to the third question, 4
can safely be said that a pin is Of too
small value to be given much notice
much less to have to stoop down t
the walk and go through all the mo
tivhS VI PNhIhb IL up Dul thcu TIT
window decorations for the holiday
proved a greater attraction than any
thing that might be found along tn,
walk. Leaving one store to rush I,
another. everybody seemed to be II
a great hurry. There were few of tn,
strollers In the lot OF people tina
walked along the avenue.
The experiment only goes to prov
that people have gotten out OF tn
habits OF the olden days, to obtail
everything Of value and convert II u
some use. Years ago. everyone o
these pins, had they been strewn Il
the same manner, would have beef
picked up by someone, but today the,
are lost and possibly will never b
put to the use for which they wer
designed.