Evening star., 1911-06-11

my man." inquired the maeistrafe of
the prisoner.
told what he had to say for himself. The
eyes of the magistrate kindled as he
listened TO the tale. Then:
MY man." said he. you are honorabiy
discharged should like to give you q
certificate OF character. I desire 10 say
sir. that you have more character than
L have myself I have been longing 10
wear straw hat for two days. and I
have been too much in fear of the fool
ish rule applying to that matter. You
did perfectly right. More power to your
arm! Do II again IL you are annoyed and
III protect you
ON recent visit to Washington I no.
- ticed, for about the 7O0Oth time, how
poorly lighted Pennsylvania avenue seemed
TO be. The only sure-enough radiant IL
Elimination observable along that noble
thoroughfare is furnished by the fronts
OF the moving picture houses. between 9th
and 10th streets. But the other blocks
or the Avenue always have appeared to
me to be of a dimness. and the stretch Of
the Avenue from 9Th street to the Peace
monument is something more than dim.
This, however. is not what is called q
side-wipe. i am using il for purposes OF
comparison. The same thing applies 20
no less renowned a thoroughfare than
Broadway Broadway. from I4th street
to the Battery is positively one OF the
worst-lighted great thoroughfares of the
entire world. Along that huge distance
the illumination is DINNER than that
which maybe you've noticed along the
length OF the Botanic Garden grounds
fronting Pennsylvania avenue, and one
scarce could make a more graphic COM
parison than that.
Virtually the only illumination along
that part Of Broadway Is furnished by
the groggeries along the way and by the
passing cars. There is an arc light at
each corner and one in the middle OF each
block; but that makes pretty poor light
ing for SO huge a canyon. lined with
such towering buildings. And that part
of Broadway, because of its utterly I'm
adequate lighting, lis a favorite haunt OF
stick-up men and sandbaggers. True.
there is no particular reason for any
body trudging through that portion OF
Broadway after dark. since the night life
has moved so far uptown: but the GIN
mills along that stretch keep open nearly
all night, and fuddled men wander down
that way, and fuddled men are the soft
meat, the world over, for the gumshoe
artists.
Another thing: Broadway, at its White
Wayest point, and along the entire length
of the so-called Blazing Alley. would be
wretchedly lighted IL IL were not for the
private lighting Of the storekeepers and
restaurateurs and hotels and so on along
that way, not to omit the tremendous
candle power OF light emitted by the ad-
vertising signs In the Tenderloin section
of Broadway. As a matter OF fact, some
of these fiuttery-fickery advertising signs
on the tops Of the buildings are so gar
ishly. one might better say hideously.
brilliant that they light up whole blocks
of Broadway In a sort of now-you-see-it
moving picture way.
The binding illumination OF the restau-
rants, particularly around Times Square.
Is another factor 10 make the night-lifs
section of Broadway q trial to the eyes.
But if all of these lighting factors were
to be eliminated, and the illumination
supplied by the city Were TO be de-
pended upon solely, Broadway at what
Is now its brightest point would be one
of the darkest. dingfest little alleys In
all the world, as the main length OF il
below 14th street, and also that part OF
IL lying about 5oth street, certainly are.
Wherefore, one wonders Just why cities
should depend upon private enterprise TO
light their most famous streets. Broad
way is in the same situation as Pennsyl-
vania avenue in yhis respect, and could
mention a large number OF other main
streets of major cities IN the United
States that also are only lighted In spots
by citizens having business establish
ments in those spots.
Euclid avenue In Cleveland ie not. cx-
cept for a small portion OF it's length. a
business street; the rest of Ii Ia one OF
the most noble thoroughfares In all the
world. But both as to the business part
and the residential part of Euclid avenue
that street is one OF the most wretchedly
Illuminated on earth. The same goes for
woodward avenue in Detroit. one OF the
most splendid half-business and half
residential streets in America. 1t is most
inadequately lighted. except in the spots
where business calls for first-rate light
ing. State street in Chicago is brilliant
at night. in the downtown part, solely
because the lighting is provided i'm those
spots by men having something TO sell.
In the residential section of State street
the hold-up men have the softest snap
to be found anywhere in the United
States, because there IL not enough light
ing in the residential part OF state street
10 make a lightning bug jealous.