Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1916-10-16
Ehrntag Ui1at


Vehicular traffic and the fact that Har-
risburg. with the development of great
cross-state highways and realization of
the beauties OF the buildings of the
commonwealth, the setting of the city
ana the river front. is becoming more
ana more place to visit, a resident of
our town asked the other evening why
thcre was not some national code of
Signals whereby automobile drivers.
"i'Scists' motormen and others wouldA
KNOW when to move and when to stop.
lhis man, who is keen observer, said
II struck him that the signals were not
uniform even in this city and that
harrisburg had signals which were not
'he same as Reading and not like those
OF Philadelphia or Pittsburgh. Even
tne generally accepted beckoning as a
sign TO come on" has meanings which
are apt to confuse the automobile
urlNer as he strikes different places.
NO ooubt authorities are striving to
set the whole matter down to two
moves. one to stop and one to move.
IN IN splte OF all there are daily instances
Un In usioh winch are often blamable
upon the driver. People are constantly
MAJ ENG mistakes which endanger lives
us inird and Market streets and the
ne OF traffic officer at that point or
at almost any other congested point is
w w eimeh. Curiously enough. the ones
| AZ iaaNS the most trouble are drivers
or hcrse-drawn vehicles. the only ones
| ~; o9 the way, are not required TO
uispIay lanterns when travelling along
ssu.e nlghWays, county roads or town
| omirp ,anes at night. An automobi
owner running without lights in Derry
! toWnshlp would be arrested on siei,t
II nc dld not speed away, but a hay
| wagon can be driven along at 8 o'clock
a. night without lights of any kind on
| 20 ratr Iont street, Harrisburg. But
! ordinary signals do not seen, r. he
aiwayS understood, and when il is CON
slaered that there were on the streets
S oI tne city on Saturday cars with
YorIH Ia ,ass from Utah, Illinois. New
o.k ana probably half.a dozen other
states and possibly from a dozen or
| more cltles OF our own commonwealth
| tne TACT that signals are not ALWAYS
| lconprehended is we'll worth consjd
erlng in official circles.
Another thing which this observer
oI tranic rightly said was a menace is
| inc practice of parking automobiles on
business streets on crowded EVENINGS
Inlro ana Fourth streets We're lined
with cars on Saturday night and wera
'one-way highways" for the simnle
reason that there was only space for
| tne troliey cars and such vehicles as
could follow them or worm in and ont
.o cccas,onally get the center of the
| stree'' Market street was in little bet
ter case and the beer trucks ieonar-
dized automobiles which stood in tbe
aheSs. In the vicinity of some of tbe
movie places there was an assem-
plase OF cars which illustrated the
motor improvements of a decade and
L In
reducing the space available for NOV
ING trarnc. And at the same time the
area IN which cars could be stood i'm
| Market square was by no means filled.
@niie Market street between Front and
second, where. the market folks used
to have their wagon stands. was almost
enpty. similarly Third street near
Nerheke was pretty we'll filled up. but
space. p''' VI
People who have been NOTING tbe
way traffic is handled in the various
cities are coming around to the Ger .
man View-ironclad regulations. A
Eood many Jokes have been perpe-
trated about the Teutonic counternartr
of our own famous Mum twins@Maxi
ana Mini" known to the facetious
! American abroad in years agone nv the
names of "Ausgang" and "Ineang,"
Rut those who recall the way the Ger
man cops boss the people sometimes
wish for the same system here, es-
pecia lily on Saturday nights People in
| the shopping district on Saturday
AFTERNOON and evening so iammed the
SIDEWALKS because they did not keen
moving along certain lines that some
ran the risk of walking in the street.
In years gone by walking outside the
| curb was tho way to avoid a. crowd
| Now the automobiles take I'm the
space, and beyond them one stands
chance of violently meeting an auto
mobile. especially If he walks out be-
tween cars in the middle of the block.
|
Harrisburg does not have only its
own people in the throngs along the
streets in its business section on Sat
urdays. The trolley cars pour i'm hun
dreds from rural Dauphin county, from
the West Shore boroughs and farther
or In Cumberland and Perry counties,
and Steelton still comes to Harrisburg
on Saturday night as it did Twenty-Five
years ago. So it is all the more reason
why more attention should be given TO
traffie regulations and uniform signals.
Herbert Quick, who will be here to-
morrow as a member of the Federal
Farm Loan Board, will be back again
in December to address the State Edu-
| cational Association. Mr. Quick is n
com bination of farm boy, teacher.
editor and lawyer. He was noted in
the language of Secretary J. George
Becht, of the State Board of Edll
gressive teachers" He edited Farm
and Fireside and wrote a book on rural
teachers which has aroused no end of
| discussion and accomplished a good
bit of value.
/