New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-06-03
Automobile Traffic Regulation
Puzzle for Middle West Cities
Scarchgh Playing on Signal Aids Cleveland with Prob
lem at Night-Fast Driving in Akron and
Detroit Beats New York

facturers' Association. II they arc
perfectly clear, the writer is c,I,ss
upon to explain them. The ssma
true of incoming letters and also ~
cable communications going or con;.~
! foreign representative no Was
England TO clear 40 certain matters -
lating to defunct agency ths,.
had 10 make a series Of ailidavits 49,
had to get the O. X. OF the Amer;saaa
Consul-Cencral. together with ina, -
the War Office. before he could sen1
cableCram to his factory in Detro;,
which referred to a letter OF eey,.;s
date. And he was told that his eshls'
gram was the first IN months tina, boz.
reference to any date that had beer
permitted 10 go out Of England.
Akron is one town in which the 4,
ncys still hold forth, although aVains,
the bitter opposition of the street rail.
way companies. There arc between 3oe
and 400 jitneys plying the streets
They pay the city an annual license AZ
sos. in addition to the state license ~
s.. Besides this. the iitney drivers
have TO pay 80 cents a month for ain.
spcction.'
TIE drivers arc not 7ormittee IA
CORY more than the regular cspaeit,
OF the car in persons seated. ANY on,
Who ATTEMPTS 10 LET a passenger 81 on
the door. for instance, is liable 10 ar.
rest and fine. This Is All gh,. becaus,
II prevents accidents that would BE- sure
10 follow the unexpected opening o. the
door.
With gasolene selling 40 q cents a
gallon, as it does in Akron, and the
usual charge for lubrica.ing oil, and
with a fixed tax of $36 a year, Il can
De seen that the jitney drivers haven't
much chance 10 get rich. Il means, for
one thing, that they must carry 720
passengers before they get rid Of the
fixed charges. And very few Of the
jitney men look rs if they were rolling
IL money.
When the government puts tax Of
Sf50 to S2j on motor cars, as appears
- be the present plan, IL won't make
things any easier for them. ANYWAY,
they are not much bothered By the in.
come tax.
Patriotism Us strong in the motor En-,
factories. At South Bend the men in
the departments have dubbed together
TO buy flags 10 hang up. One coach
work department paid 500 for is fsg.
The others were more modest. but there
are to be observed in the factory there
and in others in many other cities not
only flags but placards urging the men
to do their duty by the government
Thus far enhstment3 have mo-, been
heavy among automobile mechanics
II is likely that a selectiye conwrip.
tiOn will keep many OF them az home.
engaged on work that is more neess.
sary than their actiyitio5 in the held
would be.
It would be hard 20 imagine sny
town that is growing faster than
Akron. An absence of only a few
months from the city shows changes
o. a remarkable sort One man in
Cleveland said to me: "They are MAJ
ing so much money in Akron that
they don't know what 10 90 with IT,
In that city, as in Others in this
section, the housing problem for labor
is one Of peculiar difficulty Workmen
in Akron can't find flo places to sleer
They just exist where they can. And
yet they are making big money Some
Of the employees working on piecework
are making $50 and more a week
where they used to make about half
that
Naturally. the Akron factories ar.
busy on war STUFF. ! looked into a
room in one factory, where a par
ticularly eerie effect was produced By
thousands of surgical gloves stretched
on Handicapped moulds. They looked
like the results of myriad amputs.
tons.