Arizona republican., 1919-10-20
AN EAsTERNER's IMPRESSIONS

brief visit here, encroach upon your space a few moments to give the view point of one easterner toward your city?
 In the first place, I should like to- congratulate the people of Phoenix very much on their city. It is one of the most beautiful and prosperous I have ever seen, and it's development apparently is just begun. The newer buildings are delightful, labor condi- tions seem pleasant, and in a few years venture to say that Phoenix cannot be excelled by any city of less than
 100000 people.
 The same, believe, is equally true of the Salt River valley, which is one of the most beautiful regions in the
 nation. While have not yet seen the
 wonders of California which everyone
 talks about-even Phoenix people seem
 to be crazy about California; feel
 that even the famed coast state cannot
 excel your valley.
 There is one thing I have noticed. however, during the. few weeks I have
 spent in your city, and my principal
 object in thus addressing you is to
 call attention to it, for so long as it
 exists the thing will mar the innate
 beauty of the whole city. My point
 is this:
 It seems to me that that reverence | toward women which one reads so
 much about in western novels is to-
 tally lacking in Phoenix. In fact, most
 of your people seem to have never
 heard of it.
 I hope that no one will think I am finding fault, for such is not my in-
 tention. Such conditions as do exist
 I think are due to pure carelessness
 but nevertheless they are bound to ere
 ate bad impression with eastern vis- itors who chance to notice them, as any man or woman with eyes is bound to do.
 From such observations as I have been able to make, I feel safe in say ing that no woman may appear alone . about your city in the evening and be
 safe from insult. Safe from harm, o1 ] course, but never from insult. l An incident, or rather two incidents
 I chanced to see only last Saturday l night may help illustrate my point About Il o'clock, between First ant Second streets on Adams, I think i was, a young girl of about IS wa! } walking along. Three men in ; 'chummy'' roadster, a big yellow car
 drove up the street, passed her, swuns around and stopped at the curbing As the girl came by they hailed he with an offer to take her home. Tn girl hesitated, stopped and began talk ing to them. Then she got in and tn car drove off rapidly. What followet is easy to guess.
 Under the circumstances the mel } were not so much at fault, as the gir probably expected and was waiting fo such an occurrence. But the me-
 could not have known that. They wer
 perfectly willing to insult woman. The other occurrence was this: ] little earlier the same evening, tw girls left a picture show and wake down Washington street toward an ic
 cream parlor. Two young fellows i'm
 mediately came up behind and spok to them. The girls did not answer, an kept on walking. The men followe them.
 f Such occurrences are common, f know, in every city, but it seems to m , that they are unusually so in Phoeni
 for city of its size. When it come , to point where a woman, or severs 2 women, cannot walk block down
 main street without being accosted, an
 perhaps followed, some action shoul /, be taken.
 I The incident that first attracted m Q attention to the things of which Q speak happened to my wife and . young woman friend, some weeks az V before we were very well acquainte Q with the town. The two women wel Q walking up Central avenue about r o'clock one evening. Two young me V passed in a huge touring car, turne e around and followed them. passing an V repassing them twice Finally the cs : stopped at the first side street ahea V and as my wife and her friend can : up one of the men got out of the e D and spoke to them.
 if I am afraid my wife, who, like my if self, originally came from Kentuck . called him down." The man ocean IF insulted-can anyone imagine it?-ar e told her not to be so high-toned befol l. he drove away. This man wore e brown suit. 1 have been looking f k. him ever since but my description W; ,f vague and I have never been able a tell him what I think of such scoul " drels.
 le Since that time I have noticed su, of incidents every night I have con m down town. My acquaintances cou Tn see nothing unusual in them, howev, is and seemed to think it natural. It m I'd be, in part, as I have seen women S D. liciting on the streets a few tim, D. but nevertheless such occurrences a l. not justified.
 'd Even if a woman walks down a stre ne in the business district after 6 p. CT without being actually accosted, she at audibly commented on by the corr ne and pool hall olafers.
 u A slight friend told me the ott 1' "A day of case in San Francisco wht sp+ a man armed himself one night a l., walked down Market street few paC
 e behind his wife. The first few m - who spoke to her he merely slapp = but at last he shot and killed a m; ha If such things may happen in S a Francisco, they may happen in Pho ,,+ nix, where conditions are as b; . though the city is less than one-ter ,,r as large. Can Phoenix afford such
 thing to happen?
 re I understand there is a city or be nance covering the soliciting of won on on the streets. l should think it p' n- sible, in a city which professes tv civic pride of Phoenix, to have son m thing in the nature of an anti-mashi air ordinance that would make a man to able to arrest for publicly insulting to woman.
 no 1 feel sure-I should say, howey ,at that whatever conditions do exist u of are not the fault of the police, as lin department probably feels it a wa ms of time to interfere. I think, too, t Ter majority of people in Phoenix do u- notlce sucn lnciuenls as nave
 lated, or if they do, are calloused nd them. However. I would suggest t ,n- for the sake of the city's reputat