Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-10-20
BOSTON STREETS
By Frederic J. IInskin

p
This would not ordinarily be n state
rncnt to cause any great excitement, for in
| the course Of its history Boston has gravoly
considered no less than 100 proposals 20
| simplify the maze Of It's street systern. The
/ latest plan however, has been approved
by the legislature and is now before the
town council. II really begins % look ~ II
Boston might eventually see this partictl-
lar proposition through
The proposed channel would involve
the widening Of some of the streets IL would
follow and the cutting through Of some new
strips of street 10 make a continuous
straight thoroughfare. II would provide
a short cut through the district south Of
the Common and il would attract large
amount Of traffic which now ogcrcrOwds
the numerous narrow streets and lanes.
Boston still expects some day really 70
straightep its streets, and any citizen will
tell you Just how il ought 70 be done.
Meanwhile the orookedness Of the thor
ouglfares il a byword, and sort of trade
marx Of the city.
A visitor can have al the exercise and
excitement he wants simply trying 70 find
the shortest route from hotel TO an Office
building IN some parts Of the most CON
Rcs.ed shopping dIstrict, walking ia .
straight line Is next ~ inposyible for the
sidewalks are 80 Iaxnrned with gO'ild-be
pedestrians THAT the only way to travel
with any speed is ~ wiggle IN and out
among the slowly moving throrg. Any
one who becomes skilifui at this bshiDcss of
wriggling ean advance at least fOur blocks
an hour and ct the same time acquire =
supplenegs which comes in handy when
dodgIng tazicabs and wagons.
A CROWDED grRgyT.
The hest place to observe traffic st its
sl0yvcst IL on Washington street, yvire re the
narrow sidewalks are lined with lunch
rooms theaters, Office buildings, and
inntnnerable shops, from little, crowded
stalls, 70 big department stores. Any
thing which any Bostoflian might want Ls
20 be found on this street, and presumably
half the B0stos1ians are hero all day, str1ig-
Cling, always with dignity and tolerance, to
fiji UP their Boston bags 20 that they can
seek the subway and the evening paper
One Of the peculiar things about Wash
Tngton street Is that the other side always
looks only half as thickly populated as the
side you picked out to travel and Of course
when you dodge few automobiles and
traffic cops to cross over, the side you
were on looks more desirable After hop
ping baek and forth few tiTnes you con
Nt1AAt sA5etb AAtE AAAffI AOfJAN EFSAAF eAANAA-
ed The best course then seems 70 be 70
retire to side street where navigation is
less interesting but more speedy, and
where you either get lost m the maze Of
turnings or walk few blocks Oulyto come
out on q blind alley. At this stage o ( the
adventure only 3 policeman can sOtve the
mystery and give you a fresh start toward
the original goal.
The traffic police are one Of Boston's
most efficient institutions. After the
police strike last winter, 400 Of the old
force remained loyal and the Others
/ ,l52 men-vave UP wearing white gloves
in the daytime and retired from public life
to become ehauffeurs, lunch room pro-
prietors, and watehmen On private proper
ty. In their places Boston has taken on
!, 200 men, all but about D of them ex-
service men. Most Of them had been n
action overseas.
The Old force ran n heagy-veight. mid
dle-aged biIly-swingers. The new recruits
are largely 1.-the, young and fun of pep IL
IS said that the settIng-sTp exercises which
they take N the morning st headquarters
would have finished the old guard for the
day instead OF putting them n trim for
work
THE UBIQUITOUS BAG
A new traffic organization has been
formed, and at busy crossings from one 70
four Young traffic officers handle the
streams Of cars and passengers with brisk
dispatch From the stiff. ierky gestures
Of the hand and arm with which one OF
these officers directs traffic, it looks at
first as Il he mad lost an arm and was using
a wooden one. Closer study of the mo
ti0ns, shows, however, that the mechanical
stiffness accentuates the command as no
gracefully curved iesture could
1t has been recommended that the best
way to feel st home n Boston Is 70 learn
20 talk Bostonese, to carry 3 Boston bag,
and to dust of your family tree Tor ready
reference.
The language Of Boston Is not difficult to
master, though native OF a distant State
does usually have some trouble in learn
ing to say "bluebry" as # he meant it, and
it is discouraging when s desperate at
tempt at the broad has 70 be repeated
before it is understood.
The importance Of a working knowledge
of the Boston dialect is really lessening,
possibly because the New England accent
Is being too rapidly diluted with other
brogues. Thus, the official way of pro
nouneing fremont street, has always been
with a short e. In fact, the whole world
should be dispatched as rapidly as possible
There have been street car conductors In
Boston who would venture 10 correct any
daring or ignorant passenger who referred
to fremont with long e, Yet now,
numbers Of people can be heard gtbly
using the long e unreproved.
4 similar vanishing tradition Is the
pronunciation Of Fanueil. Old-tlme BOS-
ton talked about Fan Hall, or occasions
ally Funnel Hail. But now YOU are directed
to turn TO the right st Fan-you-els Ilall."
and no bystander gasps or seems to~nOtlee
the saerllege.
PASSING or THE ACCENT,
While you can no longer pick a native
Bostonian infa,hbly By the accent you can
rely pretty generally on the Boston bag
test. Everyone who lives here carries that
type of luggage known as Boston bag
a leather satehel with two handles and q
fiat base. Laborers carry lunch IN antique
models that must have been handed down
in family wills for genera tons. Women
take them shopping, and children load
them with schoolbooks. A few people !
appear IN the streetS'mlnus this accessory, |
but close inspection usually reveals I
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