The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1920-01-21
IS
ENCOURAGED BY
MEMPHIS FOLKS
Improved System of Handling
Pedestrians and Vehicles at
Madison and Main Finds
Favor, According to Clerk.

Loud in his praises OF Memphis folks
Tor their aptitude and the spirit Of
progress which prompted them to take
hold OF the metropolitan traffic sys-
TEN which he Is recommending Lieut.
Joseph A. Clerk, traffic expert of the
st. Louis police department, started his
second day Of traffic demonstration at
Main street and Madison avenue Wed
nesday morning
Memphians awoke to two realizations
wednesday morning, when they re-
viewed what had been revealed BY the
traffic demonstration staged Tuesday
at the busiest corner in the city. They
were:
q That Lieut.. Clerks handling Of
traffic worked splendidly in relieving
traffic congestion, and
Cd That pedestrians who observed
the new rules might lose time. but their
lives were safer than ever before, in
crossing the streets,
Relief from congestion on downtown
streets was the prime reason for bring
ing Lieut. Clerk here. His first day s
workout, after weeks study. proved
that the congestion can be relieved. The
seconds that are saved on each indi-
vidual automobile and street car spell
out the answer for long total Of time
saved for the day.
Keep EN- moving" seemed to OBJ
servers to be the slogan which the
active, energetic st. Louis police lieu
tenant attempted to work out. And
he did it.
Citizens Cooperate.
Lieut.. Clerk weighs more than 200
pounds, but he is 1.-the as a tiger, and,
SO to speak, is AN over the four cor
ners' at once. A quick fllrt of a
thumb, and an automobile swings
round corner. Street cars start NOV
ing north and south, and before their
ends have cleared the sidewalk lines
of cross traffic, the lieutenant Is at
corner leading across the street a
woman with a baby in her arms. He
rules on che corner, too. With hand
upheld, palm out, he stops the mad
rush of truck swinging onto Main
street, while. he guides the mother and
infant to safety. Then another flirt of
the never still thumb, and the truck
passes on.
1T was my first real workout in a
year, and | enjoyed it," the lieutenant
said Wednesday morning at the Pea
body hotel, where he is staying. when
| a traffic officer properly covers cor
ner, he must be wide awake, alert and
active. The mere standing in the mid
die Of the street Is not all his job calls
| on him to do, Traffic officers here
have a big job on their hands, until
! the public is educated to move across
streets with the traffic. No man s belt
line. will grow larger than his chest
| measure if he properly performs the
duties of a traffic policeman"
1t was new to Memphians-this wait
ing until traffic is going in the proper
| direction for them to cross the street.
Yet the sense of safety was comfort
able, when they did get started. The
knowledge that no wild auto driver
had to be lodged, by leaps and close
shaves, to win the other side, was re-
assuring.
OF course, not all of the people OBJ
served the new rule, which the lieu
| tenant is recommending for adoption
| here But Lieut. Clerk predicts they
will eventually, when accident reports
| in Memphis impress the lesson which
| 1919 traffic figures in st. Louis show.
There, A accidents out of 81, in which
people were killed, were blamable d.
rectly to jay walking. The coroner in
| st. Louis made public these figures,