Evening star., 1921-11-13
FLASH FROM TOWER REGARDED
BEST IN CONTROL OF TRAFFIC
Advantages Of System to All Countries
Seen in Complete Standardizing
of Street Signals.
By Dr. John A. Hsrriss, Special Deputy Police
Commissioner l. Charge Of T-aAic Division,
Police Department, City Of New York.

By DR.. John A. Hsrriss, Special Deputy Police
Commissioner l. Charge Of T-aNhc Division, /
Police Department. City Of New York. ,
! The question of traffic is one Of in ,
tense responsibility and, 1 might add,
a dignihed business, because each !
and every traffic officer at the time
! he wishes to convey traffic regula-
tion either by signal. by his presence
in a community or at the intersection
| of street, as the case may be. !
comes directly in contact with the
mental attitude of the driver OF a
vehicle or the pedestrian. wish
l had the time to go into this mat !
| ter from the scientific point of view,
| as ! have had occasion to study 1t
| for years. being graduate in med1- |
| cine and also in surgery, and having
| had many conferences with intell-
gent men along scientific lines. both
abroad and here, so that one may un-
| derstand the importan of approach
| ing this subject from the ofi1cer's
| point of view and that of the driver
! and the pedestrian.
| Ii you permit an enbolus. which is !;
a blood clot. to pass through any
! artery, when it reaches the heart the
! patient dies. So it Is with tranlc.
| If there is a congestion in any one
point of a city. town, village or road
/ then you are at the danger point In
the weakest link in your system.
Mental Attitude Discussed.
The mental attitude of the driver.
pedestrian and policeman plays very
important part in traffic control. The
scientific signal matter that l have
referred to as a scientific business
is conveyed to n, the oheer inc sxa SIMPLY tn tbs
1 brain. There is no question or doubt.
and / have learned it from observa-
lion. and analyzing many articles ap-
pearfng in periodicals and papers,
that the flash advertising system is
the greatest of all systems simply
because the moment you see flash
(: your mind is attracted to that flash.
and after a while to the very point
of the flash. when you see 1t flashing:
! your daily routine when on the
The phenomenon of flash is most
remarkable thing. The phenomenon
| # daylight is most remarkabie
thing; the phenomenon of night is
most remarkable thing. The mag
! nficence of a setting sun is most
remarkable thing. and ] venture to
say that there is not one man. whether
he loves nature or whether he just
i ing on this earth, who will not agree
| with me in admitting that when there
is a beautiful sunset he observes 1t
and usually has this to say-that 1t is
markable. at all times riveting the
/ result Of its flash splendor on the
mind.
Considers Control by FLASH.
With, these scientific thoughts I
oftentimes retire, hoping to lind
solution to a territory that is so
highly congested at. this time that
entn ,f
trolling traffic by a flash; simple
method of tower that has been used
for many years at terminals of rail-
roads; a simple device, a flash that
terminals but never thought of in
traffic regulation on the highways of
big cities. towns or villages.
When you see flash you imme-
diately observe there is a command
for something. The mechanism is
side Of this little tower. and when
traffic in this particular city is moving
north or south the yellow flash is
observed. When it is moving east or
have due cognizance Of the change in
the direction of traffic. the red light
is flashed. That means that they
shall prepare for a change in direc-
tion of traffic, and also gives the
pedestrians on the streets an oppor-
get out of the way before the new
traffic proceeds. Therefore. between
the yellow light and the green light
there Is the red light.
The success of controlling traffic by
the flash has more than passed our
expectations in this city. 1t is the
most astonishing thing what educa-
tion will do along that line. where a
Photographic impression is based
upon the theory Of phenomenon, and
the mind itself. Ninety-four per cent
of the people using 5th avenue at
this time held the flash, and only
per cent desire to steal a street, as
we call it. and try to rake one block
are people who are not given to an
endeavor to assist this department in
its anxiety to protect life and limb
from injury.
Sees Extraordinary Condition.
1t Is a most extraordinary condition
that / wish to tell you about. In this
city In the fifteen months that this
tion there has not been issued one
summons on Fifth avenue. The pub
lie has become educated to the new
system. and people have written the
department thousands of letters as
suring the department that this means
Of control of traffic is agreeable to
the community. And that is one Of
the fundamental principles upon
which this signal device has been
built. because regulation must be
generous, a police officer must be
generous and the public must be gen.
erous The public, by writing these
letters. has signified its willingness to
assist. to cooperate. to co-6rdinate its
everyday life upon the streets. The
press has. without one exception,
given the department the absolute
! assurance, both through editorials
and items, that the people Of this
city are satisfied with the system.
The officers of the department like
wise have assured the department
heads that they are agreeable and
like the system.
There remains but one thing that
would make it even more perfect, and
that is if the streets were a little
wider and more numerous we are
satisfied that instead Of handling
100000 vehicles on the streets Of this
city and. in the neigngborhood of
three millions to four millions of peo-