The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1921-09-20

NEW YORK CITY, Sept. 20.-Dur-
ing the hot summer days in New York,
the most popular outdoor sport is bus
riding. The wealthy minority have
their golf and their tennis and their
private motor cars, but the great mass
get their outdoor exercise and recrea-
tion through the bus.
A bus ride during the crowded hours
of the evening may include running,
balancing and deep breathing, while
it ever fails to provide regular os-
teopathic massage. Once in his fav-
orite seat on the upper deck of the
huge, ungainlys vehicle, the bus rider
is jerked gently but firmly back and
| forth from side to side until every tiny
bone in his spinal column has come
! into violent contact with the hack OF
| the seat, thus stimulating his circu-
lation and arousing his liver to pro-
I testing action. But by far the most
| strenuous part of the sport consists
| in catching the bus.
Although the Fifth Avenue Bus COM
| pany is building buses as fast as 1t
can and recently turned out four new
ones in one week, and while every
available bus, whether it be aged,
| sick, decrepit, afflicted with palsy or
not, is being operated, still there are
not nearly enough buses to accom-
modate the tremendous summer
| crowd. Thus, while the sport of bus
i riding is at the height of its popularity
the competition among bus riders Is
j fierce and even frenzied.
! In winter when there are large
chunks of ice in the Hudson and Riv-
erside Drive is draped in silver in
stead of green, the buses are tame
creatures and may be captured with
the mere stretching forth of hand.
Few people care to sit on the upper
deck and freeze TO death. But in the
summer open season they are often
wild and must be approached with
, strategy and caution.
Suppose, for instance, you select a
| nice hot Sunday night for your bus
! ride. You want to go up Riverside
t Drive, of course-and so does every
f body else. All the Nos. and busses
headed in that direction are filled.
!, The only thing for you to do. there
fore, is to take a downtown bus, ride
all the way 10 the end of the line at
Washington Square and then hold
: tightly to your seat while it turns
around and goes back uptown.
5 Ambushing a Bus
E With this clever idea in view, you
4 stand on the corner of-say Forty
] fourth street and Fifth avenue, beside
: the giant street clock on the lookout
= for an untitled bus seat. After Is min
. utes of watchful waiting such a phe
+ nomenon is seen approaching at &
5 rapid gait. Just as you are preparing
m
y huge red eye in the traffic tower al
q Forty-second street changes to green
and the bus comes to a sudden stand
still at the corner above at Forty-fiftt
street. Fearing that the one lone sea-
will be grabbed by some one else, yot
dash madly up to Forty-fifth street
only to see the huge green eye in the
traffic tower change back to red anC
, the bus start forward again just a:
you are in the middle of the block.
I While such experiences are hard OF
the disposition and may help TO ex
plain why New Workers have a reputa
Y ton for being churlish, even so thi:
S undignified pursuit of bus is far bet
S ! ter than taking a chance at one of the
e bus terminals. Here long, weary line:
: of bus riders are parked behind a rope
and an iron sign stating that such-and
e such bus stops there. AS each bu
d draws up, the crowd surges forward
d showing, jostljng and carrying its from
g ranks before it as a strong Wa
l. sweeps a surf bather to the sh09t
! Clothing is torn, children bruised an,
= many new patients are created for tn
v city's chiropodists. At last, however
d you find yourself mounting the frs
d two steps of the bus, ascending III
e small, iron circular staircase which
e leads to the upper deck and sinkini
Imply into vacant seat. The Who'll
process is purely involuntary.
e Once the bus gets on its way, all i
D. serene while the bus riders recove
/ their breath, nurse their wounds an
IL gradually revive in the fresh air TIL
u men light their pipes and cigars and
II !, if it is evening, the girls light thei
- cigarettes. Hats are removed by bot
sexes, and the children are made con
s Portable in case they wish to take
- nap. Spooning, especially on the las
~ two seats of the bus, used to be ey
? tremely popular, but il seems to hav
been abandoned recently since one {
- the City Fathers declared that b
% thought it was perfectly proper. "On
q. of the best places in New York t
spoon" were his words
"a Flirting, though, is greatly on tn
ID increase among the afternoon bu
h. riders. Between four and six o'cloc
n when the crowds are greatest, til
"a busses proceed at a snaiFs pac
of through the congested traffic on FIT
n. avenue, and it often so happens thu
,r an upper deck containing severe
young ladies stops directly opposite
III car below, containing several youn
,y men. Under such propitious circun
IN stances an exchange of smiles helr
IN to while away the time You ofte
p hear fiapper remark, Say, girls,
got three smiles from that chap |
he the brown felt hat" or Gee, didn
n the baldheaded one have a grin,"