Arizona republican., 1921-03-06
Furnishing The Speedy

pleasantly, with running at a speed of 30 miles an hour. Is that true2"
 No, sir,' replied the immaculately dressed offender, swinging his cane |carelessly back and forth. ''rhe infor-s nation of your officer is quite wrong. My eyes were on the speedometer at the time he came abreast of the run ming board, and it clearly reeoded A and one-half miles"
 Have you any legitimate excuse?'' inquired the judge, unmoved by this re- markable frankness.
 No" said the young man. It was a pleasant morning; no one was ih sight, and l wanted to see how much the old boat could make down the Drive Twenty five dollars of 10 days in the city prison" murmured the judge imperturbably.
 The next case, trim, young. blond matron, also pleaded guilty to the I charge of s5 miles an hour, but raised a pair of large, pleading brown eyes to the judge.
 T was hurrying home to my baby i she explained gently. He has err whooping cough
 Speeding. late afternoon ;. many people. serious offense.-; S25 fine- . again came the indistinct boom of the voice of the judge.
 | The man on the reporters left was obviously perturbed by this decision. 1 The young woman was so attractive so gentle. and she had a sick baby. Gee, the old Crab might have let her off" he declared to his companion on the right She had a good excuse. Whats motor car for if you can't use lit in an emergency? The law says somethin' about extenuating circum- stances, but this judge never heard of it."
 ''Oh, they all have good excuses. 2 said the other. The judge can't listen Ito all of them. Probably, if you knew the truth, this woman hasn't any baby at all, but a Pekingese with a bad temper. It ain't no use to argue about this speed question anyway When they . got you, they got you-and you've got to pay up"
 The next case, a tall, gaunt man, With a square chin. had been haled into court for the second time, which he regarded as an inexcusable incon- venience. He was inclined to argue; to fight if possible.
 This arresting business is wholly lpersonal." he grumbled. This officer Etook a dislike to me before because l did not offer to buy my way out, and laid in watch for me. I had an ap- pointment at my office and was in a hurry, but even so the speedometer | showed only 23. My God, everybody speeds occasionally-what do you sup pose we buy high powered cars for2 l Speeding is a serious offense." the
 judge repeated. 'fWe are not here to argue the question. Second violation. S100."
 All Glasses Fined for Speeding
 And so it continued all afternoon, one
 case right after another. until over 50
 had been disposed of. No one was eN-
 cused from paying fine while the re-
 porter was present. Taxicab drivers
 business executives, actors, sportsrnen
 a burlesque actress, a popular soprano business women and wives of all
 classes and descriptions-an paid the
 penalty, seriously. bitterly, or cheer
 fully.
 One of the multitude of guilty wait
 ing in the courtroom told the reporter
 that, in his opinion. few people are ever
 accused unjustly. It was often possible
 to persuade the cop to forget it, but
 once in court escape from fine was Un- heard of.
 'Once I was arrested unjustly, and
 argued the cop out of it." he said "The
 old boy had just stopped the car ahead of me. and I explained that he couldn't
 possibly trail two cars at once-that if
 he knew what the other car. which had
 passed me, was making he couldn'i
 know what l was making He finally agreed that perhaps he couldn't and ac- icepted a friendly cigar"