The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1921-11-12
TRAFFIC STREAM
!. CHOKES STREETS;
: SEVERAL INJURED
Even Presidents Car Sew.
eral Times Caught !.
In Blockade.

A.
In the swirl and confusion yes
terday OF the heaviest trafhc ever
ieentefed towards one point In the
history of the city. streets were
black with thousands of automo-
.biles unable to move. and several
persons were injured. while women
tainted In the dense crowds and In
the mad rush for the over-packed
Street cars running to Arlington
War mothers, their grief fresh
Sened as the solemn cortege passed
Through the city streets. and ex-
Phausted by the long vigils at the
capitol bier, succumbed to the
strain All day long, ambulances
Changed through the crowded
sekoroughfares bearing those whose
9ast vestige of strength had van
kshsd In their attempt to pay fnal
honor to the lad who had been the
seomrade of their sons.
Several Women Treated. Q
Mrs. r. II. Harrison, 220S / street
saorthwest: Mrs C. C. Rinker. Oak
ston. Va. and Miss Verna Raney.
s33Is Prospect avenue. were taken
RIO the Emergency Hospital In an
Unconscious condition Many others
RTeceived care in private homes.
SThey were taken from street cars
land automobiles caught in the jam
snear Highway. Bridge. With only
Stwo policemen at the gateway to
syirginia at $3.50 o'clock yesterday
snorning and. according to eyewit-
snesses. none at all fifteen minutes
sbefore. not a car moved over the
sbridge for two hours. Until the
earrival of Capt Headley. of the
straffic bureau. forty regulars. head
squarters men and citizen police
sfailed to untangle the jam.
o. At 11:35 the first of more than
twenty-five street cars bound to
darlington with approximately 5000
passengers aboard crossed the bridge
sAlong Fourteenth street the line of
automobiles extended to Washing
ton Monument. while Water street
swas blocked from the bridge to
sSeventh street. Hundreds of auto
spobiles were packed In the drive
sways leading from Potomac Park
sand on the Virginia side there were
sstil more cars damned together.
President. Car Caught.
: President Harding's car was forced
eto leave the roadway and cut across
stne nelds in several instances until a
spoint was reached where the trafic
Swas under control At times Secret
sService men in the machine got out
sand walked ahead. clearing space for
sfhe Chief Executives car.
= Secretary Hughes and Secretary
Fall were among those who aban-
sdoned their cars and walked to ArI-
:tngton.
Presdent Harding, on his way down
Eighteenth street to turn the switch
(which would send the great arch
bursting into all its jeweIed briIli-
fancy. was held up for five minutes
srhen traffic was thrown into a state
sof confusion by a fire at the old house
of detention building, sos Eighteenth
street The jam that caught the
Presidents car blocked all entrances
TO Emergency Hospital, and automo-
biies were forced to the pavement in
the onrush of machines. The fire was
of short duration, causing little
damage
AfteFnoon Jam Worse.
The return from the services at Ari-
ington produced a jam even greater
than that of the morning. The averr
age time needed to come from Fort
Ayer to the Highway Bridge was
more than three hours. From the
reservation to the bridge during the
afternoon solid mass Of automobiles.
three and four abreast. damned every
possible route.
Since the panic-stricken recruits of
the Union armies dashed back on the
sons after their crushing defeat at
Manassas sixty years ago such scenes
have not been witnessed.
with Marine and soldier military
. police stationed almost at 100-yard
intervals along the entire way, 1t
was reminiscent Of the black No
vember days three years ago, when
motor and mule traffic blocked the
muddy roads along the Meuse-Ar-
gonne front before the great Yankee
offensives.
The excellent work of the mill
tary police probably prevented many
serious accidents.
Cut I'm Two Streams.
From the drill field parking space
automobiles proceeded in slow but
comparatively orderly fashion along
the Fort Myer military road to
hOSsIyH dlfuOet 10 the entrance OF
the Georgetown Bridge. Here they
were diverted along the rough dirt
road that skirts the front of Airing
ton Cemetery.
Just beyond the main entrance to
the cemetery on this road the traf-
nc was cut into two streams-one
continued to the Junction of the
dirt road with the asphalt Alexan-
dria thoroughfare; the other was
turned into dirt road extending
for more than half a mile through
the fields. Joining the asphalt road
at point nearer the Highway
Bridge.
Go Inch BY Inch.
Traffic along both these routes
proceeded literally by inches. Along
both there WIS a heavy traffic in
each direction - into Virginia and
toward the Capital
Marching columns of infantry re-
turning to their barracks after TAX
ing part in the ceremonies at the
cemetery. complicated the traffic
problem along. the highway. A few
wide awake auto drivers edged
into the swath cut by the marching
column, but most were caught IN
the 'sfdelines