Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1921-10-31

| ls all tangled I'D In it's automobile
problem, which here. as almost every
where else. becomes more distressing
every year. Furthermore, In Washing
ton. the situation ls complicated by |
that unique spider web Of streets and
avenues which tho ingenious LEN
| fanf constructed at tho behest Of |
George Washington and 10 the con-
| fusion OF everyone who drives n car. /
At the present time 1t is not the |
ldriving. but the parking OF cars. which |
lis stirring the emotions of cur greet |
/ Capital reiegating world disarmament |
and taxation to secondary positions. |
/ II the street system Of Washington is |
i unique, It's parking problem in tYpi- |
j cal and is one which every city Of It's
class In this country is struggling
with.
There are plainly only two ways to
aolve the problem In the long run.
1 One is To forbid all parking in the
! downtown section. ana the other ia
to provide some system Of public gar
ages in that section, whore shoppers
may store their cars. II is manifest
iy out Of the question 70 let the cars
. go on piiing up at the curbs surg
! ing through the streets, blocking street
car traffic and knocking down pedes-
trians. The condition n already bad
! and growing worse.
! The Washington commissioners
J thought to solve the problem BY the
{ first method. They issued an order
: stating that after n certain date about
) a month Off there would be no parking
: during the greater part of the day In
the down town section. They desig-
: mated q section OF the city about 10
blocks long and six vide. Anyone
willing and able TO walk from three TO
: five blocks would stilI be able 10 reach
. the heart Of the business section with
out Inconvenience But II appeared
I that no one was willing 70 walk that
: far. The publication Of the order
Il brought forth a striking dernonstra-
n ton OF the extent to which people
. have come 70 depend upon their cars.
. Practically without exceptions the
' motorists proclaimed that a terrible
: hardship was being worked upon
= them. They were being asked to
r walk three or four hundred yards
4 every day, and in some instances in-
n diyiduals might have TO walk as much
Il as half mile. II was not merely in
= justice, II was crseityl
o The Anti-walkinw Movement.
o Father walked three miles TO school
e and back every day, beginning when
= he was seven years old, and he walked
q down town every day until about 1911.
Grandfather. who was a pioneer. walk
ed across the AIleghany Mountains
and always felt that he needed abou,
10 miles day TO keep him in health
But TO the present generation, a foot
Is merely something with which "a
10 step on the gas.
The motorist is docile bird. Hs
n obeys a complicated Tot of laws. Hs
l. let's policemen cuss him and roar Al
= him without ever losing his smile
q But do not ask him to walk. That i,
" an insult
. And the insulted rnoforfst was hack
E. ed up in his complaint by the fright
y ened merchant. He said, and evident
~ believed, that trade would be ruin
l. ed II cars were kept out OF the bust
ness section. He evidently believe,
- that shopping Is for many persons
- especially women, a senni-outdoo,
= sport, followed in motor cars. and on.
- which would be less popular ON soos
IN Doubtless he is to some extent right
! Yet IL is hard to believe that the .ota
!. amount Of retail sales in any cir
= would De reduced in the long run b,
~ RUE Keeping the cars out OF III
III business section. People viii still
IN nave the same needs and desires Z
~ satisfy.
al anyway. the retailers howEed. TIL
IA commissioners, at last reports. ha
lost their nerve. wholly, or IN par-
ar IL was announced that the orde
is might be rescinded or modified. an
20 tnat hearing on the subject woul
- PROBABLY be held. Holding a hearin
80 10 the ume-honored Washington wa
no OF doing nothing about anything.
Meantime, Washington presents
in parking comedy de luxe. Large mart,
ID ing areas are set aside, so that abo,
BAN OF the total street area is devote
at % them, and yet they are always ful
4. ana every parking street in bus
4 hctlrs is filed with cars backing o,
ri ana getting in, so that traffic is abot
nd half-blocked all the time. Large area
to are preempted by the autos for hiI
bv which take the tourist to Mt. yerno
lr- and other adjacent points of interes
lot The drivers of these vehicles regar
en- themselves as the real. owners OF II
he earth and everyone else as an il
~ truder.
or There are mySteriously sacred pIacs
III where no one is allowed to park.
.es millionaire's residence on the edge
the business section. though il seer
% nearly always TO be empty. has &
tor Whole front defended by no-parSin
w signs, and there are various 9th,
curbs where the motorist may n,
L a1ght for reasons somewhat obscure.
he Traffic In Confusion.
lld Late in the afternoon the stream
auto traffic in the down town scctio;
ar is bewildering thing. The number
traffic cops necessary to regulate
re has grown steadily They are no
lon necessary at almost every down TOW
ms crossing. Minor collisions are frequer
az Street car traffic is greatly delaye
Putting on more cars does no goc
y The trouble is they can't get throus
the automobile traffic fast enous
Vfe to keep up with their schedules.
Ao- Serious accidents are distressing
le frequent in the Washington stree,
lo1 and this is due in part TO it's ingenioi
Fo- street arrangement. which is probah
ee' the most curious in the world. II
'ae system of streets radiating from
md -.
ip- -