Evening star., 1924-10-29

i'Oatlnutu from FlTSI fSSf.t
tion, and then permit traffic to move
with the semaphore
Pedestrians Are Careless.
These orders are being obcyed. as a
rule. There are a few exceptions which
will be caught in time. rcprimanded and
taught to heed rcgula tions better But a
reporter stood at Fourteenth street and
Pennsylvania avenue this morning dur
ing the rush hour and saw the pedes-
TRANS. the very persons whom the po-
lice are trying to protect, utterly diSre-
gard his efforts to save them from harm
and walk just as il suited their particu-
lar fancieS.
The officer duly blew his whistle
looked carefully in all directions and, a;
the proper time, opened his semaphore
to the waiting automobiles and street
cars, trying his utmost to give the pedes-
trians every protection possible. But
what was his reward" a mad. hurry
ing mass Of humanity that moved in all
four directions of the compass at once,
and some who darted in directions that
even the versatile compass would scarce
ly undertake to negotiate.
One woman started from the Will
lard corner and promenaded debon-
airely square across the center of the
street TO the diagonal curb. In the
meantime about Is street cars and
several hundred automobiles were
held up in all directions Nothing
could move but the jay walker, and
at that The motorman of an h street
car. making the turn across Pennsyl-
vania avenue. missed running her
down by "A scant foot. OF course, the
motorman swore loudly and soundly.
Cause Most Trouble.
I'm glad you saw that said the
policeman. Those are the kind OF
stunts we have to put up with a
dozen times on a tour of duty, not
to mention the regular boobs who
never pay any attention to our
whistles or signals. / don't believe
half of 'em hear EN-; they're too pre-
occupied about getting to work on
time in the morning. and getting
home TO supper in the evening.
Seventy five per cent of our trouble
nowadays is caused by the pedestrian,
most Of the motorists are all right
"Of course, every now and then
well run across a driver who ism
thinking; sometimes they're just plain
reckless. We can lock them up, and
believe me, they'll know better the
next time. But we can't touch the
H..
scares us to death a hundred times a
day, and the law grants him perfect
immunity. We should handle them
Just as we do motorists. That's what
the traffic needs
Do As They Like.
A more conglomerated scene could
scarcely be imagined than Pepnsyl-
vania avenue and Fourteenth street
during the rush hour. Street cars
and automobiles are piled behind one
another by the hundreds, and weav-
ing in and out among them in an
astonishing, uncomfortable mass are
the darting, jumping, running and
crawling figures of the pedestrians
moving along at speeds to suit their
own fancies.
Most of the motorists have now be-
come accustomed to the short wal,
while the policeman is clearing his
intersection. Now and then one will
forget and dart ahead at the first
sound of the whistle. He is promptly
diverted to the right, however, anc
whenever he is close enough hears
some unpleasant things about his
Uranium from the overwrought or
ficer The demand of the policemen
now is the right to control definitely
pedestrian traffic as they do yehicuiar
traffic.