Evening star., 1925-12-07

instance would I go out of my way
to repeat the samaritan-like perfor-
| nance.
'I~ was coming down Sixteenth
street one night and / saw man
and woman standing nervously by a
bus stop sign. 1 drew up to the
curb and offered to bring them down
town. They accepted eagerly because,
as learned, the woman, recently
having become q mother, was hurry
ing to hungry baby.
Il thought up a pretext for taking
them within two blocks of their
|. apartment. which was off my route.
l didn't take them all the way. be-
cause. that being done so rarely and
they protested 50 considerably, / was
afraid, if 1 did, they would suspect
me of ulterior motive. Yet I'll bet
they feel as you do-and, in fact, as
| do--about the PARKWAY lift.
"A code of manners for use between
car drivers and casual 'nons'-whO
seem to be natural enemies-should
be developed. Why not, for example.
make it proper for any one, when
desiring 1t. to raise a hand In token
for a lift by a passing motorist. as
boys do, and adults, too, on country
roads?
This really would make it easier
for the accommodating driver. How
ever others feel. L know that fre-
quently | like to get a free lift and
would much rather take the burden
of asking for 1t than the embarrass-
ment of refusing It.
MY allegiance is with the mons of
whom l mostly am, but, despite
herculean efforts-as several other
| neighbors, like you, might attest
make no progress, as n driver, IN
establishing the kind of understanding
| propose.
Nearly every time ] offer to pick
up {. casual I swear that I'll never
do II again-and I swear it most
violently, when it is evident that one
accepts against ones will or con
venience.
Then when ! see the looks thrust
at meas l take up 10 times the
street space / am entitled to in
driving in to Work-by ShiVering or
hurried appearing persons waiting at
corners for crowded busses or street
cars. my renunciations go by the
board or my conscience taunts me for
not trying to be accommodating and
helpful in this all too callous world.
And when the casual Is one I know
but / know doesn't know me, l can't
resist the temptation to play anonY-
| nous but knowing host, as | did with
you. even though / get in return one
of those rare glimpses of m"self as
another sees me-and for which
thank you.
Cordially. "A. II. u"
X X i
SO we have presented now in this
| column both sides of this matter
| which is an important one simply be
| cause IL is part and parcel Of the whole
great automobile problem, with its
fra ffin and Ot her milf ions
The mental entente cordiale between
| automobilists and pedestrians is some
| thing that must be strengthened as
| the days go by. a thorough under
standing becomes more necessary, as
| the number of cars increases, and the
| population of our great cities grows
| by leaps and bounds.
1t is a duty which every either
| owes his city-in our case, Washing
| ton---to try and understand the psy
! chology of the other fellow. The mar
| who drives a car can help out il he
| tries to think of the man on the cor
! ner. and the pedestrian, in his turn
can lessen the problem a bit if he will
| try to look at the thing from the view
| point of the man who drives an auto
! mobile.
All men do not drive cars, but al
| automobiliStS are PEDESTRIANS. now
| and then. We are all PEDESTRIANS BY
nature. and it is upon this UNIVERSAL pc.
| deStria0-which means every one Of
| us-that the problem falls heaviest. as
! the car owner realizes when he starts
| to walk from the place he has parked
his car.