Evening star., 1926-10-11
PATROL
TO GUARD CHILDREN
SUCCEEDS IN TEST
Officials Witness Tyout at
Thomson-See Need for
|, Later Opening.
PARENTS APPROVE PLAN,
BALLOT RETURNS SHOW
All But One of Those Tabulated
Favor Starting Hour Change
to Avoid Rush.


In the presence of the director Of
traffic, the superintendent Of police
and other interested authorities,
Washington comnemorated the death
ono week ago today of Freddy GROSS
kurth at the Gage School by launch
ing it's first experiment with schoolboy
traffic patrols. designed to insure child
safety In school traffic zones
Although the preliminary test this
morning. conducted at the traffic beset
Thomson School at Twelfth and l.
streets, necessarily was brief. officials
who watched the experiment wore
unanimously of the opinion that had
such patrol been on watch last Mon
day at the Gage School the tragic
death of the 6-year-old Grosskurth boy
might have been averted.
Observers of the opening try-out Of
the patrol system also were impressed.
anew, with the fact that were the
children permitted to attend their
classes q qurter, or half, hour later
than at present, the vehicular con-
gestion which confronts the young
sters just before O'Clock would have
subsidized to q remarkable degree.
Parents Favor Change.
Parents of the school children ap-
pear generally to be of the same
opinion regarding the advisability of
changing the opening hour for
schools, judging from the first group
of replies received by the school
editor of The Star to the special
school-hour ballot now being taken
by this newspaper.
Out of the swelling tide of marked
ballots being tabulated today, only
one vote of opposition was recorded
against the proposal. 1t was from
Mrs. Ethel d. Jones of 2912 Twelfth
street northeast, who complained that
the children were accustomed" to
9 am. and it would confuse them to
change it. She said she has one
child in school.
All the other ballots favored 930 as
the opening hour. with the exception
OF two which advocated 9:15 and s
O'Clock instead Of the present hour.
Boys Wear Symbols.
All OF the Capitals agencies Inter-
ested directly in the revived campaign
for schoolchild safety co-operated to-
day in staging the boy patrol test.
Maj. Hesse, Director of Traffic Ed
ridge and Police Inspector Charles l..
Evans were on hand early to repre-.
sent the municipal government. while
G. p. Clark and #. F. Behler. of the
local branch of the American Auto
mobile Association, personally deco
rated the first nine members of the
Thomson patrol with their symbols
of authority "Sam Browne"
belts and shining nickel badges. The
badges were inscribed Safety Patrol
Officer. Elementary Schools"
After receiving final instructions
from Principal c. X. F'inckel Of the
Thomson School. the boys were di-
vided into groups and placed on senti-
mel duty at three specially hazardous
points-previously determined in a
police survey. These danger spots"
were at the intersection of Thirteenth
and L streets. at Twelfth and X
streets and a the entrance to an alley
midway of the block on Twelfth
street, between X and l..
Guide Young Across.
The boys, properly impressed with
the importance of their tasks, did
excellent work in preventing younger
boys and girls from crossing traffic
lanes at any point but the plainly
marked corner crosS-walks. The
the motoring traffic. but stood alert
ly by with their collected charges until
a safe opportunity to pilot them over
the intersection presented itself. Then
they would hurry the bOok-laden
youngsters across the street and re-
turn quickly to their original posts.
There was no dashing of thoughtless
youngsters across the middle of the
traffic arteries in the vicinity Of the
Thomson School today. Pedestrians.
young and old alike, took due notice
6f the new order of things and made
their passages in careful fashion at
authorized crossing points.
The particularly dangerous corner
at Twelfth and l. streets was presided
over by a regular uniformed member
Of the Police Department. Maj.
Hesse, Inspector Evans and Director
Eldridge studied carefully the heavy
flow of traffic past this intersection
and agreed on the spot that "boule-
ward stop" signs should be erected on
L street so as to prevent east and
west bound motorists from plunging
headlong through the heavy south
bound traffic ON Twelfth street from
the direction Of automatically con-
trolled Massachusetts avenue.
Drivers Are Reproached.
Mai. Hesse more than once found
II necessary to reproach drivers seek
ing to cross Twelfth street for .cruis-
ing over the cross walks in their
efforts to break through the south
bound vehicle line. Stop signs should
relieve this condition and give the
young pedestrians added protection,
he believes.
The facilities Of the Boy Scout or.
ganization were offered school officials
today in carrying out the schoolboy
patrol program. L. G. Drake, local
Scout executive, advised Superintend.
ent Of Schools Ballou that there are
sufficient Boy Scouts In every elemen-
tary school to form the nucleus at
least of the special patrols. These
boys, Mr.. Drake pointed out, are thor
oughly trained in the rudiments OF
safety work and well fitted to serve
efficiently on the schoo1boy. patrols.
The boys composing the Thomson
patrol included James Wetzler, Jack
Sparrow. Frank Nugent, Elmer
Powell. Leroy Ridgley. Edwin Eggers,
Sherwood Mason, Raymond Townsend
and George Spann. Most of them are
pupils in the sixth grade.
The boys will take their stations
each morning at 20 minutes to 9,
serving until two or three minutes
after the opening hour. again at 5
minutes to II, at 10 minutes to I and
at minutes to 8 o'clock.