Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-02-26

"It must be lonesome to live so far
away from everything" refiectiyely re-
marked a lady as we were crossing
North Dakota prairie, hour after hour,
in a day coach.
There were but dozen passengers IN
the car and a dapperly dressed COM
mercial traveller was riding in the seat
in front of the lady. After gazing lone
somely out of the windows for some
hours and seeing no scenery except the
plain, as level as billiard table, at last
he turned to his fellow passenger and
asked, Excuse me, madame, does any
one ever live on these desolate pralrles?'
"Oh, yes" was the answer, Eve lived
here 20 years. Where do you hve?"
"Oh. down in little old New York;
He Strengthened up and beamed, but
the lady looked sorowfully out at the
setting subway over on the horizon
sighed commiseratingly, and spoke the
words above quoted, but spoke rather
to herself, not wanting to hurt the
feelings of the poor fellow destined to
live so far away from everything"
It was just like that when found
in a Philadelphia paper yesterday sta
tistics of accidents and fatalities IN the
various automobile conquered cities.
How one must shudder at having to
live in Chicago ESQ far from the Cap
itaD, where, in addition to shooting the
surplus population, they have their Jug
gernauts NOV them down -28.8 per
population every year. Or even in st.
Louis, where they run down and kill
25.5 persons out of every 100000. Or
Detroit-239 executions per 100000.
Here in the "effete, dead" City of
Brotherly Love, and in the National
Capital, we slaughter only half as many
as they do out in the wild and woolly"
West.
After all. this may be a survival Of
the fittest.' but still 1t must be con-
coded that there are good people out
West. too. 1t Is a wanton waste to kill
them off so recklessly.
In New England the humanitarians,
or canineatarians, are offering rewards
for the best plan for keeping dogs from
being run over and crippled or killed,
while in the West even men are too
cheap to bother about. rs thy servant
a dog that he should be run down?"
1t must be thrilling to live in such eX-
element all the time as in the Windy
City, but wearing on ones nerves, too.
The ancient Greeks rugged up wood
en- horse and climbed in it to conquer
Troy, but moderniSts substitute an
eight-cylinder, 1880 model automojug-
gernaut and conquer any city without
firing shot or registering a puncture.
Only Presidents ride electric horses,
not the common mass Of folks. Horses
are pass-ay. but they can't pass auto
mobiles Where Is the horse that can
kill % humans out of every 100000,
even in Chicago?
Washington has held for five years
the honor position of low mortality &C
cidents from automobile traffic. Phil
adelphia boasts of having caught up
with Washington's record of 141 ia
talities per 100000 for the last IL
months, but in January Philadelphia
ranked with San Francisco-about II
deaths annually per 100000. while
Washington's gauge seems to have
months preceding.
Compared with Chicago's rate, we
save the lives of 80 or 90 victims an
nually. through the extraordinary eff
ficiency of our Traffic Bureau.
The fatal accidents in Philadelphia
are computed on money basis as be-
ing a loss of $14000,000 a year, and
the deaths by automobile accidents in
the whole country are equivalent,
economically. to a loss of $860000,000
year. II the whole country's record
could be brought down to the basis Of
Washington's ii per 100000 population
it would be worth half of that $3.50 .000,-
900. If that excess loss of. say. $780,
100000 per year were taken as interest
on Government bonds, 1t would sustain
the United States cost Of the World
War.
Washington Is not counted intelli-
gent enough to vote, but We haye set
the pace for life-saving efficienny in
traffic control. That's going some!
Maybe we may vote when We save the
other IA victims per 100000.
X
The year before the Washington
Traffic Bureau was established. in 1925,
the losses of life by automobile acct
dents were 1914 per 100000 population.
In 1925, the number decreased to 178
per 100000 population by 1927, to 155,
and for the IL months ended Deem
might so easily have been different
such an uninspired different" tool
You will call Enter the Creek d de-
1iQht. or u arm no QllesSer-yglnakaueu - ~