Evening star., 1931-03-14

| ployment so specialized that
| there are men IN that country who To
| earn their wages have nothing else to
! do bat to look out of the window
! News of such functionaries on reaching
/ Vienna has actuated the desire fol
( the same sort Of work. Unfortunately
I We have never had any jobs like this
1 and the people are beginning to awaken
to q new sense of their deprivations.
The ';window-looker" in America /.
a man who looks out of the window
| to see what kind of weather prevails
| for the information of some superior
who hasn't time to look out of the
| window. The service is required chiefly
| by officials of the big traffic systems
When the manager is kept posted as tC
whether 1t is raining, showing. or the
| sun shining, he knows whether the
| numbers of street cars and busSes
! should be "thickened" or not, and is
sues his orders accordingly. In America.
| one has constantly to. take notice of
the whims and wishes of the public. If
! 1t Is a nice day, some of the people
will walk few blocks. If it is raining
| pitchforks they will take a bus from
one corner to the next So everything
in connection with the traffic has to
be regulated with respect to the
| weather.
Here in Vienna, we are not so con-
Siderate. The traffic companies employ
no "window-lookers." The harder it
rains, the fewer the street cars. Every
body has observed this phenomenon,
and will confirm it. When the weather
is bad in Vienna, people don't hop on
street cars, but suffer discomfort and
impatience. for We have no window
locker" and 1t is nobody's business to
1 see that more cars are commissioned
for duty at such times. Perhaps the
management are afraid the rainwater
will injure the street cars, and so they
keep them under cover until 1t stops.
But such procedures are nevertheless
very hard on the patrons crowding on
such cars as do run. The footboard
has never before seemed so small.
Capable in ordinary traffic crushes of
accommodating three persons, when it
is raining deluges, four crowd on 1t,
the fourth hanging on by the door,
handles. Inside, nervous, yet more for
tunate, passengers are packed SO close
in their compreSSed-air chamber that
they tear the buttons of each others
clothes, and pay for the privilege of
having insults muttered in their ears
by others whose toes they step on.
It is quite apparent that no one has
been delegated to look out Of the win
dow in the managers Office, and to
suggest to him that 1t is raining don
nerwetter" and that more cars should
be taken out of the barns. All because
of so much dry rot and ineff1ciency in
our public services officialdom!
knowledge of English
Great Advantage to Police.
Ell Comercio, Lima. = Long ex-
perience has shown in CalIao, the chief
seaport of Peru, the necessity of all
the members Of the police force having
an acquaintance with English. Even
rudimentary knowledge of the Ian
guage is great advantage, and al
ready a large part of the officers are
qualified to this extent at least So
many travellers and fugitives from the
United States and other English-speak-
ing countries land at this port that
scarcely day goes by that an agent
does not encounter one or more Of
these subjects. and for this reason the
authorities of the department have de-
cided to establish classes wherein all
the men may learn not only 20 talk,
but also to read and write that tongue.
At first traffic officers and others most
likely TO come in contact with these
foreigners will be instructed In tile
new science, and after that every men,
ber of the constabulary will be re-
quired to take the course.