davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1936-05-12
Father of Traffic Victim
Pleads for Pedestrians

To the Editor of The Star:
AS the father of Richard Lloyd. who
was fatally injured in an automobile
accident at the intersection of First and
I streets on May /. would like to ex-
press my opinion of the way the traffic
situation is handled in the City of Wash
ington. 1t looks very much to me as II
q pedestrian has no right of way what
soever, at the intersection or elsewhere.
In my opinion. it Is much safer to cross
in the middle Of block than at inter-
sections. Basing my opinion on the fact
that in the middle of the, block you
have to dodge only autos coming from two
directions, whereas at intersections you
dodge them from all four. When they
eliminate all left-hand turns and make
right turns on red lights only, after first
stopping before making right turns. Pc
destrians will have at least somewhat
more of a chance than they do under
the present regulations.
Time and time again 1t has been
noted how the minor infractions of the
law. such as overtime parking, ETC., have
been deliberately and conscientiously
enforced while major infractions have
often been overlooked. Parked cars sell
dom, II ever, lnJure person. dlgn speed
Is the cause Of most accidents. But the
greatest contribution to all accidents is
the carelessness and inattention of the
driver Being q driver myself, realize
that driving car demands full attention
of the driver at all times.
Statistics show that driver who has
his car fully under control at all times
seldom. If ever, figures in trafhc acci-
dent. believe that reckless driving
causes nine out of ten accidents. Elimi-
nate reckless drivers and accidents will
be cut down to minimum.
realize the fact that pedestrians are
not always in the right. Looking back
over the past trafic fatalities for this
year, however. practically all drivers
have been exonerated by the coroners
jury. 1t Is hard for me to believe that
practically all pedestrians could be In
the wrong. EDWARD LLOYD.
Evening star., 1936-05-12
The Hats.On.Or.Off Issue.

Hats off or hats on? That is the
question which is now to be agitated at
a convention to be held in this city
next Saturday. That is to say, hats off
in elevators when ladies are present
Somebody has had the bright idea to
evoke a protest against the custom,
which dates back to the long-ago days
before feminism became the rule,
feminism in business, In politics, in all
the activities of modern life. Some of
the opponents of the gesture are actually
so "het up" over the matter that they
hold that there ought to be law
against it," Not all, however, 60 SO far.
The majority, it would seem, confine
their protest to ridicule. At any rate,
the favorite indoor sport of calling a
convention is to be practiced. Another
New Deal is to be undertaken. Nobody
seems to know precisely what will be
done at the convention, except to adopt
a platform. But what will a platform
accomplish, if a new party is not organ
lied, with State units, State chairmen,
county chairmen, local chairmen, all over
this broad land? And will there be a
presidential ticket, and representation
In Congress instructed for the enactment
Of q Federal law? The Townsend plan
Evening star., 1936-05-12
Use of Streets As Garages
Makes the City Unsightly
To the Editor of The Star.

40 the Eoitof Oh 1 ne star:
1t is interesting to note the protests
Of residents of the Capital against the
renovation Of the city parks, as evil
denced by the deluge of criticism against
the relandscaping projects. 1t would be
interesting were the people of Washing
ton to awake to the Disagreement of the
parks as taxi stands and permanent
parking of other vehicles along the bor-
ders of the parks.
The small parks that dot the Capital
afforded attractive vistas as one rode
about the city and added much to its
charm, but now the view of these open
spaces has been cut of since they are
completely surrounded by vehicles
parked at the curb. 1t is noted that no
parking is permitted at any part of the
curb bordering the imposing embassy
and legation buildings.
This wise restriction should be ex-
tended to the curb of parks, especially
the small ones where ones outlook is
limited to horizon of parked vehicles.
At Jones Beach, Long Island, New
York State park development, there are
parking accommodations for more than
10000 cars in one place, but the space Is
sunk to q depth that prevents the parked
cars shutting OF the view Of the sur
rounding beach and country. At this
resort there is apparently q place for
everything and everything in its place
as it is not disfigured by parked vehicles.
Since on street terminals are now re-
Quired for interstate buSses, this provt-
sion should be extended to include other
buses and taxicabs. Instead OF per-
mitting taxicabs to use the many small
parks as taxi stands, the associations
should be required to furnish their own
stands, on private property. Trafhc signs
designate the number of cabs which may
occupy o designated taxicab stand at the
curb of parks, but more often one will
find idle cabs in excess of the number
allowed parked at other places along the
curb bordering parks. The parks become
in some instances q rendezvous for idle
taxi drivers who indulge in loafing or
horse play and prevent quiet relaxation
on the part of other patrons Of the parks.
It is q cause for wonderment that
money is being spent to improve the
appearance Of the parks while no effort
is made to stop the practice Of unsightly
trucks or other commercial vehicles using
the curb bordering the parks for storage
of such vehicles when not in use. Where
but Washington would one see such
Disagreement?
The monopolization Of the city's streets
by vehicles has reached a point where 1t
should be intelligently dealt with.
Automobiles need parking space as
well as roads and it is only dodging the
issue to permit cars to disflgure the city's
appearance with permanent outdoor
parking.
The beautiful tree. and lawn-lined
streets Of Washington are parks In them
selves and 1t is . disgusting disfigure-
ment Of the town to permit permanent
parking outdoors.
HENRY ECKENRODE.
Evening star., 1936-05-12
Cathedral Campaign.

The present membership and malnte-
nance campaign in behalf of Washington
Cathedral is not general public appeal.
But it nevertheless has very wide interest
in the Nations Capital for reasons which
perhaps deserve reaffirmation.
Incontrovertibly, the Cathedral is the
seat of the chair of the Bishop of Wash
ington, designed and being built to be
a focus point for his diocesan efforts.
Yet from the beginning it has been
declared that it is in actual fact "a house
of prayer for all peoples" Such was the
intent of the original sponsors. They
recorded their philosophic liberality in
their application to Congress for char
ter and it is repeated in the act of in
corporation.
More important, however, is the policy
of the Cathedral authorities in the day
to day practice of their ministry Of re-
ligion, education and charity. They
strive to meet the spiritual. cultural and
social need of all who seek the growing
fame on Mount St. Alban. Without COM
promise with their essential faith, they
have manifested during more than thirty
years kindly and generous fellow-feel-
ing for all corners. Probably nowhere
else in the world has doctrine been pre-
served to a like degree by processes OF
practical tolerance. The rising walls OF
the beautiful witness to Christ" as
Bishop Satterlee chose to call 1t, testify
to Truth supported by Mercy.
And instinctively large numbers oi
men and women comprehend these
spiritual values as they really are. Hence
it is that the throngs of pilgrims who
visit the Cathedral and the congrega-
tions which worship there are not pre-.
dominantly Episcopalian. Instead, they
represent every conceivable branch oi
the universal church. Even the pulpit
has been freely opened to Interpreters
of the Word who a few centuries age
would have been burned for "heresy.'
The gain is too significant to pass un-
noticed. Possibly it accrues from the
influence of national freedom and CO.
operation, law and order in the best
meaning of the phrase.
But be that as it may 1t seems indubi-
table that the Cathedral has claims upon
all Washington, all America. It is a
peoples shrine, holy place from which
no seeker for peace is barred The present
moment is one in which that should be
said, and it may be supposed that a
multitude will wish the current cam.
paign we'll. Its success will be O matter
Of common benefit.
Evening star., 1936-05-12
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES Z. TRACEW ELL.

No master conductor could excel the
undirected birds in building up his music
minute by minute. That Is why 1t well
may be called q symphony. It builds
up slowly, to a crescendo at last which
will thrill the sensitive listener. tTo
others, alas, it may be but noise" This
Is true OF human symphonies)
Birds are light meters. in effect. They
respond instantly to the first beam Of
real light. One little fellow. somewhere
in q tree, will be q mite more sensitive
t.lan all the other hundreds of sleeping
birds. II you are awake you will hear
him give . faint "cheep." Then all is
still again. Seconds, even minutes, 60
by. Then there will be another "cheep,"
just slightly louder.
These beginning sounds are repeated,
from time to time, from various points.
The sounds may be close, but give the
effect of coming from long distance.
There Is no hurry.
first one, then another. Just as humans
do, they are still sleepy. and cannot
throw themselves into the music all at
once. There is no "leaping out Of bed"
silly human directions too often given.
is just as we'll for them.
Why don't they fall OF their perches?
When they hook their claws over
branch certain tendons in their legs
exert a pull on the claws, holding them
tight around as long as the bird sits in
this relaxed position, which is not sitting,
as with us, but merely sort Of crouch.
When the bird awakes it sits up." as 1t
r1nntin1 afra i0nfang the
legs. This In turn l0OSens the pull OF
the tendons and this relaxes the claws.
The bird is now free to fly.
Instead Of flying, 1t sings.
1t pours its entire being into its song,
spurred on by its kind everywhere, as no
doubt by the songs OF all the other
species.
This mighty morning chorus is the
outpouring Of the faith Of the animal
creation that all is well.
When q poet attempts to use words
he Is doing exactly the same thing. no
perhaps.
What are the little birds saying there,
in the dawn, If not something such as
this:
Pleasantly and well suited I walk,
Whittier I walk cannot define, but I
know it is good;
The whole universe indicates that it is
good.
The past and the present indicate that
it is good.
How beautiful and perfect are the
How perfect the earth, and the minutest
thing upon it.;
What is called good is perfect. and what
is called bad Is just as perfect.
II swear I think now that everything
without exception has an eternal soul;
The trees have, rooted in the ground;
the weeds Of the sea have. the
animals;
I swear I think there Is nothing but
Immortality,
That the exquisite scheme is for it. and
the nebulous float is for 1t, and the
! cohering is for it,
And all preparation is for 1t. and identity
is for it, and life and materials are
| altogether for It."
So Walt Whitman tells us what the
4 birds saw in the dawn
Evening star., 1936-05-12
Respect for Rights Would
Solve Pedestrian Problem

To the Editor of Thestar:
Your editorial on Pedestrian Regula-
ton" is very much to the point. There
is q great need for auxiliary lights SO
that pedestrians will always be able to
know when it is safe to cross at signaled
intersections.
You might have gone much farther
and referred to the freedom with which
motorists making right and left turns
honk out of their way pedestrians pro-
ceeding properly on the go" signal:
whether that signal be an inanimate
green light or the signal Of an omcer;
to the habit of many oficers Of changing
their signals without any appreciable
clearance period, forcing the non-jay-
walking pedestrians who are trying to
cooperate to Jump for their lives; to
the frequency with which ofncers di-
recting traffic at Dupont Circle fail to
see motorists who continue on the red.
which, the rules say, is exclusively for
pedestrians.
Jay-walking prevails in washington
chiefly because there is no incentive to
do otherwise-no protection for pedes-
trians who, like myself, do not jay-walk.
The crying need is a police department
that understands and is in sympathy
with the rights of pedestrians.
CHARLES w. STARK.
Evening star., 1936-05-12
Modern Diogenes Seeks
Old.FashiOned Barber
To the Editor of The star:

10 tne EOtor Oh ne Sttr.
II, one of these days, you should come
across q chap walking about in broad
daylight with lit flashlight in his hand,
you would meet the writer of this note,
who, inspired by Diogenes of old will be
engaged In q search for q barber who
takes pride in his work.
Barbering is one of the more conspicu.
Gus examples of trades where slipshod
and uniformly mediocre work prevail
today. The emphasis that our age has
placed on mass production and cheap
prices has almost entirely stified the
spiritual part of all labor-conscientiou
craftsmanship.
Too many BARRIERS take a few hap
hazard ships at their customers hair and
call In a job. Too many are overly
anxious to get the victim involved in q
number Of other services" such as
shampoo, SINCE, shoe shine, massage. ETC.,
before they allow him to escape. These
services may, at times, be actual con-
veniences, but strictly speaking they are
extraneous encrustations on the ancient
trade of barbering, like lichens on trees.
They divert the attention from what
used to be the fundamental aims of bar
bering, namely, hair cuts and shaves, and
at the end, the customer is likely as not
to find real workmanship on the polish
Of his shoes rather than on the cut Of
his hair.
Going on the assumption that so cents
is a reasonable price for q haircut, the
writer believes that the cut-rate shops
actually give one full value for his money
namely, one-half and, in some places,
seven-tenths of hair cut. 1t Is thus
in the establishments where the 50-cent
price Is charged that there is most room
for improvement and reformation.
Half-hearted work has become estab-
lished, however, because people have
tolerated it. Pride in work or crafts
manship Is too precious q characteristic
of labor to be allowed to become vestigial.
1t is q spiritual fire which makes the
humblest Of handiworks glow with vital
beauty. Like the quality of mercy, it
blesseth him that gives and him that
receives. There is crying need for a
stirring crusade for craftsmanship. All
of us can take . vital part in such q
crusade by denouncing. protesting, grum-
bling and kicking against all and every
kind Of sloppy work. JACK MURATA.
Evening star., 1936-05-12
Queer Philosophy Applied
To Utilities Propaganda

To the Editor Of The Star:
note with interest and some surprise
that in the front-page article by Carlisle
Bargeron in The Star, propaganda
for the public ownership of power plants
seems to be placed in the same category
with propaganda for privately owned
companies. In other words, it Is repre-
hensible to carry on such an activity in
the interests of the people as whole.
lust as it is to carry it on in favor OF
privately owned interests and against the
interests of the public generally. It Is
q queer philosophy, indeed, though quite
in keeping with that Of small. highly
influential part of the population.
r. A. YOUNG.
Evening star., 1936-05-12
Another Capture.

Karpis, Campbell, Mahan, Robinson,
all taken within week. Such is the
record of the G-men of the Department
of Justice, four fugitives from the law
whose names have become known
throughout the country as malefactors
of the worst type, whose guilt has been
established and whose liberty has been
a menace, captured in rapid succession
after many months of pursuit. 1t is
indeed a remarkable record and fur
thermore a striking coincidence of sue
cesses in short order.
The latest arrest Is especially gratify-
ing, for the fugitive, owing to certain
personal peculiarities, was enabled to
disguise himself sufficiently to evade
detection for months. But he, too, was
traced by the means Of ransom money,
trail which he could not efface. This
demonstrates anew that the business of
kidnapping for gain is desperately hazard
Gus. In the case Of the Lindbergh kid
naping the trail Of the ransom money
finally led to the arrest, conviction and
execution of Hauptmann. Not even the
attempted change OF the serial numbers
on the bills he took effected the escape
of Mahan, the third of the quartet cap
tured in this latest haul of public
enemies"
Scientific methods of detection, intelli-
gent and patient pursuit have led to
these recent captures, which have their
high value in demonstration Of the fu.
tility of crime and the certainty Of pun
ishment in cases falling within the scope
of the Federal Jurisdiction. It does not
follow that crine will cease. That y
Evening star., 1936-05-12
Lost in the /. C.. C..

What is holding up the merger of the
Capital Transit Co. and the Sixteenth
street bus line? The public Is inter-
ested to the extent that merger means
free transfers and additional improve
ments possibly resulting in better service.
The Public Utilities Commission has
given the matter its approval.
1t happens that some time ago the
Capital Traction Co., in accordance with
the provisions Of the new motor vehicle
carrier act, filed a petition with the In
terstate Commerce Commission for per-
mission to effect the merger, provided,
Of course. the arrangement was acceptable
to the Public Utilities Commission. Then.
after waiting for some time and receiv-
ing no answer from the busy l. G. c., the
street car company was informed by
competent authority that its petition to
the I. c. c. was probably unnecessary.
inasmuch as the merger law specifically
authorized the merger of the bus COM
pany. So the street car company filed a
motion with the I. c. c. for permission to
withdraw its petition. The only reason
the I. c. C. would be interested was be-
cause the bus line involved runs over the
District line into Maryland. putting it in
the interstate commerce class Of carriers.
Well, the bus company, the street car
company. the Washington public and
the Public Utilities Commission are still
waiting for the I. c. c. to get around
to acting, either on the petition to merge
or the motion to dismiss the petition.
And, being a busy Federal agency, the
I. C. C. may get around to it some time
or another. Everybody hopes it will be
soon, especially the utilities commission.
which is apparently holding up its order
out of difference to the I. c. c.
Evening star., 1936-05-12

gained a momentum by such means, tor
a time. The Hats On In Elevators party
might have better luck than the Town
send plan has had thus far.
If this meeting on Saturday is really
held and the present contemplated action
is taken, will it be accompanied by the
adoption of measures to enforce the rule?
Those who subscribe to the hats-on man
date should at the least wear badges
Will they be pledged to direct action in
case of recalcitrance? Suppose hats
on" man sees a man take of his hat In
the presence of a woman in an elevator.
Will he seek to compel the replacement
of the hat? Or will be merely voice his
protest against this action? And what
about the woman in whose presence a
hat is removed? Will she be enlisted in
the crusade and besought to command
the hat-remover to replace his hat?
1t is all rather confusing. Perhaps
the hat-off contingent will try moral
suasion and ridicule. And then maybe
the hat-off offender will resent the inter-
ference with his personal code OF po-
liteness. A shindy may result, and a
shindy in an elevator is not calmly to
be contemplated. 1t may be predicted
that there will be no mass movement
over to the hats-on side, for the habit
of courtesy is strongly fixed in most cases
and opposition is likely to confirm rather
than to discourage the acknowledgment
of a difference which not even the adop-
ton of the nineteenth amendment to
the Constitution has nullified.
Evening star., 1936-05-12
Wholesome Adjustment to
Be Sum of Political Trend

To the Editor Of The Star:
Somewhere Herbert Spencer set down
the axiom that when the rights Of So
ciety expand, inevitably the rights OF
the individual contract. So generally
is this accepted as q truism that un-
warranted panic has seized such ordt-
narily placid and astute commentators
as The Sunday Stars Mr.. Mark Sullivan.
Certainly some of your liberia. minded
readers will refuse to view with Mr..
Sullivan's degree Of alarm our present
political trends. Is not American civili-
zation, at least, merely going through
period of wholesome adjustment? Are
we not actually making q new evalua-
tion of the social significance Of all indi-
vidual acts? Swapping Of rights between
the State and its individuals Is going
on. Nor are the individuals getting the
short end Of It.
Any reader, for instance whose men,
ory carries three or four decades knows
that the lady who today plays tennis
In shorts, smokes cigarettes in q hotel
lobby, serves wine In her home, as well
as her husband. who works about his
garden on the Sabbath, invites few
choice souls in for q Saturday game OF
James Joyce's ulysses" would once
have come into violent collision with the
State. Today society realizes that in
these as well as in hundreds Of other
relationships touching the intimate per-
Sonal lives of It's members it should never
have been concerned. The State Is
abandoning wholesale its formerly
asserted rights of regulation. And there
is taking place an immense growth Of
real personal liberty.
Conversely. heretofore sacred personal
rights are being looked into. The right
of an individual to conduct his affairs
under "the public be damned code is
being progressively curtailed. Wages
and hours of his laborers, the age and
sex of his employees. the price and the
labels he puts upon his product, the
method of its preparation, his attitude
toward his competitors. how he issues
his securities, the rate OF interest he
exacts of his debtors are being removed
from the zone of personal liberty. These
and many more such individual acts the
State now discovers are fraught with
profound and inevitable social conse-
quences.
Thus the State giveth and the State
taketh away. DWIGHT T. SCOTT.