The Waterbury Democrat., 1939-01-26

The typical letter says, in substance: "I have always wanted to visit New York, hope to do 1t during the Worlds Fair. I have 8 limited amount of money to spend. Where should 90; what should I see, for the money and time at my disposalp"
 Not easy to answer in @ gen. eral way. Please do not feel that I have any objection to answering specific questions of correspond ents. I am happy to do 1t, to the extent of my time and ability. I believe, however, that I may be able to answer Q good many ques- tons in advance, thus:
 The two classes of people you will come into closest contact with in New York are policemen and taxi drivers. Unless you know your transportation lines well, 1t is bet- ter to take a taxi for almost all trips of reasonable length within the city.
 Do not take Q taxi to the Fair. Not unless you have lots of money.
 was out at the Fair the other day, attending something that was to have been a sausage tasting, c wiener roast, or something like that. 1t turned out to be speak ing contest, 0 statistics marathon, and a starvation experiment.. Five of us hired Q taxi after the first hour of speaking and starving. When I left the cab ct 55th street and Fifth avenue we had not checked too closely on the meter, but we were giving the late stayer q dollar apiece for our ride. The clock probably said about four dollars for the distance between the Fair and the heart of Man. hattan. That Is expensive trans portation, and you can do much better by subway.
 It is extremely important for the total stranger in New York to realize this: Your most depend- able friend is the uniformed po- liceman. There is not one chance in q million that he will let you down. When in doubt about any thing, consult q uniformed police- man. If you hide nothing from him, tell him that you read in this column that he would be your friend, the busiest policeman in New York will take all the time required to advise you, guide and direct you.
 Clergymen in New York are ex- tremely busy persons, no matter what their denomination or where their church. They are generally difficult to reach. So don't count too much upon talking it over with the preacher Of the church which represents the same relig- ious faith you have been living with in your home town. In most cases you will get no farther than tho young lady who is secretary or receptionist in the business office of tho church. The minis- ters are not inhuman. They are simply too busy to see strangers The well-trained secretaries arc apt to be c bit cold and imper- sonal, from the point of view of the person who comes from C smaller city. Some of those girls can bring your temperature down to zero in two sentences.
 Still, If there is serious diffi- culty, you can get at the clergy man. 1 strongly recommend the Travellers Aid. You will find uni- formed representatives of this or- ganization in the rail terminals, or you can reach them by tele- phone. They know everything. They will positively protect the stranger from racketeers If he can be relied upon to follow direc- tons. The Travellers Aid can get in touch with the clergyman of your denomination if that Is nec- eSSary.
 
 Please remember this about taxi drivers In New York. Each one Of of them works under direct super vision of the police department In case of any difference with driver, call c policeman and tell him the whole story, calmly and without paying any attention to what the driver says.
 If you think the driver Is giving you the fnerry-go-round, merely say to him, Drive me to the nearest police station" He is re- quired to do exactly that, and if he's wrong, hc stands to lose his license.
 There is c meter in every taxi, and his meter is inspected regu- iarly. There is small chance that 1t isn't working properly. It must be lighted, and the driver must not throw the lever in such c way as to make the face of the meter blank. He must allow you to see and read the meter at all times, until you have paid your bill.
 Tn the cab. within plain sight of the rider, there are two cards. One carries the drivers photo- graph and description, name and number. Strangers should make q practice of jotting down name and number of driver on each taxi ride. Yes, I'll take more than one column to tell it oil.
 Copyright. 1899. McNaught
 synidicate)