The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1940-08-30
DENTS ON YOUR TENDERS
BY J. E. Jones

Tenders were used by early man
over open fires. Long centuries after
wards the first locomotives rolled
over iron rails with the Tenders
pointing the way so efficiently that
the settlers and farmers called them
cow-catchers. Bicycles arrived, and
the fender was called guard. The
fender still stands on guard in front
of street cars, buses, trucks and
ships at sea. Most people simply
take tenders for granted. A Wash
ington writer decided to investigate
the subject.
One day at the northeast corner
of the White House grounds there
was a collision of two cars, due to
the fact that two careless drivers
were trying to beat the traffic light.
1t was quite smash-up and the only
reason no one was injured was be-
cause the tenders took the blows.
That started the news man to
thinking more about safety and he
looked into the success of proven
ton associations, traffic squads,
speed regulations, pedestrians care.
Tenders seemed to be ignored by all
the specialists but there was plenty
of mathematics about brakes, steel
bodies, modern glass, miles per hour,
highway warnings, highways and
crossings.
The dignity, shining beauty, and
life-saving record of tenders were
not recorded in the book. The two
drivers mentioned above might have
gone to kingdom come, and thous-
ands of other drivers might have
gone up and out the same way ex-
cept that their tenders took the
original shock, detoured the drivers
from the hospital or doctors Office
and started them to pay more at
tention to their tenders.
Drivers of every class have to
look straight ahead across the fem
ders-or they can't drive. ALI they
really have to do to keep out Of
trouble and avoid collisions is to
keep the dents out of their tenders
it is simple deduction.
This pestiferous news writer re-
solved that he would write an ap-
probation of automobile tenders
and so the chapter resumes, as fol-
lows:
Long, long ago, a man from De-
troit came to Washington in beau
tiful new automobile. He drove
about the country into Virginia and
Maryland. At the end of a perfect
day he slipped-up somehow and the
car went off the shoulder of the
road, knocked down a post, and car
ried it off on its tenders. Hasty ex-
animation showed only slight dam
age to the passengers. 1t was dis
covered that the post had travelled
west and it was identified by the
words which showed it to be the
boundary marker between Mary
land and the District of Columbia.
1t had moved forty feet over the
border into the District of Columbia.
This incident might not haves been
noted except that some Maryland
officials came along the next day
and stuck the post up where they
found it. Thus the invader came in
to neutral territory several years
ago and changed a very important
boundary line.
Later: The man from Detroit has
owned many cars since that day.
He holds up his hand and like
nice lawyer docs depose and SOL
EMMY swear that I became a safe
and sound driver that day, due en-
tirely to the fact I ever afterwards
watched and paid careful attention
to my tenders. have driven more
than 200 thousand miles since then
and have never had dent in them"
Moral: Watch your tenders and
keep out the dents. 1t will mean
that many of those 25 or 80 thous-
and persons marked for slaughter
on the highways each year will es-
cape injury, death-and even dents.
The Campaign
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