Evening Star Newspaper, September 26, 1935, Page 4

A4 CHEGKING BRAKES MAY SAVE A LFE Too Many Cars Are on Streets With Poor and Dangerous Equipment. '(Editor’s Note: This is the last of a series of three articles by a Washing- ton taxicab driver, F. A. Allen, 405 Fourth street northeast, dealing with various phases of the lacal traffic situ- ation from the viewpoint of the pro- fessional driver who spends most of his waking hours in the thick of traf- fic. Mr. Allen has captioned this arti- cle: “An Inefficient Automobile.”) BY F. A. ALLEN. In suggesting to you such an object as an inefficient car, perhaps the first picture that flashes in your mind is| that of the type known as the col- legiate flivver. Many seem to take | pride in the ailments of their car—the | motor is just about to fall through, | legks in the radiator are patched with | gum, the tires are worn to the threads, the engine in motion sounds like a | cement-mixer. | “But.” he says, “she’ll da close to | 60, and you will have to admit that | timt is pretty good for this bus.” “The next time you hear one of these braggarts, ask him in an informal way how his brakes are. The frequent | Smart-Alec answer will be, ‘Ho-ho, I| depend mostly on prayer, good luck | and my skill on getting me by'—then | he looks for some wood on which to| knock. I believe that such a person should not be given the right to put this vehicle on the highway. Why | cgnnot we have periodical tests for | equipment? If a man cannot keep | up the repairs on his own car, then it is logical to suppose that he will not be able to repair your car or the | personal injury he inflicts on you | either. What chance has the man who does take a sincere interest in the equipment of his car? “We should pay particular attention to* the braking equipment on a car. Djd you ever stop to think how slightly you really value your life at times? Your car is actually stopped by the pressure of the brake lining on the | drums of the car, the last operation | after the contact has proceeded along & few connections from the pedal. At | each of these points a breakdown is pHysically possible. This may result from the wear or from a defect in the equipment, for the best of cars are still man-made. Do you ever have | this in mind and drop in on your ga- rage man for a check-up? «Make sure at all times that the lin- ing of your brakes is in good repair | and when it wears out, lose no time in | getting it replaced. Of course, you can always put it off, and too many are} déing that. For a few, tomorrow never caomes, for instead of paying a dollar | or two to have their brakes checked they pay a down payment of $5 as a | tawing charge while the garage man hoists up the wreck resulting from poor | braking. This $5 is usually just a drop | in the bucket for the charges that are | to follow if the car is worth repairing. Suppose that you are driving on a downtown street and some pedestrian | or little child steps in front of your car.. Here is a time when quick stops count. Fortunate § the man who is taking constant care of his car. Pity the poor kiddie who happens to dart it *front of the other fellow’s car— changes are he will be maimed for life | ynless the driver is quick enough to | turn. But where does he turn? Let us be optimistic and hope that rather than turning into a parked car or some other obstruction he turns into a| sunny green meadow—and there are np meadows on downtown F street. | How about a little examination of | the old buggy's equipment, especially | the brakes? Backs Drive Representative Jennings Ran- dolph, Democrat, of West Virginia, chairman of the Crime Investigat- ing Committee of the House Dis- trict Committee, who has made a special study of traffic conditions in Washjngton, today signea a safety campaign pledge and highly commended The Star for its safety drive. “Nothing «an promote safety like the co-operative efforts of the pedestrians and drivers—the indi- vidual consciousness of each per- son that he and she must be a safety agent. The Star is doing & noble work in making the people of Washington and their guests thus safety minded. I am sure that this will do more to promote traffic safety than anything else, and I indorse and pledge my sup- port to this campaign. I will help 1t in every way possible,” said Rep- resentative Randolph as he signed & pledge card in his office today. Why Be Miserable With Itchy Scalp | been men and some women and some THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, Godfrey Broadcasts from the Morgue Tells Vivid Story of What Happens to the Motorist “Who Was Hurrying Somewher: Sitting in the Morgue last night only a few feet from the ma- hogany-colored ice boxr that re- ceives the bodies of traffic victims, thur Godfrey broadcast over ation WISV the following de- scription of the “end of the trail far reckless drivers.” Hardly 30 seconds after he was off the air, the Morgue ambulance brought in the body of a 3-year-old boy who had been killed by a coal truck. Hello, everybody. You know, I've been sitting here for the past 15 min- utes and I'm not sure even right now that this broadcast is & good idea. You know where I'm speaking to you from? Well, it's the Morgue. Yes, sir, the Morgue—and a more depress- ing place couldn't be found anywhere. Well, anyway, we decided to do this and . . . I guess I better go through with it. We put on this broadcast because we want you to feel as strongly as we do the way, down, deep reason behind the safety drive The Washington Evening Star is put- ting on right now. Oh, goodness me! You don’t need to be shocked! Why, what we're trying to do is save you from a worse shock. It's a much worse shock, you know, to be brought here . . . or to have a loved one brought here. This isn't a nice place. We knew it wasn't when we started this thing. But I give you my word we also knew that there wasn't an- other place in Washington as deeply symbolic of the real thing that’s be- neath this foolish driving in Washing- ton. And that's death! There it is, DEATH .. . If I must say it right out. And believe you me, there’s that ln‘ this house. And I must repeat that | there’s death in the way folks are driv- ing here in Washington every day of | the blessed week. For pity sake, won't | you listen to this and drive a little more carefully for your own sake and for the sake of others? This can't go on. Why, listen here. I'm going to tell you something ebout this place. A Visit By Daylight. T came down here the other day. ©Oh, not because I wanted to . . . but because I wanted to see this place | . .. by daylight, so I could tell you about it tonight. It wasn't fun. I asked the man in charge to show me around . . . to show me what hap- pens when a person is killed by an automobile and he’s brought here. ‘Well, first he showed me the driveway where the ambulance comes around | the building here and around down back by the river and right down here to the door. It goes over some rum- bling, loose boards and it clatters a lot just before it comes Yo a stop out there underneath the porte-cochere . .. right over there . . . not 20 feet | from where I'm sitting right now. That's where they unload. You can stand on the street out- side and see everything, too. I didn't know it before, but they use different carriers for persons they bring in here. One is a brown wicker basket. And another is a canvas stretcher—hte stitches that hold the canvas to the stretcher poles are | usually worn away with all the trips | made and it's been patched with cord. Maybe you have noticed the other car- rier. It's the one folks usually notice. They're long wooden slabs with rollers. And there are two men who have the job of handling those carriers. Neither one of them said a word all the time I was here. You wouldn't envy their job. I can see them now— carrying some one in . . . it makes me | shiver a little t» think of it now, here, | at night. Mind if I look out the win- | dow here for a minute . . . it's nice out there . . . over the Potomac. There's life out there . . . but in here where ‘What Haste Makes. I guess I can tell you about it. I'm thinking of some one ...a man, may- | be . . . hurrying along in his car . going to see same friend . .. and then | he’s here . . . with those two men bringing him in and putting him right down here . . . right here where I am | . . . after the crash, you know. Then they probably look up at that big ma- | hogany colored box over there in the | corner. They call it an ice box! That’s | where they’ll put the chap who was | hurrying . . . hurrying to see his friend. | They'll put him in there, feet first, still on that wooden slab with rollers | on it. They slam the door. Then on a littde slip of brown wrapping paper they write his last name. Maybe it's “Jones” .. . maybe it's “Smith.” What- ever it is—they write it just in pencil and they put the little slip on one of the doors to the big mahogany box. There are 10 of those doors. The other day when I was down here there was a brown slip on all of | them. They opened one. But let's skip that. He was a traffic victim. You know how they look. And they all look a lot alike when they get down here. They told me they'd brought 82 in here this year. They all looked about the same way, I guess, except some had little children. A Different Washington Map. ‘When I came in I noticed a map hanging on the wall of the room mext to this one. It was a map of Wash- ington. But it looked different. When you got up close you saw why. It was all dotted with little pins with colored heads. Eighty-two of those pinheads were pink. They were the 82 men and women and children brought here after the suto wheels had done their work. They were stuck on the map right where they were hit by those 8utp wheels. Those pink pinheads look atike, too, just as much alike as the people they represent did after the auto wheels had gotten through. But I was telling about the man Stove Parts Boilers, Furnaces, Stoves Capitol Rock Wool Insulation Air-Conditioning Furnaces Fries, Beall & Sharp 734 10th St. NW. Nat. 1964 / CRANBERRIES FRESH i Free recipe Eatmor Cranberries | where on it | rope till you get to the second floor. ARTHUR GODFREY. who was hurying somewhere. They had put him in the mahogany box. What did they do then? There'’s a long hose lying over there—and a bucket of sand near it. Water won't always wash away red spots on the concrete floor. There's something leaning up against the wall there—over near the bucket. It's hard to see just what it is. Oh, yes, I remember. It was there the other day, too. Three of those wooden slabs with rollers on them. I remember there was a stain on one of them that even the sand wouldn't take off. And over in a corner—you can't see them now—it's too dark—but over in the corner there's a plle of boxes, brown, unpainted wooden boxes. They brought those here from Lorton. The prisoners made them. Occasionally they take ‘one of the boxes off the pile. That's when the fellow who was hurrying somewhere hasn't got any relatives or friends or anybody who cares what happens to him. He has to be buried in something. There are two old saw- horses, too. Just like those you used to see around any old carpenter shop. They would put one of the| brown, unpainted wooden boxes up | on the sawhorses before they put the poor fellow in it. Out Over the Water. Gosh, I hate to think of it. Let| me look acmoss the water out there again. Off across there to where I | can see automobiles moving. You | can see their headlights as they move | along and they look just like lightning | bugs as they head back toward town from Hains Point. Automobiles. Automobiles. But | that's what sends people here. Phat’s | what fills the big mahogany box. | Maybe an hour passes after the poor fellow who was hurrying somewhere was put in the mahogany box. Maybe it'll be 12 hours. But they take him out again. When you open the door you can feel the cool air. It's 40 degrees in there. You can hear the rollers squeak when they pull the wooden slab out. Then there isn't | any sound but slow footfalls on concrete—then on wood as the men carrying the slab walk onto en ele- vator., It’s an old elevator. This whole place is old. It's one of the eldest | buildings I've ever been in. It's like | an old house where everybody died | years ago and it doesn’t seem right | to be in it. And the old elevator— | well, it's typical. They get aboard | and they lay down the wooden slab | with the man who was hurrying some- Then they pull on a rope. It starts the elevator up and you have to keep pulling on the old Weighing the Victims, Up ca the second floor where they hold the post-mortems. Right in the room above where I am. It's a bare looking room, too. When they step off the elevator they're right in it. The first thing they do is set the man who was hurrying somewhere down by some scales that look like some I saw once in a flour mill. They weigh the poor fellow on these. Then they measure him. Something like those health examinations I used to take in school. Only this is different. The only reason I think of health examinations in schoel is because I don’t like te think too long about weighing and measuring a man who stays awful still—and quiet. When they get through the welgfi be perfectly sat'sfied with any paint job done with Benj. Moore's $2.90 a gallon in all SPECIAL Our linings are the best obtain- able—we give guaranteed satis- faction and free adjustments for the life of the lining, also & 25,000-Mile Guarantee GRAB WILL NOT ssiex CHATTER OFFICIAL SAVINGS CLIFT’S SAFETY SERVICE 2002 K St NW. WEst 1678 $7750 UP e’) ing and the measuring they pick up that wooden slab again and carry it over to what looks something like an operating table. I say “something like”—operating tables look different now. Now they've got all kinds of drains on them, and little cans that open silently to drop gauze and things in and their legs are shiny like maybe new nickels. But again this is differ- ent. 1904. It's just a concrete slab on metal legs and it has a little trough around the edge. They put the poor man who was hurrying somewhere on this. Then they go over to a shelf against the wall. The shelf is all white. It looks like it has flour all over it—only it's not flour. It's talcum powder and it's been dropped on the shelf a lot when the doctors spilled it as they rubbed their hands in talcum powder before slipping on a pair of rubber gloves .that hang on hooks above the shelf. ‘The gloves were all covered with pow- der, too. They told me they'd been used a lot lately. deaths. So many people hurrying somewhere. So many pink pinheads on the map downstairs. A Meat Saw, Too. After they get their rubber gloves on, they turn to a cabinet over in one corner. Through the glass door you can see a lot of shiny instru- ments. I don’t know what they are. They said something about spatulas | and hemostats and knives and shears | and mallets and chisels. There is one, too, that looks like a meat saw. They told me it was a meat saw. better than some shiny rib-cutter. they used the meat saw. So This table’s been here since S0 many traffic | It works HUNDREDS WRITE ON SAFETY DRIVE Scores Give Their Viels on How Traffic Toll May Be Reduced. Hundreds of letters dealing with various phases of the safety campaign have been received by the Star Safety Council. Excerpts from some of these letters follow: “At about 7:15 p.m. while we were approaching bridge at Relay, Md, driver of the above bus violated regu- lations which were distinctly pointed out by a sign reading: ‘Single File Over This Bridge’ by crowding us off the road just as we were entering the bridge. A serious accident was narrowly averted by my turning out, which almost caused my automobile to go off the bridge to the rallroad tracks below. This bus was traveling at a speed of approximately 50 miles an hour, passing me by straddling a white line, also passing another car already on the bridge. The bus bore no tail light or any rear lights, which made his license plate undiscernible until, due to a halt in traffic, we were able to catch up with him and focus our headlights on his tags. Driver was evidently behind schedule and at- tempting to make up time. “While it is not my desire to force vigorous action against the violator, the writer feels he sheuld be severely reprimanded for unnecessary risk of human lives. “With the extensive campaign being conducted at present in the interest of safety, I feel that every precaution | should be taken to insure rigid obe- | dience of traffic regulations.” I don’t know what they use all| (Copy of part of letter to a bus these things for. I don't want to know and I know you don't either. But it gives you a funny feeling to look at "em and realize they’re going to use things like that on the next poor fellow who hurries somewhere too fast in his car or the poor fellow he hits. They have | for your 12 points. From personal to find out exactly what happened to change him from somebody hurrying somewhere to just a poor bundle of clothes that won’t ever hurry any- where again. Sitting here now, I think maybe I won't evdr hurry anywhere again. I'd rather be out there on that water—sort of just drifting or float= ing along where I couldn't hit any- thing awful sudden . thing hit me real sudden. And then after I got hit to have| that big telephone bell rimg. old building. No matter what room ‘you're in—upstairs or downstairs. Then | that ambulance bumps over the loose boards. After a while it's back. I think I said a few minutes ago it bumped over the boards and came to a stop by the door there the other day when I was here. I felt like I ought not to look. I sort of turned my head. But out of the corner of my eye I could still see that black ambulance | reckless drivers.” with red letters on it saying “Dmric!| hurry anywhere, it's not worth it. of Columbia.” Then they opened the | It's so quiet—so still—down here . . .| | But I rather think that's enough of | black doors. I didn't want to see what they took out. But I couldn't help it. You couldn’t have helped it either. Like Hams, All Wrapped Up. It was two little bundles. I don't mean anything disrespectful when I say the two little bundles looked like | hams that were wrapped up. The man that opened the black doors of the ambulance had wrapped the two bun- dles up in newspapers, but at the ends you could still see the other wrappings. ‘They were two little babies that had TWO DAYS OF FUN IN NEW YORK Sfor only $5 5.0 complete 500 extra Sat, Sun. & Holidays It sounds wondertul, and it lerful—| visitinNewYork.and the all-nclosve pace oFs .o, Now you, your family, or fries * * % Comfortable room with bath, radio—one night. 1 Breakfast_and luncheon at Hotel Times Square. 2 Dancing and Dinner at the famous Paradise Night Club. A sight-seeing trip of What's What in New York or a visit to the Internationally Famous Radio_City Music Hall. A trip through the National Brosdcasting 5 Company Studios. Avisit to the observation toof of Rockefeller Ceanter. the most person. 6 . . or have any- | It's @ | pulling up to the door there with me | big bell. You can hear it all over this | and that I'd just help fill a mahogany | | front of ene of the doars there. the wooden slab with the squeaky | of fun. And staying at the Hotel Times are in Lh(e:h heart of i FREE: Regular Rates: $2 to $3 Single. $3 to $4 Double HOTEL TIMES SQUARE 43d Street, West of Broadway, New York City company.) EVE H. BERNSTEIN, 5521 Colorado avenue. “Inclosed is my pledge. For years I have been driving with due regard experience, I feel eertain that the younger drivers do not, as a rule, adhere to your principles. Further- more, from the same observation, I just died in a hospital. I don't know | whose they were. I don’t want to know. I just looked away then. I couldn't help but think that if I| was hurrying somewhere and some- thing happened—just a little some- thing—the black ambulance would be box. That I'd have a little brown | wrapping paper slip with my last name | written on it in pencil stuck on the Then maybe somebody working on this safety campaign would come down |~ here and open the door and pull out} rollers and take a look and say—"Well, | this is the end of the trail for the | No, I think I won't that . . . and this, too. Now that I've finished, I must say I'm glad I did it. I guess it wasn't so hard—after I got | started. And I hope I've given you ! something to think about . . . some- thing which will make you think as you drive your car frem now on. If you think I haven't done right, please forgive me . . . for what has been done, has been done in the interests of safety on the streets of Washington . . . your safety . . . perhaps. Goodnight, theall-inclusive priceof $5.50. nds can come to cityin the world and have lots ing. All for $5.30 pet 00se any two days you desire. . D Sead for of mep, “How to eater New York . s D. C, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 1935. MRS. MARION WADE DOYLE, President of the Board of Educa- tion, signing The Star Safety ° Pledge, at her office in the Frank- lin School. ~—Star Staff Photo. have observed that about 60 per cent of all drivers involved in serious acci- dents range in age from about 18 to 30. This shows that such drivers take undue risks and lack road courtesy. It is usually the youthful driver who refuses to stay in line when it would be prudent to do so.” J. G. FAIRCHILD, Geological Survey. “With thousands of others, I have signed your safety pledge. There is no doubt but the safety council pledge signing will have a restraining effect upon the more conscientious drivers, Our practical, knowing major of po- lice, Ernest W. Brown, tried by ap- peals to autoists, with little or no effect. Then he directed his police to report and arrest offenders, and presto, an immediate change came. . .. If the Star Safety Council is so interested in saving human lives and preventing accidents, why not call upon Director of Traffic Van Duzer to have ‘Go-Stop’ lights installed for the safety of pedestrians where Maj. Brown says ‘their installation is ab- The House of Stieff Offers This Used Stadio Grand $295 We can say no more in behalf of this beautiful piano than to give it the approval, guarantee and sponsorship of the House of Stieff. A House of unsullied reputation for ever ninety-two years. Come in and hear it. Convenient Terms of Payment CHAS. M. STIEFF, Inc. 716 14th N.W. SHERWIN-WILLIAMS SWP HOUSE PAINT fiebisdmm Costs Less Than Ic per Square Foot Two Coats @ That's why SWP is so popular. It costs $-W LiQUID ROOF CEMENT 3% Gal Pait less per job, lasts longer and kecps attrac- tive looking years after ordinary paints have failed. Right now, before you buy paint for your house, let us prove to you that SWP House Paint is the most econe omical you can buy. 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I've seen many close calls and on a windy day my coat has blown near enough to the cars to be nearly caught, so close do they come * * *” A GOVERNMENT EMPLOYE. (To James E. Chinn of The Star staff:), “In listening to your bread- cast last night, I could not help agree- ing with your statement that if the 12 rules of the road were followed by all motorists there would be less acci- dents. True enough. But, there would still be accidents due to carelessness of the pedestrians. This is a factor which should not be overlooked and Store | models | | colors. A In Our two-piece models. Included are the season's most popular crepes. COATS seusationally priced for SIDNEY WEST,inc. - 14tH & GsTs. EUGENE C. GOTT, PRESIDENT Westyle SUITS FOR FALL *30 Refinement in styling and finish such as no ordinary clothing possesses. Pat- terns with that to-the-minute appearance well- dressed men prefer. Wearful fabrics ranging from rugged weaves to the hard-finished worsteds and In all, clothing you’ll appreciate from start to finish. * ® Quality without a question mark is traditional at West's. cellence every item in our stock must measure up And, quality for quality, make any price comparisons you wish! There’s a 30 years’ standard by having them observe one simple rule—'Look where you are going’—you ‘would help to minimize auto accidents. 1f the police would try ‘cracking down’ on jay-walkers we would be getting somewhere. Sure, I'll take my pledge, but it's & pity that you haven't one for the pedestrians to sign.” JAMES H. CARR, 618 Gresham place, |PROXY REQUEST RULES ARE ISSUED BY S. E. C. Regulations Designed to Protect Stockholders From Being Misled by Pleas. By the Associated Press. Rules designed to protect stock- holders from misleading requests for their proxies at corporation meetings have been issued by the Securities Commission. 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