ROAD ETIQUETTE.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 19150, 5 November 1927, Page 10

ROAD ETIQUETTE.

CONFUCIUS AND H. FOflD. Wo arc coming to the realisation that courtesy as veil as pavement is needed on our .streets, declared Bud' Landis, in the "National Motorist." Well-bred persons who would not think of rushing ahead or you to the dinner tabic without an encouraging smile or a friendly jab in the ribs, think nothing of scraping 10.000 miles off your Bparo tyro with their bumper or permanently waving a couple- of your fenders with no more of an apology than a dirty look. ; . Instead of the familiar hail, "Neighbour, neighbour, how art thee?" or toss and buggy days, it has become the custom of our highways to greet oncoming drivers with a cheery Get over, you sap!" While there is nothing particularly rudo in calling a perfect Btranger a sap and 6eldom brings about any greater unpleasantness thau a punch 'in the nose, it lacks, nevertheless, the warm-hearted sincerity of "Do you own the road?" or the more common. "Do you want your half in tho middle?"

Ideas Differ. Authorities differ on just what •hould constitute courtesy in motoring. However, a tentative list was submitted at the last meeting of tire Society for Uplifting the Fallen Arch, which contains ideas crude enough to be practical. This list includes:— 1. Never run over a pedestrian without excusing yourself. 2. Do not appear eager when crowding a smaller car car off the road. 3. Upon hitting an immovable object como to a fuli stop. 4. Refrain from turning corners Jn the middle of the hlock. 5. Show proper respect for battered five-ton trucks. G. Don't argue with the wife while driving; you nave a home for that purpose. Amplication of these simple rules is bound to reduce the number of mass meetings on our highways. Needless to say, standing back _ and allowing a irain to use tho crossing first is a bit of refinement in which virtue is its own reward.

Etiquette Outlined. . Etiquette in general is gaining ■ground and has already spread to eating. As far back as early in 489 B.C. tho wise Confucius urged his fellotvers into the paths of table manners. It was through his efforts. that' the Chinese took to eating rice with chop sticks in spite of the frightful loss through seepage. In one of his widely syndicated articles, the learned Oriental wrote:—

"Etiquette, a quaint form of table fencing, was instituted nobody knows how, by nobody knows who, and practiced nobody knows why. Yet it "has become a part of us, even as double chins or a bald spot. "Originally, eating was destined to fill that aching void. It filled aneed, so to speak, and once that need is" filled to bulging, the operation should be considered a success. But uo! Thrice notl The process must be done, according to Hoyle. We have it on no less an authority than Oso Shabi. the wandering -lindu philosopher and sword swallower, that from the first, napkins were worn in the lap instead of suspended from the chin, where thev would do the most good. "The point of. contact in eating is the lapel, nor the lap. But etiquette intervenes, and keeps the traditional chest protector away from the* scene of action—it is Kismet!"; And so Confucius was right. But for tho tempering hand of etiquette our riots mob fights, and traffic jams would lack the refined bompjike influence that so characterises them today. In the final analysis, we must try to bo gentlemen no matter how hard it hurts us. Rome wasn't built in a day. yon know, which is accounted for by the fact that it wasn't one of Henry Ford's projects. Word from Detroit says that a "mosouito' car is to be produced in 1928. Pedestrians may now expect tc be run down and bitten.

Factories will soon be. humming. sav s The report. l/oob before you leap is out of date. Jump first, then if you feel vou must rubber around, do it from the kerb.