“TOUGH BABY.”

Hokitika Guardian, 3 October 1925, Page 4

“TOUGH BABY.”

rntHQ ( U.fs. - TRAFFIC COR" WHO SHOOTS , t (Sir JY-l'ciful Rhillitis in "Daily , Mail.") i I'IrrSBUROH. July '-ML London's traffic problem is a puzzle ■ which seems to defy solution. yet Chief Constable. Bassuin. the Scotland Yard expert, on street congestion, can at least he thankful that he has not the additional burdnes imposed h\ America's epidemic of motor-car mania. If ever the British working-man takes to motoring to and from his daily toil like the artisans in this country Mr Bassom may well call for help. " If ever the British motorists sineilinbs to the craze for speed minus regard for his I'ellow-mon and with open contempt for the law, Lond-m will begin to realise that the age of p-etrol is not. a blessing hut. a curse The svinlio! of authority in this city of nnichino-made millionaires is a broadshouldered. heavy-ia wed individual ol dangerously forbidding aspect, officially designated in our own language as a policeman on point duty, be: known here as a "traffic cop." and by general consent admitted to he what Ameiieans call a "tough baby." BI'I.LF.TS AND THF DF.AD LINK. Invariably lie looks like a prize lighter. with a touch of the Mild M csi about him. Toying with this person is akin to flirting with Death. lie wears semi-riding breeches and b-.rollers and a ciesc-litliug tlnnm-1 shirt. Around his ample waist i- sirapl„,l a licit tilled with cartridges and on one hip reposes a heavy reft ice levulver readv for action. The whistle rlolich-d let ween his teeth rules the world of traffic. J ram-wav-ears. motor-car.', peneslriaiis move iind halt and move again in obedience to its short. shrill blast. Ohedieiu-e is instant and complete--as a rule. But the motorist hereabouts is naturally a relicllious individual--1 perhaps because ibis is technically a land of liberty—and It" is inclined to d-ivc when ami where be nlca-a-s. i-e----g:, rdli-ss of others.. But the “l-nigh i,;i!iv’’ has tamed him. The loaded receiver is a more powerful inducement to he good than a thousand municipal rcgulat ions. 1 . The road hog and the blind breaker of trallie rules know that il they eioss 1|... (P.;,ij line when halted trouble in- ■ slant and devastating will follow.

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;i maze ui locked t rathe. past I : >*-' ■ ■ tuUfzli lathy” :<lid his whistle, •mi! stamTered on its uncertain way. The three Negroes inside may have hoeii t„„ friuhtoned or too saturated with near-ein to heed the shout. \o Western sheriff ever "drew” i|UK'Kcr from the hit► or tired more delihoratelv after the fugitives, l ead pattered 01, the roadway. No one was lot. hut ao Ida me for that attaches to too "trallie eon.” He did his host, j These point-duty sharpshooters are ' hand-picked for th- joh. They are nut ialerelmneealde with ordinary imheeliven. Their sole duly is to rule the crowded streets. And they America is •‘motor-ear mad.” 1 disease is ha vine: a profound eileet on lie' whole social structure, am! the ‘•shoot-to-kilf trallie point' reiiresent Oiilv one phase of this clmiifie for the worse in everyday life. Crime hits increased hv leaps and hounds—crime ol a highly specialised kind, iiivolvmn the | uso <>t fsi>t