The Sunday Oregonian., March 21, 1920, Magazine Section, Page 7, Image 103

THE SUXDAY OREGOXIAX, PORTLAND, MARCH 21, 1920
SUBWAYS FORMOTORCARS NEXT, LORD ASHFIELD BELIEVES
We Have Gone Starward as Far as We May So We Must Start Downward,
Says AmericanBorn English Peer Discussing Our Complex Traffic Problems.
, zpezcxzmr ITT
BY CHARLKS W. DUKE.
NOW that we have about reached
the limit with our modern Tow
ers of Babel the skyscrapers
is it possible that we shall turo
around and go the other way; dig
down into the earth many stories
deep with our stores 'aid layer on lay
er and our traffic all tucked away un
derground? Is it possible that in the not re
mote future our automobiles, upon
approaching the city, will radiate off
into subterranean passageways like
our subways and ecoot along through
electrically lighted corridors, uninter
rupted, and at full speed, to our of
fices and places of business In the
heart of the humming metropolis?
Our transportation and traffic ex
perts are beginning to think so. When
Lord Ashfleld, better known as Sir
Albert Htanley, American born but
only recently elevated to the peerage
in England, told business men at a
gathering of the American Luncheon
club in London that in drder to solve
the perplexing traffic problems cities
must build systems of underground
thoroughfares he was only voicing
what was already In the minds of
many people. Something must be done.
Automobiles, trolley cars and other
vehicles cannot take to wings unless
they become airplanes Mother Earth
"gasoline chariot" that has brought
the problem snarply to a focus. One
has only to contemplate the rapid in
crease in the number of automobiles
to grasp the significance of Sir Ar
thur Stanley's prediction; the neces
sity for devising some such scheme as
he proposes.
Of the 7,884,000 automobiles in the
world, 6,500,000 are in the United
States alone. There are five times
many motorcars In the United
States as in all the other countries
of the world combined.
Now we are told that there is to
be a production this year in the Unit
ed States of 3,000,000 more cars. What
with trolley cars and automobiles, the
streets of the cities are become so
filled with traffic that travelers aro
little more than tortoises in the pro
cession with the hare of business.
Stand at Forty-second Btreet and
Fifth avenue in New York, or on City
Hall plaza in Philadelphia, or on Tre
mont street fronting the Commons
in Boston and count the number of
motorcars that pass in five minutes.
You'll be surprised! What will it be
when these i.OOO.OOQ new cars are
added to the traffic in an age when
every little bolshevist wants a "bug
gy" of his own?
Something has to give some day.
somewhere, somehow. Either we all
take to the air or else we dig down
deep into our best cellars and itnag- :
ine ourselves in a new kind of cata-
offers the only solution. v
It is the motorcar great as is the I combs that will outrival anything that j year 1!1S it averaged more than 400
i the ancients of Rome ever knew. It
is an ag'e of hustle when men and
women must get there regardless of
impediments; and it is inevitable that
ere long .the traffic problem will be
solved in a thoroughly practical and
satisfactory manner.
"Digging through to China" offers
such a practical answer to the ques
tion of where we are to put all the
traffic there are none who will scoff
at Lord Ashfield and his plan for the
comprehensive system of subway
boulevards exclusively for motor ve
hides, these subways to connect the
outer districts of a large city with
the heart of the metropolis and make
it possible for persons in motor cars
to get about town with expedition and
dispatch. Any engineer will point out
that it is a thoroughly feasible prop
osition. In Philadelphia, as an ex
ample of what engineering skill can
do, they have dug not only deep down
under the ponderous pile of city hall
with its massive granite blocks
weighing tons upon tons, but under
neath a complete subway system
down under all to lay out another
subway system. One has only to go
into the New York, Chicago or Boston
subterranean railway passageways to
realize what may be done in this con
nection. It is a long way through
to China. There is plenty of space to
lay out underground highways
through which traffic may proceed
uninterrupted at virtually express
train speed.
London, said Lord Ashfield. is the
greatest riding city in the world. In
11)14 the average number of Journeys
taken in the year per head of popula
tion was 303. He estimated the num
ber now to have been increased to
393. There are 875,000 cotor vehicles J
in London today.
But If the English metropolis, the
largest city in the world, has its
problems, so has America. In the city
of Philadelphia, for instance, not
counting the thousands of motor cars
(the state of Pennsylvania has close
to half a million motor cars, of which
the great bulk are divided between
Philadelphia and Pittsburg), the trac
tion people report a remarkable
growth. In 1910 the Philadelphia
Rapid Transit company hauled 445,
000,000 passengers. Ten years ago the
population of Philedelphia averaged
288 rides per person, while for the
rides per person. Now the city is
rushing work on new elevated and
tubway lines to relieve the situation.
It is evident that the traction com
panies the subways and the surface
linee soon will have reached their
limit. Take the little island of Man
hattan. How much room remains
with which to riddle the cellar of New
York with rail carriers? Already
every available street is girded with
surface line. Subways underline sub
ways. Still there U a growing de
mand for accommodation in trans
portation, j
New York no longer can begin to
take care of Its population and its
visitors. Houses and apartment are
not to be had. Oueeta of the city
very often have to go over to Jersey
City, to Hoboken or out to Stamford j
and Bridgeport to get quarters. The
hotels are jammed.
Other cities report similar condi
tions. In Philadelphia the housing
situation for long ha been a deplor
able problem. Despite the fact that
the government made frantic efforts
to build houses during the war to
house its employes, the situation has
not been relieved. With the war
over and many of these industries
abated, the houses remain occupied
and still the cry, a la Oliver Twist,
Give us more." Out west it is not
different. Cities like Detroit are
growing to beat the band. In spite
of all the campaigns for "back to
the farm," the people scramble into
the cities and attach themselves to
a mode of life that makes them per
manently city dwellers. And now the
flood-gates of immigration are open
ing up again.
Lord Ashfield Is a man of vision.
He knows what he is talking about
when he predicts a time when we will
indulge ourselves in underground
thoroughfares on a pretentious scale.
He has been brought up in the school
of transportation and is today one of
the world's recognized leaders in
things pertaining to transportation
He has not only an Interesting per
sonality but an interesting career. As
a boy born in England he was
brought to America by his parents
when he was 6 years old. The Stan
leys went out to Detroit
The world might have had another
Spurgeon or a Moody or Sankey had
not fate Intervened. The youthful
Stanley was headed straight for the
ministry: In fact, he whs so close to
it that he was on his way one 4jr
to the sanctum of the Rev. John Mun--day,
a Detroit pastor. The boy In-"
tended to ask th,e divine for a letter
of introduction to one of the official
of the Detroit City railway, but ln-
stead the preacher persuaded the bnr"
that hl. talents and calling led him :
in the direction of the pulpit. He was
"Almost Persuaded." His parents tp-"
proved. In the end the bny demurred
and after a number ef conferencea
lnally got a letter of Introduction 1
to the trolley official. -
"I remember going to present that
letter." said Sir Albert in recalling
the Incident. "I stopped on the way!
and sat down on a bench in the small
park. Grand Circus park. In the cen
ter of the city. As I eattthere the -street
cars went Jolting and Jingling
past, for those were the days of the
old hors cars, before Plnree and
Tom Johnson had come on the scene.
And as I eat on the bench looking;
at the ramshackle cars going hy snd
felt in my pocket the letter to Hen
drie. of the trolley company. I mid
to myself right there. "By Jove. I'm
going to get on top of that concern.'"
And he did. Before many years
young Mr. Stanley was head of the
whole works in Detroit, with Its
ramifications stretching out over a
20-mlle territory. But not until h
had won his spurs by hard work. His
first job with the Detroit company
was In the stables with the horses at
the end of the branch line on Wood
ward avenue! It was the hardest
kind of work. Albert had to get up
at 6 o'clock In the morning, travel
across the city in time to get Into
the barn by 7:30 and keep at It until
10 o'clock at night. Eventually he
got the chance to run that mme
branch line, and run It he did. This
wan his stepping stone to the head
of the company.
From there he went to take charge
of th"e Public Service Railroad com
pany of New Jersey. Hi became the
directing head of It. Men had per
ceived hi worth and ho was much in
demand. Later on he attracted the
attention of the Spcyers, who had
control of the underground railway
system and tram roads of London.
They were losing money because of
the antiquated methods employed.
Stanley went to London and employed
American methods. Ho electrified
the London system and gavo it some
of his own "pep."
WESTMORELAND FOLK-PLAY REVIVAL
BRINGS OUT MANY PRIZED HEIRLOOMS
Properties Are Relics From Early Days, and District Dialect Gets Full Play in Production of "The Mistress of
Mosshead," Which Countryside Is Offering.
BY EDITH LAXYOX.
THE ENGLISH LAKE DISTRICT.
Portland may number In its
population some who were born
In AVestmorcland. If so they ought to
be in Grasnierc this week to hear
their own "mak o' talk."
The village people are , giving a
Fimple and artistic performance of
"The Mistress of Mosshcad," one -of
their famous dialect plays. Every
chHracter speaks in the broadest
Westmoreland, probably far purer
English than we are speaking our
selves. I hear that ono small girl
actres's burst into tears on being
made to pronounce the word "muck"
as "moock." No doubt the board
school had over refined her speech for
dialect plays.
Actor Are Curious.
Not only are the actors to the man
ner born, but the properties are gen
uine curios, calculated to make any
collector's mouth water: "T'lanthorn
from t'Hollins" is the real thing, and
very like the one our Lord is holding
in Hdlman 'Hunt's well-known pic
ture. "The Light of the World?" The
old brasses and the warming pan
hanging up over the cottage hearth
place are just the kind we are all
looking for, and scarce as wool is at
the present time, Grasmere can dan
gle her wealth before our eyes by
producing a few real fleeces for
"t'clippin" scene.
These properties are on loan from
village collections, probably all of
them highly prized heirlooms. Thor
oughly charming is the singing of
the old folk songs, and so is the tiny
child repeating the old Anglo-Cymeric
sheep-scoring numerals to an old
shepherd, who teaches her the way
"his grandfather learned him" when
he was a little boy: "Yan, tyan, ted
dera. meddora, pimp " she begins.
Character Are Natural.
These two. the wee girl of S and the
old man of 70, are as natural and un
affected as if they were sitting out
side their own cottage door on the
fells'. The best of it is that he is
really iO and she is really only 6. True
to life that comely virago. Matilda,
r.torms up and down the homely farm
kitchen and vents her ill humor on
the unfortunate maidservant.
Martha, the taithful housekeeper,
did not need leap year to help her to
and cautious master. Her treasured
china dogs, which stared at us un
blinkinply from the mantel piece, had
their ups and downs in life, but were
finally anchored there for all time.
Love is blind, they say, but the two
elderly lovers were not so blind that
they were unable to keep an eye on
the main chance.
Slouch I Replaced.
Steve, the young lover, wears a
khaki shirt over his heart. He is a fine
upstanding farm lad, although he has
happily replaced his country slouch
by a military bearing learned in
Flanders. His little sweetheart is a
dimpled country lass, very fctchingly
arrayed in pale green print with a
pink sunbonnet. '
During the war the stage has been
dark and empty, while the actors were
playing the parts of men on the bat
tlefield. Now the joyous times of
peace are here. One feels that at
last the problem of bringing whole
some pleasure to a village commun
ity has been solved. Whether the
actors or the audience enjoy them
selves most would be hard to say.
The first Grasmere play was acted
in 1893. 'The Salesman," by Miss Char
lotte Fletcher. It was again played
in 1900 and then each winter until
1914 Grasmere had its play. All honor
be to those who help the village stars
to shine.
Rainfall Is Heavy.
It was difficult to tell whether the
play or the exciting drive through the
flooded roads was the most interest
ing experience.
Five inches of raxn fell at Gras
mere during those 24 hours; even the
English Lake district outdid Itself.
Nevertheless these plays are so popu
lar that people flocked to Grasmere
from far and near, over hill and dale,
splashing through the floods and
dodging the involuntary cascades and
waterfalls which tumbled over ihe
rough stone walls atthe roadside.
All the water from the hills was
struggling to pour itself into the
lakes that day, and the overfed lakes
brimmed over and encroached upon
fields and roads alike. . The boat
house on Rydal Water was afloat and
looked like Noah's ark upon the face
of the waters. One almost expected
its roof to open like a lid and to see
e'ye a matrimonial hint to her slow -an elephant and a giraffe peep out
and send an S. O. S. signal. Such
weather was past grumbling at; it
was a scenic display the choicest for
forty years. "February-fill-dyke" in
deed! The foaming water in the rivers
ran level with the tops of the bridges
and the torrents rushed between the
meadows.
Portland is a dry and arid spot
compared to this.
Ruin "Very Fine."
When I sat down to breakfast this
morning I said to the parlor maid:
"Well, I see it is still raining." I
think she was a little hurt to think
that I should cast reflections on the
weather, for she replied consolingly:
"Yes, Miss, but it's very fine rain this
morning."
ft urge Has Bright Idea. r
I see that one enterprising volun
teer aid department nurse has started
a private second-hand clothing busi
ness.. She says that all the clothes
she put away for the five years she
was wearing uniforms and nursing
are now too tight for her, so she pro
poses to sell those to a girl one size
smaller and buy for herself the
"civies" of a girl one size bigger.
Rather a good idea when fashion Is
no object We cannot afford to study
fashions in these expensive days of
peace. My poor clothes are neither
too large nor too small, but simply
worn out. I am wondering whether
an old faded green felt hat could not
be induced to grow moss and sprout
ferns in this climate; like the walls.
If so. it would be both harmonious
and durable. It seems that there was
once another optimistic hat in the
village besides mine, but one raw and
gusty day one proud possessor wore
this hat to a tea party; and that was
its first and last appearance. On the
way home a fearful storm sprang up;
the hat was first drenched and then
forcibly torn from her head by the
wind and blown away into darkness.
She went to a house, borrowed a lan
tern and hunted for the unfortunate
hat, at last running it to earth over
a wall in somebody's garden.
It has never attended another func
tion, but passes its days well
swathed in tissue paper and impris
oned in a cardboard box.
I saw a woman with a jaundice
yellow complexion wearing a pea
green, shiny oilskin hat last time 1
went out. The color scheme did not
improve the scenery. She looked like
a plate of pea soup.
New End Suggested.
On Sunday I went to church twice
as usual. Indeed lt Is the chief social
amusement of the village. Sometimes
one feels drowsy during a long ser
mon, but such feelings are not en
couraged! here. Before the sermon we
sang the hymn, "Christian Seek Not
Yet Reposej," and were expected to
take the hint.
Surely, to do things properly we
ought to have had "Christians Awake"
when the sermon was over!
Several good little orphans drowsed
contentedly in the pew in front of me,
and a few naughty ones giggled. Most
of" them are entirely submerged with
rehearsals of their wonderful play
during the week.
Lent is upon us and the fish con
troller has finally decided that prices
of fish may go up. When I passed by
the fish mongers this morning I was
intimidated by the rows of plaice
coiled up all ready to spring upon the
unwary. Cakes have gone up 50 per
cent because sugar and margarine
arc both dearer.
Everything else seems to have risen
in price because railway rates are
higher.
Money seems to be the only cheap
thing in England at present and
American dollars will buy quite a lot
of that at bargain rates. Servants'
wages get bigger and their hours
shorter every day.
Salaries Grow Bigger."
One seductive advertisement in the
current number of the Church Times
begs for a "house mother" for chil
dren suffering from ophthalmia
"Salary 48, rising to 52 Including
war bonus 18 per annum, Hours of
duty 48 per annum. All found." One
supposes it must mean 48 hours of
duty per week, but you never can tell.
It might mean 48 hours "off duty per
annum.' Quite likely, - according to
my nursing experiences!
Next month I expect to see a real
railway station once more and to set
foot In a town again. I am some
thing like Rose Leyburn in Mrs.
Humphry -Ward's "Robert Elsmere
She longs to escape from her quiet
Westmoreland home and see "what
the dear, wicked people are doing on
the other side of the mountains."
OUIJA MANIFESTATIONS FASCINATE
SOME WHO TRIFLEt WITH BOARD
Brooding, Hysterical Natures Are Often Driven Frantic in Effort to Pierce Veil of Nether World, and Tort
land Has Its Share of Craze-Stricken Devotees of Device.
(Continued From First rai?e.
Coat ef a Dormitory.
Lite.
Friend of the College President
What did thi3 beautiful dormitory
cost you 7
College President Three doctor's
degrees one for the man who put" up
the money and the others for two
friends of his.
frequently eoize upon the ouija board
as a method for expressing their
thoughts which normally aro held
in check by the more wholesome
spirits. They contend that what a
man is on earth he is in the spirit
world, so it is easy to perceive that
there are some queer spirits Indeed.
The spiritualists even go so far as
to hold that a person's earthly
enemies, who have passed away,
might use an ouija board for tht
purpose of giving misguiding mes
sages and doing incalculable harm.
They hold it is playing with fire.
The American mind is a queer one.
It is a characteristic of our nation
never to dodgo a dare. They almost
always accept it. This was proven1
in the late war when the American
soldier even courted danger In tho
furtherance of his duties. We are
not a nation of pikers. No amount
of ridicule would serve to swerve an
American from a course of investi
gation such as is presented by a
ouija board if he thought there was
the faintest chance of getting into
communication with the spirit world.
The American is an investigator.
He fears uot, and he will generally
go through with things to the limit.
It is just this phase of our national
character which is presenting such
a vulnerable point of attack to the
viclousness of ouija mania. Real
ization of its danger and a sane and
healthy attitude toward the reputed
messages received by this means is
considered to be the best method for
curbing the evil. Above all things
the American has been proven healthy
minded and always willing to reject
those things which are stamped .un
satisfactory. Tainted Minds Find Outlet.
Tainted minds find an uncanny
method for the outlet of their dis
eased reaeonings. Too often ouija
boards, sold as a toy and designed
primarily as a plaything, are en
dowed with supernatural qualities
altogether too preposterous.
Living in this fast age. nearly
every human mind has some indef
inite fear. This takes many forms.
There, is the person who has the fear
of being struck by an automobile,
the one who is certain that some time
or another he will be run down by
a street car, the person who fears
high places and a fall, the person
who fears some manner of poison,
tho person who fears drbwning, and
nearly everyone, about the first of
the month, fears the bill collector.
Manifestations of this timidity take
various forms. It is difficult for the
one who is afraid of being run down
to cross a traffic crowded street;
the one who fears drowning does not
like to cross a bridge or go on a
voyage. Perplexity and doubt are the
elements that enter into all these
cases. Make them worse by tho use
of ouija boards, and the increased
opportunity they give for tho in
dulgence in fear and the Hi effects
cannot be overestimated..
A recent dispatch from California
tells of the weird rites which were
carried on in one home wherein a
diseased and disordered mind, by
means of the ouija board, ordered the
removal of the hair of several small
children to be burned as an offer
ing to the spirits. This dispatch
also tells of the destroying by fire
of 1700 in currency. Now expert
spiritualists of this city hold that
real good spirits could never have
been concerned in this disaster for
the reason that they are absolutely
against the destruction of any ma
terial thing which may be of any
benefit on earth. Be that as It may,
the five adults concerned in the
episode above were adjudged insane.
School Girl Driven Insane.
Another California dispatch tells
of three women and a 15-year-old
high school girl being sent to the
insane asylum through tampering
with the unknown by the agency of
the ouija board In an attempt to
penetrate 'the mysteries that sepa
rate tho living from the dead. The
girl was attending high school classes
until she fell Into a trance and from
then on was the central figure In the
mystic circle of delvers Into the oc
cult. In a blind-drawn house where
for days and nights the strange de
votions had been carried on. United
States marshals found the wildly In
sane party in progress. Tho women
were steadfast to the last in their
expressions of credence In the plan
chette board and wished to take it
to the asylum with them. The hus
band of one woman and her one
daughter had been killed several
weeks before in an automobile ac
cident. It was her efforts lo com
municate with this departed cnuple
that caused tho irrational actions.
From Illinois last week CHme an
other dispatch telling of the filing
of a $10,000 damage iu 1 1 ni:ide prr
sihle from the machinations of the
ouija board. A home wan burglar
ized. The owner consulted hli truaty
ouija board which solved the riddle
surrounding the robbery and is raid
to have revealed the identity of the
thief, making a direct accusation "f
a neighbor and Implicating his wife.
The parties accused of Iho theft hy
the board filed suit for slander whi n
the operator Infurmed the public nt
large that they were allesed lo !e
the thieves through the medium of
his ouija board.
Since the expose of the ouija board
clanger and the Incarceration In mad
houses of the unhappy victims, deal
ers all over the country report that
there has been an unprecedented de
mand for these seemingly Innocent
little contrivances. Right here In
Portland the sale of the hnarde has
been unusually large. People arc ap-
parcntly buying them in real serioim
ness. The Christmas sale was h;g.
but it was nothing compared with
the rush during the past, two months.
In view of the results achieved by
this contrivance In other sections of
the country, it would seem that
Portland people are courting Insanity.
Since the revelations in California,
a policeman who was concerned in
one of the cases has become a rav
ing lunatic He reported that his
ouija board told him he was to be
arrested. When apprehended he was
clad In plain clothes with a revolver
in his pocket and was wandering aim -lessly
about the city.
In the same locality an ouija board
told another citizen ha was being
pursued by federal officers who were
eeking to poison him. So crazed -did
he become that he hurled a brick
through a plate-glass window. He "
is also now a guest of tho state.
Explanations are given in many
cases. Some people em to think
that humanity must have an outlet
for their exuberant spirits. Deny
them liquor or other methods for In'-' "
toxication and they promptly Indulne
In spiritual or ouija board jsgs. The
Jaxzy life of today seems to demand
some means of expression, but from ...
the evidence tho ouija board ap- '
parently exacts a toll altogether out
of proportion to the Questionable '
benefits It confer.