Category news article

The Automobile Ordinance

The Constitution: Atlanta, GA – Thursday, June 23, 1904

The general council of Atlanta is to be congratulated on adopting an ordinance regulating the operation of automobiles on the streets of the city. The rapidly increasing local use of these machines, the number of more or less serious accidents of the last few months, and the fact that no municipal laws existed governing their operation, combine to make the passage of the ordinance very timely and advisable.

That portion of the ordinance which restricts speed of the “devil wagons” in and outside the fire limits is so framed as to be just, both to the automobilists and the public, generally. The speed of 8 miles an hour inside of the fire limits and 15 outside ought to satisfy the owners and chauffeurs, inasmuch as it should meet all of their demands, both of a business and pleasurable nature. It also places the maximum of speed at such a limit as will enable a swift stopping of the machine in the presence of danger or of an unforeseen emergency. The ordinance committee likewise displayed wisdom in decreeing that all operators of self-propelled machines shall be licensed. An automobile, however simple its construction, is very similar to a locomotive, and it is very certain that no railway would trust a novice with the operation of one of these complicated pieces of mechanism.

Similarly, the idea that an inexperienced person should be allowed to send one of these powerful machines flying through the streets, imperiling the lives of pedestrians and hampering other modes of traffic, is not to be entertained for a moment. The provisions of the ordinance in this respect are so lenient and sensible as to appeal to the most fanatical automobilist. They are easily complied with and they give the footgoing public a satisfactory guarantee of safety.

Governor Bans ‘Special Weeks;’ Has Had Enough

The Constitution: Atlanta, GA – Thursday, November 23, 1922

Executive Thought the Limit Had Been Reached by Latest Request.

By Paul Stevenson

Setting aside certain weeks in Georgia as “special weeks,” such as “rub your rheumatism week” and “wash your neck week,” and et cetera, has ceased, as far as official proclamations of the governor is concerned. Governor Thomas W. Hardwick said as much Wednesday when he declined to issue a proclamation setting aside some approaching week as “rat killing week.”

The worm turned up at the capitol Wednesday and slapped the early bird or the perpetual pest or whatever it was right smack dab in the face.

If accurate statistics had been compiled in the office of the governor of Georgia for the last several years the figures on how many “special weeks” are asked and the number of “special week hounds” who want to set aside some week to do some fool thing would prove to be astounding.

Within the last few months the present governor has been assailed, assaulted, bull dozed, threatened, beguiled, implored and begged to “proclamate” on something so many times that the whole business has well nigh become a joke.

“Rat killing week,” which was tabooed by the governor Monday, was the predecessor of a dozen or more, among which were the following: “Wear cotton week,” “eat peaches week,” “eat watermelon week,” “fill coal bin week,” “buy a tire week,” “change your undewear week,” “write a letter to the editor week,” repair the doorbell week,” “trim your corns week,” “wear ear muffs week,” “take a bath week,” “learn the saxaphone week,” “razor week,” “read a book week,” “lawn mower week,” “clean towel week,” “pay the luncheon check week,” “honest golf score week,” “get somebody out of jail week,” “feed a flapper week,” “jazz week,” “vote agin’ sumpin’ week,” “flowers for your mother-in-law week,” “renew your note week,” “return borrowed books week,” don’t eat with your knife week,” “press our pants week,” “don’t flirt week,” “no make-up week,” “shoot after dinner speakers week,” “tea-hound week,” “cheers for Harding week,” “cheers for Wilson week,” “Andy Gump week,” “find your collar button week,” “wear a clean collar week,” “eat an onion week,” and innumerable others.

It has been estimated that no less than 1,250 weeks in the year would be required for the governors of various states to observe the “special week” calls made on them.

“We’re through for a while up here,” the governor said Wednesday.

Handsome $200,000 Home at the Grady Hospital Now Tempting Girls to Become Trained Nurses

Photo by Francis E. Price

Did you ever go into a hovel and then visit a beautiful building of marble and luxurious furnishings?

If you did, then you know the force of the contrast that nurses of the Grady hospital feel in changing their abodes from the former ill-equipped and unlovely home to the splendid, new structure in which they have been living since last September, and which is now practically complete.

Located behind the main building, connected by corridors and built right against the hall of the little building, which the nurses formerly called “home,” the handsome brick structure that has cost more than $200,000 and rears its head six stories high, is a palace in comparison to the old.

Built of brick and concrete, with spacious parlors, recreation rooms, a big auditorium that may be used for dancing and entertainments, a beautiful dining room, a big, cool porch on every one of the six floors and many other features and comforts to the corps of nurses, the new nurses’ home is one of the greatest inducements to young women to take up nursing as a profession that could be provided.

Urgent Need for Nurses.

There is an urgent need for more nurses, officials state. The reputation of the old nurses’ home had spread far in medical and nursing circles, officials say, and proved to be one of the greatest drawbacks to a full staff at the Grady.

With a new home offering comfortable surroundings and every modern convenience, however, the nurses are answering to its attractiveness and are fast filling up the alarming gaps in the force of Grady workers.

The first floor of the new home is given over to a large parlor for student nurses, parlors for graduate nurses and officials, a big dining room and other recreation rooms.

The second, third, fourth, and fifth floors provide rooms for the nurses, there being 16 single rooms and 40 double rooms, each fitted to fill the needs of their inmates and to provide comforts that were totally unknown in the old home. On each of these floors also, there are shower baths and tubs, and an elevator in the center of the building makes walking up and down stairs unnecessary. On the top floor there are a library and demonstration room and class rooms. The home was made possible by generous donations by the heirs of the late Joseph Hirsch, who was chairman of trustees until his death, and has been in course of erection for a long time. Its value from a standpoint of nursing efficiency cannot be over-estimated, officials assert, and it also means much to Atlanta from a standpoint of civic progress.

Three Years’ Training.

The Grady Hospital Training School for Nurses is established to give three year’s training to women desirous of learning the art of caring for the sick.

Those wishing to obtain the course of instructions must apply personally or by letter to the superintendent of nurses and principal of the training school, who will furnish printed instructions respecting the personal information to be given by applicants. At least two years high school training is required, and letters of application should be accompanied by a statement from a clergyman, testifying to good moral character, and from a physician, certifying to the sound health and unimpaired faculties. Applicants must be between 18 and 35 years of age, of at least average height and physique, and must give satisfactory evidence of a general fitness of disposition and temperament for the work of nursing.

If approved, applicants are received into the school on probation. The terms of probation to extend over their first year.

At the termination of three months the applicant must be prepared for an examination in reading penmanship, simple arithmetic and English dictation. The examination is to test the applicant’s ability to read aloud, to write legibly and accurately, to understand mathematics as far as fractions and percentage and to take notes of lectures. Two years of high school are indispensable for a member of the school, but applicants are reminded that women of superior education, intelligence and cultivation will be preferred.

The course of instruction is given by visiting and resident physicians and surgeons, by the superintendent of nurses and head nurses. A regular course of lectures, recitations and demonstrations is given with examinations at stated periods.

$15 Monthly Allowance

An allowance of $15 monthly will be given to each pupil nurse during her three years. This is not to be considered as a salary, but to cover expenses of uniforms, textbooks, etc.

Having faithfully and satisfactorily filled the requirements of the school in all departments for the term of three years, and passed the required examinations, the pupils will receive the diploma of the training school.

The fact that only high-class candidates are admitted to training in the Grady school is evidenced by the fact that recommendations from two reputable citizens are necessary before entrance is allowed.

Officers of the Grady hospital nurses training school are:

Miss Lillian D. Nelson, R. N., superintendent training school; Miss Carrie Farr, R. N., head nurse in the men’s ward; Miss Laura K. Chapman, R. N., head nurse in operating room; Miss Margaret Cheshire, R. N., head nurse in women’s ward; Miss Bell Farr, R. N., head nurse in children’s ward; Miss Grace Owens, R. N., head nurse in maternity ward; Miss Louise Lowry, R. N., social service department; Miss Hester Henderson, R. N., night supervisor; Miss Thelma Sandifer, R. N., night head nurse; Miss Elizabeth Horne, R. N. instructress of nurses.

Young Atlanta Architect Wins Rome Scholarship in Nation-Wide Contest

The Constitution: Atlanta, GA – Sunday, June 27, 1915

A national academic distinction has been conferred upon an Atlanta youth, in the “Rome scholarship” awarded to Philip Trammel Shutze, a graduate of Georgia Tech and assistant in the firm of Hentz & Reid, Atlanta architects.

Less than twenty-five years of age, and only three years out of college, young Shutze, a native of Columbus, Ga., in competition with brilliant minds throughout North America, won one of the most enviable international scholarships held forth to aspiring students.

Upon the opening of the next scholastic season, he goes to Rome, Italy, to take his course in the American Academy of Architecture, with full expense paid and $1,500 annual expense funds.

Brilliant Student.

For the past year young Shutze has been attached to the Hentz & Reid offices. Prior to that time he was an assistant in the Georgia Tech faculty, from which he graduated in 1912 with signal honors. He was distinguished as one of the most promising students in the institution, and Professor Francis P. Smith, instructor if architecture at Tech, pronounces him the most brilliant pupil he had ever observed.

In discussing the winning of the scholarship by Mr. Shutze, Professor Smith said:

“Rome even more than Athens is the fountain-head of inspiration for the architect, for there were gathered up the precious threads of the Greek style, which, woven with other strands equally valuable, produced a fabric which is almost inexhaustible in its richness and suggestion. The masterful planning, composition and construction of the remains of ancient Rome, with all their wealth of ideas, form perhaps the most precious heritage of the profession of architecture. There are to be found the great fundamental principles of design which have dominated the greatest structures of all nations since the close of the middle age.

“It was some such thought as this in the far-seeing mind of the late Charles Follen McKim that led to his founding of the American Academy in Rome. He, too, had seen the vision of Brunelleschi and had followed him to Rome. As his great forerunner had given a news style to Florence and to Italy, so McKim offered a new ideal to America. Better architecture is being produced in America today than in any other country of the world and it is safe to say that our pre-eminence is due to the unrivalled example of the work of McKim’s firm. The superlative excellence of their work is owing to their thorough and intimate knowledge of Roman and Italian work at first hand. Such careful study has resulted in their producing structures of the first class, based indeed upon tradition, but nevertheless quite American and contemporary in their character. These are the qualities we must strive for if America is to have a genuine and lasting style of her own.

Opportunity for Young Artists.

“The great purpose of the American Academy in Rome is to accomplish exactly this: It offers to the most gifted young artists of our country the opportunity of prolonged study and research in classical lands under the most favorable conditions possible. To win the “Rome Prize” is perhaps the highest honor that can be bestowed upon a student of architecture, sculpture or painting, and in being awarded the prize in architecture this year Mr. Shutze has proved his worth against the best talent in America.

“In the spring of each year the academy conducts a preliminary competition in each of the three arts to select the contestants who shall enter the final competition. These preliminary problems are open to unmarried college graduates only.

“The subject of the architectural problem this year was ‘The Decorative Treatment of an Island.’ The requirements were that a commemorative monument, an open-air theater, formal gardens and a great bridge were to be incorporated in the design, but great freedom of arrangement and treatment was left to the competitors. The contestants were required to present a design for this problem, made in fourteen consecutive homes without any criticism or reference books or drawings. The preliminary competition in Atlanta was held under the direction of the department of architecture at the Georgia School of Technology, of which Mr. Shutze is an honored graduate.

“From the scores of the entries throughout the country, the best four designs were selected by the academy jury in New York. Those who saw Mr. Shutze’s drawing here were not surprised when it was learned that he had secured one of the four coveted places, as it showed a firm grasp of the problem and was remarkable in its presentation.

Warm Praise From Meade.

“The four ‘logists’ were allowed six weeks in which to restudy their solutions and make final drawings at large scale in water color. The only word of criticism regarding the designs that has been heard, came from William R. Meade, president of the academy, who said that Mr. Shutze’s design was the finest piece of student work he had ever seen!

“The great prize carries with it residence at the Academy in Rome for three years. The value of the fellowship is sufficient to cover all expenses during this time. Unless the European situation necessitates postponement, Mr. Shutze will report in Rome about the first of October. The academy now occupies its perfectly appointed new building adjoining the grounds of Villa Aurelia. Here the ‘fellows’ in architecture, sculpture and painting live and work together under the direction of experienced advisers. In addition to the splendid library facilities of the academy, the students have access to all the great libraries and collections in the capital, affording unequalled opportunity for research work. Intelligent study of the actual monuments of Rome forms a great part of their work, and the inspiration derived from this can scarcely be over-estimated. At least one collaborative problem by architect, sculptor and painter is done to bring out the real unity existing among the three arts, and an exhaustive study is also made in the restoration of some building or group of buildings. Certain months in each year are devoted to travel and study in Italy, Greece and other classical lands. A more comprehensive or efficient rounding out of an architectual education would be difficult to imagine.

“The American Academy in Rome is still in its infancy, but it has already accomplished results that should be far-reaching in the development of our national style, and we firmly believe that the high hopes of the honored McKim will be realized. Fresh torches will be lighted at the altars of Rome and brought back to give better light to the new world.”

Platonic Kiss Is O.K. Even at Five Points Asserts Police Chief

The Constitution: Atlanta, GA

Saturday, June 21, 1913 p1

Chief James Beavers Gives Analysis of “Divine Mode of Greeting,” and Tells When It Is Alright.

“A light imprint of the lips, gentle, brief and dispassionate. A heavenly collision of the lips or the lips with the cheek.” – Chief James L. Beavers’ analysis of a kiss.

Atlanta lovers need have no fears that the kiss will soon be taboo in Atlanta. Kissing is all right, so said Chief Beavers yesterday, thus setting at rest all the reports that he was an enemy of osculation.

Since the recent arrest of an amorous couple in a cab at the Terminal station, who osculated too openly and too drunkenly, the kissing public of Atlanta has been rather dubious of the attitude of Chief Beavers.

Not the Slightest Reason.

But there was no the slightest reason. The chief is a champion of kissing—in fact, he believes in it strongly, declaring to a Constitution reporter Friday that so long as a kiss was a kiss—the genuine article passed upon by the board of censorship—it was perfectly proper anywhere, even in a taxicab.

A kiss, he said, is a divine mode of greeting. It is the sweetest of all salutations, and if folks shake hands on the street, why shouldn’t they be allowed to kiss as well?

“A platonic kiss,” the chief declared, “would be permitted in the very heart of Five Points. A couple could greet each other kissingly in a Whitehall street show window, just so long as they didn’t overdo things.

Nothing Wrong With Kiss.

“There’s nothing wrong with a kiss, the right kind of kiss, and police interference need never be feared. No policeman is going to make arrests for kissing alone. The most moral member of the ‘vice squad’ would even disapprove of an osculatory greeting.”

After which discussion the chief gave the definition of a kiss:

A light imprint of the lips, gentle, brief and dispassionate. A heavenly collision of the lips or the lips with cheek. He declared that the man and woman arrested in the cab at the Terminal station were not indulging in kissing alone. Both were intoxicated, he said, and intoxicated persons should not kiss. Their conduct was unprintable, he said, and both should have been fined. The woman, said the chief, was so drunk that she had to be sent to Grady hospital.

“Hot Tamale!” Yells Crowd, While Weinerwurst Stand Burns Up at Five Points

THE CONSTITUTION, ATLANTA, GA

THURSDAY MARCH 20, 1913

When the gasolene burner and the cloth top of a wienerwurst stand got in too close proximity to each other there was trouble last night for a Greek “wienie man” at Five Points.

Flames suddenly flared up and the entire stand, on wheels, would have been burned completely had not two officers, Gordon and Swinney, grabbed the top off the stand and thrown it out into the street. The gasolene tank came off also and saturated the top, which blazed fiercely for five minutes, while a great crowd gathered and yelled in glee:

“Hot tamale!” “Oh, you hot dog!”

When the show was over a keen-eyed youngster peered into the blackened hot box of the charred stand and, winking his eye, said:

“Did the fire burn the hot tamale or the wienewurst?”

Atlanta’s Produce Row

THE CONSTITUTION, ATLANTA, GA.

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 27, 1912.

photo of South Broad street

Sometimes a man is heard lamenting that the days of romance are over. He will wish that he had lived in the days of chivalry. That man is blind. He has only to look around and he will see more romance today than was ever seen at one time in the history of the world before.

As an example, let him take a walk down South Broad street, Atlanta’s Produce Row. He will see barrels of apples from all parts of the Union. They are redolent of the sweet-smelling orchards. As the passerby catches the sweet aroma his mind drifts back to the days when he played around the orchard at home and eat apples to his heart’s content with no fear of indigestion.

Starting at the north end of Produce Row, one of the first things noticed this week was the magnificent display of celery at the Williams-Thompson company’s warehouse. There were crates upon crates of the vegetables, and Mr. M. D. Thompson, of the firm, stated that they had only just received a carload from Buffalo, N. Y., which was almost perfect in quality and which they had been anxiously awaiting for some days, as their customers were now calling for celery. A little further down the street the J. L. Barnes-Fain company was found with a splendid supply of apples. They stated that they had handled four carloads this week and that they had never seen better fruit in quality. This concern also handles large quantities of celery, and, in fact, most every produce found in Atlanta.

A little further down the street again is the Sewell Commission company. This house handles produce direct from producer to consumer. They specialize in poultry and the crates of plump fowl call attention by the cackles.

Another house which handles produce in large quantities is Fain & Stamps. This week they have specialties in apples, oranges and grapefruit.

All in all, Produce Row is among the most romantic spots in Atlanta. In one week produce may be seen there from every state in the Union, as well as from Europe, Central America, South America and Cuba. To the thoughtful passerby the different fruits and vegetables and the cackle of the fowl reminds him of the links which bind Atlanta to the rest of the world, and also of the fact that much of the produce sold here which is brought from great distances might just as well be grown in Georgia and thus keep at home much of the money we are now sending away.

“JAY WALKING” IS A DISEASE IN ATLANTA DECLARE THE WORRIED TRAFFIC OFFICERS

THE CONSTITUTION: ATLANTA, GA. TUESDAY, AUGUST 27, 1912.

What! Don’t know a “Jay Walker?”

Never have seen one?

Then you have never been at Five Points, nor Whitehall and Alabama streets, or perhaps you are one yourself.

Quizz the first cop you meet, inquire of your family physician, or one of the bonesetters at any hospital, or ask the guy who holds the inquest.

This Will Be Verdict.

Some of these days coroner’s juries will return verdicts which will read: “Came to his death from ‘Jay Walking.’ ” It used to be a habit—persons who claim to be authorities on the subject say—but now it is a disease. And it’s catching, just like chickenpox, a thirst for something cold to drink—the morning after.

A traffic policeman at Five Points designated at least fifty persons who were “Jay Walkers,” or who have dangerous symptoms. And the strange part of it none of them realize it. Few have even thought of such a thing, and if you should happen to accuse them they would probably knock on your ding dong for the information.

“You can stand on this corner any busy afternoon and count nearly twice that number,” the cop declared.

“See that guy over there, well he’s a ‘Jay Walker.’ Some day there will be nothing but a grease spot here, and his family will point to the spot where daddy was last seen. He is what they call a busy business man in the story books, but he is what us cops call a nuisance, a ‘Jay Walker,’ a man who is always in his own way.

“Looker there! I told you—”

Mr. Jay Walker in Danger.

And the cop pointed to the Decatur street crossing. The “Jay Walker” had started across the street, nose pointed heavenward, and all unconscious of the fact that a lumber truck, puffing and snorting, and shrieking under the sudden pressure of the brakes, was bearing down on him. Instead of beating it for the nearest sidewalk, Mr. “Jay Walker” stops in his tracks and continues to gaze complacently at the negro washing a second story window in the opposite building.

“Can you beat that?” demanded the cop, and he hastens over to inform Mr. “Jay Walker” that the driver of the truck is entitled to about ten feet of the street.

“See that dame flirting across the street?” exclaimed the cop, pointing to a vision that looked like a rainbow shooting across Peachtree. “Well, she is a ‘Jay Walker.’ ”

“I don’t get yer, Steve—explain?”

“Well, Bo, ‘Jay Walkers’ are persons who cut across corners—dash across the streets cat-a-cornered—who have not the time to walk along the sidewalk to the proper crossing. ‘Jay Walkers’ are people who are always flirting with death—who will run right in front of a street car, an automobile, or a fire engine, and if they happen to get splattered with mud will curse the driver to a fare-the-well. And if—”

“Hold on you bonehead!” shouted the cop at a chauffeur who was about to run his motor over a group of women who stood in the center of the street to exchange greetings, “ain’t you got no respect for ladies what hold reception on the street—”

Then to the ladies—

“Misses, won’t you please move to the sidewalk and let that fathead with the ice truck go by? Thank you ever so much

“Gee, but it’s getting fierce.”

ATLANTA’S POLICE CHIEF JOINS AUTO RANKS; NO SPEED LIMIT WHEN CAR IS ANSWERING CALL

THE CONSTITUTION, ATLANTA, GA., SUNDAY, AUGUST 18, 1912.

 

Chief of Police Beavers has at last gotten his automobile.

Like many other improvements, this one was a long time in coming, but now that it is here the machine will be called on in many emergencies and will do great service for the city. It is a touring car, capable of holding five of “Atlanta’s finest,” and is equipped with a powerful engine that will “make time” when the clear-the-way signal is given.

The demand for an automobile for the use of police officials has been insistent for months, ever since two near-riots in rapid succession in far portions of the city showed the commissioners that some means of rapid transit was badly needed. The old horse wagons are out of the question with Atlanta’s greatly enlarged area, and the automobile patrols are constantly busy. The touring car was the solution.

The chief, or captain in charge, with sufficient officers to handle a good-sized crowd, can now be gotten to any portion of the city in a few minutes’ time. Incipient troubles can be quelled and life saved, where before there would have been bloodshed for lack of authority to uphold the law. There will be no speed limit when a call is being answered.

The chief is shown at the wheel of his machine and with him are three of the men who daily protect the city.

AUTOMOBILES ARE GREAT CARS FOR USE IN CITY

THE CONSTITUTION, ATLANTA, GA., SUNDAY, MARCH 28, 1909. 6 C

“Atlantans are either speed-loving people, or they don’t know a good thing when they see it,” said Morris Rich yesterday, when asked why Gate City autoists had not taken to the electric car.

Mr. Rich is a great believer in the electric-propelled vehicle, but, according to his statements, there are not more than twenty-five or thirty other Atlantans who want the “juice” to carry them along.

“It’s a great city for car us,” he said, ” and stands up under trips as lengthy as forty miles from the city. It has all the speed, 6 to 20 miles per hour, that the city laws will stand, and yet it seems that Atlanta is slower than other cities in realizing the worth of the electric car. It is ideal for doctors, and is the only car that is safe for a lady to drive. The upkeep is less than that of the gasoline car, and the operating expenses never run over a cent-and-a-half an hour, but still Atlanta folk don’t like the electric car. As I have said before, it must be that they love speed too well.

“A good electric car easily goes forty miles on one charge. The car can be charged at home during the night, and the expense is very light. The next day it is in great running order, without the odor and pistol-like explosions of the cars that use gasoline as a motive power.

“The electric car is very easy to take care of, and very easy to run. There are not a net work of controllers about your feet and hands to look after, but just one, which, with the steering wheel, is the only thing to notice when you are running the car. This controller brakes the machine, backs it, and does everything else, making the operation most simple.

“Savannah, a much smaller city than Atlanta, is much more appreciative of the electric car. Savannah has four times as many in operation as this city, and has not as many gasoline cars. Three-fourths of these cars in Savannah are run by ladies, and children have been seen to operate them.

“Why not? The electric car is safe. It has never been known to figure in an accident, while gasoline and steam cars are always running into a wreck.

“Having six speeds, it can be adjusted to suit the driver, anywhere from six to twenty miles per hour.

“There is no doubt but that the electric car is the practical car, and Atlanta is behind the times in its use. Every city its size has more and many smaller ones boast of a greater number.”

Mr. Rich is an authority on the electric car. He represents the Rauch & Lang Carriage Company, of Cleveland, who manufacture one of the best cars in the country, and he was probably speaking of this car in particular in his statements. He uses it extensively, and has found no trouble in climbing hills with it. Hill climbing is a very important item in an automobile. Old-timers at the business of running cars say that the way to judge the worth of a car is up a hill, instead of on a level road with speed, and the electric car seems to fit the bill in this particular.

After a thorough trial of the Rauch & Lang car, Mr. Rich is positive that it is the economical car, the safe car, and a car that will give satisfaction to all.