THE CAR AND THE MAN.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 79, 27 December 1907, Page 8

THE CAR AND THE MAN.

'■: .NQN-EXERTION'' 'AND' DEGENEIiAC.y. ;!; "Jβ. what'/willinature do ? " Walking my way? " ', "No, I'm waiting for a car "—heard at any street -.corner at any'timo in'any weather: Observe the cartraffic within, tho.' area; wo like- to call tho \" city," and note hmv many passengers hop oil a oar to rido piilyi half or a quarter tho laugtji- of ond Tlioy will gat ion .at tlit) .Gpyernment'v Buildings arid alight :at Sto , .'rnrt;;Dawsoii'.s;.. j wjll get '.on at.Siormrt Bavin's,' mqrely.tbVrido'to tho Duk'o of Edin-blHjSr...cprnor.--a matter. of a fow hundred lyaTds-'rTliousands use tho,cars from \Winder's end of. Couirfcoiray'VPlace siiw'ie- 'ifie' ; seryico f commenced who nowariiiroamec][ of paying to rido such a short dMhtneo'in the days of,, the old horse-cars.-T^,, tramway;',' authorities ' state that 'this' traffic, is. especially lucrative, arid, is catered for By." the_admirabjle...servico maintained in the busiest part of the city. Note further! Peopln in ithe;suburbs, who at one. time rose. hnlf;'a\:i hour, earlier, and aftor.a brief breakfast\wii!keda mile or a mile and a half iuttii office (it factory, do not, as a-rule,,do iwrptKirig" of! the" sort'now". : They . are, fearfiiTV(energetic.for.a.distance of a hundred yards oi , , so,, perhaps, 'in their endeavour to " catch in. car. If they-:miss it.they cogitate for ii few-moments, and usually decide that noth- , irig,'is ;.tp''be..gained,;,by walking—they had tietter iwait fqrthe.inbst car.■"_ They sink into tho scaJj provided, iir.the waiting-shed, an J if •thorei inn t"a -waiting-shed- they organiso a deputation, which.ridesdown in a car. to tho iCity CcTuncil and demands that tho defect be atomedie &.,i, "■'..- ,--. .'■'•:'. \-' : .->. :, ' . . : , ; .i "■Ehn'o was- when the/.resident on the cityr eido slopes of Mount'Yictoria, "Upper Willis Street, IVinakori Road,, etc., walked homehad to,'.'ior.'.there .were no trains to serve him adeq'vmtely: The question that presents itself in 'deliberating- , over the change tbfltj has como'about.-isrr- :■' , ■ . ''■:'■'■/■ '.■■ Are vie physioally, degenerating ( owing ' to oorirtlnuaiuse of the cars? The question need not' trouble tho ; strenuous: i wqrkerTT'the:'man; who .wields a ■heavy ■hainmorjn. a--.foundry ■ or a .pick im : »oKy."grov"ind^but : what...about.the many wh-o' 'n^ ! -.i'nto"iihe.'city,'!and;£et'tle over a desk that ■t&ey'''6rtly<' : quit'.'fdr''a .few minutes in the middle of, : thd'day? ',Can they afford to loss , •the physical exercise they unconsciously indulged''in when thoy had to; walk two or three miles. dailyl'to.ancUrom. their offices,? ; I Of course, the ca'rsj lfrve only been running a year-or two;-and'any effect that has resulted through tho. cause noted cannot bo already obvious, but what will' ten years ; brvng- and what will be the. effect ;on generations of "pefpeXuarcar-riders?' Will it moan gradually attenuating . or/'shortening legs? Perish the thought!-. -.Is. it not feasible that' the electric car to us "slaves,of the.city" ■musfbe.'-to some extent, ,the cause of de,,tenora.iipn?„,/„.•! , a ~... '-.V,,- ■■■■■■.- ;-\ •■- '> To , what f 'is«n:-thp argument,.let the 4 suburbai'i Tosiclerit "(living a milo or - more away from his work), who lias, accustomed himself to riding to. arid fro /regularly for a .year,- iiry" ! his old . method' of'reaching ms< ibusiriess^Slianks's.pqnj: , 'He'will- find that tho distance seems twico as long as, it did when he used to'■walk it boforo, and he will, '-in some' instances,-: rci?,ph. his- qffico _' reg lar tione : ;up7 ,! i-CJ)ist 's6:& to "ca'-ism. ,, '""'The-,tougbi3iiing of the muscles of" v the "legs that was; achieved. by briskly walking three or , four niiles a: day'has dis : appeaxed. - ; The- hardness , has ..been super,sededl''by. r a 7 ' : tendericy':' towards nabbmoss. "Safety' and' saiifty. lio .in persistent useful jelprt', ,,; t!pplios tb ;i the f miKicles as well as to itbo-'niind.. ':'■■■■'\, : • Lot -the :.cars..cea'so .ninning for. one _day-as.was.-...the ~case .yiii.-tarsay—and half; the no ono was morn tired ■ "-■■* ■- '■ ithan he who -had to getabout iwithouthii uauvVaid—the car. " '' If it would serve. any.fUserul.purpose, the ;car-rider,of .three hundred years hence, whose forbears" have ; been-car-riders during that timo would be depicted- as'a- man with an lenormous-body-perched above a pair of short-'.and K painftilly; attenuated legs crooked at the knees'(through continual fitting), and lar"<*6" and-sensitive-broad-toed feet and. big macular -fingers, of generations of. car-reaching. His forehead would, be broiid'-and lofty,, as, the result of tho'brain power induced by generations of arguments taken- part in on, the cars. The eyes would prdterriaiii-Jfally ;quick—possibly an ocular development :may by then have taken place at' tho back" of . the head to aid tho carrider to .preserve, , his life and : . dignity.-,Ho would bo a persistent reader of, tho papers Thonco"the forehead (development), and would bo'ari! advqeato of innumerable private: sid- ; ino-s* so that : tho; cars would (land people at doors,* instead--of-having to totter a weary twenty or. thirty yards from a stop-,-ping place. ." ■'-■■.'-■■■' ' ' ;