People

PRESSES BUTTON: TRAPS AUTOISTS

Marshal of Bratenahl Has Original Way to Stop Speeding

Telephone Brought Into Play, Along Lake Shore Boulevard

Marshal Newkirk of Bratenahl, for long months a terror to scorching automobilists on the beautiful Lake Shore boulevard, has at last shown his hand. He confessed last night that he has the best trap for scorchers in Ohio.

The admission was not entirely voluntary, for the essential features of his scheme became known last night to three “scorchers” who fell into his hands. They were all fined by Police Judge Beattie after Marshall Newkirk had shown the mechanical precision of his evidence.

“I suppose I might as well tell the story myself as to have somebody else tell it,” said Newkirk last night.

“You know we have a fine stretch of smooth road on the boulevard. I have established three stations. One is the starting point, the next is the seven-eighths of a mile mark, and the third is the milepost.

“When a scorcher passes the first post, the man stationed there presses a button, notifying the man at the seven-eights post to start his stopwatch. In the meantime, station 1 telephones the number of the machine to station 3. If the man at the seven-eights mark finds that the automobilist has been exceeding the law, he telephones to station 3, and the scorcher is held up.

“It works like a charm. I won’t try to say offhand how many speeders have met their Waterloo through the little red signal which drops at the seven-eights mark when a suspicious character passes the first station.”