Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 23 October 1949 — Page 25

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Editorials Politics

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SUNDAY, OCTOBER 23, 1949

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New Traffic System T

Miss Yvonne Lesperance shows how the Bureau of Motor Vehicles

microfilms conviction records.

Individual Driving Records Will Spot Chronic Offenders

. By ROBERT BLOEM DONT look now, but you're being watched. Indiana wants to know if you are a safe driver. The state is looking for the fatal five per cent—the few drivers who do the most killing. If you are the kind of driver who takes it easy and obeys the law, there's nothing to worry about. If you're a chronic speeder or red-light runner, being watched may be the best thing that ever happened

to you. Maybe the state can yank you out of the driver's seat before you kill yourself— or worse, somebody eise.

If your driver's license has been suspended don't apply for a new one. Mrs. Clifford E. Ander-

o Track D

son, kardex supervisor, needs only a minute to find out if a driver is in trouble.

FOR MANY months the Bureau of Motor Vehicles has been building up individual driving records. The bureau gathers every bit of information that might "have a bearing on a driver's ability to drive. It has been slow going. Until Sept. 10, the BMV was Yeceiving about 4000 reports a month on convictions for moving traffic violations. On Sept. 10 a new law went into effect. Since then the number of conviction reports has more than doubled. As the building of driving records speeds up, the offenders will pay the bill. To every fine,

Don’t Fall Asleep in Barber Chair:

You're Breaking the La

Can you spot the law-breaker in this picture?

« + « Nope, it Isn't Mrs. Joyce New, whose hat is blocking out the Murat stage and causing that pained expression on the face of Mr. Ross. It's Melvin T. Ross himself, who as manager of the theater is breaking a little-known city law by not de-hatting patrons.

Another violator . . . C. O. Harrison, owner of the New York Barber Shop at 28 Kentucky Ave. is a law-abiding man but he's afoul of the law here. A long-forgotten city ordinance makes it illegal for him to let customer Len Royer catch 40 winks while he's getting his hair trimmed.

A point of law . . , When Mrs. New ends this chat and turns fo walk away, will Police Chief Edward Rouls arrest her? Probably not, since even the well-informed chief never heard of an old ordi. nance which says that a protruding hatpin is "agin the law."

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Local Ordinances Need Revision

By DONNA MIKELS BROKEN any laws lately? Have you fallen asleep in the barber chair? Failed to remove your hat in the theater? Ridden in an elevator with an unprotected hatpin point? If you have, you've violated one of the city’s long-forgotten but still effective ordinances. Mr. Average Law-Abiding Citizen could be a candidate for the calaboose if the policeman on the corner remembered or even knew of their existence. » ~ » THERE HASN'T been a codification of Indianapolis city ordinances in 24 years. Not since 1925 has anyone sat down to knock out the obsolete laws and compile the rest into a single general code. ’ This means that a law passed “way back when” stays on the books indefinitely, unless there's been a special repeal or amendment. F'rinstance: There's a law in the 1925 code that says no person shall use a barbershop as a dormitory nor any owner or manager permit the shop to be used for sleeping purposes.” If you've dozed off in a barber chair. both you and the shopowner have run afoul of the law, . - » SOME CITY FATHER must have suffered through a show behind a lady in a large hat. Hence came Section 43 of the Indianapolis general code, making it unlawful to “permit or tolerate the wearing of any

hat, cap or bonnet in any thea- |

ter or place of amusement during a performance.” Under this law a theater manager who doesn’t de-cap his patrons is liable to a $10 fine. What's more, each hat constitutes a separate offense. Speaking of hats, an alert policeman might pick up a lot of $5 fines if he roamed the mile square checking on hatpins. That's the fine for any person found in any street, alley, elevator or public place with an unprotected hatpin point prstruding more than a half-inch from the hat. Get the point? . » . BACK IN ’25 it was still considered sound lawmaking to levy a $300 fine agdinst any person flying aircraft within or above the city, unless in discharge of duties of the military, naval, civil or postal service. City attorneys who have to search through 24 separate volumes of each year’s council proceedings to track down any revisions since the ‘25 codification say this one is probably still on the books

An all-encompassing license law that sends city atterneys to the dictionary makes it unlawful to operate a biograph, graphophone, kinetoscope, or projectoscope without a license. « If you have one you had better rush to City Hall for a tag. ~ - - IN THE 1859 code there's a law against driving a horse or animal-drawn vehicle faster than seven miles per hour in the city. But the 1925 code shows a

later revision which lowered the

driver must also “slacken” his speed to go around: corners.

. from now on, $1.75 will be added

to pay the cost of the license control program. # td = EVERY COURT in the state fs required to report its convictions on moving traffic violations to the BMV. Only Indianapolis cafeteria court so far has failed to comply. When this biggest of all state traffic courts begins to report its violators, the last escape for reckless drivers will be sealed. Every moving traffic offense, even little things like hand signals, will go down on the central record in the statehouse.

rests and remembers

Under Auspices

mestics in Indianapolis.

igan Rd. They earn $75 a month

THEY WERE brought here by the National Catholic Welfare Committee under the local sponsorship of Msgr. Henry F. Dugan. They arrived in New York aboard the Gen. Harry Taylor Oct. 13 and came here the next day. - The de Chenkeys, marked for early liquidation by the Com-

By IRVING LEIBOWITZ THE RAILROAD train, once the chief mode of transportation, is facing a crisis in Indiana. Increased competition from busses, trucks and airlines has cut into railroad freight and passenger business. . Statistics in the Public Service Commission show that Indiana's 39 railroads have slashed runs and are asking for more curtailments,

A

Arnold Atwood, secretary of the PSC, estimated that Hoosier railroads have abandoned about 300 miles of track since the war. Railroad officials said rail profits are declining as a result of

Every driver in the state will have such a record.

If the record is good, the EMV will assume he is at least a reasonably safe driver. If it is bad, the BMV will assume the driver is a potential killer. It will take away his license to drive, ” » . DETAILS of the “scoring” haven't been set up yet. BMV officials point out that the records are building up anyway. Once a way of figuring “score” on traffic violations is determined, a lot of licenses may be lost suddenly. The new record of driving

»

General to gardener . . . Former Hungarian Gen. Geza de Chenkey

the flight from fear.

DP Couple Brought to City

of NCWC

By LARRY STILLERMAN A FORMER Hungarian general and his wife, once proud

masters of families of servants, are working as do-

They are employed by the Fidtcher T. Rahkes, 4655 N. Mich-

and room and board.

They once had vast property and an imposing income. “But this is a happy circumstance for us,” explained Geza de Chenkey in slow, deliberate English. He is believed to be the first ex-Hungarian officer to be admitted to the U. 8. “At least we have our necks,” he joked grimly.

See the "flag" along the lower edges of th ese individual record cards? Each iraffie violation moves the flag. If your card gets to look like the bottom one, you'll be waking, net

safety won't hurt good drivers. The system will allow for a “mistake” or t The state won't take your driver's license for one offense. Frequency of offenses will be more important than the number of them. For instance, if your record shows three traffic offenses in three years it won't be too serious. If it shows the same three offenses in three months-—look out.

- - LJ THE POINT to the whole thing is, the system is complete. It's beginning to function. No matter who you are, if you drive a car you are on the list. And if you get into trouble, any

Budapest to babies . .

kind of trouble at all, driving that car, the BMV will know about it, From now on, if you ean't keep yourself out of traffie trouble, the BMV will,

» # . ALL THIS is aimed at making the highways safe, not at making things difficult. The BMV will pay equally striet atention to persons who are not trafic offenders, but who are disqualified to drive through ne fault of their own. State mental institutions and the board of health are reporting release of all mental cases so the BMV will know them if they apply for 2 driver's N-

Ex-Hungarian General, Wife Working Here

. Madame Maya de Chenkey makes a period doll dance for Barbara D. Rahke,

driving. seizures

AMPUTEES : other handicaps are reported.They ean obtain a lcense te drive, but it will be subject to their having cars properly so they cam drive

16-month-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Fletcher T. Rahke, 4655 N. Michigan Rd.

“But in the six months the Communists were in power, we knew that any control by Communists meant the end for us.” ” ” ” AFTER World War I, Mr. de Chenkey, a career militarist, was stripped of his lieutenancy, a rank which he held in a calvary unit which fought on the Russian and Italian fronts. He worked in the Hungarian ministry of air traffic communication from 1920 until the Hungarian Air Corps was reorganized in 1939. He returned to the military as an administrative colonel at that time until he was retired as a general in November, 1942. From his retirement until 1944, he and Madam de Chenkey lived off his army pension and income received from property. Then came the exodus. ” # »

munists, started their flight in

1919.

“It was then the Hungarian leftists attempted to gain full control of our beloved country,” “Maya and I were just married. I was

Mr. de Chenkey said. ‘forced’ to leave the army.

higher wages.

Decatur run lost more $100,000 last year.

losses. ” ” . 2

the Hoosier landscape. Four

waukee-St. Paul-Pacific,

R. C. Diamond, superintendent of the Indianapolis division of the pared to the bone. Baltimore & Ohio R. R. Co, said the two-train Indianapolis-| proved by the PSC since the war, Towns and villages, faced ub ve

than

MILES AND MILES of rusty tracks are covered by high weeds and grass, Vacant stations dot

Hoosier railiroads— Baltimore & Ohio, Chicago-Mil-Chesa~

AS THE Russians and their brand of communism advanced in the final stages of combat, the de Chenkeys packed all they could in one automobile . . . their clothing and a few family relics . . . and fled west. Their first stop was Budapest. Then on to Austria. And final-

Service on most lines has been

the loss of rail service,

Other railroads reported similar cried out against the cuts. But, railroad men claim, the public isn’t using the traim like it did before and during the war. A nation-wide increase in railroad freight rates, amounting to about 9 per eent, has failed te halt the drop im raliread income, officials

say.

Many reductions have been ap-

ly, they “settled” in the U. 8. occupation zone in Bavaria near Munich. Because he was retired before “active” combat roared in Europe, Mr. de Chenkey and his wife were “cleared” rapidly by allied investigators in World War II. “My ancestors have always fled oppression,” Madame de Chenkey explained proudly. Europe's tremulous history unfolded as she tolé how her family fled from the Turks because of their Hapsburg ties. The strength of her independence grew drom childhood, she pointed out.

o ” ” “WE WERE a very wealthy family,” she said. “And I learned painting, dressmaking, cooking and designing despite the protests of my parents.” An accomplished pianist, Madame de Chenkey gave benefit recitals in Vienna as a young rl. . And her talents aided the de Chenkeys during their flight as displaced persons. When this devoted couple arrived in the U. 8. occupation zone, Madame de Chenkey obtained permission to make and sell period dolls. :

“THE SPECTER of government ownership hangs over railroads,” one railroad 8

roads.”

eventually will have to give up all but long hauls between big

ban! tey. The New York Central a profit of $13 $ in Indiane 8

financial

PSC officials think raliroadsithe

as improbable, the de sought to enter the U. 8. in first step to create a new existe ence. EK tion from the zone the easiest avenues, discovered. s = 8 ey AGAIN HER talents and ability aided the de Chenkeys. In Freudenstadt Madame 48 Chenkey translated German scientific documents into French for allied investigators. Serbian,

as well as H German and French, are “native™ tongues to her.

On March 21, 1040, came the first contact with the NCWC, And the move here followed slowly, but surely. “We know to do many things,” Madame de Chenkey said. “But we don’t know the circumstances in this We want to learn ' quickly. “We want to start our new life here and want to grow with the freedom that is here and which we have always had and fought for,” Madame de Chenkey declared. Her husband nodded

i

Competition Brings Indiana Railroads Face To Face With Crisis

higher costs of fuel, supplies and|peake & Ohio and New York uipment, increased taxes and Central—have petitioned the PSC highe h this month to eliminate 14 trains.

Toad earned $02,358,792 and spent $78,651,045. nlp

Baltimore million and the than $500,000.

& Nickel Plate less