HARDWICK − Local Lumps: During the electrical storm which hit this place about 4:30 last Thursday afternoon, lightning struck the chimney on N. J. Coburn’s house on Wolcott Street and badly damaged it. This was about all the damage that was done in this village, although in the nearby towns considerable damage was done in various forms.
“Fresh Air” Children Will Arrive July 31st`
The chairman of the local committee in charge of the entertaining of the Fresh Air Children reports that the number to be entertained remains about as reported last week, and will probably be between 115 and 120. The amount of the money donation remains about the same, around $128 to $130.
The committee states that places have been found for 18, where the committee will pay the board, and they wish very much to raise funds enough now for an additional lot of six children, where board will be paid. It seems as though this could be accomplished between now and next Friday, July 31st.
It is not yet definitely known whether the kiddies will arrive on the regular 1:19 P. M. mixed train, or by a special train, but the time of arrival will be published next week.
In the list of donors list week the name of Mrs. H. W. Powers, $3.50, was omitted, and the Mrs. Harold Davis mentioned is the South Main Street family of that name. Among the new donations received are those of Mrs. B. O. Johns, $3.50, and Mrs. E. H. Campbell, $3.50.
Women Motorists
A professional man made the remark a few days ago that he disliked to meet women automobile drivers on the road. He expressed the feeling that while they “do pretty well” they are not quite so dependable in a crisis, have poorer judgment, lost their nerve and are altogether less capable than are men in the matter of guiding their horseless chariots through the maze of traffic. Is this indictment true? The question is of major importance because of the fact that motor traffic is growing steadily and women are driving cars in increasingly large numbers.
Our police court blotters are crowded with cases against drunken drivers, reckless youths who have run amuck, and the “one-armed” variety against whom a war is being waged in many localities. It is seldom we read of a woman driver having her license revoked for one of these offences.
The motor vehicle commissioner of a neighboring state was asked his opinion regarding the competence of women drivers, generally speaking. While he throws no bouquets at the ladies, his opinion, as expressed, is that it is not a matter of sex, but of temperament and judgment. “Some women will never make good drivers,” he says, “neither will a certain type of man. I have no means of knowing how many accidents reported to my office in which women drivers are involved, are due to any fault of theirs. The driver of a car is not always responsible for a mix-up. It is quite as likely to be the fault of the driver whom she meets. I have in mind women of sound judgment and a thorough knowledge of handling their cars who are as well able to meet a crisis as any men of my acquaintance. On the other hand there is the woman who ‘talks too much.’ It is useless to expect her to become a proficient driver.”
Doesn’t this size up the situation of woman’s status in the whole field of endeavor? It isn’t so much a matter of sex as of temperament, mentality and individual ability.
