WE MUST RID MONTREAL OF DON JUANS IN AUTOMOBILES
Chiefs Pierre Belanger and M.A. Lepage declare a war without mercy.
La Patrie, 21 July, 1919
Police are determined to declare a war without pity against the "gallant" motorists who wait for young girls at the doors of large, west-end stores to offer them a ride, which ends up being unpleasant, and in some cases disastrous. Chiefs Belanger and Lepage have undertaken a campaign to get rid of these modern Don Juans.
Several complaints have been made by young salesgirls at these stores who have been ceaselessly solicited by these men on the prowl at closing time every night. The girls are reluctant to file complaints for fear of the resulting publicity, a fact that makes it difficult to arrest these contemptible persons.
"Most of these people," say chiefs Belanger and Lepage, "don't have a cent. They use their bosses' cars and make the girls believe they belong to them. The girls allow themselves to be tempted by these people."
These cars park at the door of large stores in the city, and the people in them solicit the young girls to join them; often the young girls give into the temptation and take a ride with strangers.
The new system has already produced results and has led to the recovery of several stolen automobiles and the arrest of two of the alleged "flirts." It is well known that many automobiles are stolen in Montreal, but up to now it cost the owners of stolen cars at least $60 to initiate a police process. Today, thanks to the system started by chiefs Belanger and Lepage, it is sufficient to fill out a card listing all the details of the vehicle, and our police officers get to work and the owner has to pay only $1.50.
All the bridges and ferries on the Island of Montreal are closely monitored, and every machine that passes is reported to the police. In such a way, it is possible to locate almost any car, to know whether they are in the city or outside, and take appropriate action.
It is believed that an organized gang operating in Canada and the United States. They steal automobiles in one district and transport them to another, where they undergo alterations to make them unrecognizable -- even their modors are changed, and finally they are sold in another district. But the methods used by these individuals are now known to police, and the required protection will be offered to the public.
Woah. That is kind of scary now that I actually took the moment to think about it. It bothers me how many young men, even men of all ages think that they can take advantage of young women like that. But, the women should be smat enought to fight the temptation. On top of it all, there is the whole car deal. Thanks for opening my eyes and allowing me to see the truth.
ReplyDeleteSeems to be that, in addition to XWA becoming the World's First Radio Station in 1919, that the world of pervs and touts was doing its best to keep up with world events.
ReplyDeleteWith 85+ years of "experience" in being a centre of automobile thievery, one would have expected the Donut Brigade to be a little more efficient than they are in cutting down on car thefts...
For more information on Chief Pierre Belanger read the Coderre Inquiry of 1924-25.
ReplyDeletehttps://owa.lac-bac.gc.ca/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://classiques.uqac.ca/contemporains/brodeur_jean_paul/delinquance_de_ordre/delinquance_ordre.html