Red Light District (Not What You're Thinking!)

Here's another installment of Cap'n Jim's Hobart memories that I forgot about until now.

At the corner of Third and Main in front of the Dyche drugstore there was a lamp post. High on the post there was a pipe at the end of which was a red light.

When a police officer was needed, the telephone operator would turn on the light. The on-duty officer would then call the operator to determine the nature of the emergency. He could then walk to the station and get the one patrol car the town possessed.

This was the nineteen thirties. There were no portable police radios. Fortunately, there were not many malefactors in Hobart. The system worked.

I mentioned this to another long-time resident who also remembers this, although vaguely. The red light was just for use at night, when the police station wasn't staffed.