er
your name is. If you cannot give me an honest answer, I shall be forced
to call the authorities. This nonsense about--"

He held up his hand and emitted a huge sigh. "Very well," he said, "I
will tell you what this is all about because my usefulness may come to
an end abruptly and you may have to carry on. Listen carefully." I
waited with mounting impatience.

"New York," he said after a brief pause, "is a huge, sprawling
metropolis that breeds within itself the seeds of its own destruction.
Transportation." I raised an eyebrow. "At best," he went on, "the
traffic in Manhattan does not flow--it limps. Let one traffic light fail
and vehicles are backed up for several blocks. True?"

I nodded. "Yes."

"Very well. Imagine, then, a situation where, at one given instant every
single traffic light on this congested island turns green and STAYS
green." I shuddered at the thought. "Picture the beauty of it," he said.
"Not red, which would cause all automobiles to stop, but green, the
signal to go! Imagine their mad desire to rush forward in righteous
obedience to the law, and their awful frustration to find every other
automobile and truck obeying the same law, regardless of the direction
from which it is coming. It has been estimated by noted mathematicians
who are involved in this plan, that within forty-five seconds all
traffic in Manhattan would come to a standstill, it becoming impossible
for a car to move forward or backward. Oh, what utter chaos!"

"_Ab homine homini periculum quotidianum_," I said.

"Eh?"

"Man is daily in danger from man. An ancient Roman said that."

"He knew what he was talking about. But this is only Phase One of the
plan. A corollary is based upon the axiom that one disabled automobile
is equal to ten thousand operating ones."

"I don't follow."

* * * * *

"The highways leading into and out of this island. Regardless of the
number of lanes, if one automobile breaks down, traffic is immobilized
for miles. Multiply that by several dozen, all at the same time, on all
the entrances and exits to the island, and no earthly power could
untangle that situation in less than a week, if then!"

His words evoked an image of metal monsters, stretched as far as the eye
could see, steam pouring from their overheated radiators as they
raucously bleated for help.

"All this can be accomplished quite simply and inexpensively," continued
my bearded little man. "Howe