New Britain Herald Newspaper, February 26, 1923, Page 3

Bedlam in Coal Yards as People Ra:{a_if,_ fiuy and Take Away Fuel “Herald” Reporter, Incog nito, Visits Distribution Points and Watches the Scramble for Anthracite, A Herald reporter sallied forth en Raturday afterncon o make the rounds of the copl offices In quest of ¢lusive black diamonds. He traveled incognito and represented himself as # prospective coal purchaser, in which position he found himself one of a vast unnumbered throng, The reporter's first stopping place was the office of the City Coal and Wood Co, According to the report- er's watch requests for coal were made and orders refuped at this of. \Im« at the rate of one per minute dur- fng the hour he spent there, There ‘was not a pound of anything but wood and soft coal In the yard except a Jdew old orders which were going out. ‘A little woman, her head covered With an old fashioned red shawl, and two children clinging to her skirts, entered timidly and sald she had no oal. She was told there was nono on hand. Bhe returned later with $2 for 200 pounds and offered to leave the money to make sure of getting some when it arrived. Her offer could not be accepted because no one knew when there would be coal. A man drove up, serene and con- fident. He stopped his team on the scales and entered. “Glve me half a ton of nut coal” he said. He was surprised to find that there was none to be had.” | “Please give me some coal, I've got sickness at home,’ ’pleaded a man, “We can help you out with wood,” . Was the reply. "I don't think that will do mueh good,” and the seeker after fuel went out. . At the Shurberg yard where the #cribe next made a stop, there was a small quantity of coal on hand. Or- ders had gone forth that nothing over 500 pounds be sold to a customer. Nothing was being dellvered. Trucks were put away and men were kept busy serving those who came in. ’ Cafeteria Service, Customers who wanted coal and wanted it quickly were given a chance to get-it. All they had to do ‘was_to take their own bags to the coal'pile, which consisted mostly of buckwheat, with a littie egg, fill them 1up, convey them to the scale, weigh them, pay the bill and depart. | Men in good clothes with hite| shirts and collars were scen filling bags with coal, going away with 100 pounds at a time and appearing to be thankful they had that much. Tiny youngsters of the kindergar- ten age struggled in with toy wagons and sleds, filled their bags, had them weighed, paid the bill and struggled off, dragging their sleds or wagons| through mud and ice, oftimes requir- | ing extra help to get along. 4 Oceasionally a woman came in with one or two children, also pulling a sled or toy wagon getting one or two Pags and going. “We will sell it to them as fast as they come,” said ene official of the company, “but at this rate we can’t hold out any more than an hour until.we will be cleaned out. | If we get a bad storm next week it's! going to be hell in New Britain,” he added with amphasis. il Why Coal Men Become Gray. Elbowing his way through the erowd of customers, the reporter forced his' way into the office of the| Citizens’ Coal Co. ~ Hera there was!| JJittle or no 100 pound bag business. | There was some pea c¢oal on hand nnd it was being rushed out as rapidly asi possible in half and quarter ton lots. | Telephones were ringing, trucks were rushing in and out, and a steady €tream of men and somen poured! through the office door. 8o rapidly have telephone calls heen coming into this office that it has become neces-, gary to disconnect one telephone so! other office business could be trans-| acted. At Berson brothers there was some egg coal on hand, and it was reported { | pounds | | Who tell us about their big family and | slokness, ‘eto, and the belligerant kind | whe are golng to get eoal regard- | less. This morning I had to threaten to call the police to eject a woman | who simply steod here and sereamed | bhecause she couldn't get coal, One night last week a man pulled a knife and wanted to fight for some." n bribery is resorted to, M' ple ofter from #1 to 35 over the price to get coal. One evening recently a stranger on the phone told the young woman in a local office that he would take her to a Hartford theater if she shipped him a load of coal, T've burned your coal for the last five or six years, why can't I get at least one bag now?' demanded one customer, Many Doctors' Prescriptions All local dealers are making strenu- ous effprts to Ml doctors' preserip. tions calling for coal, which come In by the dozens each day. “The only complaint we have in these cases," sald several of the dealers, “is that sometimes doctors do not investigate thoroughly and people demand pref. erence on the strength of preseriptions when they still have coal.” Very often the dealers notice those who have prescriptions want just one coal, usually nut or stove und-refuse to take anything else, One company is selling a semi-an- thracite from on¢ of the southern ates, with more or less satisfaction. f more people would have purchas. ed that mixture of 20 per cent buck- wheat the sitnation would be bet- ter,” sald a dealer, People who are more or less finan- cially independent, known as “the wealthy class,” are suffering as much as anyone, One dealer says he knows of factory officials who have no coal In their homes, or very little. It 18 no very strange thing to have a high priced limousine drive up to a coal yard and the chauffeur put two or three bags in the rear,and drive off. But She Got The Coal At the Shurburg yard the reporter was shown a ledged containing 24 full pages of coal sales for a week, run- ning from 500 down to 100 pounds to a purchase. Some people do not stop to figure expense, they simply want coal. One woman paid $3.00 to a phygjclan, got a prescription, gave 2 more to an expressman and got a half ton of coal, costing her $10 more. She paild at the rate of $30 a ton to make sure of getting her coal. “You've got 20 pounds coming,” a customer who had a small truck was told. “Don't stop to put in it the bag, we've got a long line of trucks wait- ing for the scale.” The 20 pounds was dumped on the floor of the truck and away he went. “You're just 20 r," the next driver was told. *“Never mind stopping to take the coal off, give me 20 cents and beat it out of the way,” and so it went all day long. “It's quitting time” “®aid a coal truck driver at 5 o'clock In the after- noon. ‘“‘We can't help it,” said a fore. man, “we still have two doctor's pre- scriptions. - You'll have to get them out."” “Do you want to hirc a driver,” said a man to a yard foreman. ‘“What for? We have nothing to sell,” re- plied the coal man. All seem to agree that the only solution to the problem is to buy coal in the summer. JIMMY MURPHY WINS BY SINGLE AUTOMOBILE LENGTH I'uc.ln: Champion Pulls in First in Initiat Contest of Year fn Far West. Los Angeles, Ieh. 26.—A car's length gave Jimmy Murphy victory in | the 250 mile national cHampionship automobilé face-—the first motor car speed contest of 1923—at the Los Angeles speedway yesterday and put kind of | ¢! NEW BRITAIN DAILY HERALD, MONDAY, FEBRUARY PROHIBITION CASES TAKE 40 P. C. OF TIME OF CONN. DIST. ATTORNEY Number of Ligquor Trials Pending Is Increasing Daily All Over Country, Records Show, « BY GBORGE H. MANNING (Washiugiun Bureay of New Britain Herald), Washingten, D, C, Feb, 26,—Pro- hibition cases oceupy forty per cent of the time of the district attorney for Connecticut, Forty-four per cent of the time of all the distriet attorneys of the 86 federal districts is taken up by cases arising under the national dry law, In addition to the §9,260,000 appro- priation for the prohibition enforce- ment bureau, one third of the annual | appropriation for the activities of the | department of justice goes for pay- Ing the expenses of prosecuting vio- lators of the Volstead act, The total amount expended by the federal gov ernment in enforcing prohibition then in excess of $14,000,000 nually, The number of liquor cases pend- ing and undisposed of in the federal district courts of the country is in- there were cases pending—7,000 more than at the same time in 1921, It Is estimated that at the present time between 25,000 and 30,000 booze cases are on the dockets waiting dis- position, These and other startling facts re- garding the cost, in both time and money, of enforcing national prohi- bition, are disclosed by the testimony of officials of the department of jus- tice before the house appropriations committee, In the hearings of the sub-commit- tec in charge of the third deficlency appropriation bill, just reported to the house, members of the committee quizzed spokesmen for the' judiclary department as to the responsibility for the vast increases In the expenditure of the department of justice. In 1916, the expenses of the de- partment were about $10,000,000, Last year they were about $18,000,000, At least $5,000,000 of the increase is at- tributed directly to the prohibition laws. The deficiency bill just sub- mitted carries about $1,700,000 for the department of justice, additional to the regular appropriation for the present fiscal year. Of this amount about half is due more or less direct- 1y to liquor cases. The tctal account collected by the government in fines and forfeitures in prohibition cases is about $2,000,000 annually. As a rule, the states that were dry before the enactment of the Volstead law furnish most of the prohibition work for district attorneys and their assistants. In Maryland, a wet state, the per- centage of time spent on prohibition cases is 50 per cent; in New York the percentage ranges from 21.56 per cent! in the southern district, which in- cludes New York city, to 80 per cent in the northern district. In Massa- chusetts the percentage is 30. The southern Alabama district is highest, with 90 per cent of the time of the district attorney devoted to prohibition enforcement. Kansas makes the best showing, with only 5 per cent. Minnesota, the home state of Mr, Volstead, shows 60 per cent of | the time of the attorney given to booze cases. The table furnished the house com-| mittee by Mr. Kennard, administra- tive accountant of the department of justice, shows that prohibition in dis- | trict attorney's offices have forced all other prosecuting business into the! background. For the entire country the time of such offices is spent as follows: Prohibition cases, 44 per cent; in- ternal revenue cases, 10 per cent; postal cases, 11 per cent; acts to regu- late commerce, 7 per cent, and all other cases, 28 per cent. TPor Connecticut the figures are as follows: Prohibition cases, 40 per cent; internal revenue cases, 20 per cent; postal cases, 5 per cent; acts to regulate commerce, 2 per cent, and all other business, 33 per cent. SCHEDULES IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCHES Rev. William A. Downey to Speak " Priday at St. Joseph's At the various masses in §t. Jos- {eph's church yesterday morning, an. nouncement was made that a ehange | in the Lenten service program will be | made this week, Rev, Willlam A, Downey of Mart-| ford, expected to preach on “Mortal 18in" Wedneaday night, but owing teo another gement, he will deliver a sermon at the eathedral that night, The services usually held Friday nights, will be held Wednesday night and Friday night the customary Wed. nesday night serviee will be held, with Father Doyney as the preacher. A month's mind mass was polemnized at 7 o'clock this morning for the late Thomas J, Ryan, . Prayers were offer- ed yesterday fo: the repose of the soul of Bister Louise Claire, who died week at Hartford, She was a ster-in-law of Patrick Howley, sex. ton at St. Joseph's church. Confes- sions will be held at the church Thurs- day afternoon and evening for the first Fridey communion. The maases on Friday will be at 5:30 and 7 m, The Children of Mary will attend communion in a body at the 9 o'clock mass next Sunday morning. St. Mary's Church A month's mind mass for Mrs, Mary Ray will be held at 7 o'clock tomorrow morning. At 7 o'clock Wednesday morning an anniversary high maas will be held for Mrs. Jos- e¢ph Drager, Confessions will be held Thursday afternoon and evening for the first Friday communion. The masses Friday will be at 5:30 and 7 a. m, The usual Lenten services will be held Wednesday and Friday nights, The school children will go to con- fcssion Friday afternoon and Saturday afternoon confessions will be heard for the High school and working boys and girls. St. Andrew's Church. At the masses in St. Andrew's church yesterday morning, prayers for the recovery of Anthony Rogers of 63 Sheffield street, father of Fire Com- missioner John Rogers, were sald. Prayers were also offered for the speedy recovery or happy death of Aldona Vdanis of Chapman street, who is ill with sleeping sickness. Rev. Edward V. Grikis has arranged for a number of out-of-town pridéts to as- sist in the hearing of confessions next Thursday afternoon and evening for the first Friday communion. The pas- tor reports that there is a big de- mand for tickets for the photoplay “The Transgressor” which will be pro- duced at the Lyceum 'theater next Sunday afternoon. OCCUPY MORE TERRITORY French Take Over Strip Between Cologne and Coblenz and the Co- i | blenz and Mayence Bridgeheads. Duesseldorf, Feb. 26, (By The As- sociated Press).—The French today are in possession of the strips of ter- ritory between Cologne and Coblenz and the Coblenz and Mayence bridge- heads, thereby securing railway lines that have heretofore been in unoc- cupied territory. The operation was planned to strengthen the Rhineland customs control. Between 12,000 and 15,000 civilian workers from France and Belgium are awaiting the order that will put them at work on the railway lines through- out the Ruhr and Rhineland. Plans for operating the roads, it is expected will be completed this week. German jemployes are to be offered their for- mer jobs with the understanding that it they refuse to return to work they will be expelled. The disciplining of the City of Bo- MEN ARE RESCUED AFTER 8 NIGHT IN AN ICE FLOE Lighthouse Keeper and Assistans Are Caught in Jam in Nantucket Nound. Hyannis, Mass, Feb. 26.~Caught In the ice that has jammed Nantueket Sound, M. D. King and P, B, Grassle, keeper and assistant keeper of the lighthouse on Hishop's and Clerk's ledge, spent 24 hours in an open boat, unable to extricate themseives. Sees ing them from shore residents tried to reach them but falled. The Chat- ham coast guards were called out and after a tussle with the tides and lee reached the men and reseued them, King and Grassie were recovering to- from the effects of their expos | 5 | i | i ¢ The 1Ilhlzfllll..l‘llln left their sta- When a fast mail train on the Lehigh Valley railroad crash-|irying to threas the shifting ooonoots ed into the rear of a freight at Rummerfield, Pa., six men lost their '&‘2&:‘ :::' 'nf-":: '“.'2"‘2.:2.'.% lives, All were rail employes, [supplies. The five mile trip took twe CRUSADE BY POLICE Keter K 408 i oo e o FILLS COURT DOCK on the return, Week-End Cleanup Brings Large Mrs, Keith testified that her hus.|€VOntually reached the lighthouse The tides caused an ice jam after Grist to Mills of Justice | band has been drunk two weeks and |Men, Who were nearly exhausted. |the men had gone half way. Night. Gambling house and liquor ralds, |that he drives her out of the )mun.. MRS. JANE A. ROBERTS sengers, or six more than allowed,| the polic:man sald, Charles Goodrich, a third jitneu pleaded gullty to overcrowding. Pa. trolman Feeney testified that Good-| rich had 13 more than allowed, | $10 fine was handed down, Fitz Keith pleaded gulity to being drunk and causing trouble at his | home, Patrolman Hayes made the ptain Long and the coast guards [arrest at 103 Jubilee street y»nnrfllyl at the Chatham station launched a | on complaint, | big dory, They had a hard fight, but | Snow was falling and the men had A to pack the supplies around them for protection and warmth. After day. | break they tried to pole their way out, using oars to push the jce away, Did you know that a classified ad- vertiser has as much right to de- mand a look at the circulation bodks 28 a big display advertiser? The “Herald" classified ads are satistying thousands daily. Have you the Right Glasses? If you read by artificial light, it you use your eyes for trying work—your glasses must be ab- solutely correct or your vision will suffer. Better have your cyes examined. Frank E. Goodwin Eyesight Specialist 327 MAIN ST. TEL. 1905 'all found them wurrounded by the plain drunks, breaches of the peace, | Judgment was suspended, | assaults and violations of the publie Sergeant G. C, Ellinger arrested service motor vehicle laws crowded | Martha Neulewicz and Anna Krin-| the police court docket this morning. | coski at 102 Grove street Saturday Judge B. W. Alling was on the bench | morning for assaulting ecach other.|South Main Street Woman Was Born and Prosecuting Attorney Joseph G.|The women had trouble on other oc- v ‘I"Wdl presented the state's cases, as- | casions and the police had been noti-| In New Britain on October 26, 1833 sisted by Deputy Prosecutor W. M.|fied Saturday the women engaged in| Greenstein, an altercation in which it was al.| —Funeral This Aftemoon. Michael Was of 55 Oak street, paid |loged Martha used a broom stick on| Mrs. Jane A. Roberts, & native and $150 and costs for violation of the | Anna with telling effect while Anna lifelong resident of New Britain, died “dry” law. BSergeant W. P. McCue |scratched Martha's face. The women gt her home 120 South Main street on and Patrolmen J. C. Stadler and W.|were told to go home and behave Sunday afternoon at the age of 90 8. Strolls found a uulnm? of alleged | themselves. {years. She was born ‘on October 38} moonshine liquor at Was's tenement Gambling Houses Raided. 1833, a daughter of the late Ralph YORLARANY. B ARORL | Fred Rich was fined $35 for con-|Kent and Amelia Blinn Kent, both of Walter Brown and John Prakowski | g otine o gaming house in room 26 |Whom were natives of this city. testified' that on Sunday afternoon, |, the park Hotel on Main street, and | She leaves two brothers, Frank and February 17, they purchased a quan- | g,.q or §2 cach for frequenting a gam- | Ralph Kent and two- step-daughters, tity of liquor from Was for $5 and |ine house were imposed in the cases|Mrs. Harry Wetmore and Mrs. Alice drank it on the premises. |of John Axelrod, Walter Consie, Ray-%Green, both of New Britain. She was Patrolman Stadler testified that on|mond Hunter, John Kulper and John|One of the oldest members of the three occasions he watched the tene- | Banner. Pleas of guilty were made|Methodist church in membership and ment and found that intoxicated men |in all five cases. age. come out with regularity. 4 | Sergeant Michael Flynn and Pa- t'l;ho.{;mekrn'l mhhflld.gnl;:':.:r;o:: Dave Benjamin was fined $15 for | trolmen Tierney and Feeney went in- |3t 3 oclock from her B breach of the peace and was discharg- |to Rich's room at “three o'clock in|JOND L. Davis, pastor of the T"‘fl‘“y ed on an assault charge, and A. Pera [the morning” vesterday and found a i\lethodtlut'chu‘rcbp:‘f::‘;:l:!edc"::?e 0 was discharged on both counts. The game in progress. A “kitty” of $440 | erpent was in e Y. former was represented by Lawyer|was seized. All admitted gujlt. | Donald Gaffney and the latter bY| patroiman Feeney had the place Lawyer P. F. McDonough. | under observation for several weeks. Patrolmen William Politis and Wil- | He reported overhearing on several llam Hayes made the arrests Matur-| o . ione such remarks as: day night after a fracas in Dudjak’s o ok hall on Sexton street. From the evi- T'll bet a quarter. dence presented, Judge Alling was| “I'll raise you a half.” convinced that Benjamin was the ag- A second gambling rald Sunday re- gressor. | sulted in the appearance of Jack At the request of Attorney McDon- | Michaels, who conducts a store at 11 ough the case of John B. Johnson, | Orange. street. He was fined $25. charged with drunkenness and breach | Sergeant McCue testified that many of the peace, was continued to Thurs- |reports had reached headquarters both day morning. |from this city and Hartford that Charles Murczyn was charged with |gambling takes place on the prem- drunkenness and breach of the peace, | ises. There are two ‘“lookouts” iq- He was arrested during a raid at 11| ways present, he told the court. Pa-] Orange street vesterday. Sergeant W.|trolman Peter Cabelus reported that| P. McCue and Patrolman J. C. Stadler | games are on all day Sunday. made the arrest and testified that he Michaels answered that card play- was drunk and abusive. Murczyn was | ing is allowed in his store, but only fined $5. . |for drinks and “Eskimo pies.” Overcrowded Jitneys. Liquor charges against K. Krep- | Vincent Smith, charged with over-|shan of 25 Willow street, and Martha crowding a jitney bus, pleaded guilty. | Gruscznski of 15 Beaver street, were Patrolman Thomas Feeney, Saturday |continued to Thursday morning at the night on Main street found Smith | suggestion of Prosecutor J. G. Woods. with 39 passengers aboard, being 15 4 Wi ————— | more than he is allowed to carry, the Big City—Big Business—Big Ideas. policeman said. He was fined $10, We all have the first and last, and A similar charge was preferred |are arriving at the central point of against Fred Suess, also arrested by |the three success triplets. ‘“‘Herald” Patrolman Feeney. He had 22 pas-|classified ads will help along. { Bennett Hill in second place. {chum for its attitude toward the oc- .’cupatlon has been featured by whole- sale arrests as well as by the Virtual | declaring of a state of siege. The | French showed their strength by |bringing tanks and machine guns to the heart of the town and then issued an order forbidding residents to ap- pear on the streets after 9 o'clock in ;tho evening. Most of the persons ar- rested have been released. a car or two of nut coal on the rail-| i) who jokingly referred to him- road. Customers calling for nut @0al gcif a5 4 “hard luck” champion, re-| were advised there was none on hand. ['cajved only $5,000 and 269 points to- No other sizes were to be seen, ‘al-|wards the 1923 champlonship, Whers though trucks of all sorts were press- [ aq Murphy, the brief distance ahead cd into service hauling away egg coal.| at the finish, took $9,000 and 500 Occasionally here a small boy could! points. be seen dragging a sled with one or| 7To get the checkered flag ahead of two 100 pound bags thereon. . | Hill, Murphy was forced to set what And so it is. The coal situation is| was said to be a new world's record almost inconceivably acute. “And un-|for the distance, an average speed of less the '‘people buy their coal in the! 115,65 miles an hour. summer, it's going to be just as bad e s voaen next year,” aid Nathan Berson, of the| What is claimed to be the largest Berson Brothers' Coal Co. wrecking crane in the world is on the Pleas and Threats Virginian railroad and is capable of “We have two kinds of people come | lifting over 200 tons at a radius of 17 in,"” said one dealer, “The weepy kind | feet, 6 inches. DOCTOR HANNA'’S BIG PRACTICE , By Dr. Hanna My dental practice has grown steadily from the beginning. It is today the larg- est in the State, simply because I have sup- plied reliable dentistry, at a fair price, and given better service than the people could get elsewhere. Success ien’t accidental. A man has to make good. I don’t say these things in a boastful spirit but give them as plain facts. I am proud of what I have done and am thankful to the public for the support it has given me. DR. GEO. T. HANNA 304-310 Main Street Results and “Herald” classified ads should be interchangeable in the dic- tionary ef success. MANY SCHOOL CHILDREN ARE: SICKLY Mothers who value their own com- fort and welfare of their children, should never be without a box of Mother Gray's Sweet Powders for Children for use‘throughout the sea- son. They Break up Colds, Regulate the Bowels, Relieve Feverishness, Constipation, Teething Disorders, Headache and Stomach Troubles, Used by Mothera for over 30 years. THESE POWDERS GIVE SATIS- FFACTION. All Drug Stores. Don't accept any substitute. Trial Package sent FRRE Address Mother Gray Co., LeRoy, N. Y. ;l'h'ousands At Stake ' BABY CHICKS First Arrival This Week in These Three Breeds R. I. Reds Barred Rocks White Wyandottes PASSIG-SIMONSEN. Announcement has been made of the marriage of Misy Dolores Louise Simonsen, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Simonsen of 07 Barnett| street, to John C. Passig, son of Mr.| and Mrs. Jens Passig of Lake Benton, Minn. The wedding took place at the heme of the bride's parents on Wed- nesday, February 21. Dr. Abel Ahl- quist, pastor of the Swedish Lutheran Church performed the cermony. Mr.| and Mrs. Passig will make their home | in Lake Benton, Minn. but oaly one qu! finest. Order early. How Many Do You Want? . The following Pure Breed, Bred-to-Lay Baby Chicks will be stocked in our store during the months of March, April, May and June — R. L Reds, Barred, Buff and White Rocks, White Wyandottes, White and Brown Leghorns, Black Minorcas, Light Brahmas and Jersey Black Giants. : YOU PICK OUT YOUR OWN CHICKS Get our circular on the care of Baby Chicks. Rackliffe Bros., Inc. Phone 1075 PARK AND BIGELOW STS. Campaigning in Germany is not all hardship by any means, as any of the former American Occupational Forces will tell you. Here are some French poilus in a friendly little game. The stakes on the table are all 1000-mark note, or larger.