New Britain Herald Newspaper, December 8, 1928, Page 11

HEALTH STICKERS MAIL CLERK'S IDEA Christmas Seal Descendant of Danish Project in 1908 Christmas seals, which are sold annually for the relief of tubercuio- sis sufferers and the fight against that disease, are usually considered an innovation of very recent times, but not only have they been sold each winter for 21 years but they have grown from a seed sown 67 years ago, during the Civil war. Hardly had the first shots of that conflict been fired when, in various parts of the country, women began to form organizations to help wound. ed soldiers, The government took notice of the movement and the war department formed a sanitary com- mission to collect money from the public for use in relieving the suf- feringas of the wounded. Human nature was no different then from what it is now, and the easiest way to ralse money was in connection -with a good time, so “sanitary fairs” were held in many cities, the nearest one to New Britain being Springfield and Stamford. The public flocked to these social events as it does to church socials today. Special *“post offices” were set up at the fairs and special delivery stick- ers were placed on sale at them. These labels really had no postal value, but the mopey which was ob- tained trom them was used in caring for the afflicted soldiers of the Union armies, E Mall Clerk’s Idea The idea was revived from time to time In various countrieg of the world, but it was not until 1903 that it reccived its real fmpetus, In that year & Danish postal clerk named Einar Hoelbell, was cancelling the stamps on the great flood of Chrit mas mail going through the office while he worked. As he struck the numerous letters he was thinking of the fact that Copenhagen needed a hospital for children in tubercular condition. Suddenly came the far- reaching idea of combining the two things in his mind—of having stamps of which'at least a part of the purchase price should be used for charity. He secured the endorse- ment of Danish royalty and in the next pear the first labels were is- sued. The idea spread to other Eu- ropean countrics until now num- bers of them issue labels every Christmas for charitable purposes. In Holland, Belgium, Luxemburg, and S8witzerland these are really postage stamps, but are sold -at a premium over face value and are good for postage only for face, the excews going for tuberculosis relief or other similar purpose. In other countries the labels have no postal value but are used as seals as in the United States. First_Christmas Seals An Amecrican social worker named | Jacob Riis recived a letter from his | old home in Denmark at Christmas in 1906, and 1t bore one of these seals. He used it as the basis of a | magazine article and a Miss Emily | Bissell of Wilmington, Del., decided | that it was advisable and feasible o | have similar labels in this country. | Accordingly, she designed and had | printed some simple square stickers with @ red crosg, holly leaves, and “Merry Christhas—Happy ~New | Year” on them. These were ssued under the aegis of the Delaware | chapter of the American Red Cross and $4,000 worth of them were sold. The national organization of the American Red Cross was so encour- | aged by this response that the next | year it took over the work of the Delaware group and spread the sales all over the country. The sales that | first year totaled $135,000. Begin- ning in 1911 the Red Cross, while ANNOUNCING NEW SUPERICR . NEW BRITAIN DALY AERALD, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 8, 1928, continuing to print the seals, turned them over to the National Tubercu- losis assoclation, which conducted the sale and kept the net proceeds for the study and prevention of the “white plague.” Sales mounted an- nually and in 1816 topped the $1,- 000,000 mark for the first time. The tuberculosis association took over the entire work of issi and selling the labels in 1920 and has continu- ed to take care of the whole pro- gram since, then. In that year and the next one sales were slightly re- tarded, but beginning in 1922 they swept on again and last Christmas they reached the total of $5,5000,00. Always Bright and Cheery ‘The seals have all been cheery af- fairs, beginning with the first crude red squares and continuing through to the present elahorate four-colcr productions. Usually they have shown Santa Claus, but in 1918 they felt the war spirit and bore a mili- tant female figure with shield and torch. Then they resumed peaceful ness in their subject matter. Many of them are quite rare by now, and the scarcest, these issued in 1913 and depicting St. Nicholas and his sleigh and reindeer, are valued at from $1.50 to $10. The disposition of the money re- ceived from their sale is perhaps not generally known. The local or- ganization which sponsors their sale in a town keeps 85 per cent of the proceeds for aiding.tuberculosis per- sons in that town or city and for ed- ucational anti-tuberculosis propa- ganda there. The balance goes to the state and national organizations and is used mainly to defray the ex- penses of printing the seals and co- ordinating nationally the work of the local and state societies, p CHINESE FARMS ENCOURAGED Kaifeng, China, Dec. 8 (P—Secking to'encourage agriculture, Gen. Feng Yu-hsiang, overlord of three prov- inces, has ordered his arsenal here to manufacture farm implements NIGHT PHONE CALLS RARE BACK IN % Early Operator in This ity Re- calls Pioneer Servive “Hello.” About 1885 when the telephone was in, its infancy this was the method 'in which the operator call- ed attention to the fact that she was ready to hear the number the sub- scriber wished to call. There were |only 200 telephones in thi: city and ionly two operators to care for the calls. Today there are over 11,000 tele- iphones in New Britain and with the |increase came many changes. In the i\'\‘fll‘dl ot Miss Estelle A. Whiting of 1571 Stanley street, one of the first operators employed by the Southern |New England Telephone Co. prac- tically everything is changed since that time. Miss Whiting went. into the em. ploy of the New Haven branch was ithe first in Connecticut and one or I the first established in New England. | After three months of work in that city shé came to New Britain. Al- !though she did not go back to the | operator's position for about five |years she did finally accept a place with the company when it had quarters in the Stanley building on Main street, opposite Commercial street. There was one other operator em- ployed at that time. Her name was Miss Lulu Brownell. The personnel of the company consisted of four employes, the manager, the lineman, and the two operators. Times Change, Subscribers Never Miss Whiting remembers the day when the people of New Britain hear and be heared. The operators in those days had a hard task and usually they would receive the blame when the subscriber could not hear. I this respect things have not changed. The operators of the pres- ent day are forced to handle the “cranks,” crabs,” and others of sim- ilar disposition. The hours then were much long- er. The operators went to work at 7 o'clock in the morning and worked until 12 o'clock and after an hour for lunch they returned and worked until 4 o'clock. They would be given two hours off and at 6 o'clock they | would return to duty and work un- til 9 o'clock. Every other day they would follow this schedule. On the other days they began work at § o'clock in the morying and with the |exception of the noon hour lunch {they would end their task at 6 | o'clock, An interesting sidelight is the fact Ithat there wouid be no operators on duty during the night. The lineman had a bed in a room during the {night and if there were need of a {call @ bell would wake him up and he would operate the switchboard. City Slept Sound According to Miss Whiting the lineman often went for a week at & {time without being awakened from his sleep. People did not use the tele- {phone at night unless in case of sickness. Miss Whiting said people used the horse and wagon to take ithem to their friends rather than | telephoning to them as many of peo- ple do nowadays. The company has changed its quarters on several occaslons during { the time it has existed in New Brit- ain. After it had been in the Stan- |ley building for a time it changed | to a site where the New Britain Mar- j ket Co. now standing on Main street | near the railrond crossing. Then it |moved to the railroad arcade, and ‘lated occupled a site where Grani | store is now located. These changes for distribution among the farmers. struggled with the phone, trying to |came during Miss Whiting's time. d ratily, 1S =the most notable advance in driving convenience since the self-starter DAY Willys-Overland presents for public judgment the new superior the new Su, pletely redesigned s teering gear makes Whippet instantly Previous to the time Miss Whiting | came to this city the telephone com- pany was owned by one man, George L. Reynolds having leased a few in- struments and sub-leased them to New Britain residents. It was not | until early this week that the com- | pany first learned the names of the | man who Installed the first telephone or the first subscriber. It was| brought cut in the death notice of Charles W. Flagg of Short Beach, that he installed the telephone in the home of Elihu Burritt in the old Burritt homestead in the rear of the City National Bank. A year later, in 1580, the company was taken over by the Sonthern New gland Telephone Co.. at a time | when there were only 69 telephones | | lof crop rotation and Corn Belt Farmers Can Cut Flood Loss Philadelphia, Dec. § UP—F. L. Duley, drainage cxpert engaged by The Farm Journal 1o study problems of the Mississippi floods, says farm. ers of the Mississippi valley corn belt can greatly reduce the perio cal hazard by a systematic program terracing on sloping lands. Where corn alone is sloping lands he says, 27.4 per cent of the falling rain drains off, carry- ing with it a rich part of the top soll. But where corn, wheat and clover are rotated the run-off is cut to 14.1 per cent TLand with a fall of 3 to 15 fect in 100 fect can be terraced and used grown |Over the ,000 square miles of |the Mississippi drainage area, Duley |says, farmers can save millions of dollars represented by the rich soil ond fertilizer that is washed from the bare lands into the rivers and at the same time curtail the fatai flow of water. {READ HERALD CLASSIFIED ADS FOR RESULTS PISO'S /o coughs Quick Relief! A pleasant, effective syrup—35c and 60c sizes. And ex- ternally, use PISO'S Throat and Chest Salve, 35¢c. in service in the city. | to “advantage for cultivated crops. Here's One Tew Car With Style thats Really New No duplicate of this car or that one . . . the New All- American Six. But a smartly original creation . . . with ;!;ecinl.ly designed bodies by sher. A ear that you recog- nize instantly . . . one that stands out in any crowd. 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FOURS.SIXES 939 WHIPPET FOUR COACH Coupe 0535; Sedan §9%; Boedersr #4482, Vourtg 0678 Commereial Chasslo 6362, H WHIPPET SIX COACH 695 9760, Spart Delans Roads wox 1925 (tmckndimg roas. bio cset aisd owives), f. o b Tolate, OMa, AN Willys- prices = cubject b chongo withest motion WILLYS-OVERLAND. INC..Toledo, Ohio Special Showing Tomorrow, Sunday, Dec. 9th and Monday the 10th. Public of New Britain is Invited. ELMER AUTO CO. 2 Main St. Tel. 1513 Teachers Instructors Scout Masters You are wondering what to give your pupils. May we suggest a nice practical, useful gift, at- tractively packed with holiday greeting card, and boxed for mailing, if you so desire? The Master Rite-Rite Pencil is a high grade mechanical pencil built for every-day use, and in these delightful holiday packages, sells for 50c. ADKINS 66 CHURCH STREET Practical Gifts