New Britain Herald Newspaper, October 18, 1930, Page 8

-~ their emplover JMERALD PUBLISHING COMPANY New Britain, Connecticut f . Issued Daily (Sunday Excepted) ~ At Herald BId, 67 Church Street SUBSCRIPTION RATES #3.00 a Year $2.00 Three Months a Month Eitered at the Post Office at New Britain “ as Second Class Mall Matter. TELEPHONE CALLS Business Office B Editorial Rooms 92 The only profitable advertising medium in the City. Circulation books and press room always open to advertisers. Member of the Associated Press The Associated Press is cxclusively en titled to the use for re-publication of all news credited to it or mot otherwise credited In this paper and also local news published therein Member Audit Bureau of Circulation The A. B. C. is a national organization which frunishes newspapers and adver- tisers with a strictly honest analysis of circulation. Our circulation statistics are based upon this audit. This insures pro- tection against fraud in newspaper dis- tribution figures to both national and local advertisers, The Herald is York at Hotaling's Square; Schultz's Grand Central, 42nd New Times Street THE PRISON BOARD'S ATTITUDE The board of directors Cennecticut ersfield has perpetrated something in the nature of humor, while at- tempting to reply to criticisms by the former chaplain who charged brutality existed in the prison. “Come and investigate the pri- scn,” the board says in effect; “the of the state prison at Weth- prison will be found O. K. in every respect and no barbarity he discovered.” It certainly In denying the charges of the Rev. Dr. Willlam H. Smith, chaplain, the prison board virtually calls him a liar. It will appeal to any reasonable person that a will won't—now the former min- ister of the gospel is not likely to 1i2 about the prison in which he was a spiritual guide. It will also appeal to reasonable persons that a prison chaplain is in o strategical position to observe conditions while attend- ing to his duties therein. Incidentally, as we mentioned in ar. editorial y, the charges were made in 1929, by in- yest san vestigators for the National Society of Penal Information of New York City, and “their reports have been verified and corrected by the offi- ¢ials of the institutions in question. The 1929 penal report showed Con- necticut among the six states ‘which the most severe punishments were found. The board should not be hurry to claim that critics are actu- ated by “maliciousness’ ‘or “misrep- Tesentations.” The prison “property and its officials above criticism if there able cause therefor. “The prison authorities had since Sunday to do something about the charges of Dr. Smith, and it began to look as if they were going to ig. nore the charges—which is the cus- tomary method of the officials of state institutions under fire, the method that is followed by J. Henry Roraback. It was not until a report gained publication that an inquiry would be made by the state depart- ment of public welfare that the pri son board came through with an in- dignant denial of all the charges, completely whitewashing the insti. tution. Obviorsly, investigation now Would be a ‘arce, everything would be found in perfect condi- tion, no brutality or barbarism prac- in in a s public are is reason- an as ticed, and all traces of such prac- tices, if they existed, could be elim- inated. Prison attaches, lovax to , would scarcely talk to any extent. Perhaps knowing this likelihood the board can well invite an investigatlon. It such an investigation is made, however—upon the demands of the prison board as is now claimed to be its attitude—the presence of Dr. Smith as a witne: overlooked, nor the presence of Paul W. Garrett and Austin H. Mac- Cormick, authors of the 1929 report. But there evidently will not be an investigation and the former chap- lain sticks by his charges. should not be JUST ANOTHER WILD SCENE The so-called by Gregor Strassal spokesman in the German repuolic, appear to wvar in olicies” outlined Fascist party in Reichstug of the relude order jackles of the But whose wa posed to fight war? Certainly Like all they would expect the common peo- ple to do their bidding, irg. to ke off the Versaillas Tretay. Who would be sup- Fascist-made not the Fascists alone. other war-makers their fight- It is not that the Fascists stand rounded by Chancellor fore had outlined pe the chancellor the other Communists, surprising, therefor: alone, sur. am and fist fights Bruening the day policies, is supported by ali parties, i It therefore, that the German vill do demagogs luding {he is unlikely, more than shout. Like all secking popular approv- al. they pron this Ins ising bloodshed feols desir The troubl 1 ise too much, and in ance they go so far as prom- which nobody but ire iwo kinds of world, expert ers in the munists and Fascists, Com- not | be- Fascists | WHY BOB IS SOUGHT The mysterious disappearance of Charles V. Bob, banker, capitalist and engineer, appears to be an at- tempt by him or his friends to evade unpleasant consequences re- garding the alleged financial condi- ticns of some of the concerns in which he had been prominent. At first, after the financler had disappeared while preparing to avi- ate from Chicago to New York, the police sought him to return him to | his family. Now they are seeking him out of pure curiosity. Bob was the financier whe some | time ago proposed a chain of float- ing airports across the Atlantic Ocean, which would enable planes to land for oil and other purposes while crossing to and from Europe. He was commonly referred to as an “angel of aviation,” was a patron of church and science, an acquain- | tance of leading New Yorkers. Bob's financial interests read like a page from a directory of enter- prises. He had a hand, and an im- portant hand, corpora- tions that even his best friend must | he found suf- in so many have wondered how ficient time to look after his part in these enterprises. Now the Grand Jury has tak held, and alleged officials that investors may various lose it by a pretty penny. Conservative people are Itimes called slow and lacking in that dashing enterprise which some- leads to fortune. They live old age some- times usu- ally to 2 ripe with a minimum of worr. THE STREET TOUR Members of the Common Council, the members of the slated to make today a trip through city with hoard of public works and others this in order to ascertain the condi- | tion of the streets, no doubt wilt find mich to occupy their minds. Tt will par- pre- | how- | ever, and be filled with a desire to what We be observant, | depend somewhat ticular streets upon they visit. sume they will discover where mending is necessary. Such a person:lly conducted concentrating on the tour, condition of the thoroughfares, cannot help add- | ing considerable to the civic edu- | cation of the city fathers. The impression can scarcely be voided, nowever, that aldermen and councilmen usually are more inter- ested in the condition of the streets in their own wards than in the con- dition of streets in other wards. In | this they are quite human and arc doing just what ;smuoms expect their ward con- them to do. The ward system happens to be that way The hoard of public works, on the other hand, is a much more general body, its members not being so much interested in particular wards as they are in the city as a whole. The Council frequently questions the reason the board of public works proposes to repair certain streets. The board usually makes out a list of contemplated improvements and these, in a spirit of cooperation, are shown to the busy dad Most of the improvements usually | nieet with the approval of the coun- city cilmen, but occasionally suggestions are made to omit such and such a treet or to add another, or several. That usually leads to cussion. In the end the board of| public works, when it has its ap- propriation safely tucked away, has the power—if further dis- it wishes to exer: it—of going ahead according to its own lights. The board already itemized list of contemplated im- provements the past week, and | when the matter was brought up in provided an |the Council some suggestions were |in order, and the board once again i3 expected to provide an itemized list. Meanwhile today's trip will be made and perhaps the board will at- | tempt to prove to Thomases just why any doubting certain streets nced improving and others perhaps | do not. no We trust automobile springs will oe broken during the trip. Speaking generally,. we think the beard of public works is more capa- ble and more reliable in deciding | which streets need fixing than the Cemmon Council. The board con- centrates on such matters, while lnm Council necessarily has many | other matters to occupy its atten- | tion. The Council is likely to waste if it tries to do too of the hoard's work. But, |its time much as previously |harm can accrue to the Council | | members if they make a tour—many fact—of the stated, no | tours, in city streets with the some and acquaint themselves | details of bad going on of then | SCHOOL TROUBLES ELSEWHERLE in New Haven it was dis i Down | ar that when school | leaves of absences or | . it is not necessary to employ | s in their stead at the but t same work can be done by | s with little experience and Consequently {he cconomical city dads saw a w “save” the city $100,000 a y hey trimmed t hool bu cordingly. But for some unexplained reason school teachers took leaves ot and not many of them he- ill. Consequently the school | cases, NEW BRITAIN DAILY HERALD, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 18, 1930. department faces a deficit of $73, 550, and the city finance btoard has been called in to do something about it. Wherever one trouble—real or schools. Turning to Hartford one finds the hardy perennial of school consolida- looks there fis fancied—with the i tion again a *local issue,” this year seeing some of the sub-surface ob- jections oelng brought to light. Advocates of a retention of the district plan in Hartford seem to be of the opinion that centralized man- agement would permit the “Yankees” to operate the schools in- stead of the district authorities, who are supposed to be representatives of the majority of people living in the districts. Thus the racial issue un- derlies the district controversy; and it isn't a good issue to underlie any- | thing in this land of cquality before the law. THE WHITE COLLAR WORKERS AND SKILLED MECHANICS During the present period of muy adjustment not enough attention has to white collar workers mechanic been given and skilled whom are in just as bad straits as outdopr laborers. Indeed, to listen to the remarks of some of our verbal many of public benefactors, the only citizens needing aid and comfort are the out- door workers. Nothing is further from the truth. Indoor men, many of them skilled in various pursuits, are just as seriously impeded in the search for happiness and content- ment as any other class of laborers. Road building, strect improve- ments and such enterprises designed to produce needed improvements and employ labor at the same time arc all right as far as they go. Bul such things do not help the white collar workers, or their next of kin, the skilled mechanics. Technological ~unemployment is what ails the white collar workers and the skilled mechanics, and they trained to work digging ditches. Giving them such work is something of a farce. What they need is skilled employment along are not | lines to which they have been train- cd. Endeavoring to make street and sewer workers out of them is not solving the unemployment situation nor is it doing their municipal em- ployers or themselves much good. i | Most such werkers are educated; or they have, in the majority of the average. It has come to our knowledge that one graduate of the local high school of some years back had justly refused to accept a ditch digging job from the city on the broad general princip4l that to have taken it would have reduced his chances of obtaining employment in his regular line later. The point is he had sufficient intelligence to rea- son this out. Another such white collar worker, having taken a job as dishwasher, was spied by friends and jibed, with the result that he quit. Most white collar workers, aided by relatives and friends, are not in- terested in the efforts on behalf of the unemployed by municipal au- thorities, who will provide picks and shovels and such utensils as a means of helping through the emergency. How can they be? There is nothing being offered hereabouts that can help workers in normal times but heartlessly forgot- ten during slow times. these necessary BACK TO HUMANISM Night work for minors under 18 and for all women in most of the country’s cotton textile mills will be ended March 1 next. That comes by vote of the Cotton Textile Institute, representing a majority of northern and southern mills. Night work for minors and wom- jen in mills was a legacy from the World War emergency. It has taken ten years to reach the humanitarian principles that guided the industry hefore the war. Incidentally the depression in the textile industry aided in returning to the broad general principle that a mill at nignht no place for minors or for women, is 1,000 MILES IN ONE YEAR “As in all states where road prog- ress has been noteworthy, Jowa is utilizing the bond issue plan," a dispatch runs telling of the construc- tion of 1,000 miles of hard reads in Icwa this year. The felicitated the western farm stat: is being of 340 miles hard-surfaced highways, town for “pulling itself out mud” and now has 3 every the state being connected such a road in by Suppose fowa had been content to 60 this work on It rs for it A pay-as-you-go ve taken many in its in the roads. 17th policy? 1t would to att present mileage of Four in the standing as sixth hard-surfaced years ago the state was na- | tional standir CONSISTENCY for the government harp fact federals have Agents con- that the reducing taxa- local tinually on the been tion, while state and govern- nents have been increasing debts aind taxation. But whenever state or local gov- cinments lay plans to do something tangible for the relief of unem- obtained an education above | | ployment, regardless of the amount of money expended for this purpose, they are highly commended as pro- ceeding along lines in consonance with the ideals of President Hoover. We confess to a little confusion. Money expended for public improve- ments, even for the laudable pur- { pose of aiding in the reduction of the unemployed, invariably adds to state and town debts and increases taxation. \Facts and Fancies BY ROBERT QUILLEN Speaking of night football, the {sum taken from customers always 'seemed a little heavy for a daylight job. Still, cooking anc dusting afford a career about as thrilling as sitting on the lap of a fat boss. You can tell a woman in the upper middle class. She has a servant to feed the gold fish. i The objection to chain control of all merchandising is that it will be so much harder to find the prescrip- | tion counter. | | A scientist says the human brain retains an idea while life lasts. This ems especially true of the idea that honking will clear a traffic jam. If scientists wish to help the farmer, let them invent a third mortgage that is worth a darn. | High wages make prosperity. The more ducks are protected, the more there are to shoot. Maybe thieves just seem more common because a bear market af- ' fords less chance to put it back. | Americanism: A cotton planter wailing because the price is o low; | the planter's daughters picking the { crop dressed in rayon. Another pleasant thought: The only people driving cars now are the ones worth suing. You see, if all stores were owned by a chain, there would be no suck- ers to pay Henderson a million for cussing chain stores. Gambling in wheat is like en- | couraging radicals. The right or | wrong depends on whether it's done by Russia or Uncle Sam. Smoker: A place where you meet | strangers who enjoy telling you | how much their bridge work cost. Poor Marines! For months they { have had to buy their bananas. Republic: A land where half the people favor a glue factory because the wind doesn’t blow their way. ‘What with:the drouth and every- thing, the poor farmer hasn’t much to show off with at the county fair except his automobile. No wonder preachers’ sons out- number others in Who's Who. The man who has 14 chances to win us- ually beats the fellow who has but one. Correct this sentence: “I'm rich and famous now,” sald the man, “but I try as hard and as humbly as ever to please the public.” Copyright 1930, Publishers Syndicate 25 Years Ago Today (October 18 Alderman E. N. Humphrey, A. J. Sloper and J. H. Kirkham engaged lin a lively discussion concerning the [town's bills at the adjourned town meeting held last evening at Turn- er's hall. In the annual report of the park commissioners made last evening, it was stated that between 5 to 10 | thousand people had attended the weekly band concerts at Walnut Hill park during the summer. 7 The Woman's club has reorganiz- ed for the year and has secured & number of prominent speakers for the monthly meetings. The New Haven Caledonian club |and Clan Douglas played a tie game !at carpet bowls in Bardeck’s hall last evening. R. Middlemass, R. Sloan and S. Robb composed the local team. Mayor Basset t has plans for the meeting of the mayors’ association to be held in this city next Friday. He is president of the organization. New Britain council, 0. U. A. M., will celebrate the 2§th anniversary tomorrow. Guests will be present from surrounding councils. George P. Spear has returned {home after a business trip to the southwest. Observations On The Weather ‘Washington, Oct. 18.—Forecast for Southern New England: Cloudy |and colder; much colder in west portion, preceded by rain on the coast Saturday; Sunday partly cloudy. Forecast for Eastern Partly cloudy and colder; colder in ecast portion Saturda Sunday partly cloudy followed by rain or snow in north portion. Conditions: Pressure is low over western Ontario with a trough ex- tending eastward to Quebec and thence southwestward to north- western Florida. The outlook is for mostly fair weather Saturday and Sunday in the Washington forccast district ex- cept for rain on Saturday in north: ern New England and along the Southern New England coast and !for light snows or rains on Sunday | along the lower lake and for rain on Sunday in Florida and southern Georgla. | It will be colder on Saturday in the Atlantic states and colder on | Sunday in the lower lake region, | Sealyham puppy “Rainbow" completed CEXTXLEXE AT T2 —THE OB SERVER— Makes Random Observations On the City and Its People Blunders in City Hall Causing City to Wonder. Citizens are beginning to express amazement at the manner in which New Britain’s government machinery is creaking. If the administration were in the hands of inexperienced amateurs, the situation in city hall could not be much more serious. A glaring example of the lack of foresight or ignorance of charter and legislative requirements may be gained from the struggle the city is having to obtain money for emer- gency relief work. Several weeks ago the board of finance and taxation approved an issue of notes to the amount of $105,000, the project was passed by the common council and a bank announced that it would absorb the entire issue. A few days later, it was discovered that the notes would be in violation of a special legislative restriction which limited the issuc of certain securlties to a percentage of the net grand list gross grand list. The first intimation the city had that the issue would not be legal came from a law firm Boston which was checking up on the notes for the ban Some one in New Britain had ! blundered. Came another week and it was announced that the city would be enabled to carry on by issuing $150.- 000 in notes which would be repald over a term of years by the levving of a special tax. Apparently Mayor Quigley overestimated immediate re- quirements because after he had had a conference with Chairman Judd of the board of finance, he whittled down the amount to $100,- 600. Then city hall went into action. Special delivery letters were sent to members of the common council no- tifying them of a special meeting which was to be held on Wednesday evening to act on the note issue. Came the dawn of Wednesday morning and the discovery was made that the rush and hullaballoo were wasted. It was learned that the charter requires three days notic printed in the newspapers before the notes can be issued. So as mat- ters stand now, the special meeting will be held Monday evening, if no one discovers that a legal obstacle blocks the path. All this vacillation and false start- ing leads to the suspicion that ad- ministrative officials are wandering around in a mental fog. Tf execu- tives in a large corporation were guilty of erring so frequently, their positions would be filled quickly by new men. To err is human, of course, but there is little excuse for men holding high public office for not being tho:oughly familiar with the laws. This is an era of discovery. Near- ly every day the administration dis- covers that what is intended to do yesterday is illegal. Then it adopts other measures which, it discovers, instead of the | in | jare in turn illegal. Maybe this dis- | covery complex is caused by the ! proximity to Columbus day. Or may- be, it is due to the failure of re- sponsible officials to think clearly. Untidy Gasoline Stations Cluttering Up City | Visitors to New Britain are often | heard to comment on its dirty gaso- line stations. Thefr comment is justified. Few cities of the same size contain with- in their borders so many untidy | stations where little or no effort is | made to improve their appearance. | Many gas stations here consist of a | couple of pumps, an oil soaked ap- | proach, rags strewn about and at- | tendants who always create the im- | pression that they have just crawled {out from underneath an automobile. | Little thought apparently is given to | leading the buyer to believe that | there is a genuine desire to give service in wholesome surroundings. Shacks stands where ornate build- ings should have been erected. In time these structures take on the grime and dirt of the vicinity and join the vast majority which have down-at-the-heels aspect. | Less attention has probably been | given in New Britain to bullding sta- tions in harmony with their sur- roundings than in any other com- | munity in the state. A gas station is |a business place where neatness | could influence the motoring public. | The same influences which affect a ! merchant's store affect a station and | the owner who appreciates that fact |and acts accordingly will benefit in | proportion to his efforts to attract | instead of repel trade. It possible, authority should be given to the board of public works or the city building department to set-up standards of gas station buildings which would be lived up to. Suitable Andree Epitaph | Written by Lord Tennyson Returning of the bodies of the Andree expedition explorers and talk of a search for Amundsen bring to mind the epitaph that Alfred, Lord Tennyson, wrote for Sir John Franklin. The verse, which is inscribed on the cenotaph in West- | minster Abbey, follows: “Not here! the white North has thy bones: and thou, Herolc sailor-soul, | Art passing on thine happier voy- age now Toward no earthly pole.” | Professional Loafers Find | Times Just to Their Liking | The business situation in New Britain may be serious, but a large ;proyorlion of the unemployed seems firmly determined to remain unem- | ployed. There may and, in fact, must be a great many men and women in |the city who earnestly desire em- !ployment, yet many others appear {to be taking advantage of conditions {to take a long wanted respite from / New York, Oct. 18.—The new seems to have the run of the house these days. Upon his arrival from the private kennels of Ben R. Meyer in California he was frightened by the long train ride and very trembling. But after several weeks he is the typical New Yorker—a fresh butt- insky. There is only one thing he hasn't been into on the place and that is a small iron office safe. But he has been working on that between fin- ishing up what is left of a bath shower curtain and a left evening slipper belonging to his mistr He sleeps, incidentally, on his back with his feet in the air. “Rainbow” is in bench-legged puppyhood and when he starts to run and bark, as he does at every- body, he tumbles into an awkward and mystified squat. He has a grave, bewhiskered face and bright rosy tongue and suggests the droop- ing mustached Laurence D'Orsay. Billy, the Boston, more than seven years his senior, has high-hatted him from the start. He sits and watches him with a sober air of detachment, but it is noticeable that when “Rainbow” frisks into another room, he trots in after him. But his attitude continues stiffly sedate and how-come! My own impression is that “Rain- bow doesn't give a whoop. Life to him is a gay lark and when he is | not pursuing some imaginary ‘speck or chewing on something he has no business to chew he is just a puff white butter- ball sleeping his head off. Twice during the still night he has awakened household to jump and rebuke the moon. You'd think he was running the metropolis. Wheu as a matter of fact he is just a small town Beverly Hills dog and will have to improve a lot before he makes good in the city. After owning a tailless dog for so long, “Rainbow's” tail is utterly fas- cinating. Tt tires you just to watch. Tt swishes up and down, sideways and at times even cater-cornered. He is the tall waggingest dog I have even seen and by six Dblocks the most curous. sportive and dead the entire upon a chair of “Rainbow" had the closest of nar- row squeaks his first 24 hours in the big town. He had just been scrubbed free of train dirt to a snowy, fluffy white and was seeing the sights from the front seat of an automobile, All of a sudden and for no reason apparent he leaped over the side of the car into a road- | way spinning with traffic. There | was a screeching of brakes and a ‘white#nced motorist stopped his wheels within an inch of him. He will sit inside tied to a seat until he picks up a little gumption from now on. A beloved dog, “Junior,” joined |that happy throng “retrieving birds | of paradise in Elysian fields” about | cight vears ago. His life was a cruel sacrifice to careless motoring, |and at the time I vowed never to |own another dog. Kipling was | right about giving your heart to a |dog to tear. And here T am with |two. Billy, because he is lovable |and handicapped by deafness will |always be the No. 1 dog yet it is | surprising how much extra love one |can have for an extra dog, proving again love is limitless and every- thing will be all right the | Autumn, in Outside of a gurgling, pink- cheeked baby nothing is so appealng to me as that flawless faith and deep fondness that lie in the eyes of a dog. I beheld it but once among humans and that was when |T saw a mother one crepuscular |dawn fall at the feet of a governor |in a mid-west state and sob out her thanks for saving her boy from the gallows. | — The Boston, Billy, has always been {somewhat the aristocrat, whether | from highly pedigreed natural in- | stincts or from that reserve to typical of the deaf, T do not know. | His manners are perfect. He never begs for food and wipes his mouth |on an old rug in a back hall after |each meal. He is as neat as a pin, aloof, diffident, honoranie. | But “Rainbow” has just come ‘barking in from a walk in the park with his firebrand eyes, icicle nose |and twitching tail. From the looks of his comic chin whiskers he has ploughed a pathway from hell to | breakfast and stopped en passant to | help with a little skyscraper ex- | cavation. And as usual he made a bee line streak for the kitchen. For the cook around this establishment {is his special buddy—the glutton. | The way he works her for goodies |is, as Skippy says, “most disgustful | And T don’t suppose I should tell this on’ the fraidy-cat. But he flies {under the bed and hides when he sees a carpet-sweeper. (Copyright, 1930, McNaught Syndicate, Inc.) their labors. The present depression affords them with an excuse for loafing and they are’seizing the op- portunity with alacrity. Not only that, but they definitely turn their backs—and turn up their noses— when the prospect of a job is offer- ed them. We have heard recently of a nume ber of instances bearing this out. Several people seeking men to beat rugs, clean up yards, and-do other 0dd jobs have made the rounds of | the gentry who hold down the cop- ing around the monument in Central park and have found it extremely difficult to find any of these pro- fessional rail sitters who are willing ' to work for them. In one case, after | some seven men had turned the chance down, the next one agreed to | beat some- rugs, but after striking a few half-hearted blows he inform- ed his employer that the rugs weren’t very dirty and went his way. Another instance is reported tyom the city storeyard, where the unem- ployed gather to receive city jobs. A contractor is said to have offered 'a fortnight's work to a. reasonable number of men, but the “unfortu- nate” fellows disappeared in short order. One of them, cornered and asked why everyone was. fleeing the chance to pick up some supposedly necessary money, said,. “Oh, we'd rather work for the city. It's easier.” With such an attitude prevalent among a fair-sized proportion of the city's jobless, it would scem that the efforts of Mayor Quigley and his as- sociates to find paying work for them are unappreciated and that, when the upturn finally comes again, it will be difficult to herd the men back into the factories. If they feel, as many appear to, that there is no need of working, inasmuch as the municipality and charitable in- stitutions will not allow them to go hungry, the city must find some way of shaking them out of the lethargy or else adopt the disastrous dole system, which seems to have perpet- uated a class of professionally un- employed in Great Britain. Already the prospect of charity has created an unhealthily slothful mental atti- tude. It is too bad that many of these | shiftless fellows have wives and families. Otherwise, they let severely alone and permitted— deservedly—to starve. 0ld Classic Contains Highly Modern Quip It is not only modern novels that possess cleverness. The old cladsic, “Jane Eyre” contains a passage which, for succinct humor, is en- titled to immortality. A Puritanical minister, displeased with Jane's lack of solemnity, says to her, “My child, what must you do to prevent going to hell?” “I must keep my #Health and not die,” the child answered, at a loss for any more orthodox reply. Politics and Rubber Stamps Come in For Public Airing The late Governor Simeon Il Baldwin coined an expression somo years ago which was widely quoted and will probably be borne in mind by politicians in Connecticut long after everything else gonnected with the Baldwin administration is for- gotten. “There is no politics in the top dressing of a street” was the way he put it and that it struck home in many quarters is a fact of general understanding. Mayor Quigley of New Britain, in the days when he was somewhat more fiery and expressive in his every-day conversation than he has been in recent years, was wont to give vent to an explosive: “I don't like weak-kneed men,” and there was never any doubt that his mean- ing was shot home to whomever it was intended for. All of which was recalled to mind quite forcibly in reading newspaper reports of the common council meeting Wednesday night, for there were two instances during the de- bate on street improvement matters which might well be associated with the declarations of the former gov- crnor and the present mayor. Councilmen Sablotsky and Conlon, both democrats, accused Alderman Johnson, republican, of having poli- tical motives in his attempt to dic- tate to the public works department in the matter of selecting streets on which to spend the $100,000 it is planned to raise by selling the city's notes. If there should be no politics in the top dressing of a street, therc certainly should be none in grading and making repairs, but that there is something of a political flavor in the carrying out of the program is firmly believed by others than mem- bers of the common council, judg- ing by observations made about the city. Politics in one form or another can be recognized quickly by some, while many others could not see it if it was painted in large black let- terd on a lily white background. As a rule, however, property owners having occasion to deal with city departments year after year can spot it atter a little experience and some of them have learned that it is not always futile to complain— but the remonstrances must be directed at the right sources and they, unfortunately, are very likely to prove more or less elusive. Now as to “weak-kneed men,” of whom Mayor Quigley used to have considerable to say. The same Ald- erman Johnson, demying that poli- tics was mixed up in his resolution for a street budget and inspection, did not hesitate to declare on the floor of the council that it was not his intention to be a “rubber stamp,” and when he sald that he struck home in more than one spot. He undoubtedly knows, after his several years of service as council- man and alderman, that therec is more rubber-stamping going on than the average outsider suspects, but it is not confined to the council by any means; it shows up time after time in the various departments in city hall. The alderman, by the way, usually says what comes to his mind on whatever topic he is interested in. He does not always have the right end of a discussion, but he is probably wrong no more often than his associates and less frequently than many of them. COMMUNICATED Bible Class “Split” Editor New Britain Herald: In regard to the item about the gplit in Everyman's Bible class, it should not have been printed in vour valuable paper as it has not even been thought of by the writer of this communication who holds could be ! | the office on the extension commit= tee and has the Everyman's Bibls class in his mind, body and soul Several laymen have said to me, U am with you to the end of the world to have a Laymen's Bible class in case the Everyman's Bible class falls to exist.” The Y. M. C. A. is open in tha afternoon Sundays and arranges ments could be made to.open Sun- day mornings for a bible class at a very little expense. Mr. Barnes ‘was out of. the city. when Mr. Humphrey called so mno decision icould be obtained until his return next week. The class has been try- ing to find a meeting place for thres years and has failed but we hopa that this procedure will meet witn success as we know that the Sun- day school and Bible class interfers with .each other. It .was far from my intention 10 overstep my privilege but all's wetl that.ends well. Some of the min- isters were in favor of this plan and every member of the class except one or two I consulted. The presi~ dent is very lenient with me and F hope the class in general will be. Perhaps I was too impetuous but my conscience is clear. (Signed) C..A. HUMPHREY. GAMBLING ‘STRIKE HIGH TAX SEQUEL Doubled Lexy on Bacearat St French Gaming Houses BY MINOTT SAUNDERS Paris, Oct. 18. — The business of legalized gambling in France has become such a gamble, owing to hLeavy taxation, that it is no longer good business. As a result, all of the popular resort cities are threatenmed with a crisis. They don’t see how they can make things pay if gambling doesn’t pay. The big gambling syndicates, which in the past were always ready {o ‘“back” the bank, are on strike and refuse to play bali, or baccarat, until the government. reduces its tax levies. The strike has continued for several weeks and seriously hurt prosperity in such places at Deauville. Le Tou- quet, Juan-les-Pins, and Biarritz. Unless Parliament acts quick« 1y when it opens in November, with compromising legislation for all concerned —except the sucker, of course—. the winter resorts such as Nice and Cannes will be hard hit. Morte Carlo, although not French, has an operating arrange- ment with France which places it in about the same position. Tax Is Doubled strike of the syndicates to force the government’s hand. The tax on baccarat profits was increased last May by ap- proximately 100 per cent, and now amounts to 25 per cent of all winnings. The big gamblers, who have been willing to hold the bank against all comers in fash- icnable casinos, with no limit on bets, . found that this cut down the margin of returns to such an ex- tent that a bad run of luck was no counter-balanced. * In other words, the percentage in favor of the bank was reduced to about 3 per cent, which was not enough. In the long run, the banic is bound to win, but the new tax- ation so neutralizes profits that the game is'no longer a good com- mercial proposition. Without the syndicates, open bank baccarat is impossible, be- cause no private person has suf- ficlent capita! to hold the bank against all comers with the neces- sory continuity. And without the open bank game, really high play is impossible, because in chemin- de-fer the stakes are limited and conditioned by the sum which the banker chooses to put in the bank. In chemin-de-fer the tax levied is 5 per *cent c¢n the stakes every time the banker wins, and this game doesn't interest the big syn- dicates. Many Americans Play The. problem has many ramifi- cations. If the big gamblers, the best known of which is the so- called Greek syndicate, hcaded by M. Zographos, do not hold the baccarat banks, the wealthy plungers cadnot play. Many of the familiar figures at baccarat tebles in popular casinos have been Americans. Without such a same running, the casino, and even the resort itself, does not interest the heavy private players. The resort cities thercfore suf- fer from the other business that these rich visitors bring to hotels, restaurants and other interests. In this business chiefly are the re- sorts interested, for the smaller tables do not do so well if the “swells” are not bringing public- ity to the place. The syndicates have threatened to operate elsewhere, outside of France, thereby attracting the wealthy players to the injury of French resorts. Government’s Position France is proud of its resorts, with their finely-appointed casinos as attractions. The government pcsition is explained by M. Bacque, chef du cabinet of the Ministry of Tourism, as follows: “This tax on gambling profils does not go into the pockets of the state. The state takes the tax with one hand and forthwith spends it with the other, on the improve- ments of the very resorts from which it comes. This tax is used as a general fund to make resorts more attractive and up-to-date, to furnish credit to hotel keepers and promoters. By lowering the tax, the state either would have to con- tribute to this fund or curtail im- provements, This makes the positions of the gevernment very delicate, and & heated parliamentary controversy Is anticipated. All the summer resorts done very poorly this year. True, the weather has been bad,. but opinion is divided on whether the weather or the strike of the big gambling syndicates has been mora to blame. The small volume of business at the tables, however, weuld indicate that the gambling syndicates hold, with their strike, a high trump card —perhaps the ace, The aimed have