Waterbury evening Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1887-1895, 1891-01-03
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Stray Leaves From q Repoytev's
e--% Note Book.

ed in front Of the City hall by a neatly
dressed woman, in black, upon whose
honest face the lines of care were traced.
She was searching for her wayward
son of IS, who had not been home the
night before, and her expressions of
not fallen into the hands of the police,
were touching. She said that once be-
fore the lad had stayed out all night and
he was daily growing more perverso. /
pltled the poor mother, and yet per
haps she herself was to blame for the
evil propensity of her boy. The truth
is, Waterbury boys, most of them, are
allowed to be on the streets from the
time school closes until late at night.
The street corner is the best place in the
world for teaching vice, profligacy and
crime. Nearly all the bad language and
idle, vicious habits which boys acquire
are learned on the streets late at night.
Teachers may be able to accomplish a
little in counteracting these influences
but much of their labor is in vain until
parents cooperate with them by keep
ing their boys off the street at night.
x*%
"Those Frankfort sausages l purchased
here were not good" said bride OF a
few weeks, in one of the markets the
other evening "What was the matter
with them?" inquired the butcher.
'Well, boiled them nearly two hours
and they did not become tender" Then
the market man laughed, as did the by
ISLANDERS, and the young wife blushed.
She was informed that about five min
utes time was long enough to expend in
cooking Frankforts, and that the longer
they were boiled the tougher they be-
came.
y
The law requires that householders
keep the walk in front of their premises
free from snow and ice, which is right,
But it should go still further and direct
that the work be done without the aid
of salt. A good many people, after a
snowstorm, sprinkle their pavements
with salt in order to melt the snow rath-
er than shovel it off or pay to have it
removed. The pedestrian who wadss
through this slush of melted snow and
salt finds that one or two days will about
ruin the best shoe leathe err made. 1t
leaves them a dingy gray in color, with
the leather shriveled and shrunken out
of shape, and in all probability cracks
will come within a week. There is
nothing that will destroy shoes in shorter
order, unless it be walking in a mortar
bed.
1t was a mistake in the first place for
the common council to refer the petition
calling for a further investigation in the
matter of an additional water supply, to
the water commissioners. On several
occasions the commissioners have sung
their little song, and although the ap.
plause that greeted it was not great, be-
cause ii pleased themselves the commits
sioners have persistently refused to be-
lieve that any body in their vast audience
was capable of offering an idea or ad-
dition by which it might be improved.
The petition calling for an Investigation
of the Mad river supply was signed by
about two hundred citizens, many of
them being among the heaviest taxpay-
ers in the town. The council should
have bravely Bhouldered the responsible
ity of either killing the petition or acting
upon its suggestions. To shift the re-
sponsibility to the water board showed
weakness. At a recent meeting the
board refused to take action on the
petition, upon the ground that there
was no time to make further investiga-
ton, as the right to issue the bonds and
take certain waters must be secured
from the session of the general assembly
that conveneS next week. In other
words it il proposed to rush headlonr
into this matter to save time. oven
though there is at least a possibility that
a mistake is being made in the selection
Of source of supply. The taxpayers of
the city should rise in their might and
demand that further investigation be
made in this matter. Let the question
of issuing bonds be left open until the
next session of the legislature, if nee
essary. There is plenty of water in the
Mad river to supply the eity's needs by
pumping and the cost of obtaining the
water in this way is much less than the
interest on the bonds it is proposed to
issue. Let us for the first time in the
history of the water works be sure we
are right before going ahead.
a.
When the question of raising the
salary of the chief engineer was
under discussion suggested that instead
of paying one man 81 500 a year to act
as chief engineer and superintendent of
the fire alarm system, a better nlan
would be to pay the chief about 81 900 q
year and with the remaining $500 and
the amount paid annually to the Elec-
trio company for repairs upon wires.
employ another man to have charge of
the fire alarm, whose duty it would be
to keep the wires in repair and in case
of fire to see that the circuit from anv
part of the city was not cut eff. The
advice given was not needed, and proba-
bly, never will be until less Of sentiment
and more OF business enters into the
actions of the commissioners. Mondav
morning two fires occurred at about the
same time and the alarm failed to strike
the correct Numbers. Chief Snags
rushed up to the tower of CITY hail
when the second alarm sounded. NOT
knowing whether the town was
burning up or whether the alarm
was out of order. In just such an
emergency the extra man 1 suggested
would prove valuable. Suppose instead of
a small fire, Monday, one of the factories
of the city was ablaze. Chief Snac~
was in the City hall tower and the
Phoenix Fire company were told to 90
back to their house. Would not the de-
lay have been very costly. This is n
serious matter, gentlemen of the board
OF fire commissioners. What are Won
going to do about it?
e.