Waterbury evening Democrat., 1891-01-17
AZ YOU LIKE IT.
Stray Leaves From . RsporteR's se~t tm Note Book

a Stray Leaves From . Reportes's
 .-~ Note Book.
 Notwithstanding the repeated admon- itions given to writers through the col umns of the newspapers, communica- tions reach this office nearly every week written on both sides of the sheet, illegi- ble and crowded, and oftentimss un- signed. I have before me a specimen letter that is guilty of the four above mentioned faults. Have, did say had is the proper word, for the communica- ton lies buried in the unfathomable depths of the waste basket. And once more few hints on the matter of press correspondence In the first place pro- cure paper of size not larger than nine inches by six. Write on one side of the page. Leave a margin of say one inch on the top and at the left side of the sheet, and one half inch at the bottom paper. By adhering to these simple rules you will have the blessings of editors and competitors. Your manu- script can be easily read and there will be room for interlineations and improve ments. Many a production of merit has been thrown away owing to the Inabil- iUy to get it in shape for the printer. Crowded writing is not economy but a most aggravatlng form of extravaganza. And after mastering these preliminaries always remember that your communi- l cation will never appear in print unless your name accompanies it, not necessar- lily for publication, but as a guarantee of good faith.
 Here is good one on a Bank street barber, and it is pronounced straight The other day an old man entered the shop, threw himself languidly into a chair and called for a shave. After he got the scrape the barber, as usual began to badger him about seafoams, sham DOCS. and other knickknacks that go to mans discomfort and barbers' profits. The old man wanted none of these. Then the artist suggested:
 "Hair's little ragged"
 -"Yes like it that way"
 Longer than you usually wear it,
 "Guess not''
 "Looks as if it hadn't been cut for an age"
 ''It hasn't"
 At this point the old man raised him. self up in the chair and politely drew off a wig, revealing a head underneath as bald as paving block. The fresh bar Der suggested that all hands adjourn to the nearest emporium, and begged the old man not to give him away to the newspaper CndpSs
 When half . dozen lawyers, primed for fun, get together for few minutes to exchange pleasantries, as they do oc- casionally in the police court room, some good stories are sure to be told. An old libel upon Attorney O'Neill and ex-Mayor Boughton was cast up in my presence the other day and is really too good to keep. As the story goes, many years ago when Brothers O'Neill and Boughton were new at the business and anxious for prey, they were hastily sum- mened one day, to draw up the last will and testament of . lady who was suddenly stricken ill. Arriving at the house they were grieved to find tie woman dead and were about to acknowl- edge defeat when one of the two, which one the story teller would not say, showed that . brilliant future was be- fore him, by suggesting that they draw up the will anyway. They did it, too, | 80 the joker solemnly declared, and signed the document with pen held in
 The members of tho Young Mems | Catholic Literary association had been looking forward to 1.-The Passion Play" | as the crowning lecture of the series | given in their rooms, and they were not | disappointed. It was no easy task to | properly describe the sacred drama in a | lecture, but Father Mulcahy seems to | have received the designed effect of the | play in his own person, and is ablo to | make an audience feel very much as if | they had been with hina at Obsr Am mergau. To shsw that the play is a | religious and sacred observance of the inhabitants of Ober Ammsrgau it is stated that the day before, the principal actors attended confession, and on the morning of the performance they spent an hour in prayer for power to rightly interpret the several parts assigned to them.
 Those who attended the last perform ance of Clevelands minstrels here will recall tho diminutive boy in a dress suit who gave the finishing touch to the acrobatic exhibition of the Craggs fam fly. The father of this child was ar- to perform, as it was evident that the boy was under 16 years of age. Mr Craggs was fined $50 and had to promise the judge that the boy would not be in- cluded in the performance of the family hereafter in New York state. The Utica Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children prosecuted the case at the instance of the Brooklyn society.
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 "You press the button; we do the rest" With the foregoing for his motto Morris Whelan, who lives on the lower cad of Baldwin street, has been at work for several days upon device calculated to do away with considerable of the labor incidental to the keeping of two horses of regular habits and good ap- petite. The cOntrivanc0 consists of cone of wood, fixed in position over the manager and connected by wire with Mir Whalen's chamber fifty or sixty feet away. By tugging gently upon the wire in the early morning hours the in- ventor is able to release block in the lower end of the cone, thereby allowing the oats, which are of course placed in ,