Waterbury evening Democrat., 1891-07-11
AS YOU LIKE IT.
Stray Leaves From a Reporters
 ROOk.

Considerable talk has been going the rounds wherein the assessors of the town have made some serious blunders in the number of houses assessed. The report was circulated that there were twenty-two houses less on the list this year than last year. This report has re- f1ected much on the capability of the assessors. To settle all doubts on the matter and place the assessors in a true | light before the public a prominent real estate owner made an investigation and l finds that there are 122 more houses as-' sessed this year than last. The fact that there was clerical error in the re- turns deposited in the town clerks office raised the doubt as to the effici- ency of the assessors.
 | The Hemingway case which was de- cided this week against the plaintiff by a commissioner of the superior court is | of interest to manufacturers, involving an important right of stockholders to examine the business they are interested | in and of corporations to protect them selves from the inquisition of rivals. Some time ago Buel Hemingway re- tired from, or was forced out of the management of the business of M. Hemingway & Sons, silk manufacturers, of Watertown. He straightway started a rival factory, the new concern being known as Hemingway & Bartlett. He then brought suit against the old com
 pany, consisting chiefly of his brothers,
 Homer and Merit Hemingway, com
 plaining that dividends of the company
 have fallen off from 25 to 5 per cent, since he left it, and demanding the privilege of examining the books to see
 what the matter is. The other side claimed that his desire was simply to see the books of business carried on in rivalry to his own, that the profits had fallen off before he left it, and that the new concern has damaged them $30, ,000 a year.
 The necessity of an ambulance and a patrol wagon was clearly shown in two | cases this week. A patient was being
 brought from the Meriden depot to the
 hospital. On stretcFer resting in an
 express wagon lay the sufferer. Coming
 down East Main street the improvised
 ambulance was the object of more than one curious look. A stranger noticing
 the turnout was surprised that Tn a
 hustling city like Waterbury no better
 provision could be made for carrying
 the sick. As for the patrol wagon no
 better reason for having one can be
 shown than the incidents connected
 with the arrest of a prisoner yesterday
 and the arrest of three absolute women
 the day before. It is not an edifying
 sight to see drunken women dragged
 through our streets followed by a crowd
 of hoodlums. The two officers who as-
 sisted in the arrest of the man yesterday
 had to fight the prisoner all the way to
 the station house and both had their
 clothes more or less torn.
 x*x
 The water question is no nearer settle
 ment to-day than it was a year ago. The matter of appropriating $6, 800 to pay for another complete investigation has been voted down by the aldermen and now everybody is waiting for the next move. To me it looks as if this is but another attempt to saddle Quassa-
 paug or Hop brook upon the taxpayers. } Alderman Thompson assures me, how 7 ever, that he voted against making the | appropriation not because he was in favor of either of the above mentioned places, but for the reason that he thought that the surveys already made
 could be depended upon, and that the
 only work that would be required of an
 outside engineer would be to ascertain Z the quantity of water obtainable at the | several proposed places, and secure ar ! estimate of land damages. Alderman Webster, as we all know, is in favor o1 going east for water and for that | reason voted against granting the appropriation, deeming another in = vestigation unnecessary. It is my opinion that both of these gentlemen 5 can be convinced that the money should = be given to the committee. The peoplt 2 demand an investigation. entirely apar from any report made by the !veatel ' com mTnissioners; and even though Mi Webster knows, as know, that there ii /, vastly more water in the Mad river anc it's tributaries than can be supplied by
 Hop brook or Lake Quassapaug, yet thu
 water commissioners claim that this il not a fact. Once prove that thu O commissioners are not accurate and tn, n water question will be easy to solve. r A propos of the above: Before me ar - two bottles of water. One was takel r from the Mad river in Woodtick nearl, n a year ago, and is clear and fresh-look
 ing except for a slight deposit. It ha
 no disagreeable odor. The second wa dipped from Hop brook a few week ago, and is muddy and foul. The fac , is that Hop brook is to-day almost dry while the overflow from Quassapau, } could almost be gathered in child tin cup.
 / It IS not easy to conceive Of anything I more awkward than the position O B most bicycle riders. Not one in hun 8 dred appears to advantage. Instead O. t sitting upright in the seat and operatin, S the "cycle" in a way demanded bS b teachers, they lean forward, crook thei D backs in most ungainly fashion, com o pressing their chests and using their leg A very much after the style of an old a fashioned spinning wheel crank, whicl ' is all wrong, whether appearance O. . health be considered. Bicycle riding Q to be healthful, must conform to tn y thoroughly established principles tha t healthful action demands. The position y of the rider should be erect, with a ten e dency to backward instead of forwar, Q leaning. The legs, instead of being lu
 dicrously crooked, and by the revolu
 tion of the treadle to the level of tn
 seat, should be as nearly straight as DOS D sible, and their movements should in
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