Waterbury Democrat., 1901-02-15
2 r slls-f -s 7--- :
 MERCHANTS BANQUET.
The Attendance Was Good and the
 Affair Very Much Enjoyed.

Aualf very MUCH f1NJOyeu.
 The Waterbury. Merchants associa- ton held it's annual banquet ill Odd Fellows hall last night. The attend ance was large and the affair thor oughly enjoyed by all. Dr Phillips of New Haven opened the banquet with prayer. The menu was all that could have been desired and to the credit of the Waterbury merchants and their friends it must be admitted that they showed wonderful fitness for the work of disposing of the good things set be- fore them. During the banquet an orchestra rendered appropriate selec- ticns and before the feasting com menced each guest was made the re- cip1ent of handsome bouquet. The address of the evening was delivered by President o. A. Ziglatzki and was greeted with great applause. AIr Ziglatzki said:
 Members of the Waterbury Mer- chants association and fellow work men, I am glad to welcome so many of you here this evening. and it is a pleasure to look upon this array of bright and happy faces at this event which comes but once Il year. It is good to think that so many of you have thrown business aside for the time and joined one another i'll an evening of social and intellectual en- joyment on this occasion. when We have not only food for the mind, but food for the stomach.
 The Waterbury Merchants asso- ciation has only begun. We have a great deal of work before us. I have had men outside of the association come to me and ask. what is the as J JnS, T and what we have planned to do in the future would consume unnecessary time to relate. but if any of these men chose to come to the directors or off cers of the association and ask them what we have accomplished and planned to do in the future. they will give them the information they seek. "When we get together there is great deal of work accomplished. We
 do not blow our own horn or spread
 our achievements broadcast. The Mer-
 chants association not only of Water bury but all over the country, have got ten to be q power. We have done great deal of work impossible to ac- complish before individually. l think one of the greatest things we have ac- compliShed~aS an association is the ut ter abolishment of the trading stamp
 nuisance (applause.) We could never have killed these schemes without
 pulling together harmoniously. We
 have brought about numerous other
 reforms that I am not going to speak
 about this evening. for most of you
 are already acquainted with the work
 done. and our time here tonight is limited.
 Members individually have received valuable benefit, so have the public in general, if they would but realize, as perhaps they do. The public, or per l haps q majority of the people. seem to | think that this association is q trust among the merchants to raise prices | and otherwise feather our own nests. | This is far from the truth. We have | gotten together to receive proper rec | ognition all over the country. We l are working for special rates and we | intend to get them. About two years ago when we were | quite in our infancy the postmaster at l that time had written repeatedly to 1 Washington to obtain more clerks in
 the local department. They were bad | ly needed. His requests were devoid 1 of results and the Merchants associa- tion took tip the matter and the mo- tion was made and passed before the
 
 1 clerks in the local postal department | and forwarded to Washington, to the | assistant postmaster general. Inside | of forty eight hours a postofEce inspec- | tor was in Waterbury and two more l clerks were immediately added to the | local force.
 II want to speak in regard to the l clerks of the city. X great many of our merchants think that we cannot | close Tuesday evenings I say that | We can. There is no doubt that we | Will have to recognize the clerks and l their association. Labor of this kind l is being recognized more and more all ] over the country. 1 see no reason why l we cannot close here Tuesday evening | as we'll as in New York and other cit l ies. The time is coming when we will l do all our business in an eight ht-hour 1 day.
 Another thing we are all making l great headway in. and that is in mak- 1 ing better displays and showing better 1 goods. The prices here are lower than l in almost every other part of the l state. Waterbury has very few fail
 ures, less in fact than any city of it's size. I trust that when the time comes
 when any of the members can assist
 me that they shall not be found want l ing ill cheerful and steadfast support l in the cause of the association" Addresses were made by Thomas NI.
 Hewitt and John Blair. of this city: Mr
 Adams of South Norwalk: MT Boards
 ley. of. Hartford. and the Rev pr Phil lips, of New Haven.
 DEATH FROM A FALL.