Waterbury Democrat., 1902-12-31
New Years Day P romises to Be
 Fair and Pleasant.
BUSINESS PLACES TO CLOSE.
The Custom of Calling Will No Doubt Be Kept Up-The Year Just Closing Has Brought Many Changes to Wa. terbury and It's Thrifty Inhabitants,

l terbury and It's Thrifty Inhabitants. I Tomorrow will be New Years day,
 and it the good weather holds out It VIII be an lueal day TOT making New | Years calls. Or course the usual num- Der or good resolutions will be made,
 but whether they will be lived up 10 or l not is another matter. But It Is good plan to start out on the new year well, any way, and if one stumbles on the l way now and then he may be able to
 pick himself up, and in any case such
 a course shows a disposition to follow
 the straight path.
 It will be holy day of obligation in. | the Catholic church and a national holiday besides. In the Catholic l churches masses will be celebrated at
 an early hour for the accommodations l people who have to work. Watch ser vices will be held in some of the Pro- testant churches tonight, and they will also hold services tomorrow morning.
 The library, banking houses, the offices in the City hall building and many
 other places of business will be closed. The postoffice will be open until noon. Waterbury has had some rather ex- citing experiences during the year which has practically run it's race and is about to pass on to those that have
 preceded it. A large slice of the city
 became prey to the fire fiend and the
 dreaded malady known as smallpox
 held the town in it's grip for time,
 and while it failed to carry off many
 victims still it cost a vast amount of. money and created a stagnation in busi-
 ness which was felt by almost every
 merchant in the city. But thanks to
 the efforts of an efficient boardl of
 health the disease has been stamped
 out and by strict adherence to sanitary
 laws and other precautions. notably vaccination, it is hoped that the malady
 has seen it's finish in Waterbury. The
 losses caused by the great conflagra-
 ton of last February, while looked
 upon as a great calamity at the time
 will soon be forgotten. Those whose
 property went up in smoke are build. ing mightier than ever, and in another
 month or so people who will come in
 from abroad and have not been here since the fire will say that while it might have caused some hardships, the town is amply repaid for it all in the
 magnificent structures that rear their heads above the ruins of the old build- ings. The only building devoured by the flames that has not yet been par tially replaced is the Scovill house,
 but this is on the way and there is every reason to believe that inside of six months the efficient committee hav- ing this matter in hand will be able to see it's way to giving Waterbury such a hostelry which will be worthy of the Brass city. On the whole the year has been prosperous one in Waterbury.
 Work was good in all branches of in- dustry and considering the strained re- lations between capital and labor, very little friction of that character came to the surface in this town, and it is hoped that with a better under- standing between employers and employees, something which is quite noticeable .n many quarters hitherto hostile to labor unions, Wa terbury will soon be entirely free from troubles of this sort. Most of the fac tories have made additions to their plants and taken on additional hands, thus giving employment to people who might otherwise have to seek a mar ket for their labor away from home.
 The city government has kept up with the procession. The fire and police departments have been strength ened so as to be able to meet any de- mands that may be made upon them, l and the school board has been active i'll providing accommodation for the rapid increase of school children. Two large buildings, the Walsh and Rus sell schools, have been completed, and | another is in course of erection and will be ready for occupancy at the opening of the fall term next year. Work on the Wigwam reservoir has | been pushed to completion and the | city put in a position. so that it's citi- 1 zens will not have to go dry for some time, provided they can content them selves with libations of that sparkling | fluid commonly known as Adams ale. | To be sure. it is not free, but consid- | ering the large quantities of it one uses in the rounds of the year, it does not cost much. Many take the | ground that it should not come so high. | but that's another matter. If the | price is not right it is within the pow CT of the people to adjust it to suit | themselves, for while Waterbury is | pretty we'll hampered by state Iegisla- ton it can still do few things with out asking permission from it's lords | and masters at Hartford, and a re- | vision of the water rates is one of | them, this power being vested in the aldermen, with proviso that the price shall not be less than fair compensation for the use of water. Provision has been made to take care of storm water, something which has caused the city a lot of trouble and expense in the past and is still doing lot of mischief, but it is thought that during the next year most of our turbulent water ways will have been corralled and a large share of the annoyances people have had to suffer on this account wiped out forever
 The Connecticut Railway and Light ing Go, with all it's faults, appears to be alive to the needs of better trolley service and has made move in that direction which it is hoped will result in giving Waterbury such street rail- way facilities as a town of it's size and character should have had years ago.
 No matter what way one looks at the closing year, he is forced to the
 Al T