Waterbury Democrat., 1902-08-02
AS YOU LIKE IT
Some Stray Leaves From Reporters

Some Stray Leaves From a hepoltSI ?
 Note Book.
 The Connecticut farmer appears to be playing in ..hard luck" The weather seems to have joined hands with the trusts with view to putting him out of business for fair. But am told that our genial friend and neighbor, Tom Kelly, is one of the few farmers who got most of his hay saved before the rain set in. Kelly had a hundred tons of hay in his barn before St Swithin's day. He told his friends some time ago that he was go- ing to cut and cure every pound Of hay on his premises before doing any more fishing and he kept his word.
 
 The attendance in the city court mornings is a good indicator of the condition of the times. When the court is full, generally the factories are dull, and when the factories are busy generally the attendance in court is very slim. Excepting rare occasions when matters of unusual occurrence are before the city, the at tendance fs regulated by the above conditions. It seems, then, that the factories are not as busy as they were for of late the attendance in court is unusually large for the season. Every morning this week the public seats were crowded, and one or two morn ings there was not standing room. De- spite the weather, men manage to get around quarter before 9 o'clock for if they are not. on hand at that hour the chances of getting a seat are very slim. This morning when there were only a few plain "drunks'' the attend ance was large, which is very fair proof that business in the factories is not as brisk as it was month ago.
 What is there about Kelly the baker, that draws children to him before they are abe to even lisp his name? The As You Like It Man remembers a few years ago the first thing cer- tain youngster learned to do was to pick up a Democrat and turn it and tumble it over until his eye lit on Kelly's rooster. Then he would point it out and try to tell all abut it. The other day heard another story which is worth telling. The young son of John T. Drescher, the Grand street barber, a little toddler hardly able to talk, was sent around the corner on to Bank street to get a loaf of bread. Not returning immediately the family began to be anxious about him. A mes senger was sent to the store where he was supposed to get the bread, but he had not been there. Every member of the household prepared to go out and search the town, and the police men were to be requested to keep an eye out for the little fellow. Just at this time he came todd1ing up the street with bread enough for a day or two under each arm. "Why didn't you go where I told you to- said his fath- CT, sto get the bread, and where did you go?n "Oh, went up to KeIly's," said the youngster, Hike his bread the best.''
 The As You Like It Man has heard of people who have penchant for perpetrating contemptible tricks on un- suspecting people, but he was witness to one last Sunday evening which ap- pealed to him as pre-eminently the most, depraved, although it did have a Imaginable point to it. A party of young men last Sunday evening took car toward the East end of the city and when they alighted at their destina- tion the AS You Like It Man was sur prised to hear some prayers which were not pious prayers at all Inquiry elicited the information that they all had been badly stuck" It seems that some miscreant had gone the length of the car and secretly placed wads of chewing gum on the seats with the result that several of the passengers had sat on them. The sorry part of 1t was that there were going to make call upon some young ladies who were particular friends of theirs and the thoughts of being deprived of the pleasure made their anger all the hot ter The As You Like It Man has been informed that this trick is not of infrequent occurrence, and it is probable if the parity who derives amusement from it is ever detected by the sufferers when they are as angry as those young men were. a tragedy will have to be recorded in Waterbury.
 The spectacle of a retired butcher and socialist disputing over the trust question. the latter thinking that we are obliged to deal with the corporation and the former taking the ground that we can and should become our own producers proves nothing ex- cept that every man is more or less
 
 there is nothing at all wonderful to hear the socialist call the butcher down and see the butcher strike back with his c1eayer. The little tilt pleas ed some folks but it almost drove others out of their wits A prohi- bitionist who considers that the so- cialist and the meat man have much to learn about politics said to-day that there was no difference between any of the political parties in the country so far as aiming to help mankind was concerned except his own He thought if liquor was out of the reach of people who abuse it and sold only on pre- scription and marked .'poison'' the world would soon be right side Up and the trusts and combines would not worry us in the least. This is another good man gone wrong. His views on the liquor question are so radical that few pepl take him. seriously, conse- quently his opinions cut no ice. If this man and others of his kind didn't think the saloonkeeper the only enemy the human family can point to and stood for some sort of reform in the