Waterbury evening Democrat., 1904-05-04
MINISTERS THERE
Talked Against Sunday Des- ecration Before Safety
 Board Members.

yesterday afternoon. Had not three well known clergymen, who make l themselves invariably heard above
 their brethren every Sunday, been 1 present at the meeting under mis- l apprehension, the board would have transacted it's business in about fifteen minutes. But the clergymen kept the 1 boards nose to the grIndstone for al- I most an hour listening to an attack on
 the police force and Sunday base and l football. The speaker for the clergy
 men was the Rev Henry M. Scott, l superintendent of the Bunker Hill l Sunday school, though the Rev MT l Stockdale put in a word or two at the ] tail end.
 l There was nothing new said about
 this matter of Sunday ball playing in | the Waterbury Driving park, notwith- ] standing that MT Scott spoke for aI- most halt an hour, and excepting one l or two statements every word he ut ! tered was based on the statement of
 someone else. The sensational part of l the utterance concerned other matters, l such as the sale of drink in the saloon 1 at the entrance to the park, and of l the same place being used for purposes other than the sale of drink, even on ! Sundays and the evident wholesale
 drunkenness that prevails on the park
 on the occasion of ball games. These
 were the only new features in the statement of Mir Scott, for last fall the other ground was covered
 MT Scott and his colleagues were
 present under the impression that petition for permission to play ball on l Sundays in the Driving park was to
 be acted upon by the boardA No such
 petition was before the board, where
 uopn MT Scott said that all he knew about the matter was what he saw in
 one Of the papers, that the City Aina- l leu: baseball league or some other or- ganization intended to present such petition to the board
 Being assured that no such petition
 was in sight or even heard of by any
 member of the board, MT Scott started | out to, express himself. He said what
 the board already knew, that it had no
 choice in the matter, that it could not
 give permission to violate the jaws,
 and that the law was explicit on this
 matter of sports on Sundays
 l The facts in the case on which he
 spoke were that on Sunday afternoon, 1 November g. last year, he went to a l game in the park for the purpose of satisfying himself, getting perfect and | absolute evidence. And he saw. to his horror no less than five poIicemen's
 helmets towering high above the mot l ley throng. Instead of preventing the
 game as they should, and were in- l structed, in the opinion of MT Scott.
 the i've policemen actually aided and abetted it. It made his blood boil, he
 said, to see the Sabbath thus desecrat- ed. But that was not the worst. The very air seemed rife with profanity.
 Such racket he thought could not be
 made by human throat. And every
 once in while he saw men go over to
 the saloon, but what they did there he could not say. His desire to ob- | tain accurate evidence did not take l him that far. But he understood that
 constable was on guard at the door l to keep out objectionable persons. He ! saw peanut peddler mobbed on the
 grounds that day and his stock of
 wares taken from him. It transpired
 the game on this occasion was a foot 1 ball game.
 Another cause for complaint was the
 kind of business done by the trolley company. On one occasion Mir Scott
 counted not less than sixteen cars
 waiting for the violaters Of the law outside the park gate. And the lan- l guage these people used on the cars 1 was simply awful. One Sunday he had all he could do, and Mir Scott 1 seemed a strong man, to restrain him. | self He saw men with bottles and he
 knew the bottles came from the saloon I at the entrance to the park and he could furnish evidence on that point, l he said. And he knew that only for
 the local police and Chief Egan this 1 saloon would have been raided long | ago by outside parties. MT Scott said The presented the above to the board because he believed it to be the actual | facts.
 MT Stockdale then said a few words. He said his blood boiled one Sunday
 he happened to be riding on the cars
 coming from the park, at the remarks heard by him. Mir Scott did not say as much as he would like because he had come unprepared. He did not
 have the facts with him. Mir Root did not say anything.
 Before leaving MT Scott, who had come terribly prepared, judging from some manuscript he held in his hands while speaking, smilingly asked if it was the boards pleasure that he would Hay in," as the lawyers say. his remonstrance to playing ball, and Mayor Elton said 1t was Whereupon Mir Scott laid in his papers, remarking that he and all those whose names were signed to the petition were ready to be heard in relation to it at any time or place convenient to the pleas ure of the board. Almost everybody. he said in parting, who was requested to sign the petition did so. but there were a few who did not because of business reasons. Thereupon he left the room.
 The remonstrance was filed.
 John +. Bagley, a supernumerary policeman was granted leave of ab- sence for the summer, as he goes away to play ball.
 Officer George M. Gabriel filed a pe- tition for promotion to grade B. He will be heard at the next meeting of the board. Edward J. Burns will also be heard at the same meeting, but for different purpose. Burns was re-, ported absent from quarters without leave April 9 and 26. He belongs to hook and ladder company No 1.
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