New Britain herald., 1918-01-19
Town Topics

! voters of their respective wards, and ! 24 councilmen, four ol which are ! elected by the voters in each of the 1 six wards Of course other appoint i i've officers have a great deal to do l with the city government but for the l purnose of this little narrative the { co7,rt of common council is the con- ] nectinc link between the people and ] inc government. It should reflect the ] desires of the people on matters of 1 local interest and when a man seeks ] o1ac+ion as an alderman or as a conn ] cil,nan he should take the position se- | rio71s1y and should be prepared to | eive freely of his time to this duty. 1 else he should not accept it. Much has been said of late about the ! meagre attendance at some of the council meetings, but from perusal of the records kept by City Clerk AL fred l.. Thompson it appears that the laurels for being the most consistent absentee should go on Councilman William J. Lenehan of the sixth ward, with Councilman Louis J. Arata of the fifth ward running him a close race for second place. During the period from April 19, 1916, to April II, 1917, there were 22 council meetings only four of which Coun- ci1man Lenehan failed to attend. However, from April IS, 1917, to the hast meeting on January 16, 1918, there have been 19 meetings of the common council and the records show that Councilman Lenehan has not been present at single one Con- sistency is evidently his motto.
 Councilman Arata has been in the council longer than his rival for ab- sentee honors. From April 20, 1915, to March 22. 1916, he attended 15 out of 20 meetings. From April 19, 1916, to April II, 1917, he dropped off so that his attendance record shows him to have been absent at 13 out of the 22 meetings. From April 1S, 1917 to January 16, 1917, there have been 19 council meetings and Councilman Arata has attended only three
 DO these councilmen represent their constituents?
 But they are not the only absentees. Out of the last 5 council meetings, Councilman Lincoln Odenkirchen of the fourth ward has been absent 15 times. Councilmen Olaf R. Ralk and George A. Forsberg from the second ward have been absent 14 and Il times respectively in the same length of time. Alderman John Stad1er and Councilman Edward Peterson from the fourth ward have both been ab- sent 10 times but their excuse is ac- , ceptab1e as they are in the National Army
 Since the meeting of the council on April IS, 1917, Mayor George A. Quiz. lev has not missed being presenc when the roll was called at a single meeting. City Clerk A l.. Thompson also has a perfect attendance record as have Alderman Angelo M. Pao- nessa. and Counci1men Cornelius J. Dehm and Charles Mueller of the fifth, third and first wards respective 1y. Alderman M Irving Jester of the second ward has been absent only once and Councilman Rubert P Richards of the fourth ward has like wise missed only one meeting.
 In the lost and found column of a local paper appeared the following ad on Thursday evening:
 "Found: A ring with initials on Broad street. Finder can have same, etc, etc.
 The extra Herald published Wednesday night was the first that has been published here since the night of the draft last August. And from the ruling of the fuel admins trat1on demanding but one edition a day it is the last that will be pub hshed for some time to come
 Early in the week a woman en- tered a Jubilee street store and asked for a pound of sugar, which the clerk was very oblig1ngly wrapping up for her when she remarked: "Oh, I'm so glad you could let me have that
 Why" queried the clerk, absent1v
 Cause, this will make five pounds I've got now.'
 No, this will make just four pounds corrected the willy clerk.
 Flows tllat?" tBecause if you've got four pounds you don't get this"
 Exit
 Mondays will certainty be au1i days for those who work in the factories ad nof1ices affected by the new closing order especially since the movie houses win be closed as we'll Fortu- nate in many ways will be the man who has several cords of wood in his cellar that needs saving and splitting.
 But just where is there such man ?
 This one, entitled '"The Lay of the Furnace and sent to the Town Topic man by one who signed the effusion from one whose sole ambition is to see her grain child appear in the public print is printed herewith without comment. The T. T. man is nothing if not generously inclined, particularly toward the struggling young "artists''. and inasmuch as the