New Britain herald., 1919-12-13

come in in the form of new stock is
 sued at par.
 It would be interesting, if possible,
 to convene ill bodily form the indus
 trial pioneers of New Britain and lis
 ten to their comments on the Hard-
 ware City's growth from a ram bling village of wooden shaclzs to a far-f1ung-
 line of industrial gladiators becoming greater every year.
 Automatic machinery has to be thanked to certain extent for the growth of New Britain. The stripling generation hardly realizes that ma chinery, now commonly used in fac tories and mills, is of comparatively recent invention. Machines were first used in England in the production of textiles, appearing about the end of the eighteenth century. As their prac- ticability became certain they were ap- piled to other lines of manufacture Without them it is probable New Britain would not be the important hardware city it is today and we should not be witnessing such expan- sion of capital
 The great American pastime of making New Year resolutions will lose some of it's fascination this year be- cause everyone is so busy that he has no time to attend to minor vices that once beSet men. It was customary in the salad days of the race to swear off flirting With red liquor, hopeful that the drab mornings were a thing of the past. But this year there will be no occasion for deciding to eschew the company of John Barleycorn, be- cause John seems to have taken him. self to other parts.
 AS liquor was supposed to have been at the bottom of most Wickedness it is likely that there will be nothing on which the average mortal can "swear off, for 1920. Of course it is possible to shun the weed that weakens' s''-the slogan is offered free to the Holier- Than-Thou party-but if men get too good they are apt to w1ther up and float away on the wings of the first strong gale. It's a, little bit late for the suggestion but there might be more mirth in the country, more sat isfacton with living, if those who con- sider themselves literally their broth CTS keepers had resolved a couple of years ago not to interfere in their neigh bor's business.
 All in all, it promises to be a dull season for the resolution hounds.
 Ever since the failure of the build l CTS of the Tower of Babel, the matter 1 of tongues has been a, barrier to the ] closer intermingling of men, not the 1 tongues Aesop used with which to 1 confuse his master, but the languages which are spoken in different parts of 1 the world. The variety of languages l and dialects has been one of the great l est handicaps faced by the American | manufacturer who wished to conduct 1 his own export business. As a com ] m ercial nation we have not reached 1 the stage attained by the Germans, the ] French and the English, who prepare l for trade expansion by learning the l language of their customers. Rather 1 do we insist on English; it has been ] good enough for us for a great many 1 years and, therefore, it should be good l enough for anybody. With that self l satisfying reflection we have gone 1 on our way, crammIng the l English language into the ears of for 1 eigners to whom it was as intelligible !! as the heiroglyphics on a Chinese laundry check.
 Evolution is changing much of this. l The American business man is not | satisfied to employ someone who l knows only a, few polite parlor 1 phrases in a foreign language; he in 1 sists on a thorough knowledge and l understandin on the part of a candi- 1 date for a position in his export de- 1 partment.
 Knowing @ foreign language is much l like catching a bear by the tail--after 1 you catch him you don't know what to l do with him. This situation is not to 1 be wondered at because there are ever |! so many European and Asiatic coun- ] tries which have no national language.
 As an example, even a great country ] like Austria iS-Or was, before it be- gan to stay out late nights and get into 1 bad company-boasts of many differ l ent languages used according to the 1 province. these being German, Fohe- ] milan, Polish, Ruthenian. Italian, Slo- |