New Britain herald., 1920-11-27
THE OBSERVER
MAX ES
THE CITY AND ITS PEOPLE.
MAKES RANDOM o SEPARATIONS

their stock of umbrellas out in front | ,f their stores on a rainy day? Why ! \ ell. beca use they know that when ! f rains people will think of umbrel- {, ,lS and those who have no overhead l protection will buy. Merchants don't 1
 ut umbrellas out in front when the 1 --zy is fair. They know that they 'nuld not pursuade their fellowmen
 buy, and would be greeted with
 arision and raucous jibes by a pub =" hurrying on its way to the ball game.
 Those who have saved part of their
 nCome during the past few years are prepared for winter of discontent mich will affect most of the working people in the country, or at least in hose sections which depend on in
 lustry for their livelihood. Thrift i@ form of preparedness which many preach and few practice. We VIII probably have an impressive lesson in the desirability of thrift be- fore the robins come again.
 Grocery stores opened by factories during the period Of high prices are beginning to close their doors, hav- ing: served their immediate purpose that of helping to tighten the burdens Of the buying public. At the time these stores first began to appear. the
 Herald editorially took exception to them on the ground that the legiti- mate retailer was forced to meet extra competition from sources that could and did undersell him. It was contend ed that the factories, with their vast capital, could eventually force the re- taller to go out of business. Fortunate ly. iE did not work out that way and while the retailer felt the competition keenly at the begi-ning. he has been able to survive and still make a good margin of profit
 The principle behind the opening of factory stores was the same through out the country. In the first place stores, it was believed, would have a tendency to reduce the labor turn over, the workers remaining at their jobs and realizing that they had an advantage over the workers in fac tories which did not maintain grocery departments. added reason was that stores could sell for small profit, a direct gain for employees and one which would help to keep them in peaceful state of mind. That stores did succeed in reducing labor turn over is attested by managers from many parts of the country but, like all human plains. they probably fell short of expectations.
 One of the greatest drawbacks of factory groceries was lack of delivery ia acilities The average man dislikes to carry home potatoes, flour and other bulky packages and provisions of this nature were frequently bought of merchants who would deliver them, thus reducing the business done .by fac tory competitors.
 While the consumer is unable to see any dent in the cost of living, so far as groceries are concerned, statistics show that there has been a slight re- duction. only part of which has been ! felt by tho ultimate buyer With busi- i ness under a cloud and prices of eat i ables certain to come down, factories ] may we'll feel that they can dispense ] with their grocery departments, , especially if patronage has not been up to anticipations.
 Perhaps civic conSclence Will be suf- i ficjently aroused by the death Of a
 child on the railroad tracks yesterday
 to insist that precautions be taken to
 prevent a repetition of the tragedy.
 Too long have we allowed the chill
 dren of the city to be exposed to
 violent death in this trap. or ueatn
 running through the heart of the city. In vain the railroad company has re-
 peatedly warned pedestrians off the
 right of way. The practice of using the tracks as a public thoroughfare per
 sists and the death list grows.
 In the case of adults. death under a i train is horrible enough. But the trag- edy is all the more chilling when the
 victim is a child. l.. this case it is difficult to place the blame. If the i parents knew that the little girl was going to pick coal along the railroad track they must assume all responsi- bility. But aside from the present case, steps should be taken to prevent other children from falling victim.
 It is obviously impossible for the
 railroad to patrol its miles of tracks
 The duty therefore. devolves on the
 city itself and this duty should not be
 shirked Whether pasTolling the tracks
 is the solution cannot be said. but
 there should be a way 10 save human
 beings from their own folly or the
 folly of parents.
 Mayor Curtis is the head of the gov crnrlent and it is on his shoulders that
 responsibility for the initiative rests In theory the government cares for the welfare of its citizens Let us sec
 this theory put into practice, ever if
 it is necessary to call q special meeting
 of the common council to discuss the
 situation.