New Britain herald., 1923-03-24


 ] Spring grcets us, laughingly. We've tried to clear our walk of ice Another storm would come; Inspectors would drop in and say: 5 See that, you lazy bum? ?" Our taxes, high, hung over us;
 We work despondently.
 Until, today, with flrty smile Spring grects us laughingly. We're most conservative, sedate;
 We hate young radicals;
 And yet, when Spring is hanging round
 We sing sweet madrigals.
 School boards, and even Angeles
 Should smile in happy giee.
 And bury sharpened hatchets when Spring greets us laughingly.
 The "Obseryer" has the greatest
 respect for educators who know their business. We have that sort of edu-
 cators in New Britain. But when
 they wander into fields beyond edu-
 cation, they sometimes err. The
 writer of this paragraph refuses to
 take off his hat to anyone in regard
 to knowledge of boys For some
 years he interested boys and Fave
 them, under a sugar-coating of pure
 excitement, some ideas which are
 commonly accepted as the right sort
 of ideas He takes lio credit for this
 as they were ideas borrowed from tho l nI n
 writer stakes his everlasting soul on
 the belief that the same Great Teach
 CT would be one of the first to en-
 courage boys, in this day, to Ego sell
 their papers," believing in the work as an incentive to maniness.
 When educators, no matter how skilled they are in their line, seek to discourage initiative in young lads in this country where initiative is a great asset, they are making a mistake.
 Educators, twelve women and pos sibly others, have favored the pas sage of bill in the legislature lim- iting hours in which boys may sell papers. It is not a breach of good taste for the Observer" to criticize this stand of the educators and the women. because no paper with which the Observer" is connected is affect cd, or would be affected by the bill. But he does deprecate this attitude of starting boy in. life with the idea that when he tries to do something worth while the women and his school teachers discourage him. The bill deserved defeat. Anyone who doubts this may easily convince him. self by comparing the lads who do sell papers with those, of the same station in life, who might but who do not. And in this connection the re- marks of a minister of the gospel, who opposed the bill, are worth re- ferring to. He opposed it because he had spent his life in standing by the boys" He said he would feel dis loyal to them if he did not come and say that they ought to be allowed to sell their papers.
 Sometimes the honesty and good faith of the newspaperman is doutted. Just as The Observer would com ment favorably upon display of strong honesty in any phase Of life, he mentions now case of what may be considered a pretty strong eX- ample of the failure to abuse a con- fdence by newspaperman.
 The facts mentioned in news it was not in New Britain were attacked in a law suit. The city editor of the paper was sum- moned into court and asked to dis close the source of his information. He refused. He said the facts were given to him in confidence. The judge ruled that he was obliged to tell where he got those facts. The city editor said he could not do it without breaking his word. The judge held him in contempt of court and sentenced him to jail for two years unless he would break his word The refused to do the lat ter and went, smiling, to jail where he remained.
 When a reporter of reputable says he will respect per sons confidence and publish only what seems to be necessary, he w.ll keep his word. Many misUnderstand- ngs would be obviated if this were thoroughly understood. This is not a news story" It is an example of he honesty of newspapermen coming within the absolute knowledge of the writer.
 He was q man with a heart Of gold" was the expression heard most 'requently yesterday concerning Si- ron Luddy, whose death occurred at lis home on Bassett street Thursday light. There are men who arc kind- y and generous to their friends and 7 yho are well known publicly because ,f their benefactions Mir Lnddy was rot numbered with these. His kind |, less was known to uany. but his nu- nerous benefactions were sknown only o those who shared in the goodness '. If his heart and the depth of his ! ,urse.
 No one in distress ever appealed in ain to Simon Luc1y. Whether a . nan wanted the price of a meal or assistance in meeting the interest on a mortgage, he was ever ready to help. d Ie judged men by their manhood, in- tead of by their bank accounts. To i'm, princes and peasants were on the ! anne level. He liked them both, and hey liked him. No man who has I lied within recent months had more C rue friends who would have gone to 2 ny extreme for him, if the need z rose, because they knew that he [ ;ould go to any extreme for them. (
 Until the last few years, MT. Luddy q 'as one of the strongest men in New t ,ritain. He had a mans grip, as trong as his friendship. Twenty U ears or so ago, he worked in the old V East Berlin Bridge shop where tossing o