New Britain herald., 1923-03-10

agree, is not so exorbitant after all. I Music lovers sometimes wonder why
 John Mccormack is not brought to
 New Britain. The reason is easily found. Mir. Mccormack charges $3,-
 900 per night for his services, and
 gets it. In order to pay expenses for
 a Mccormack concert. it would be
 necessary for the New Britain Musi-
 cal club to double the price asked for
 seats at other events. The problem \ could be disposed of if New Britain
 had an auditorium large enough to
 accommodate twice the number Of
 persons who do attend concerts.
 Mir. McCormack's check looms
 large, until we read that Feodor Chal-
 iapin, one of the greatest singers of
 the present generation, will receive
 S4,000 for concert at Woolsey hall
 in New Haven this evening. He is
 one of the most generously remuner- ated artists on the concert stage.
 Champions come high That is why we all want to-be champions of our class. There is recognition, pres- tige and honor, of course, and all of these are welcome, but the signature on the check is what most of us seek.
 It makes no difference whether the art is that of mauling ones opponent around inside the ropes of a squared circle or thrilling society audience } with notes which put even the thrush
 to shame, champions name the price at which they perform. The wonder is that so many of us are willing to plod along in a rut receiving a pay envelope the contents of which are dictated by someone else, because l there's always room at the top. Per- | haps the reason why more of us don't get there is that it requires too much hard work. Approval is heard of the decision of the police commission to make a 1 slight change in the position of the ] traffic policemen at the corner of i, Church and Main streets and in front | of city hall Heretofore, the police | men have been in the center of a square formed by the conjunction of the streets removed from the west terminus of Church street in the first case and from the terminus Of that 1 part of Main street which ends at the | Globe Clothing House in the second | case. Consequently while they have been able to direct vehieular traffic | admirably, they could not give orders to pedestrians except with great exer- tion.
 Because the policemen have been forced to raise their voices when speaking to pedestrians, many of the latter expressed displeasure. They dislilled the idea of being yelled at" Eby a man in uniform. The truth is that if the policeman had not shout ed, their directions would not have been heard.
 The traffic officer at the Commer- cial Trust Co. crossing will now be able to make himself heard to pedes- trians without shouting, and the same holds true for the officer at the Globe Clothing House crossing, The change in position will not inter fere with their contol over automo- piles, it is believed.
 The coal crisis in New Britain has practically passed, according to re- ports from local dealers. The mild weather of last week, the letting up somewhat of shipping difficulties and the decrease in the demand for coal, have all tended to relieve the strain.
 One dealer stated that he had plenty of stove and egg sizes, another \ dealer said he had a quantity of nut and pea. Still another said he had a large supply of soft coal and the fact that no one was buying it, or ap- peared to be interested in wood, seemed to him to be an indication of the fact that there was a let up in the situation.
 One reason why there is not a sur plus of coal in the city now is the fact that local dealers do not care to purchase in any large quantities. In April it is expected the price will take q drop and dealers who purchase now, if they do not get immediate delivery, are apt to find themselves caught with quantity of high priced coal on their hands and no market for it.
 The Observer" has taken note of the protests made by several cities in the State of Connecticut against the use of sirens only for fire warn- inss First among the cities to have brought forcibly to it's attention that tho siren was inadequate was Hart ford
 In the capital city. not long ago, a serious accident occurred when a heavy chemical truck collided with q passenger automobile and injured several firemen and persons. The blame for this was laid at the door of the sirens which were not suf- ficiently loud to warn the driver of the automobile that the fire trucks were out.
 Now comes the news from Middle town, that the people there are clam bring for the big bell which has lain for many years in the tower of the Town hall, unused and forgotten. The other day a fire broke out in one section of the town and as several of the firemen, all of whom are callmen, did not hear the sirens, they failed to report. Fortunately, the fire did not assume serious proporitions but it seems likely that the fire bell will again be put into service.
 Here in New Britain, whenever a
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