New Britain herald., 1924-12-20
THE OBSER VER- Makes Random Observations
 On the City and Its People


 hardest. Christmas is now in sight, rushing now upon us with the ir- reSistiblo impetus Of juggernaut. and is rivalllng time and tide in waiting for no man. Just few more days of crowded stores, then day of rest, and then the stores will he mobbed again by receivers of pnk-and-purple sofa cushions, stale candy, second. hand pincush- ions, and other unsatisfactory gifts. To diminish this post season rush as far a possible, we offer the fol- lowing list of presents which should go a long ways toward prov ing that to give is better than to receive:
 For him." course in character building and will.power Ct's time the poor boob got up nerve enough to say, "Wilya?D: for "her" a set Of sharp -jawed bear traps to keep her confounded kid brother out of the parlor; for a college chum, the key to your clothes closet, so that he won't have to break down the door when he borrows your tuxedo the night of the senior prom; for little sister. an unbreakable un- breakable doll, If there really is one; for little brother, a full-grown cannon (the kid has shot himself so often with his .22 rifle that he might just as well have mans size weapon and get the agony over with for good): for big sister, an atlas of the world, that she may never go .astray; for big brother. who went lover there" one of those little books of personal ex- periences in the war: for baby, q noiseless rattle; for mother, book on How to Manage a Household" written by an elderly spinster; for father, several new checkbooks -- he's going to need them.
 When the authors Of those hun dred and one little nursery rhymes which children chant were doing their stuff, they were simply hold ing up mirror in which are re- flocted a great many human frajl- ties. The characters in the rhymes are typical of most of us and ex- pose our weaknesses and our strength.
 Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall.
 Humpty Dumpty had a great
 fall.
 All the kings horses and all the
 kings men
 Couldn't put Humpty Dumpty to-
 gether again.
 1T you examine Humpty Dumpty closely you win find that he is simply the personifcation of that vanity which is found in all Of us. A little honor or a little riches come our way and we sit on a wall and look down upon the rest of the world. snug and content in the be- lief that we are of superior mould But let our good fortune desert us and we come down with crash. It is the fall which Comcth after pride, and 1t smasheth us into, yea verify, little pieces of dust again.
 On the other hand:
 Mary had a little lamb
 Little lamb, little lamb
 Mary had a little lamb
 Its fleece was white as snow. ~ EvcrywheTe that Mary went,
 Mary went, Mary went.
 Everywhere that Mary went
 The lamb was sure to go.
 Here Mary is chara cterlstiC Of a good woman. The lamb is her con- science. IL, like the fleece, is as white as snow. And everywhere she goes her conscience accompanies her and she has that inner sense of eation and happiness that comes from virtue being its own reward.
 Old Mother Hubbard went to the
 cupboard
 To get her poor doggie a bone
 But when she got there the cup
 board was bare
 And so the poor dOggie had none. It is not difficult to substitute the democratic party for the poor dog gic. Its sponsors went 10 the cup board in November and found 1t empty. Then they went 10 the Con- nccticut cupboard in December but il was still a vacuum surrounded by nothing. No doubt the public sympathizcs with the poor doggic, but when it comes to throwing 1t bones on which to sharpen it's teeth - well, bones seem to be scarce around election day.
 Hey diddle diddle.
 The cat and the fiddle,
 The COW jumped over the moon. The little dog laughed to sec such
 sport
 And the dish ran away with the
 spoon.
 II is difficult to draw a moral out Of this but an explanation is easy. The writer Was simply anticipating a few years. The jingle represents a cubist poets view of what jazz party on New Years Eve in the ,penliuh century would look like. And 1t wasn't such a lame attempt at that.
 Tom, Tom, the Pipcr's son
 Stole a pig and away he run.
 The pig was cat and Tom was
 beat
 I.tc.
 This rhyme only goes to show that even in those days murder would out and the criminal would be punished. Ever since the world began there have been Toms, They began it all by stealing an apple from the Garden of Eden. Since hen they have been stealing every thing clse in sight, from the con tents Of cash register to their ncighbor's wife. But they always get beat in the long run.