New Britain herald., 1924-12-16

"N'S NN"iH'HH' NNal4S tNely edtuT-
 day saw a few runaways orlginat-
 ing from the Centre - horses
 which got tired of waiting while
 their masters spent the time in
 nearby saloons and decided to make
 q break for iIlusive liberty. Much
 excitement sometimes resulted.
 There were no parking regula-
 lions % years ago: anyone could
 come to town, haul up alongside the
 curb, tie the farm horse to d pole
 or q hltching post. or place a ?O-
 pound weight on the ground with d strap leading to tho horses hrldle, and then forget 1t while he tanked
 up, as he frequently did. In this
 bibuous condition he was always able to get home as the horse would know the way
 The gentle art of spoonng was not yet part Of the tire agc. cx. r"pt if the rubber tires on the bug Slcs Of that time can be considered such. It was possible for smittcn swain 10 repair 10 a livery barn." hire a rig for the afternoon or evening upon payment of S1 or $Ljo, and take his best girl in tne country, there to spoon gloriousy while letting the rcins rest on the dashboard. There was no need to seek out quiet hooks up side roaIs for this purpose, as every road was rather quiet,
 And there were the troDcys, Everybody went pleasure riding in them at nickel a fare. In some parts ot the country there were even trolley parties, where upon payment of s10 or s20 it was pos sibIe to hire an entire trolley car for several hours and fill 1t with mirth in the form of a pleasure mad assemblage. l. was customary to sing songs en route, such as After the Ball" the Sidewalks of New York" or Down on the Wa bash" Such big times were had in those naive and blithesome days!
 The telephone was no instrument ] made Use of by the general public . to kill time. Messenger boys were more common than today taking notes from one business establish ment to another and awaiting re- plies It was not customary to order groceries over the telephone, nor 10 chat with the neighbor across the street or on the other side of the backyard fence. Such conversation was more likely to be face to face. Of course, some folks had telc- phones, but they were greatly in the minority.
 But there were evidences of speed in those days all the sam4 Tn railroading the Empire State eX- press chugged from New York to Buffalo fin eight hours. and every youth in the land knew about it and studied pictures of the train while in action. Today the same tram makes the trip in nine hours, slower than in the old days.
 And tbe movies - oh, those For a nickel one could see the pictures move. such as they were, and listen to "plano- player" spank the iyories at the same time. Film stars were un- known, the names of the performers rot as a rule being deemed worthy ot note. The pictures were crude, the acting cruder, and the general effect one Of fickering folly, But he numerous stores converted into
 moving picture parlors" were well filed with onloohers and to go into the theater business required little capital.
 One Of tn" ro,ab.e differences bo-
 roen that time and today was the ,ost of living Everything was dirt cheap" One could get 8 good meal Tor 25 cents at any restaurant and rent vas a third Of the present -'aes. Miionaires were fewer in ! hose days -- but then a million -"allY amounted 70 something.
 Those wara t'o days now beyond ,coan - with ra3Io and cross I word puzzles entirely missmR.