New Britain herald. [microfilm reel] (New Britain, Conn.) 1890-1976, 1928-08-18
THE OBSER YER
Makes Random Observations
On the City an0 Its PEOPLE


into the limbo OF church suppers
and such events. From the latter
mentioned affairs on up to vast gath
erlngs. staged for political purposes
the fact is that they are not attend
ed as they used to be, and it is not
because of lessened transportation
facilities, though the use of the radio
may Keep attendance at such affairs
as are broadcasted down.
Herbert Hoover's notification serv-
Ices were we'll attended, a large
crowd gathered in the stadium to
hear him talk. Probably Al Smith S
turn to talk will be as eagerly
listened to by those present and over
the radio. But all in all various rail-
lies and affairs of political parties
are not rallies at all any more, they
are simply small gatherings staged
for publicity purposes as much as
anything else.
Time was when the candidate for
a job as low as state preventative
had the pleasure of attracting many
folk from his district to partake in
feed and possibly a couple of kegs
OF ale. He could attract them with
the ale again, doubtedlessly. but one
could get ale those days at every
street corner. Marching clubs were
formed, red fire burned, and every
body went down to the town hall
every time the clarion call of rally
was spread throughout the land. A
political campaign was an event, not
matter of passing moment.
The Third Ward Republican club
outing at Compounee will probably
attract many of the faithful, but this
is an exception. Interest in it is
partly built up by supersalesman-
ship on the part of the officials in
charge of the tickets, a wish to show
loyalty by politicians and possibly the
food-could the beer flow freely
every male in town with one or two
exceptions would turn out. Virtual
" every other rally held by either
party in times recently past has been
practically ignored by the voters, the
same will probably be true this
campaign.
4 short time aso when the mon
ument to the veterans of the Spanish
War; in Willow Brook park. was
dedicated, a very small crowd
turned out, despite the preliminary
publicity and the fact that there are
many people in this city related to
or interested in Spanish War veter-
ans. There was a sizeable parade,
but mighty few remained for the
dedication services at the park. Had
an affair of this kind been held 20
years ago the whole countryside
would have turned out and stayed
the whole thing through. Despite
the fact that the population of the
city has at least doubled In that
time there would have been three or
four times the number of people on
the grounds to hear the speakers
The same thing was true of the
laying of the cornerstone for the
World War monument. 1t threat
ened rain the afternoon of the cere-
mony. but not sufficiently long be-
fore it to scare people off. There
were few there.
We sincerely hope that conditions
will be somewhat different upon the
Gated, although the matter Of at
tendance has been given some
thought, and been attended with
some worry. In September will
come the opportunity to show VEN
Grafton for the soldiers and dead of
the most recent war. we sincerely
hope that New Britain folk will do
so, we know they feel it.
Did You ever go canoeing on
Gay which finally devel-
cped a rain stormo You really
should. It's all the rage this sum-
mer, for there never was such OPP
portunity in the past. No one can
call himself Cor her sclf) seasoned
yacatlonist until he has made at
least one canoe trip in shower and
attempted to preserve few dry
spots on a Imply damp lunch. Per-
haps YOU are not enthusiastic about
the prospect, but we can tell you the
various joys you void encounter, and
if you suffer hard enough in imagin-
alton and by proxy perhaps the AS
ISOLATION of outdoor Boobs will al
low you to qualify for membership.
Things happen something like
this:
For week or so you have planned
to make a day of it on the water,
so when that day arrives you are
hardly surprised to find that the sky
is overcast. Still, it might clear off
miraculously and there isn't any
other day open, so you take
chance and the party sets off with
simulated merriment.
Trouble is found Immediately ur<
on arrival at the lake, sound, or
other body Of water, for nobody
wants to rent canoes in such threat
ening weather. OF course. they might
let an old one, if you could get along
without cushions and other moisture
absorbing equipment. You agree
and make up for this lack by taking
along all the blankets and spare
clothes you can muster
No sooner is the canoe launched
than drizzle sets in. You Kid your
self into hoping it will stop, but you
know better-so does the drizzle.
The only way the drizzle will cease
is by becoming a real rain.
You paddle along with one eye
looking for possible cloud riffs and
the other cooked upon the slowly
dampening equipment. An hour or
SO of this and the enjoyment
which wasn't very keen in the first
place-has gone entirely, SO you de-
eide to have an early meal and
make tor home.
The nearest island becomes your
goal, and you cruise in under heavy
trees as you seek to escape the
drizzle. You open up the various
bottles and packages and realize
that you made serious mistake in
bringing cold milk instead OF hot
coffee. But. you soon realize opti-