davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
New Britain herald., 1930-10-18
Blunders in City Hall
 CauSinD Cjsy tn Wonder.

Biun0erS In ClLy dali
 Causing City to Wonder.
 Citizens are beginning to express amazement at the manner in which New Britain's government machinery is creaking. If the administration were in the hands of inexperienced amateurs, the situation in city hall could not be much more serious. A glaring example of the lack of foresight or ignorance of charter and legislative requirements may be gained from the struggle the city is having to obtain money for emer- gency relief work.
 Several weeks ago the board of finance and taxation approved an issue of notes to the amount of s105, 1000. the project was passed by the common council and a bank
 announced that it would absorb the entire issue. A few days later, 1t was discovered that the notes would be in violation of a special Legislative restriction which limited the issue oi certain securities to percentage of the net grand list instead of the gross grand list. The first intimation
 the city had that the issue would not
 be legal came from a law firm in
 Boston which was checking up on
 the notes for the bank.
 Some one in New Britain had blundered.
 Came another week and it was announced that the city would be
 enabled to carry on by issuing $150,- 900 in notes which would be repaid
 over term of years by the levying
 of a special tax. Apparently Mayor Quigley overestimated imm ediate re-
 had q conference with Chairman
 Judd of the board of finance. he
 whittled down the amount to s100,.
 GOO. Then city hall went into action
 Special delivery letters were sent tc
 members of the common council no. tifying them of a special meeting
 which was to be held on "Wednesday
 evening to act on the note issue. Came the dawn of Wednesday morning and the discovery was made
 that the rush and hullaballoo were wasted. It was learned that the
 charter requires three days noticf printed in the newspapers before 1 the notes can be issued. So as mat ters stand now, the special meeting | will be held Monday evening, if nc
 one discovers that legal obstacle blocks the path.
 All this vacillation and false start. ing leads to the suspicion that ad <! ministrative officials are wandering
 around in mental fog. If execu
 tives in a large corporation were
 guilty of erring so frequently. theil
 positions would be filled quickly by
 new men. To err is human. of course | but there is little excuse for mer
 holding high public office for not i being tho oughly familiar with the | laws.
 This is an era of discovery. Near. ly every day the administration dis. covers that what is intended to dc
 yesterday is illegal. Then it adopts
 other measures which. it discovers
New Britain herald., 1930-10-18
CONSISTENCY

Agents for the government con- tinually harp on the fact that the tederals have been reducing taxa ton, while state and local govern- ments have been increasing debts and taxation.
 But whenever state or local gov cinments lay plans to do something tangible for the relief of unem-
New Britain herald., 1930-10-18

ployment, regardless of the amount O. money expended for this purpose, tkey are highly commended as pro- ceeding along lines in consonance
 We confess to a little confusion. Money expended for public improve ments, even for the laudablc pur- pose of aiding in the reduction of the unemployed. invariably adds to state and town debts and increases taxation.
New Britain herald., 1930-10-18
THE STREET TOUR

Members of the Common Council. slated to make a trip through the city today with members of the board of public works and others this in order to ascertain the condi- tion of the streets, no doubt will find much to occupy their minds. It will depend somewhat upon what par ticular streets they visit. We pre- sume they will be observant how ever, and be filled with a desire to discover where mending is necessary. concentrating on the condition of the thoroughfares, cannot help add ing considera ble to the civic edu- cation of the city fathers.
 The impression can scarcely be avoided, however. that aldermen and councilmen usually are more inter- ested in the condition of the streets in their own wards than in the con- dition of streets in other wards. In this they are quite human and arc doing just what their ward con- stituents expect them to do. The ward system happens to be that way
 The board of public works, on the other hand, is a much more general body, it's members not being so much interested in particular wards as they are in the city as a whole
 The Council frequently questions the reason the board of public works proposes to repair certain streets. The board usually makes out list of contemplated improvements and these, in a spirit of cooperation, are shown to the busy city dads Most of the improvements usually i meet with the approval of the coun- cilmen, but occasionally suggestions are made to omit such and such a street or to add another, or several. That usually leads to further dis cussion. In the end the board ot public works, when it has it's ap- propriation safely tucked away, has the power-if it wishes to exercise it-of going ahead according to it's own lights.
 The board already provided an itemized list of contemplated i'm nrovements the past week and when the matter was brought up in the Council some suggestions were in order, and the board once again is expected to provide an itemized list. Meanwhile today's trip will be made and perhaps the board will at tempt to prove to any doubting need improving and others perhaps do not. We trust no automobile springs will oe broken during the trip.
 Speaking generally, we think the beard of public works is more capa ble and more reliable in deciding which streets need fixing than the Common Council. The board con, centrates on such matters, while the Council necessarily has many other matters to occupy it's atten. tion. The Council is likely to waste it's time if it tries to do too much of the boards work.
 But, as previously stated, nc harm can accrue to the Counci members if they make a tour-manJ tours, in fact-of the city street: and acquaint themselves with tn, details of bad going on some O them.
New Britain herald., 1930-10-18

over the side of the car into a road way spinning with traffic. There was a screeching of brakes and a white-faced motorist stopped his wheels within an inch of him. He will sit inside tied to a seat until he picks up little sumption from now on.
 A beloved dog. Junior" joined that happy throng retrieving birds of paradise in Elysian fields" about eight years ago. His life was a cruel sacrifice to careless motoring, and at the time I vowed never to own another dog. Kipling was right about giving your heart to a dog to tear. And here I am with two. Billy, because he is lovable and handicapped by deafness will always be the No. 1 dog yet it is surprising how much extra love one can have for an extra dog. proving again love is limitless and every thing will be all right in the Autumn.
 Outside of gurgling, pink checked baby nothing is so appealing to me as that flawless faith and deep fondness that lie in the eyes of a dog. I beheld it but once among humans and that was when saw a mother one crepuscular dawn fall at the feet of a governor in midwest state and sob out her thanks for saving her boy from the gallows.
 The Boston Billy, has always been somewhat the aristocrat, whether from highly pedigreed natural in stincts or from that reserve to typical of the deaf, I do not know. His manners are perfect. He never begs for food and wipes his mouth on an old rug in a back hall after each meal. He is as neat as a pin, aloof, diffident, nonoraple.
 But Rainbow" has just come barking in from a walk in the park With hlS firebrand eyes, icicle nose and twitching tail. From the looks of his comic chin whiskers he has ploughed a pathway from hell tc breakfast and stopped en passant tc help with a little skyscraper ex- cavation. And as usual he made 8 bee line streak for the kitchen. For the cook around this establishment is his special buddy-the glutton The way he works her for goodies
 is, as Skippy says, most disgustful.'
 And don't suppose I should tel this on the fraidy-cat. But he flies i under the bed and hides when he sees q carpet-sweeper.
 Copyright, 1880. McNaught Syndicate, Incl
New Britain herald., 1930-10-18
Untidy Gasoline Stations ClutterinC UD City

Untidy Gasoline Stations
 Cluttering Up City
 Visitors to New Britain are often heard to comment on its dirty gaso- line stations.
 Their comment is justified. Few cities of the same size contain With in their borders so many untidy stations where little or no effort IS made to improve their appearance. Many gas stations here consist of a couple of pumps, an oil soaked ap- proach, rags strewn about and at- tendants who always create the im- pression that they have just crawled out from underneath an automobil Little thought apparently is given to leading the buyer to believe that there is a genuine desire to give service in wholesome surroundings.
 Shacks stands where ornate build ings should have been erected. In time these structures take on the grime and dirt of the vicinity and join the vast majority which have a down-a the-heels aspect.
 Less attention has proDaply been given in New Britain to building sta tions in harmony with their sur roundings than in any other com munity in the state. A gas station is a business place where neatness could influence the motoring public. The same influences which affect a merchants store affect station and the owner who appreciates that fact and acts accordingly will benefit in proportion to his efforts to attract instead of repel trade.
 If possible, authority should be given to the board of public works or the city building department to set up standards of gas station buildings which would be lived up to-
New Britain herald., 1930-10-18
Politics and Rubber Stamps Come in For Public Airing

The late Governor Simeon E.. Baldwin coined an expression some years ago which was widely quoted and will probably be borne in mind by politicians in Connecticut long after everything else connected with the Baldwin administration is for gotten. There is no politics in the top dressing of a street" was the way he put it and that it struck home in many quarters is a fact of general understanding.
 Mayor Quigley of New Britain, in the days when he was somewhat more fiery and expressive in his everyday conversation tl.an he has been in recent years, was wont to give vent to an explosive: 'I don't like weak -kneed men," and there was never any doubt that his mean ing was shot home to whenever it was intended for.
 All of which was recalled to mind quite forcibly in reading newspaper reports of the common council meeting Wednesday night, for there were two instances during the de- bate on street improvement matters which might we'll be associated with the declarations of the former gov ernor and the present mayor.
 Councilmen Sablotsky and Conlon, both democrats. accused Alderman Johnson, republican, of having poli- tical motives in his attempt to dic- tate to the public works department in the matter of selecting streets on which to spend the sl00,000 it Is planned to raise by selling the citys notes. If there should be no politics in the top dressing of a street, there certainly should be none in grading and making repairs, but that there is something of political flavor in the carrying out of the program is | firmly believed by others than mem- bers of the common council, judg- ing by observations made about the city.
 Politics in one form or another can be recognized quickly by some while many others could not see it i if it was painted in large black let ters on a lily white background. As rule, however, property owners having occasion to deal with city departments year after year can spot 1t after little experience and some of them have learned that II is not always futile to complain but the remonstrances must b. directed at the right sources and they, unfortunately, are very likely to prove more or less elusive. Now as to "weak-kneed men," oi whom Mayor Quigley used to have considerable to say. The same Aid. erman Johnson, denying that poll. tics was mixed up in his resolution for street budget and inspection did not hesitate to declare on the floor of the council that it was no, his intention to be rubber stamp and when he said that he strucl, home in more than one spot
 He undoubtedly knows, after h.. several years of service as council. man and alderman. that there is more rubberstamping going on than the average outsider suspects, but il is not confined to the council by ans means; it shows up time after time in the various departments in citN
 hall. The alderman, by the way
 usually says what comes to his min:
 on whatever topic he is interestea
 in. He does not always have tho
 right end of a discussion, but he i'
 probably wrong no more often thar
 his associates and less frequent.
 than many of them.
New Britain herald., 1930-10-18
Old Classic Contains Highly Modern Qllip

It is not only modern novels that possess cleverness. The old classic Jane Eyre" contains a passage which, for succinct humor, is en- titled to immortality.
 A Puritanical minister, displeased with lanes lack of solemnity, says to her, My child, what must you do to prevent going to hell?"
 "I must keep my Health and not die" the child answered, at loss for any more orthodox reply.
New Britain herald., 1930-10-18
THE PRISON BOARDS
 ATTITUDE

The board of directors of the Connecticut state prison at Weth- ersfield has perpetrated something in the nature of humor. while at tempting to reply to criticisms by the former chaplain who charged brutality existed in the prison.
 Come and investigate the pri- scn," the board says in effect; the prison will be found O. K. in every respect and no barbarity will be discovered"
 It certainly wont-now.
 In denying the charges of the Rev. Dr. William H. Smith. the former chaplain, the prison board virtually calls him a liar. It will appeal to any reasonable person that a min- ister of the gospel is not likely to Ii, about the prison in which he was a spiritual guide. It will also appeal to reasonable persons that a prison chaplain is in 2 strategical position $ to observe conditions while attend ing to his duties therein.
 Incidentally, as we mentioned in ar editorial yesterday, the same charges were made in 1929, by in- vestigators for the National Society O. Penal Information of New York City, and their reports have been verified and corrected by the off cials of the institutions in question. The 1929 penal report showed Con- necticut among the six states in which the most severe punishments were found.
 The board should not be in a hurry to claim that critics are actu- ated by 'maliciousness' Or "misrep- resentations." The prison $ public property and it's officials are not above criticism if there is reason able cause therefor.
 The prison authorities had since Sunday to do something about the charges of Dr. Smith, and it began to look as if they were going to ig- nore the charges-which is the GUS. tomary method of the officials o1 state institutions under fire, the method that is followed by J. Henry Roraback. It was not until a report gained publication that an inquiry would be made by the state depart, ment of public welfare that the pri son board came through with an in. dignant denial of all the charges completely whitewashing the insti tuition.
 Obviously, an investigation nov would be a farce, as everything would be found in perfect condi ton, no brutality or barbarism prac ticed, and all traces of such prac tices, if they existed, could be elim mated. Prison attaches loyas tt - their employers, would scarcely tall to any extent. Perhaps knowing thi. likelihood the board can we'll invit an investigation.
 If such an investigation is made however-upon the demands of tn prison board as is now claimed t, be Its attitude-the presence of Dr Smith as 8 witness should not b. overlooked, nor the presence o Paul W. Garrett and Austin H. Mac Cormick, authors of the 1929 report
 But there evidently will not be al investigation and the former chap lain sticks by his charges.
New Britain herald., 1930-10-18
Suitable Andree Epitaph
 Written by Lord Tennyson

Returning of the bodies of the Andree expedition explorers and talk of a search for Amundsen bring to mind the epitaph that Alfred, Lord Tennyson. wrote for Sir John Franklin. The verse, which is inscribed on the cenotaph in West minister Abbey, follows: Not here! the white North has thy
 bones: and thou,
 Heroic sailor soul, Art passing on thine happier voy-
 age now
 Toward no earthly pole"
New Britain herald., 1930-10-18
Professional LoaferS Find Times Just to Their Liking

The business situation in New Britain may be serious, but large
 proportion of the unemployed seems firmly determined to remain unem- ployed. There may and, in fact, must be a great many men and women in the city who earnestly desire em- ployment, yet many others appear to be taking advantage of conditions to take a long wanted respite from
New Britain herald., 1930-10-18
COMMUNICATED
Bible Class "Split"

Editor New Britain Herald:
 In regard to the item about the split in Everyman's Bible class, it should not have been printed in your valuable paper as it has not even been thought of by the writer of this communication who holds
New Britain herald., 1930-10-18

New York, Oct. 1S.-The new Sealyham puppy Rainbow" seems to have the run of the house these days. Upon his arrival from the private kennels of Ben R. Meyer in California he was frightened by the long train ride and very trembling. But after several weeks he is the typical New Yorker-a fresh butt insky.
 There is only one thing he hasn't t been into on the place and that is a small iron office safe. But he has been working on that between fin ishing up what is left of bath shower curtain and a left evening slipper belonging to his mistress. He sleeps. incidentally. on his back with his feet in the air
 Rainbow" is in bench legged puppyhood and when he starts to run and bark, as he does at every body, he tumbles into an awkward and mystified squat He has a grave, beWhiskered face and bright rosy tongue and suggests the droop- ing mustached Laurence D'Orsay. Billy, the Boston, more than seven years his senior, has high-hatted him from the start He sits and watches him with a sober air of detachment, but it Is noticeable that when Rainbow" frisks into another room, he trots in after him. But his attitude continues stiffly sedate and how-come,
 My own impression is that Rain bow" doesn't give whoop. Life to him is a gay lark and when he is not pursuing some sportive and imaginary speck or chewing on something he has no business to chew he is just a puff white butter ball sleeping his head off.
 Twice during the still of dead night he has awakened the entire household to jump upon chair and rebuke the moon. You'd think he was running the metropolis When as a matter of fact he is just a small town Beverly Hills dog and | VIII nave 10 improve lot betort . he makes good in the city.
 After owning tailless dog for SC long, 'Rainbow's" tail is utterly fas. cinating. It tires you just to watch It swishes up and down, sideway: and at times even cater-cornered He Is the tail waggingest dog l have even seen and by six blocks tho most curous.
 Rainbow" had the closest of mar row squeaks his first "A hours il the big town. He had just beer scrubbed free of train dirt to snowy, fluffy white and was seein, the sights from the front seat of al automobile. All of sudden an, for no reason apparent he leaDet
New Britain herald., 1930-10-18

The objection to chain control of all merchandising is that it will be so much harder to find the prescrip- ton counter.
New Britain herald., 1930-10-18

A scientist says the human brain retains an idea while life lasts. This seems especially true of the idea that honking will clear a traffic jam.
New Britain herald., 1930-10-18

You can tell a woman in the upper middle class. She has servant to feed the gold fish.
New Britain herald., 1930-10-18
Facts and Fancies
BY ROBERT CULLEN

Speaking of night football the sum taken from customers always seemed a little heavy for daylight job.
New Britain herald., 1930-10-18

Still, cooking anC dusting afford a career about as thrilling as sitting on the lap of fat boss.
New Britain herald., 1930-10-18

If scientists wish to help the farmer, let them invent third mortgage that Is worth a darn.
New Britain herald., 1930-10-18

The Associated Press is exclusively en- titled to the use for republication of all news credited to it not otherwise credited in this paper and also local news published therein.
New Britain herald., 1930-10-18
Memher of the Associated Pres,

Tho only profitable advertising medium in the City. Circulation books and press room always open to advertisers.
New Britain herald., 1930-10-18

High wages make prosperity. The more ducks are protected. the more there are to shoot.
New Britain herald., 1930-10-18
THE OBSE.R VER- Makes Random Observations
 On the City and Its People

are in turn illegal. Maybe this dis covery complex is caused by the proximity to Columbus day. Or may be, it is due to the failure of re- sponsible officials to think clearly.
New Britain herald., 1930-10-18

The Herald is on sale daily in New York at Ho.alings Newsstand, Times Square; Schultz's Newsstand. Entrance Grand Central, i2nd Street.
New Britain herald., 1930-10-18

Maybe thieves just seem more common because a bear market af- lords less chance to put it back.
New Britain herald., 1930-10-18
Member Audit Bureau of Circulation

The A. B. C. is national organization which furnishes newspapers and adver- tisers with a strictly honest analysis of circulation. Our circulation statistics are based upon this audit. This insures pro- tection against fraud in newspaper dis trbution figures to both national and local advertisers.
New Britain herald., 1930-10-18

High wages make prosperity. The more ducks are protected. the more there are to shoot.
 Maybe thieves just seem more common because a bear market af- lords less chance to put it back.
 Americanism: A cotton planter wailng because the price is so low; the planters daughters picking the crop dressed in rayon.
 Another pleasant thought: The only people driving cars now are the ones worth suing.
 You see, If all stores were owned by a chain. there would be no suck CTS to pay Henderson a million for cussing chain stores.
 Gambling in wheat Is like en- couraging radicals. The right or wrong depends on whether it's done by Russia or Uncle Sam. Smoker: A place where you meet strangers who enjoy telling you how much their bridge work cost.
 Poor Marinesl For months they have had to buy their bananas.
 Republic: A land where half the people favor glue factory because the wind doesn't blow their way.
 What with, the drouth and every thing, the poor farmer hasn't much to show off with at the county fair except his automobile. No wonder preachers sons out number others in Who's Who. The man who has 14 chances to win us- ually beats the fellow who has but one.
 Correct this sentence: I'm rich and famous now" said the man. but I try as hard and as humbly as ever to please the public.' Copyright 1880, Publishers Syndicate
New Britain herald., 1930-10-18

Americanism: A cotton planter wailing because the price is so low: the planters daughters picking the crop dressed in rayon.
New Britain herald., 1930-10-18
New Britain Herald

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 New Britain, Connecticut Issued Daily Sunday Excepted At Herald Bldg, 67 Church Street
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New Britain herald., 1930-10-18

Another pleasant thought: Th' only people driving cars now are thu ones worth suing.
New Britain herald., 1930-10-18
TELEPHONE CALLS

Business Office .... 9o5 Editorial Rooms ... 926
New Britain herald., 1930-10-18

Copyright 1880, Publishers syndicat