davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Waterbury Democrat., 1931-02-02
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 1881
Redistricted Senate

We have called attention on numerous oc- casions to the fact that the states thirty five senatorial districts are sadly out of propor- ton. Not only are Waterbury's two dis triets swollen out of proportions, but we have the unique sight of Greenwich and Stamford sharing the one district, although numerc- ally either one is entitled to district by it. self. Last week bill was introduced in the legislature increasing the senators in Hartford from three to four. The Hartford Times largest city of the state having only three senators while the second city has four, is not as glarng as the fact that Stamford and Greenwich, with combined population of o0,000, are tied together in one dis trict.
 There are other noticeable inaccuracies in the districts if we judge them by population. And since we have other measure must use that. But the Times admits that no par ticular city or section is likely to get the ad- ditional senate seat that the Constitution per mits. We have thirty-hve senators and one more is provided for by law The Times would like to see general redistrioting of the state on the basis of thirtysix senator's. That would mean one senator for about every 45,0O0 people. On that basis this city would still get its two senators. But other districts would have to be enlarged.
 Holland county has only population of 28,659, SO wouldn't its senatorial district have to include additional territory? Evident ly not, for the Constitution provides that Neither the whole or part of one county shall be joined to the whole or part of an- other county to form a district. That would mean Holland county must re- main one senatorial district Furthermore one town cannot be joined to another to form separate district. However if the gen. eral assembly doesn't take action at this ses- son it must wait until l94l which is the session next after the federal census. That's a long time to wait We need action now.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1931-02-02
"A Stupid Situation"

The present industrial conditions in the United States were called "a grave but stupid situation, in a radio address delivered by Colonel Woods. head of President Hoover s emergency employment committee. He dwelt upon the idea that while we have unrivalled natural resources surplus of producing power, and abundant capital, there now lot of people who want work but can't find it. He suggested how these conditions are caused by the enormous development ot modern business, which has become so com- plex that at times 1t becomes unmanageable.
 It is situation not unlike what happens in some theater when some foolish person gets up and yells Fire. Even if there is no fire at all, people may get so scared that they trample on each other in mad rush tor the doors. So at the present time, when people are possessed by imag mary fears, Or when their imaginations lead them to inflated pro- duction and speculation, they upset our deli cate industrial machinery. Imaginary fears lead them to refuse to buy the things they can well afford to purchase. and In times of in- flation. their exaggerated confidence leads them to spend and buy extravagantly. In the latter a surplus of commodities is created which has to be worked off before business becomes normal
 These conditions are difficult to regulate by legislation, since 1t IS the foolish lm- pulses of human conduct that create these troubles. Attempts by the government to control such impulses likely to do more harm than good. What is needed now IS for people to realize that our country with its great wealth never suffers long from business reverses, but after a short period ot quiet and recovery trade is always soon active again.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1931-02-02

ment to build the Muscle Shoals project in the first place, though that question is still open to argument. But most citizens will probably agree that the biggest blunder has been keeping it idle for a dozen years. During those idle years that particular problem might have been solved and general government policy toward hydro-eleetric power might have been worked out. If the government had been operating its Muscle Shoals plant, we should know by now whether govern ment operation of such plants is practical.
 Such an experiment. would have been nat ural and rather simple, because the govern ment for veal or woe, already had the plant. and because no private interest ever made good offer for it. If it had been used and the government had made mess of the thing then we should nearly all be convinced by this time that such projects should be turned over to private enterprise. It is not too late yet to make the experiment. If the power interests and the disinterested citizens who agree with them certain that the gov ernment cannot operate Muscle Shoals suc- cessfully. why don't they stand aside and let the government try 1t? Then, if they are right their case will be proved, and they needn't fear any more government competl- ton, and all of us will be peter off in the long run.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1931-02-02
TO=DAY'S SELECTED POEM
THE KEYBOARD
(Reprinted from the Christian
 Science Monitor)

(Reprinted from the Christian
 Science Monitor) Five-and thirty black slaves, Half-a-h hundred white All their duty but to sing
 For their Queens delight, Now with throats of thunder, Now with dulcet lips While she rules them royalty With her fnger-tips When she quits her palace. All the slaves are dumb Dumb with dolor till the Queen Back to Court is come: Dumb the throats of thunder, Dumb the dulcet lips Lacking all the sovereignty Of her finger-tips. Dusky slaves and pallid
 Ebon slaves and white, When the Queen was on her throne How you sang tonight! An. the threats of thunder! An. the dulcet lips! An. the gracious tyrannies Of her fnger-tps.
 WILLIAM WATSON, Poems
The Waterbury Democrat., 1931-02-02
Why Worry About The Shoals?

William S. Lee, president of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, seems much worried about the electric power situation. There is no doubt he says, that Muscle Shoals has been colossal political and gov ernmenta blunder, but I fear that the next decade will see even greater blunders if some of the projects which are under way or pro- jccted are constructed If Muscle Shoals IS today earning nothing what will occur at Hoover Dam' There is tremendous de- velopment started, and nobody knows where it is going.
 Maybe it was blunder for the govern
The Waterbury Democrat., 1931-02-02

We learn from the New Haven Journal Courier that it was the late Colonel Isaac M. Ullman who was responsible for the charter amendment which gives the governor the power to name the judges of New Haven's city court instead of the general assembly All other minor court judges are named by the legislature Judges of the higher courts are nominated by the governor and approved by the general assembly. Certainly if Colonel Ullman, who was one of New Haven's great political leaders in his day. favored the meas ure the republicans shouldn't balk at letting democratic governor name the judges after so many years of republican nominations
The Waterbury Democrat., 1931-02-02

Sanatorium. That action was taken once. but the MeCook estate heirs managed to have the law declared invalid and long with it some thousand others that various governors had not signed within the legal limit. The rul- ing necessitated validating act to reinstate all these statutes. It also made it necessary for the state to start once more from the begin- ming in its litigation to secure additional shore frontage for Seaside Sanatorium, the retreat for children suffering from tuberculosis all- ments. An entire new sanatorium is needed at Seaside for the present building is an old wooden hotel that has been remodeled, but which to-day ought to be replaced by mod ern and up-to-date structure.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1931-02-02
Effective Health Work

New York City's health report for l93O is interesting The death rate per 1000 of population dropped from l2.75 in 1929 to 1O.76 in 1850. Specific improvement was noted in several lines. Dphtheria cases de- creased more than 55 per cent; deaths from diphtheria decreased 57 per cent. I his was at tributed directly to the work of the Dph- theria Prevention Commission.
 Deaths from tuberculosis, organic diseases. diabetes and automobile accidents decreased Determined. intelligent public health work backed by widespread health and safety ed ucation. is obviously effective. There should be more of 1t everywhere.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1931-02-02
SENATORIAL REDISTRICTING
Hartford Tirnesl

(HartfOrd Times)
 The constitution provides that the state shall have not fewer than twenty-four nor more than thirty six senatorial districts, and tna. redistricting shall be done only at | legislative sessions immediately fol- lowing a decennial federal census. The constitution also provides that districts shall be composed Of can't | iguous territory, that part or whole of one county shall not he l joined to part or whole Of another county, nor shall any town be divid- ed except to create more than one district wholly within the said town. and that each county shall have at least one senator.
 As long as the constitutional pro- vision remains in effect Holland county. with a population not ex- ceeding 29.000, will necessarily re- main senatorial district, even though Hartford with it's popula- tion of 16S,000. comprises only three This will bedevil any attempt at re- districting which aims at equalizing the population of districts.
 | Registrar Nystrom of Hartford haS put in a bill to give Hartford. larg- est city of the state, four senator's the same number New Haven has. Naturally, since MT Nystrom is a republican, the proposed bill does no violence to republican ambitions. However, at first glance it's evils appear not to be terrifying. It is the experience of Hartford that gerrymandering usually defeats 1t. self. Those who have tried to draw district lines to insure their own victory have usually met their comes uppance.
 Moreover, senatorial redistrictin6 is not merely a Hartford problem Indeed, the incongruity of the larg- est city in the state, having only three senators while the second city has four, is not as glaring as the fact that Stamford and Greenwich. with a combined population of SO.. 900, are tied together in one district The legislature is not likely to take kindly to a Hartford attemPs to grab off the extra senator the constitution permits. What IS neea, @ , ed is not merely redistrlct1ng pan which will give Hartford this thirty sixth senator. but a general state | redistrictin on the basis of thirty six senators, which will remove as many of the existing incongruities as may be and equalize as many in eoualities as possible. distributing the membership of the upper mouse
 All this will be embarrassed by the constitutional barrier against doing anything with Holland county except leaving it alone. and that which requires all redistricting be
 within county lines. To amend the constitution to facilitate redistrict- ing would require at least two years The present session may well under take redistricting within the exist ing limitations. It should take cognizance also of the fact
 that in 1892 Connecticut will elect six congressman instead of five. The sixth national legislator should
 have district to represent and not
 be, as it were, a member without portfolio. And in all this redrawinp of lines the less we have of the spirit of Elbridge Gerry the better ! it will be.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1931-02-02
NEA Service Writer

Washington - Calvin Coolidge got the country all puzzled and worried over the significance of his state ment in 1927 that he did not choose to run," but his successor in the White House has been making Cal look like a child of 10.
 Presidents have a way of being misunderstood or not understood at all. There was MT Wilson, who was elected a second time with the slo- gan "He kept us out of the war" and declared war the month after his in- augurateion. And MT Harding, con- corning whose stand on the league of nations no one could ever get a clear idea. No one can be quite sure yet whether Coolidge really meant that he didn't want another term. And now here's MT Hoover with pro hibition.
 No president in history. it seems safe to say, was ever so completely and unanimously misunderstood as was MT Hoover when he commented to congress on the Wickersham re- port.
 Everybody Was Wrong
 Every correspondent in Washing ton and the entire press of the coun- try, along with at least everyone else who was heard from, reached the immediate conclusion that MT Hoover had gone bone dry and com mitted himself to preservation of the 18th amendment. Those who had felt that sooner or later the president would take some position on the im- portant prohibition issue, including some of his closest journalistic friends, exclaimed At last!" We'll, there is some question whe- ther we were all justified in being so sure about it, but we were in for a splendid demonstration of how many | folks can all be wrong about the | same thing at the same time. On the very next day. one of the | White House secretaries called the newspaper boys in and informed | them that the president had been misunderstood. MT Hoover, the sec | retary declares. really had an "open mind" He had only meant that he was opposed to the form of revision | of the 18th amendment suggested by the Wickersham commission. Fess Explains
 Senator Simeon Fess of Ohio chairman of the republican national 1 committee, announced in Philadel- phia the same night that Hoover "is l only opposed to the form of revision | port" Fess of course, is such a thor oughgoing dry that no one could imagine him saying anything like that without direct orders from the White House.
 Of course what had seemed tC prove the original interpretation be yond any shadow of doubt was the report. confirmed in responsible qual ters by responsible newspapermen that the president had influenced tho commission to make dry recommend ations instead of the wet recommend ations it had planned.
 The story was generally believed
 One observes that Wickersham'!
 formal denial merely denied that {
 change had been made in the re
 port "after it was signed. Tha
 seems equivalent to no denial at all
 But the main point it's that M
 Hoover and his friends want it un
 derstood that he still has an "opeI
 mind."
 Democrats Sure To Be Wet
 And so we must simply start spec
 ulating all over again. It still seem
 that the democratic party is bound
 to have a wet candidate and a we
 platform in 1892 and the belief wid,
 ly held few months ago that Hoov
 CT would have a hard time gettin,
The Waterbury Democrat., 1931-02-02

New Haven legislators for years have been wrought up over the fact that many city em- ployes do not live within the city limits. If we remember correctly few years back the rules of the fire and police departments were changed making it compulsory for all mem bers to be residents of the city in which they were employed. It is now charged that the city pays million dollars to employees who do not live in New Haven. Once upon a time we regarded this as heinous offense but no longer. It may be good idea to compel fremen or policemen who are sub ject to emergency calls. to live within the city limits but other city employes such as teach CTS should not be so compelled. The ma jor ity of Waterbury's city employees are city dWellers but we do know of some living without the city. However it should not be held against them. They have the right to choose where they want to live. The city should not expect to demand any more of them other than their services Oftentimes circumstances prevent every city employe liv- ing within the city limits. And say what you will man really has the right to pick the spot where he wants to live
The Waterbury Democrat., 1931-02-02

New Y York-Something like the medieval strongholds of old. with mod srn improvements, are the new CT strong boxes of Manhattan, where tens of thousands store their baublcs and banks store their gold.
 So perfect in defense are these subterranean fOrtresses Of wealth, that no fear of robbers is held. The most scientific Rallies could not So much as crack a corner or their adamant;ne surface.
 Today, these armored treasurles are built against the possibility of some far-future marauder, who would go to his death sacking the city; or against some revolution.st of far-avay times who would meet a similar fate. In one place, verl- table Niagara would pour down up- on anyone who dared intrude upon the property of others.
 The governments stronghold Of gold has remained for years an eerie crypt, far beneath the city's surface where .he mere dropping of couple of pins might bring guards down up- on the intruder.
 And n:w comes the Irving Trust, in lower Wall street, where every device of melodramatic character can be found. A mere visit Is as eerie as a mystery melodrama. | TO begin with, the echoing voice of a guide informs you that you are l 30 feet below the city's water leNei on three sides of a four-walled Dulio- | ing. This means that, were anyone to tamper with the wall surface, part of a river and an ocean would come gushing in.
 The only approach, then, must come from a front entrance. This wall is made of a progress known as | 'steel-crcte," which is a combina- tion of c, ncrete and metal, and So constructed that 1t is also an auto- matic signal system. Its metal parts set off a series of alarms-sounded by bells and shrieking whistles. Such 9 disturbance would be raised that the soundest sleeping cop would be
 reused.
 In addition there is a copperlZed plating, and so arranged that no criminals torch could affect its sur face. The doors ore more than SO inches in thickness and weigh tons
 They are opened by series of time locks, plus an intricate number of ] DOllS. dSIllIS III d uOoT Ol thiS SoA
 is infinitely more difficult than try ing to find a keyhole after a given humber ot speakeasy visits. Alarms
 are everywhere.
 Furthermore, the new radio tech nique-to say nothing of the talk ing pictu-es-has been applied With uncanny effect. A system of highly reactive rr.icrophones has been in- stalled. and these pick up a mere football until it sounds like battle scene.
 This, IS hut one of the newer metropolitan methods of defending Ia city's wealth against mauraudei' No army is required; for the me. lchanism :s such that an alarm would spread to scores in fraction Of
 second.
 And deviating suddenly from the last word in modernity to an echt of grandfather's time-there stil exists in the upper reaches of New
 York a maker of bootjacks.
 | Heaven alone knows who may use bootjacks in this generation. but
 seemingly there must be enough old timers left to make the business
The Waterbury Democrat., 1931-02-02
At The National Capitol DAILY WASHINGTON LETTER A Digest of Who's Who and What's What
 By RODNEY BUTCHER
himself renominated by his own party is not as strong as it WaS
DAILY WASHINGTON LETTE

himself renominated by his own
 party is not as strong as it was.
 One question now raised is whe-
 ther someone can think up some
 kind of revision of the 18th amend ment which will attract Hoover's s
 support or whether Hoover won't
 think up something himself. Other
 wise, one assumes that the presi-
 dents "open minded" status will re-
 main unchanged.
 Fess is quoted as expressing as-
 surance that Hoover wouldn't oppose form of revision which didn't place the responsibility of decision on con-
 gross. Well, the constitution says that two-thirds of the states can make congress call a convention for the purpose of proposing amendments. Such amendments would have to be ratified by three-fourths of the states. If Fess is correct, it would seem as if Hoover might sooner or later fav- or revision through initiative of the states. But let's not go misinterpret- ing anyone.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1931-02-02
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CANDLEMAS DAY


 On February 2 Candlemas day is observed. In it's ecclesiastical mean ing, it is the feast of the purifica- tion of the Virgin Mary. This fes- tival is very strictly kept by the Ro- man Catholic church, there being procession with many lighted can- dles, hence the name "Candlemas."
 The candles symbolize the words spoken by Simeon of the Infant Christ, "a light to tighten the Gen. tiles Popular observance of this date prevailed in pre-Christian times. The Romans b turned candles on February ? to the goddess Februa.
 In modern times many traditions have attached themselves to the day. Among these is the belief that fair Candlemas day indicates a long winter. This is expressed in the Scotch lines:
 "If Candlemas is fair and clear, There'll be two winters in the UaarP
The Waterbury Democrat., 1931-02-02
Personal Health Seruice (By William Brady, M. D.

Signed letters pertaining to personal health and hygiene. not disease diagnosis or
 treatment. will be answered ny Dr Brady. Ad- dress him. care of the Democrat. sending stamp and addressed envelope.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1931-02-02

Commissioner of Finance Edward F. Hall. has indicated that the state will probably condemn the portion of the McCook estate at Mantle that is desired as part of Seaside
The Waterbury Democrat., 1931-02-02
41E3NEMlYQRES:| { 1 3 I NIEsM';{li ]! ;:;s A , {; E ES:

worth while.
 I am told that the army or sturdy horseback fans who ride In CentrSl Park are among the steadiest cus- t0merS
The Waterbury Democrat., 1931-02-02

There are many factors which give encouragement for the future.
 President Hoover. I believe that in the future no individual business, or any industry or any line of business will be judged truly successful. unless it succeeds in giving fair return to it's investors, real values to its customers, and se- curity and fair and liberal wages to it's workers. General R. E. Wood, president of a mail order house.
 Perhaps many of us now are suf- fering from a case of undigested charts percentages: cycles and fore casts.
 -Allard Smith, Cleveland (O) banker.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1931-02-02

One of the features of the proposed ter centenary celebration of Connecticut in 1885 is an industrial exhibition. The cooperation of the Connecticut Chamber of Commerce Manufacturers association, and other organ izations is sought by the observance commls- son We can well recall the exhibit that ac- companied Waterbury's celebration five or six years ago. It was marvellous one and cer- tainly would be greatly magnifed if the en- tire state participated.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1931-02-02

Life-why it's just the toiling. The fret and the worry too, And then the silent passing, With its journey to the blue.
 o-O-o It's the simple things in life that often become complex. For in- stance, a key hole with the holder of the key under the influence of giggle water.
 o-O-o
 The vets and the drys are go- ing at it nip and tuck, nip for the vets of course.
 o-O-o The Ground Hog certainly didn't see it's shadow to-day. which prob- ably means three more tons of coal will see us through the winter.
 o-O-o
 The honeymoon is over when bills receivable become bills pay able.
 O-O-o The baby who enjoys playing with blocks may eventually become real estate dealer.
 o-O-o This concludes our opening pro- gram of the week. It came to you over DBD and was broadcast by the Waterbury Evening Democrat, pio- neer in this type of newspaper work. We are signing off at this time. to be back on the air again tomorrow evening at the usual hour.
 o-O-o Good night.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1931-02-02

This is bargain time for everything iron neckties to stocks and real estate.
The Waterbury Democrat., 1931-02-02

The worst of this depression, according to college alumnus is that now they're trying to deaate football
The Waterbury Democrat., 1931-02-02

All vehicles must be lighted not later than 539 tonight.