The Waterbury Democrat., 1934-07-09
In New York
nv PAUL HARRISON

mostly OQQS. CSnIuAAS DSA - solini ever thought of one' Ne" York had a bachelor tax There was sort of income tax. too: gentlemen who wore wigs nao to play a big levy, and or course they constituted the Weaitnier
 When crimes were punishable by whipping, the job was done py public whipper or by anypooy else who wanted to wield the iasn
 When the Mayfower lett Plymouth it was to have sailed for Manhattan. But the Dutch didn't want the Puritans coming here, so they bribed the skipper to steer northward .. The first concert violinist who came here from Flu. rope played one engagement anu then advertised for work as Ichimney sweep.
 
 Old New York
 New York owes most of it's parks to the pauper dead. Union, Madison and Washington Squares. and Bryant park, all were potters fields originally The earliest system of street lighting was d requirement. that every seventh house keep a candle burning in front window Theaters were mt cooled-or heated, either. Play goers brought charcoal footstoves with them New York's first mayor was hanged. His name was Jacob Leisler and his crime was being elected by the citizens in- stead of appointment by the Brit ish.
 There are 37 islands within the territorial waters of the city. New Jersey once claimed ownership of several islands in the bay. but the Duke of York settled the dispute by decreeing that all islands which could be circumnavigated in one day would belong to New York. A crack skipper, fast sloop and windy day were selected, and he sailed around all of them with an hour to spare .'
 Twelve of the islands now are privately owned, but some of them are only barren rocks. The city owns twelve, the United States eight The city and the fed eral government are partners in owning North Brother Island, in the East river. That's where people with contagious diseases are sent. One of the tenants is Typhoid Mary, the woman who, though she's never i'll herself, always car- ries typhoid germs. Mary has grown old on the island, but never has understood why she's kept prisoner. Thinks she being per- secuted for some crime she didn't commit.
 Bears on Wall Street A bear was killed on Wall street at the time it was a stockade to protect the village. Since then a lot of people have felt like shoot ing some bears on the stock ex- change Prisoners were cod dled in the old days. They were permitted to invite friends to the jail for afternoon tea Con- demned men didn't languish long in death cell, or win stays of execution on legal technicalities. But one murderer, Manuel Gerritt, won full pardon because the hangman's rope broke twice .. Stone street was the first to be paved. A Mrs Van Cortland, an- cestor of to-day's very social Van Cortlands, lived on the street and demanded the paving because she couldn't keep her house clean on account of the dust Pearl street. which was llved with oys- ter shells, once wound around the foot of hill The hill long since has disappeared, but the street still curves in a semicircle i. Sale of liquor to the Indians was so strictly prohibited that when an Indian was found drunk l on any street all the residents of that street were subject to a fine
 
 Item of Interest
 There are dozens of money-lend- CTS in New York who have no offices, require no notes, ask no se- curity. They just loiter on crowd ed dthoroughfares-mostly in the poorer sections of the east side and in the Bronx, few on Broadway. They lend only to people they know, but they know a great many people. Interest may run as high as 20 per cent for 30 days, but there are plenty of clients. Mer- chants come for an extra $50 to pay for a bill of goods. Gamblers come for help when they have a hot tip on the races. They always repay the loans, too, because the weapon of the street-corner Shy lock. is the strong-arm man. De- linquents get 'the .heat"-and no more loans.
 Household Expenses
 After buying a Newport villa, leasing a town house and writing checks for a few new cars, John Jacob Astor has chartered a big Diesel yacht for his honeymoon l.. Prince" Mike Romanoff has a job-host of the cocktail hour at the Hotel Wyndham .. Barten- der at the Sulgrave, is Henry Carr, who used to work at Ciro's in
 London and will tell you about serving the Prince of Wales. That was during the period when his mother. whenever she heard about him going to A night club, would
 call up Scotland Yard and have thu lplace padlnnked.