The Waterbury Democrat., 1935-03-22
In New York
By PAUL HARRISON

New York.-The calendar says ifs spring. And scouts returning to the city's spired stockade bring news of nesting wrens, budding crocuses, and wild geese, in north ern flight, pausing on Long Island ponds.
 In Manhattan you must pc at- tuned to other portents, and not be misguided by the heavy over coats. dark colors and chill winds. Look aloft--not at the skies but at the billboard artists, splashing gallons of bright colors in heroic sized messages to the thousands who are about to trade in the old bus for a new car.
 Or if the smell of fresh paint has a vernal tang, look into the basements of tenement streets and Greenwich Village. Each coal, wood and kindling merchant (whose name is pretty sure to be
 Tony) has emerged from his cav ern, seen his shadow, and scuttled back to freshen up the sign which
 reads in staggering letters: ICE. Artistic Side ...,... ., -..-.1.....s,
 Village tearooms, too, are touch- ing up their tables and pencnes with dabs of new color. The roast chestnut vendors are sniffing the air and wondering when 1t will be profitable to put in line of cold drinks. Here and there you'll ind a newsstand with q southern eX-
 posture, it's proprietor lolling back in a Riviera pose. Windows are filled with struggling hyacinths, and now and then geranium. Artists in attic studios are think ing about getting a haircut. And hatless poets, doubtless full oi yernal stirrings, have kind Of somnambulent look as they stroll the narrow sidewalks, pumping into people and being cursed by truck drivers. Down at the Battery, glare of sun on water causes the rail loungers to blink. After a long hibernation, day-dreamers have come back to the park benches. A young man whistles spring time in My Heart" slightly oft key, as he polishes the brass on the Statue of Liberty boat. More and more stenegrophers rom Wall street are beginning to drift down to the Aquarium during 
 walks. infants in sweater suits crumpled boxes of popcorn in
 their hands, are charging among Sporting Urge The. surface cars of flower Broad- | way have lowered some of their Windows, and motormen glare down at agile pedestrians with an all but midsummer vehemence. Gardenia salesnen have taken stand on the corners, especially near the Stock Exchange. Chauf- feurs of parked limousines ire uuently alight to stretch, and to gather in select little groups to dis euss their employers affairs.
 The rialto is only half aware or the advent of spring. There are a few more thaumaturgists on l Forty Second street, working their phoney miracles with cheap razor blades, "silk" socks, trick decks of cards and the like. Chorines from the burlesque shows are pe- ginning to so stockingless on tneir quick forays to the lunch counters
 and soda fountains. By day the emergency doors of nearly all the fheaters have been thrown open, and stage doormen sit, chairs tilt ed back in the sun, placidly wield- ing toothpicks.
 Pampered pooches on the ave- nues are allowed out without their sweaters. Apartment house door, men are beginning to look uncom- fortable in their winter livery. In front of the windows of sporting
 goods concerns stand groups of fnen--elderly men, lots of them
 with a sort of small-boyish look on their faces. They gaze at hsh- ing rods and glistening reels ana books of flies. They gaze at canoes
 and hunting knives, rifles and ead-
 dies, flannel shirts and patent camp stoves. Then with a sigh.
 a visible kind of sigh that resolves itself into a discouraged slumping of the shoulders, they move along
 toward their ofiices'
 Bursting Buds
 | In department store windows, arr tificial plum and cherry boughs are bursting into bloom. Garden shops near the railroad stations are full of shopping commuters. Many of lthe latter are pale business men who proceed rather furtively about the purchase of Grace Coolidge or Amelia Earhart rose plants.
 It's in. the 10-cent stores that you see how the teeming city tries
 to greet the spring. Throngs of
 toilers, women mostly, sniff the good earth gratefully foam or
 topsail, in one-quart paper con- ltainers. 10 cents).N and wistfully
 survey the bewildering ass0rt-
 mepts of sprigs and sprouts and
 packaged seeds. It's hard to
 choose when one's spring plantins