The Waterbury Democrat., 1939-01-17


 Postoffice yields reluctantly under the bludgeoning of a great steel ball.
 To the onlooker, these wreck ing jobs, drab and dispirited as they are, seem to progress at a snail's pace. But you can't us, dynamite on walls that might top pie into the streets.
 At busy intersection near the Woolworth building, day after day for months, an engine swings a great ball at the end of a cable against the huge stones that an- other generation raised, one upon the other, to last forever. So strong are those walls which we moderns have found too ugly to look at that even the solid steel ball has been cracked by the im- pact. Ancient forts were not so stout.
 Well, City Hall Park will be much more beautiful without the old Postoffice, with all its big stone gew-gaws. Worlds Fair visi- tors may view the beautiful old City Hall from a good perspective. Demolition of this and construc- tion of the larger building that has taken its place, a few blocks away, have given work to many men. We should rejoice. But on a gray day, with snow falling fit- fully and a sharp wind blowing, one is depressed by the sight of destruction. Can't help thinking about the pride and high hope that went into the planning and construction of these permanent buildings.
 We are beginning to realize that, when we get the Sixth ave- nue el torn, down, we will expose to view one of the ugliest wide avenues in the world.
 The el itself was such, a shabby thing, and it so thoroughly over shadowed the street through which 1t ran, that nobody stopped to think what terribly down-at- heel, shoddy shacks line both sides of Sixth avenue for miles.
 Now that we're envisioning a new avenue, so to speak, between Fifth avenue and Broadway, we begin to realize that, with the exception of the Rockefeller Center blocks and a few other stretches, we are going to have prize Avenue of Ugliness on our hands.
 We'll assume that removal of the el will raise values on Sixth avenue and inspirt owners to tear down the rickety one-story, two- story and three-story shanties that now occupy the ground.
 But this isn't an era of enthus- iastic building. While business structures are being torn down on other principal streets to avoid taxes, we can't hope for erection of any very pretentious buildings along this new avenue.
 It may take ten years to make this wide street look respectable. But start can be made by forc- ing the tearing down of thousands of screaming signs proclaiming auctions, employment agencies, secondhand shop bargains and marvellous cures.
 On Third avenue, in the Forties and Fifties, are many old places of light entertainment generally classed as "the Irish places" They are saloons that have been run ming in the same locations, and with the same clientele for gen. erations. Some have branched out to include dancing and food.
 Typical of the larger Irish places is OReilly Brothers, between 53d and 54th streets. There is bar in front, many tables for food. A large room at the rear is dance hall. At the rear of the hall, in little enclosure, is an. orchestra of four pieces, pounding away at Irish dance music.
 These places are always orderly. Strictest supervision is maintain ed by proprietors to avoid trouble. Questionable characters are not admitted, or, if they get in, are quietly escorted out. Regular pat rons are known to proprietors and employees. They are mostly the Irish American residents of the neighborhood, law-abiding, hard working folk, out for an evenings entertainment.
 Beer is the drink. Little fire water is consumed, In my prowls hereabout. I've never seen drunk in this type of place. The dancing Is quiet, old-fashioned. All the music has a jig-time to it, the Irish equivalent of swing. You see many women dancing with women in way that seems to indicate that they are enjoying the rhythm. There is no loud laughter; just good-natured conversation among old neighbors. The flats from which most of these people come are not gay places, and the neigh borhood hall furnishes surcease of the days care.