The Waterbury Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1917-1946, 1940-04-24
SOUTH
BRITAIN
BRIEFS
(By Bill Garr;gus)

Nobody knows exactly how much
Bullet Hill youngsters won in their
recent minstrel show but the sum
ranges around $75. That's an in
dication of the drawing power of
simple entertainment handled
honestly and with a sense of de-
cency. Big time producers might
do worse than to copy the simple
school children.
This column has been criticized
by a local authority because we
have failed to mention the HUI
bert Mitchell collection of Indian
artifacts. Mr.. MitchelPs arrow and
spear points, his banner stones
and squaw knives, are easily the
equal Of almost any private col
lection here or at Peabody Mu-
scum. The Mitchell collection has
the added advantage Of several
additions CLEANED from association
with the plains InjunS. Hube has
MT confined his efforts to the
H0usatonic Valley. He knows the
muddy Western rivers, too, and
the dusky savages who once lifted
hair along the Yellowstone and
the Little Big Horn.
Lloyd Fowler, Henry McCarthy's
service man, has been very busy
hanging new pitchfork. If Mr..
Fowler figured his time at a dime
an hour, that fork would be worth
considerable, but we'll bet it hangs
better than any lnaSs-production
fork when he gets 1t fixed.
It's getting so q man cannot
hunt night crawlers with fash
light without having a helpful
neighbOr come over to assist.
Probably the curious one doesn't
know about night-crawlers, any
way, or perhaps he just thinks q
guy has lost his poke or dropped
his false teeth.
New Workers have been arriv-
ing fast and slightly f1ustered
lately. The grapevine telegraph
has it that they fear Hitler'S men,
that the city folks are aware of
the danger in town should an
enemy SWoop down on Gotham
and upset transportation facilities
for a few hours. With the Nazi
flyers moving toward their sew
eral detectives unannounced, per-
haps Connecticut hinterlands are
attractive.
A city realtOr listed a PolIack
farmstead with an excellent win
ter vegetable cellar built into the
Sidehill. A native watched the
man when he showed the property
the first time and, believe it or
not, he took the city prospect di-
rectly to that hole in the ground
and enthused about the pr0tec-
tiOn afforded by this hillside
bombprOof. Country people with
farms that haven't any special
appeal might get better response
If they scoOped out air-raid shell
tiers before they put the old farm
up for sale.
One of the outstanding charac-
teristics of purchasers of rural
homesteadS is the new owners
inSiStance that their house is real
ly old. Age has a value. If there
are no records to prove the con-
trary, age can be assumed to be
almost anything. The best ans
wer to antiquarians we ever heard
came from the old-time owner of
a Colonial house who had been
pestered dizzy by w. P. A. snoop-
ers and architects" When asked
o state the age of his tumbledown
shack, our friend always said:
"Why, it's older than Tophet! The
Injuns built this house for a tea
room about the year 1870"
Ever 60 trOuting in the rain?
We know a fellow who did and he
had a liberal education in the
capture of hatchery trout. This
lad took a tiny spinner and hooked
it ahead Of q tO0ths0me hunk of
angle worm bait. He made his
cast and nothing happened. Came
the rain and the angler took to
the shelter Of a streamside cedar,
leaving the rod on the bank. No
sooner was his back turned than
a bull trout stripped the hook. He
rebaited and cast again and again
but nothing happened. Disguised,
the fisherman propped up the pole
and started to light . cigarette.
The trout struck, the reel hum.
med, but the fish was never hook
ed. Both parties played the game
until the worms were gone. As
surely as that rod was dropped,