in the Gazettfi'f.
.3. is“! v.
_ Q" If you Want the .3395} _
goods forthe least money
g"‘"‘”"‘;Igeacl the advertiser'nents‘
"S71x"“essential,1aséigm
‘aml'y'”Formations
advertising column-5m;
~ _ preventsValuation-yen.
.1
I GHIEE toms "muons
ntlru nun
Poona-mm}! use near
mints. ‘
f
A mousmous TlNGLE or LAW.
BUT THE HERO or IT ALL, TIMOTHY “J. PORTER lezs
0N, msusveu‘r
AND AVENcmc.
The death of‘former Deputy Sheriff
Richard Bolster in the prime of life re-
.calls to mind the many unfortunate
happenings which have visited several
of the actors in the proceedings insti-
tuted against~ Timothy H. Porter, the
Stamford millionaire.
The drama of Blatchly lodge, as it
might aptly be called, is full of sensa-
tional situations, some comic, some
p‘ecgliar, many tragic. No tale of fic-
tion could excel it in many particulars,
no realistic story of the wildest flight
ekceeds it in the portrayal of human
pass10ns. Weave the facts together in-
to fiction form, with just a twist here
and there, and you might easily have a
Zola’s “La Terre, ” with the exception
that this would be a tale of high life
while the French story deals with the
- peasant.
The opening scene discloses the old
man, the kindly father, the generous
hwband: .bh.e~.99iutt.1x.gsetlsean. Strick-
en with paralysis." The attack not only”
*éfiects the body, but it 'makes inroads”
on the mind; almost a complete trans-
formation "takes place, fully as great
as any that turned thegoodi Dr. Jekyll
into the bad Mr. Hyde. The difference
here was that the change threatened
to be permanent. .
Then comes the worry of the family
over the action of the husband and
father. The kindly gentle wife is sadly
troubled. Her health is attacked and.
the first tragic scene appears. 1
It is a cold December night. and the‘
wife "and mether is dying. This sad
fact, however, does not completely
overshadOW every other thought in the
minds of those who have the family in-
terests at heart. Something must be
done to protect them; the dying wom-
an must be induced to change her will
so as to take the equal power of respon-
sibility from the hands of the husband
and place it so that he will be in the
minority. ' .
Plans are made and the husband is
not taken into the conference. . The
trusted lawyer of the family, the tried
. physician ,and lifelong friends are
pressed into service to carry out the
plans. ‘Then comes the drawing Of
that‘famous codicil almost with the dy-
ing wife’s last breath. . >
Lawyer Thomas G. Bitch and ' Dr.
Henry P. Geib are prominent parties
in this scene of tragic interest with the
dying woman’s brother-in-law, Schuy-
ler Merritt. and her two sons, Louis'
and Blatchly, as directors. - .
The next scene developed is the one
which discloses the enormous workings
of the aged millionaire’s mind inhis
determination to take unto himself 'an-
other wife. There is something of the
, comic here, although it appeared ter ri-
bly real and tragic in its possibilities
to the sons. . ‘
The young men consulttheir elders,
their relatives and the trusted counsel.
' . ors of the family. . Something must be
‘ done to check the actions of the father
who is threatening to waste the splen-
did property of the family in modes of
V living of the most extravagant char-
acter. ‘
. . . The next act brings on the scene the.
officers of the law. 71‘he,father"has
been placed in charge on the ground
0
dampen?! to‘the court‘sjto’secure a restora-
' tion'ofproperty rights. _ 1
that his mind has become unbalanced.
The family doctor has sworn to it and
the sons and the relatives back him up.
The courts believe them and the 101,}
man is held a prisoner in the 'magnifi-
cent home to which he had hoped to
bring a young bride.
Here it is that Sheriff Bolster ap-
pears. He is the keeper of Mr. Porter
and he guards well the trust imposed
upon him.‘ .The old man worries and
frets away a confinement of two months
and then surrenders. The counselors
he has drawn to his side advise him to
do so and he turns over to the interest
of his sons the vast properties he had
controlled. '
There is another change. The father
steps out into the world once more and
immediately resumes his courting.
Event follows eventin rapid succession.
There is the marriage, the return to
the lodge and the cold reception, the
severing of _f§-.!Qil¥__,@l.1.d. social ties of
‘iong-‘mnding, and lastly, *the‘ grand
But while the numerqus suits are
pending in the courts another tragedy.
is enacted and one of the actors is
ruthlessly cut down on the threshold
of manhood. . ,
One of the sons-goes on .3 hunting
trip to far Arizona and there in a lone.-
ly canon, in the full vigor of youth the
fearful lightning burns out the strong
life-.7 ‘
and the shadow of death is over all,
Blatchly Porter is laid in the tombs of
his fathers.
The next one to feel the heavy hand
of fate is the family physician, Dr'
Henry P. Geib. . His mind seems trou'
bled and there are rumors that. he
may have to go to one of those living
tombs, a retreat for wrecked mentality.
Social troubles gather around him and
the next thing the public sees is the
announcement that the doctor has been
made the. defendant in an action for di-
vorce brought by his wife. His prac-
tice has all ‘gone and he has to leave
the city which knew him so long. '
Lastly comes the death of Sheriff
Bolsteg'. .
monia in the prime of life. he quickly
Stricken down with pneu
joins the great majority and another
actor passes off the stage. I
It was a curious coincident, too, that
the sheriff ’5 death should be annuunced
atthe very same time as the supreme
court of the state made public its opin-
ion sustaining the position which the
dead man took in obeying 'the orders
of those who placed Mr. Porter in his
charge. The highest court in the state”
had decided that there was no conspir-
acy to do Mr.‘Porter harm and to de-
prive him of his property. The sheriff
was made a party defendant to this ac-
tion because hen was the instrument
which carried out the orders of the al-
leged conspirators. .
.In the meantime Mn. Porter con-
tinues to live on. The adverse decision
of the court ”of ' last, resort does not
deter him from pressin g tolan issue the‘
numerous suits which he instithted soon
after his marriage.
'His counsel have received instruc-
tions to bring to trial, as soon as possi-
> 'ble the suit Wh-ichhe -‘ brought against:
; READS; L“IKE A NOEL“.
/ "n/ y' .
' l/2J "’1 [/ I
l lily/ i/ ,/
it, 2/ ,.--
bu.
__,'_.H.Au NE" .
the Stamford Trust Co. to recover:
brought by the father against his sons.
Whether this will ever be pressed 1'8".
mains to be seen.
and parcel of this tangled l-T‘Jmess.
The-plaintiff is the Ecclesiastical society
of the First Baptist church of Stamford
and its counsel has pressed the, case
A-special day has beennamed
and Mr. Porter is summoned to appear
for trial.
on Tuesday, Jan. 25. - '
where can a case be found tomatoth ‘9;
————-———-—go.o>———~ . I
"ANGEDFRUMZBEAME
r
.vliudolphficrgcn'rTnokJI-lio amt-“act » . . _
They placed, under arrest Wii‘liam
Brennan and-:his wife Stella," Frank
' - f Life aflflorot'ou-‘Hcigllfs; ,.
Mas -' Empl oyed thy F rank . Green in, Whose
1 Barn 'lle :Killed Himself.
Rudolph Bergen a Germangardcnér,
in the employ of ,FrankVG‘reen of Nord-~
ton Heights, aimmitted suicide by
There is the dreary ride home
l
l
l
hanging in Mr. Green’s barn shortly
For sometime pastBergen had shown
signs of insanity which his wife states
was brought on byhis r'ecergt arrest: for
beating a boy for teasing hirrn..j; Bergen
left- his home on the Darien road a
short distance below the Sdldiers’ home
about six o’clock to attend his; duties at
Mr. Green’s residence and before leav-l‘
ing he asked his wife for ‘his revolver,
which she had taken away from him‘a
few days ago, but this she refused to.
give him because he‘ was acting: strange-
ly. \Vhen he reached the barn, in—
stead of milking the cows, as was his
usual custom, he took. a ladder and as-.
.cended to the raftersof the barn. . He
attached a clothes. line to phe rafter
and-then about his neck. .
When ' he had completed the ar'
rangements he kicked the ladder from
beneath him and. fell several feet,
breaking his neck. A "
Mr. Green went to the barn about
eight o’clock to see if the men were at
work and was startled to find the man
hanging from the rafters
He immediately went back to the
house and summoned his superinten-
dant. who cut down Bergen’s dead
body. '
He notified Medical Examiner Dr.
W. \F. French of Noroton who gave a
verdict of suicide by hanging and grant-
ed permission to remove the body to
the man’s home. I - . .
For sometime past Berger had been
plagued by boys living, in the vicinity
of his home and bees 'was a man easily
excited it preyed upon his mind. He
was a married man and leaves beside
a wife a boy eight years old. His wife
“stated that théyflowned their home and
had considerable money in the bank.
, He was well known about Noroton'
and Darlen, and was a member of ‘sev- .
reral societies.
7
the property which was placed in its,1
care by the terms of the agreement-it».
There is still a third suit which was ~"
When all these things are considered l
fbefore seven o’clock Saturday morning, '
\
\NERElhlLJAHID.
which secured Mr. Porter’s release. ; Neighbors Complain and Four
Arrests Follow.
, MI" Porter is also 34-2.. Landlord Randall Asserls that they 0c-
defendant in one action which is a part I
cupied His House Without Permission.
l
On Saturday evening last Minor D.‘
f Randall reported to Constable Vollme'r
i that a, party had taken unwarranted
i. possession of one of his tenement houses
I, {)n Fort Point street and were raising
'3 1"high jinks” to the great annoyance of
* the neighbors.
:I Constables Vollmer and Goodwin and
Captain Gladstone. visited the.scene,
j'and found the report at least so far as
‘thfe "‘hi‘gh jinks" was concerned, to .be‘
Taylorzand.WilliamKennedy, all more-
_‘ori'less under the influence of intoxi-
i
' cantsand they- were landed in the sta-
tion-house.
Mrs. Brennan claimed that the house
had been properly rentedand through
the agency, of a man named Hoyt. This
assertion-was denied by Mr. Randall.
; It seems that the Brennans had occu-
pjed the house but three days, and ac-
cording to the statemennof neighbors,
they and their guests had been on a
drunken spree during the entire time,
which jollification terminated Saturday
night by, one of the party either being
pushed or fallingthrough a sash con-
taining-six panes of glass. '
Brennan plaimed‘ to be a coal, barge
captain in the employ of John H.
Ferris. A GAZETTE reporter learned
at Mr. Ferri's’ office that some time
since Brennan came to South N orwalk
as substitute captain on one of the Mo-
Williams’ barges, but never. had been
in the employ of Mr. Ferris.
From all accounts the old man Bren-
nan was the least to blame and that he
simply put up at whatever house his
wife and friends selected.‘ ‘
It is understood that this is net the
first time that Mrs. Brennan has been
asked to. vacate houses in which .she
had lived. ‘
“She is quite gay for a woman of
forty” said one who claimed to know
her. “and her husband is a nice old
man of perhapssixty-fi'vez” ,
,The quartette appeared in the . Tovvn
COu-rt this morning and l‘aylor sen-
teuced to 30 days in jail and the other
three were each fined $5 and costs in
default of which they were taken to
. jail. '
‘
The Resolution Passed.
At the meetlng of the Norfield church
last Wednesday night, the resolution
askingthat a committee be appointed
to look into the character and past
career cf Rev. Mr. Arthur, was pas-
sed’. Numerous state as well as local
papers made the &assertion that the
resolution was lost. This is incorrect
as the vote stood 19 to 4 in favor of the
- resolution, ‘
‘ V
,3 - -.a-N'o claims, no affidamts, out. ‘a.
GAZETTE advertisement gets there
DEAD. IN 1 llE FIELD.
Strange End'of a' Well Known
' Stamford Man. '
l. Woolsey Selleck’s Body Found Near a
Stone Wall.
J .Woolsey Selleck, of Stamford, an old
time Democratic politician and an ex-
selectman, was found dead in a field a
short distance from his home Sunday
morning between 5 and 6 o’clock. Mr.
Selleck owns a large farm on Selleck
avenue 1n the western part of Stamford.
Saturday evening between 7 and 8
o’clock, Selleck took some milk to ' De-
Witt J. Betts.‘ He then spent the even-
ing with~'Betts,"1eaving the house about
IOio’dIo’elr. ' .-
Mrs. Selleck Sfinday morning went
{into his room and found that it had not
been occupied during -the night. She
at once went to ~Betts’ house and
asked Betts if he knew the whereabouts
of her husband. Betts then returned
with Mrs. Selleck to her home and on
his way he saw the body of Selleck ly-
ing near a stone wall. Medical Exam-
iner'Rowell said that he had been dead
for several hours.
ure as the probable cause of death.
Selleck was 57 years old. He ' leaves
a Widow and two song.
,InromKNI 'cAuous.
South Norwalk Republicans to Meet on
Wednesday Evenirg.
The Republicans of the Second Vot-
. ing district will meet at the law office
of Joseph R. Taylor in South Norwalk,
on Wednesday evening, for the purpose
of appointing a committee to act with a
committee appointed at a caucus of the
first and second. voting districts held
on Tuesday evening, September 28th,
as follows:
lst District, J. Belden Hurlbutt,
Bradley S. Keith and Francis LeOnard.
2d District, W.» G. LeCount, E. E. Gor-
‘ham and Oscar W. Raymond.
The committee as a whole will meet
and discuss the appointment of the sev-
eral town officers, in what in their
judgment shall seem to been equitable
manner, and as in the interests of the
three districts.
TH'E courcronsmr.
Thomas A. Lake of Rockville the Man De-
’ cided Upon.
‘
It is practically settled that. the"
name cf Senator Thomas A. Lake of
Rockville will be sent to the President
as the nominee for'the position of col-
lector of internal revenue. Senatorial
courtesy prevents a formal announce-
ment until after to—day. ,
Discovered in Time. .
Sparks from a locomotive set fire to
some hay at the rear of a barn at Dr.
J. Milton Coburn’s residence on South
Main street, Saturday night. It was
discovered by two lad-s named- Willie
and Eddie O’Brien, who with ,the as;
sistance of officer Hall succeeded in
extinguishing the fire before it commu-
nicated with the barn. Dr. Coburn
Who was returning froma call arrived
in. time to assist iii. putt-ing out the
He gave heart fail- .
, THiv LOST ALL! '7
l-lerma'n SmithimdFamily‘uary ,
rowly Escape Being ‘
Burnedto Death.
Their Home and Household Belongings [low A
' voured by Fire. . j ' ‘
At about 11 o’clock, Saturday night,
:Herman Smith who with his wife and
I‘lfather-in-law reside at Poplar Plains,
was literally burned out of house and
home. -
The first intimation that Mr. Smith
had of the fire was the labored breath-
ing of his father-.in-law who slept in a
‘ room adjoining.
Mr. Smith got out of bed to investi-
gate .the trouble and on opening the
door was inet by a volume of smoke
that threatened to suffocate him.
He managed, however, to get into
the room and awaken the old gentle-
In the meantime Mrs. Smith had
awakened. All three started to escape
man.
from the house by a stairway but found
the same all in flames and their egress
in this direction cut off. "
Clad only in their night clothes they
ran back and managed to make their
escape by jumping from a window to
the ground. All were nearly suffocated
by the smoke before getting out of the '
building which burned like tinder. '
The house is a three-story building
with a basement. Not far away was
the barn containing besides harnesses
and wagons, a horse and three cows.
And a short distance from those astack
containing six tons of hay.
The barn, live stock, hay, etc. were
saved, but by a streak of good fortune,
the wind happily blowing from the fire
in an-gopposite-diroetion.‘r—u'f i: I
’ ; Thehouse and-its contents including"
all ofthe clothing of the inmates with
the exception of a pair of trousers and
waistcoat belonging to Mr. Smith,
which he hastily, grabbed up before he
jumped from the window, were burned
up. Aside from this Mr. Smite lost
nearly fifty dollars in cash.
That all three inmates of the build-
ing were not burned. to deagh is one of
the remarkable features of the fire.
Mrs. Smith and her father were taken. '
to the homes of neighbors and cared
for. Mr. Smith donned his trousers , .
and barefooted assisted in the saving of
the property in the barn. g 1‘
- He. said this morning that he had a
partial insurance on the property Ide-
styoyed, with the firm of Goolidge .15.:
Lynes.
——-—-——-——‘O»——-——-—-
Alaska—Florida. _ .
Mr. and Mrs."'Neil D. Benedict and
children of'Litchfield are visiting rela-
tives in South N orwalk. Mr. Benedict
some years since was employed at Pho-
tographer North’s, but he later opened
a successful photographic studio in
Litchfield. He contracted the Klon-
dike fever, ”sold out his business and
joined the Norwalk—Stamford Alaskan
Gold Hunters. His, wife and children
after a short sojourn here will return
to thehome of Mrs. Benedict’s parents in
Florida, and anxiously await the news
that Mr. Benedict has “struck it rich”.
in his new field of labor where thous-
ands of ounces of gold simply await the
picking up by the venturesome-
A --‘
Ben’s Hard Luck.
A house in Trenton, N. J., belonging
to Ben Bechtel of this city, was burned
to the ground on Saturday. UnfOrtun-
ately for Ben the insurance had expired
two days before and ,had not been re-
newed. .
The Weather.
Threatening weather and on the
coast light rain'Tuesday.
DEATHS.
ACKER—InDanbury, January 8, Mrs.
Max Acker, of Marcus lane, ‘aged ’72-
years. ‘
. BARTLETT—~In Bridgeport, Jan.
Eveline Banester Bartlett,. widow
the‘ late Thaddeus Bartlett, aged.
years. , ' - - .
BRENNAN.—In Bridgeport. Jan. 7 ’
William Brennan. ,
FENTON.———In Bridgeport, Jan. 7,
Anna, Elizabeth, wife of W. W. ‘Fen?
ton, aged 4Syears.
, HALSEY.—In Bridgeport. January 9.
ert R., son of R. V. and Jennie. A".
sey, aged 17 years. , _ '
Norwalk Chronicler