Founded in1800.] VOL. Kev—No 47 NonwWGAZETTE. THE FAVORITE HOME PAPER. 11111111161111 all things: litllll'fll lll llBllllllfl. Biz Corgi. On Governor Morton’s farm at Rhine- . cliff there was a 160 acre field this sea- son of Rival flint corn; cars 12 to 15 in- ches long; stalks, 10 to 15 feet; yield, 10 to 16 tons per acre. The corn was raised to fill two large silos holding to- gether 2,000 tons. It required 50 men and 50 teams to gather, cut and store the corn. ‘7 -How to Get Pure Milk. The Minneapolis health department has a cinch on the milk dealers. They succeeded in getting a law passed which authorizes cities and towns to inspect cows furnishing milk for con- sumption. The city board of health has a book in which dealers who desire to obtain a license for selling milk must make written application. V The application is so worded as to give the authorities permission to enter the herds producing that milk and test them for tuberculosis, as well as to see that the animals are kept in a sanitary and cleanly manner. If the peddlers refuse to grant this. permission, a li- cense is not granted them. . No Eggs—Hens too Fat. The “Rural New Yorker” has long been convinced that most poultrymen are. feeding their hens too little protein, or the muscle-making foods. The aver- age flock of hens has too much fat food. This means not only a waste of food, but the hens become too fat and lose.E their inclination to lay. One reason for this is that most of our grains and bulky poultry foods are fat. There is buta small proportion of protein in them. To balance a hen’s ration, it is absolutely necessary to add something from which almost all the fat has been taken. In order to do this most effec- tually, such a material should be fine and dry, so that it may be mixed all through the food. , 0,—— The Brave Life Sayers. There is no class of employee in the government service, says the Norwich Bulletin, who deserves better or more liberal treatment than the brave and hardy men who guard the sea coasts during the cold and dreary months. The annual report of the superinten- dent of the life-saving stations shows that the last Congress made changes in the law regulating the salaries of super- intendents and surfmen that worked an injustice which the coming Congress should promptly remedy. He recom- mends that the salaries of the superin- tendents be restored to the former schedule, and that the pay 'of the surf- men he made uniform at $65 a month. These recommendations certainly are reasonable and should be granted. The superintendent’s report shows that there are a total of 251 life-saving stations, 184 beingon the Atlantic, 53 on the lakes, 13 on, the Pacific and one at the Falls of the Ohio, at Louisville, Kentucky. ‘ . The results of all the disasters, dur- ing the fiscal year were as follows: Total number of disasters, 675; total value of property involved, $10,725,175; total value of property saved, $9,220, 265; total value of property lost, $1,504,910; total number of persons involved, 5,- 823; total number of persons lost, 26; total number of shipwrecked persons succored at stations, 802; total number of day’s succor afforded, 2,232; number of vessels totally lost, 73. These statistics show the value of the work and the inestimable services which these loyal men render the gov- ernment and their fellowmen upon the storm-beaten and perilous coasts of the country; but they do not picture the weary rounds of the men along the _ beach‘in all sorts of storms, or the many times they take their. lives in their hands to rescue from death men who are at the mercy of the sea and the weather. .dn Entertaining and Instmctivc Home Journal, Especially Devoted to Local News and Interests. NORWALK, CONN.. FRIDAY. NOVEMBER 22. 1895. BIG FIRE IN DHNBURY. Broke Out in the Keeler Street Block and Destroyed $75,- 000 Worth of PPOD- er'ty. Two Elderly Ladies Taken 0ut_Un- conscious. The most destructive fire that has visited Danbnry fora number of years, broke out at 5 o’clock last evening in a brick dWelling known as the Keeler street block. The bni ding was com- pletely gutted, together 1.1111 the flaw- ley block on Main street adjoining. At least" fifteen families were rendered homeless and the loss is estimated at fully $75,000. The Hawley. block was a four story brick structure, fronting ’75 feet on Main street on the corner of Keeler street. It was about 100 feet deep on the latter street. On Main street on the first floor was occupied as places of business by the drug store of Mrs. Vic- toria Hawley, owner of the block, the Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea compa- ny and Cunningham &. Doran, the fur- niture dealers, have but recently vaca-fl ted the third store. The upper stories were partially occupied by families and at least one dozen families were driven to the street by fire. The rest of the building was temporarily vacant, owing to the removal of Cunningham & Do- ran, who had used a portion of the up- per stories as ware rooms. The entire block is gutted and the stock is ruined. The loss on Hawley block alone is esti- mated at $35,000 and to the stock in the stores and the household goods of the family will undoubtedly bring the dam- up to $50,000. Although it is stated that the fire broke out in the Keeler street block, the flames were first discovered in the rear of the Hawley block. Mrs. Haw- ley claims to have seen a lamp explode in a store in the. Keeler' street block and it is her opinion that the fire origi- nated there. An alarm was rung in and as soon as the firemen reached the scene it was found that a big fire was underway and a second alarm Was rung in, bringing the entire department to the scene. Cognizant of the fact that the block was occupied by families the firemen first attended to rescue. All of the inmates were rescued, but two elderly ladies, a Miss Coperthwaite and Mrs. James Hard, who when taken were unconscious. They were rescued ' only after the greatest difficulty by the aid of‘the extension ladders. The Kaeler street block was of brick, three stories in height, 90 by 80 in di- mension and fronting on Keeler street. The ground floor was occupied by a saloon, Ryan & Co’s. meat market, P. D. Vroom’s grocery store and M. 00- burn & 00., dealers in dry goods. The latter concern moved into the store yes- terday. The upper part of the block, which was a. very old structure, was oc- cupied variously, the principal tenants, however, being families. The loss on the buildings "will reach $10,000 and the other losses to the occupants will add $15,000 more. The origin of the fire is shrouded in mystery. The two big blocks are con- nected by means of a two-story frame building which, until to-day, had been occupied by the Coburn company.. By means of this building the flames were communicated from one block to the other. A tremendous crowd of people gathered at the scene at6 o’clock, there being about 8,000 in the vicinity. The the burned fiercely for two hours. Roll Call. The annual re-u‘nion and roll-call of the N orwalk Congregational church last evening was very largely attended and in every respect most enjoyable. Supper was served and all formality laid aside and friends clasped hands. At 3 o’clock the organ pealed out its call to service, and the congregation re- sponded and took seats in the church auditorium, and all rose and joined heartily in the doxology of praise. an anthem, appropriate to the occasion, was finely rendered by the choir, fol- lowed by responsive readings by Pastor and people. The word of God was then read, prayer offered and hymns sung by the congregation. Alter brief re- marks by the pastor, and reading re- sponses from the absent ones, Rev. Dr. Seward gave an inspiring address up- n “The Roll Call” and the service closed by singing the hymn, “Blest be the tie that binds.” Good Roads. The chief roadways of our city were never in better condition at this season of the year, but the trolley lines should at once adjust their iron rails to the street grade, especially in the center of the city on Wall street. ENORMOUS EARNINGS. Some Figures Showing the Re- ceipts of New Haven Electric Roads. . Do the Norwalk Roads Fare As Well? To give the peOple some idea of the enormous earnings of electric roads we publish the following reports showing the net earnings of the Fair Haven cit Westville road for the year, to be $60, - 489.45; cost of equipment was $136,878.- 35 ; two dividenqgaof two per cent. each Were paid; 4,857,254 passengers were carried. The New Haven & Center- ville road shows net earnings, $22,408.- 31 ; number of passengers, 876,603. The New Haven Street Railway Compa- ny’s net earnings were $75,099.93 ; cap- ital stock, 81, 000,000; dividend paid, $22, 000 or 2?. per cent; passengers, 39, - 089. The Winchester avenue road’s net earnings were $90,856, 86; cost of equipment, $212,510.99; passengers, 876, 703. West Shore’s net earnings were $5,038. 05; cost of equipment, 38, - 041. 47, of construction, $76, 393, 89; div- 1dent, 5 per cent. ; passengers 133, 685. The special feature of the reports is the enormous amount spent by each road during the past year in altering its equipment and the aggregate of the sums spent by all the roads in making the change from horse to electric power is the largest amount disbursed by New Haven railroads in any year since they were established. It is about the sum spent formerly in five years for similar improvements. If the N orwalk electric roads fare as well as those above, they are certain- ly a profitable investment, and do not need that our taxpayers prepare the roadbeds for their gratuitous use. 7 Miss Blair Smith Held Up. Shortly before Go’clock last evening as Miss Blair Smith was walking up Washington street, South Norwalk, on the way to her home on Crescent Ter- race, she was met by a young man who grabbed her by the shoulder and de- manded to know if she had any money On receiving a negative reply he asked if she had a watch and made her open her coat to show that she had none. Miss Smith was badly frightened and as soon as the would-be footpad allowed her to proceed she hastened home and related her’ experience.. The police were at once notified and hope to cap- ture the roscal. Stopped by Footpads. As Richard Hendricks, a delivery clerk in the employ of Butcher Wad- hams was going home last night and when near Hubbell’s lane, on East avenue, he was held up by three tramps, one of whom asked him for something to eat and at the same time demandedia package of meat he had under hls arm. “And I was frightened enough to give it up” says Hendricks, “but as I was about to do so, a horse~ and wagon came along and the tramps skipped down the lane.” . C An Injunction. It is reported thatan injunction has been or will be served on the Tramway company against their laying their tracks so near the curb at the corner of Belden and Riverside avenues. It is understood that the complainant is Mrs. Mary E. Clone who owns property at that point. This is said to be the only connection that has not been made over the company’s Riverside avenue exten- sion, and which was to have been made to-day. Death Came Suddenly. Samuel McCoon, deputy sheriff of Stamford, had an attack of apoplexy . while driving through Darien yester- day and died in a few minutes. He was in business in Stamford for many years, served as town constable, ran for sherifi' of- Fairfield county on the re- publican ticket in 1885, but was defeat- ed. He was appointed a deputy sher- ifi‘ this year by Sheriff Hawley. ' - :—v Guard Wires Fell. The Street Railway cars were stalled fora short time about 9 o’clock last night, by the falling of the guard wires opposite the C. T. Leonard place. It is thought to have been caused by the- sudden cold snap. Manager Acton, Electrician Humphreys and Superin- tendent Kyle were immediately at the scene, and repairs were made as, soon. as possible. She Falnted. Mr. Thomas Goodwin and Miss Sarah Walsh were mariied at St. Mary’s church, yesterday, by Rev. ' Father Daugherty. After the ceremony the a short time. bride suddenly fainted, .but revived 1n ROBBERM lDENllFlED. Has for a Time Been Employed by ~ Nickerson & Bette. Flrst.Dlsoovered by Officer Bar- tram. Ab out 11 o’clock last evening, as Ofii- ce’r Bartram was passing by Nickerson St Betts’ store on Main street, he saw a shadow playing peek-a-boo on the floor and on the instant bsthought himself of. burglars. He lost no time in notifying Captain Dann who was on the Wall street beat. . Ernest Cornell happened to be pass- ing, and he was asked to notify Mr. William Belts, 9. member of the firm, that his store was occupied by a burglar or burglars. Young Cornell sped away on his mission and reaching the house gave the door-bell four or five sharp pulls, which were answered by Mr. Betta who was getting ready to retire. He has ..it ly put on his overcoat and started up the street at a rapid pace. 0 On the way he was joined by Manager Acton and Electrician Humphreys who were engaged in repairing a guard wire near the Methodist church, to whom he told the story of the supposed burglary. On reaching the store the trio Were surprised to find it surrdunded by the police and thirty or forty citizens, the former, unlike Diogenes, with lanterns searching for a dishonest man. Mr. Betts cautiously inserted the key in the door, and as cautiously en- tered the store followed by two .or three other citizens. Lights were burning, and there was no difficulty in seeing everything about the store. After a few seconds a large ~cat, em- ployed by the firm as a ratter, brushed up against Mr. Betts, and it then dawn- ed upon the party that without a doubt the supposed burglar and, the feline were one and the same. The visitors less quietly than they entered went out of the store, Mr. Betts locked the d001, explained the situation to the crowd outside and then returned home to dream of what might have been. The crowd dispersed, the officers re- sumed their monotonous patrol which was not again seriously interfered with up to the time they went off duty. It can however be said to Ofiicer Bar- tram’ a credit that he was awake and watchful, and even though “it was the cat, " he did his duty like a good ofiicer should, and also gave Nickerson & Betts this good advertisement free of charge. . D. A. R. The local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution met at the residence of Mrs. James G. Gregory, on West avenue, yesterday afternoon. It was the annaal meeting of the chapter, and the different yearly reports were read. The election of officers resulted as follows. * Mrs. T. K. Noble, Regent. Miss Dotha Stone Pinneo, V. Regent. Mrs. Robert Van Buren, Registrar. Miss Angeline Scott, Historian. Mrs. E. J. Hill, the retiring Regent, read a paper on the doings of the local chapter during the past year, which aside from being ably written was full of interest, wit and wisdom. Is Doing Well. Young Scapello, the Italian lad: who through the inter‘cess1on of Humane officer Morehousa was admitted to the asylum for the deaf and dumb some time since, is reported as already being able to articulate words, and those in charge of the asylum feel assured that he can be cured of his deafness. His disabilities are the result of a fever. Well Armed. Policeman Tony Pennebra of New Jersey is visiting Italian relatives on Harbor avenue. He carries a club, a revolver andapair of handcufl‘s. He says that he does not like the police business and proposes resigning, re- moving to Norwalk and engaging in some business more to his taste. ' Had 8. Fit. Yesterday afternoon, John Monohan, of this city, while engaged at work on the Street Railway extenslon at South N orwalk was taken with a fit, and fall- ing to the ground was quite severely bruised about the face. He was brought to his home, and is all right to-day. ‘ Whist. The Matinee Whist club held an en- joyable meeting at the home of Mrs. Robert Wilson on Maple street last evening. The first prize was won by Miss Fannie Leonard. The next meet- ing Will be held at the home of Mrs. Carl A. Harstrom, next Friday evening. —New York Tribune and Wnnxn , Gazer-Tn, $1 per‘ year. .. Ill. SMITH 11111111111111. llie [lily Meeting Votes the Mime For the Street Department by a Large Majority. The “Public Nuisance” Notln It. It was a dirty, cold, cheer-less and al- together uninviting room in the Town House in which about 120 legal voters of the city assembled yesterday after- noon. To be sure there was a fire, but the room had not become heated. The booths used at the last town election were still in place, the seats were coils ered with dust and the floor was strewn with ballots and filth and the whole surroundings were a disgrace to the town, if not to the town authorities. The meeting was called for the fol- lowing purposes: 1. To appropriate from the city treasur y if deemed advisable, the further sum of $2.800. for the use of the Highway Department of said City. 2. To take action upcin the offer of the Nor- walk Library Association. to give to the City. its Volumes. Shelves. Fixtures and Furniture. 3. To instruct the Council of said City, if deemed advisable, to establish and maintain a Public Library. Shortly after three o’clock an old door was fished out from in back of the election booths, and improvised as a desk for the Mayor and city clerk. Mayor' Hubbell called the meeting to order,and wisely at the start,!suggest- ed that those present do as he proposed doing, keep on his hat, and this be- cause of the chllly condition of the atmosphere. The clerk read the call and the first matter in thh same was presented to the meeting by the Mayor, for action. Ex-mayor Keeler then presented a resolution calling for the appropriation of $2,800 for the use of the highway de- partment. Mayor Hubbell stated that a vote would be taken both vive voce and by ballot angjgppointed Messrs. James Sutherland and Hubert E. Bishop tel- lers. . In the vive voce vote the Mayor de- cided in favor of the ayes. The de- cision was doubted by Mr. Alfred E. Austin, and the Mayor then ordered a standing vote, and the tellers’ count showed 72 votes in favor of adoption of the resolution, and 19 against. Mr. B. W. Maples was then recog- nized by the Chair and said that he thought it would be proper that some explanation should be made why this amount of money was wanted. It was not asked for for future use, but 82, 300 of it was for work that had already been done but had not been paid for. This we have got to pay. We can’t say that workmen shall suffer for their pay because a city officer had done what he ought not to have done. He had vio- lated the provis1ons of the city charter. In the old borough charter there was no limit to the amount that the borough officials might expend. The new city charter was framed especially to guard against any such condition. The coun- cil had already made appropriations to the highway department and could not go further. If there was a punishment in connection with the wrong doing of the official, the men who had done the work ought not to suffer for it. In order that they should be paid he fav- ored the passage of the resolution. William H. Smith, chairman of the Highway Committee then said that he had taken no action or made any move- ment in reference to the highways without the consent of the entire board of councilman. No bills now due work. men for labor on the highway had yet been presented to the Council for pay- ment. He had been instructed by the council to go ahead and had done so. He had instructed the Street Commis- sioner to keep an account of all expense incurred, and then read the following report: Sundry supplies ......................... _.$ 396. 77. Repair of Main street... . . . . . 524. 35 Park or Main street ...................... 159. 82 Flowers 1n parks .......................... 35 5.86 Banda stand on Green and walk re- aier ................................ 219.00 Labor 011 Ward street Park ............. 55.00 “ F ran nce “ ............. 30.00 Sundry expenses keeping ”parks in order .................................. 64.14 Street Commissioner. fixed charge ..... 516.00 Cleaning Wall and Main streets ....... . 360.00 Repair 1 urnpike. Elmcrest .............. 55.00 “ Stevens street ................... 75.00 "- Belden Place and West avenue. 69.50 “ .Barnum’ s h ....... ...... .... 72.00 “ Cannon street ............. . ...... . 62.00 “ Park street hill ................... 33.00 “ Cross street ..................... 15.75 ‘_‘ Wilton avenue hill“ . . 18.50 Paid engineer ............................ 138.98 A 2,955.70 Expense on East avenue, paid out" ...1.g(3)§.07 Torn. _ $4,895.29 Mr. Smith also stated that the mate- rial uscd on the West avenue improve-y, ment had not been paid for. D. Riordan asked how many street-s had not been placed in repair and as- sorted that there were some of the side streets on which no money had been expended. Gen. Olmstead stated that but littlel . [$1.00 a Yeah: PRICE TWO CENTS. money had been expended on the "street on which he lives but it was in tip-top condition, as indeed he had found most of the streets in the city to be at pres- ent, over wh1chhc had recently been. Mr. Maples then took the floor and ' referred to Mr.Smith’s statement that he he had actedin concert with the Council expending money before it had been ap- propriated. He said that the statement was a deliberate one, and that the coun- cil as a unit had then violated the pro- vision of the charter. ‘ The council could and should have called a meeting askmg for the necessary amount. He then asked why such a meeting was not cd‘lled before the debt was contracted. “What is the charter provision ? Sim-' ply wind? Are not the wishes of the citizens to be considered in such mat- tare. 9 ” It was time he said to find out wheth» er the city could be run into debt at the will of the council. If the council could run the city into debt for $2,800 “they had an equal right to do the same thing for $28, 000. He wished to protest against any such authority. City Councilor Lockwood said that he had endorsed the action of the High- way Committee in the matter, and would advise them to do just. what they had done, over again, if necessary. Mr. Maples asked Mr. Lockwood where any such provision had been pro- vided in the charter, and called his at- tention as against such a proposition to the charter of the city. He said that in case of an unusual occurance of damage to the streets by storm, etc., there was astate law which provides for any neces sary expenditures to repair the same, but under ordinary conditions the city charter expressly provided against any such expenditure. The debt had been incurred on a technicality. The ap- propriations are limited by the charter. The present action was not-right. he said. and the council had no right to make any appropriation in excess of $1,000 in any one year, over and above the original estimate for each of the de- partments, and added, “but any lawyer can discover a technicality in laws to cover almost anything they may do..” Mr. Lockwood said that he should advise any other committee of the coun- cil to act in the same manner as the highway committee had done. To illus- trate the situation he stated that the chairman of the Light committee had made a contract for lights with the Norwalk and South Norwalk Electric Light company for another year and the money had not yet ..been appropriated. The council were act- ing for the best interest of the city in making such contracts. Such action was not a technicality, but in accord with the provisions of the charter, and asked Mr. Maples, as he held a copy of the charter out in his hand, to show him anything to the centrary. Gen. Olmstead then rising to a ques- tion of parlimentary law pertinently asked how many times a person could speak on the same question. William Mitchell followed with the remark “This is a free country.” Mr. Maples replied to the General’s question, by saying that he had so far been recognized by the chair and had the right under those conditions to speak, unless told that he was out of order. He then addressed the Mayor and asked, "you assisted in the preparation of our city charter, why and for what reason did you incorporate in the same the matter of the expenditure of money in the form in which it appears?” , The Mayor replied, that in the old borough charter there was no check on the court of burgesscs as to the amount they could expend, and the design in the new charter was to let the citizens see for what purpose the appropriations were to be used, and to limit the city expenditures, Mr. Maples then asked the Mayor to give him a “Yes" or “No” answer to the question “Are my statements made here in regard to the provisions of .‘the charter, correct or not? ” Mayor Hubbell, with a tw1nkle in his eyes, and a smile lurking around the corners of his mouth, quickly replied, “Mr. Maples, your statements so far as they agree with what I said are cor- rect. ” He then called for a vote on the resolution presented by Mr. Keeler, by ballot. ' The result of the ballot as announ- ced was, whole number of votes 119; Yes, 95; No, 23; blank 1. And the vote was declared in favor of the appropria- tion. 1 Mr Byington remarked thatxhe never 50 saw our principal streets in a better condition than they now were and ex- presSed the belief that good roads drew trade to any town or city, and as the largest tax-payer in proportion to the property he owned, expressed his thanks to the highway committee for the needed expenditures they had made. ' He said he had lived in Norwalk sixty years-and more, but had never known [Continued on Page 8.11 '
Norwalk Chronicler