Litchfield enquirer., 1876-01-13
The JafI.

1 UoAoIc tue ueeIIu& O1 tNe scOuutY a1opfe
 sentatives at their meeting on Tuesday O.
 next week. On the 24th of August tho
 representatives met at the call of the com
 missioners and, after much discussion
 appointed committee Cor more properly
 commission) to "indulre into and esti
 mate the expense of a new jail, what the
 old one can be sold for, to ascertain the location and price of new site, and what expense would be necessary to put the present jail-in good repair" Messrs. I. N. Bartram. of Sharon E. c. Hotchkiss, of Torrington; Abiiah Catlin, of Harwin- ton; John T. Rockwell, of Winchester and Geo. c. Woodruff, of Litchfeld, were appointed such committee. A sub-com. mlttee examined the jails of other coun- ties, employed architects to estimate the cost of new jail and draw plans therefor. At meeting of the representatives held here on the list of October these gentle men made written report, stating that the old jail could be sold for 900, that new one would cost $40,000, and that the old one could be remodeled, added to, and repaired in such manner as to make it Sin it's arrangement of cells, and ease of supervision, substantially if not exactly like the plan reported for a new jail" for the sum of $lO,OOO Being called upon for explanation in the Representatives meeting, MT. Bartram stated that the es- timate on repairs had been carefully made by MT. Hotchkiss and himself. a
 Dr. Deming. repfesentative nom this place, remarked that he could not see how there could be such difference in the expense of, erecting an entirely new building, and of making repairs that only made use of the shell of the old one, as $40, 900 in the former case and only SIG, 900 in the latter He asked Mir. Bartram for an explanation. Mir. Bartram asserted that his estimate was sufficient and said, furthermore, that he and Mir. Hotchkiss would obligate themselves to make the repairs proposed by the commission for s1O,OOO " e.5a 1T
 On this report thele was substantially but one opinion among the represents. tives. If the old building could be made practically as good as new one at quar- ter the expense, there could be no reason able doubt that it was their duty to vote to repair rather than to build new. Con- sequently a vote passed appropriating BIO, ,O0O for such repairs. Messrs. J. Dem ing Perkins, of Litchfeld Monroe l. Frost. of New Milford, and Thomas M. Clark. of Winchester, were appointed committee to act with the county commis- sioners in relation to the proposed repairs, and the meeting adjourned.
 The commissioners and representatives committee then employed the architects ~ho had prepared the plans of the new jail to make careful specifications for the proposed repairs. Thorough examination proved the front of the jail to be in very bad repair, even to the roof. Sealed pro- sals were published and sent to Messrs. Bartram and other contractors, and, in reply, the lowest bid that could be ob- tain for the proposed repairs was SIS, ,945 nearly double the estimate of Bartram and Hotchkiss. Thereupon the commis- sioners wrote each of the representatives asking their advice about .snmmoning them together again. The majority of the replies favored the meeting, and call has been issued to that end.
 It strikes us that there is but one judi cious course left the representatives. Let them vote new jail on condition that the people of Litchfield furnish them Q site free of cost. There never was a more economical time for building than nov. $30, 900 in cash, with the further privilege to the contractor of using prison labor as far as practicable in the work of construc ton, would probably give us as good building as we need. Then the old jail and lot would sell for $S, ,00O, because of it's excellent location for business purposes -an amount greatly exceeding the value of such shell for repair into suitable jail. This would give us new jail fos $22. 900. as against an old one for S19, 900. Can there be any doubt on such state of facts?
 In view of all the facts the Winsted Herald pronounces for new jail, and the only opposition manifested in the county papers comes from the New Milford Ray. That paper thinks, firstly, that Bro.J.H.V. is making money so fast that he is already contemplating retirement to his native hills. Good news; but how does it affect tue question at issue? We do not put our mi!lionaires and retired editors in jail Later in its article the Ray develops the entire New Milford program: division of the county; one court house and one jail, of course. in N. M; another court house and another jail almost anywhere else; economy and reduction of taxation generallyl We think it will only be nec- essary for the representatives to under l stand this program to do it justice. Base Ball ln sufFleid.
 A game of base ball was played on the
 Sufield grounds between two picked hines
 of the Connecticut Literary Institute,
 Jan. Sth, 1876. The game was chiefly re.
 markable for the fine pitching of both
 Gates and Lloyd. The following is the
 score. Several names of Litchfeld coun. ty boys will be noticed:- '~@-e~ suRRows' NINE. :ss LKNAoAs NzF. | R.o. R. O. | Pratt, c. 2S Plant, C. 2 l Loyd, p, 2 Gates D, | Burrows, 1st, calhoun, lst, | nisstl. I'd, OA Ely I'd. 2 l Adams, Sd, 8 Culver. 3d.. | Johnson q