Connecticut western news., 1879-04-02


 off in Town hall next Saturday, between Mr. J. A. Lyle. who recently walked in Falls Village, Frank Barnum of this place, Matt. Monohan of East Canaan and Eugene Lord of Falls Village. The match is to last l2 hours, commencing at 9 o'clock a. ID. and terminating at 9 o'clock p. m, and will be followed by two hours run by some of the young men of the place. The | affair is to be conducted in respectable and orderly manner. Admission 15 cts. Last Wednesday morning at bout three o'clock, the large new barn belonging to the Benson brothers on the under noun tain road" to South Canaan was discovered to be on fire, and at that time the flames had made such headway that all attempts to check them were futile, and nothing could be saved from the interior of the barn. Five horses, six head of cattle, seY- eral pigs, poultry, hay, grain, and farming tools were entirely consumed. The insur ance on the whole, aggregatlng $2, 800. will not nearly cover the cost of the stock, and the loss is serious one to the brothers. The fire is supposed to have been incend- iary, probably the work of tramps.
 Nowhere in this country, SO far as we know, has there been a case of a married couple who have lived together for seventy five years, and there may not occur such case-but here ID Connecticut, in the town of Weston, Fairfield county, we have some thing that certainly comes very near it. Zalmon Sturges, a powerful man over six feet high, and who is now nearly 9s years old, is living with his wife. Ann, aged 93. and they were married in March, 1905 It, therefore. they live another year, they will reach the hour for the celebration of theii diamond wedding"-a thing never seen in | America, though such case did occur, three or fouryears ago, in Bohemia. ford ISnaes.
 -Sandtown witnessed a novel spectacle the other day in the way of a poultry fight. A monster hawk clrcling overhead saw among B. F. Comstock's flock of guinea, hens biddy which he thought would be | just a square meal for himself ard family. Accordingly he swooped down upon his in- tended prey and was about 10 bear 1t to s'manslons in the skies" when the rest oi the brood came to the rescue of their strug giing comrade and a contest ensued which was sad by those who witnessed it to be the most fierce and cruel they had ever seen. Feathers flew like snow storm, eyes were scratched out, blood spilled, and the con- testants tumbled about scratching, biting, kicking and squawking until it was impossi ble to determine which part of the animat- ed chaos of feathers, claws, and lacerated iopknots was the hawk and which the hens. It was of short duration, however, and the feathery fog, on clearing away, disclosed l Mr. hawk lying dead and nearly torn to pieces. He measured three feet and three inches from tip to tip.
 The numerous centennial celebrations all over the country, if they serve no olh' !! purpose, remind us of our great progress in one century. and conse quently of the Be cessitY to provide wisely for the demands of coming years. We must, in short, keep pace with ourselves. An overgrown boy is none the less unwitldy, not to say nnshape- ly than will these United States be unless wise heads and devoted hearts watch and guard her rapidly developing interests and needs. The suit of clothing which Uncle Sam could wear hundred years ago would not fit him now, nor can we expect the things of today to serve one hundred years hence. It might be suggested here by way of parenthesls that according to present ideas, his pants of old were rather short ip the legs, and his coat taiis supelfluous- Tn an inverse ratio. But at any rate we need to exercise more anG more care to insure due proportion in our national development.
 These wise remarks were suggested by an invitation recently receive by us 10 attend the ''Hundre d,h Anniversary of the settle ment of Le xington," Ky, to be held on April 2, 1879. H.1.B.
 A young colored woman named Phebe Sands was found dead Gu the track ot the Housatonic railroad near Merwinsville, Sun. day morning. The cause of death is uncer- tain. She. in company with her husband, Norman Sands, came to New Milford Fri day evening and s'ayed over night. They made periodical visits ard always went home we'll s'corned." This time no txcep- tion was made, and, after noon some tune, they started to walk home to South Kent, len miles north. Some friends accompan- jed them quite distance, anu report that the woman appeared 1atigued and sat down. saying she was sick. The husband, in no amiable mood, kicked and cuffed her. uig- ing her along. Their companions here turned buck apd left the couple together. It appears that Sands, failing in his att mpt | to arousc his wife, went home alone, aud stayed all night, without attempting 10 find her. but in the morning he went back and reported that she was dead when found. He then whe eled the body home on bar row. Whether, therefore, the woman died of exposure and blows together, or the lat ter. or fram some other cause. has not been I decided. Sands has been arrested Cour- ant.
 New Milford Ray: "On Tuesday morn ing last, Mrs. Helen Richmond, who lives at the lower end of Main St., awoke with | dull headache. She opened window and went back to bed again. Alter waiting few minutes. she arose and went tke widow 10 get fresh air again. Her daugb- ters also complained of headache, and he tod Fanuie. the older one, to go to the wir- dow The dauphter did so and sat down