Connecticut western news., 1886-02-03
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1886.
LETTER FROM NORWALK.

LETTER FROM NORWALK.
 EDITOR NEws:-In response to your request for ''Norwalk Letter" the fol- lowing rambling epistle is hastily con- cocted and respectfully submitted.
 Norwalk dates it's original settlement back to 164O, although the first record of town proceedings was made in 1853. In those early days of colonial history. real estate was of less value to it's aborig- ing glasses of the settlers, who bargained m insignificant consideration" of trink cts. The land on which Norwalk is built wassspurchased" by shrewd Yan- kee settler, comprising 'sa1 the lands, meadows, pasturinage, trees whatso ever their is. and grounds between the two Rivers, the one Norwalke, the other Soakatuck, to the middle of sayed Riv- ers, and from the sea 8 days walk into tho country" in consideration of "eight fAthom of wampum, sixe coates, tenn hatchetts, tenn hoes, tenn knifes, tenn sissors, tenn jewse-harps. tenn fathom tobackoe, three kettles of six hands about, presumably kettles of six hands breadth Tn circumferencel ], and tenn looking glasses" This whole list of stuff given for all these square miles of land was worth less than the ink used in re- cording the mortgages which the same land has abundantly produced.
 Norwalk played an active part in the history of the Revolutionary struggle, and many and exciting are the stories of prosecutions, indignities and outrages suffered by the townspeople at the hands of the British quartered in and about the town; when the church going peo- pie considered musket as indispensa- ble an adjunct to the Sunday devotional outfit as your prayer book is to you, MT Editor. The outrsges of the" fred coats" culminated in the burning of the town by General Tryoh in 1779.
 On the 9th of May, 1853, the country was paralyzed with horror by the first great railroad disaster that occurred on any road in America. Your older read CTS will remember distinctly the intense excitement that prevailed in all sections at that time, when 8 Boston express train plunged headlon9 through an open drawbridge, sacrificing nearly fifty lives and crippling as many more. This event has become historical as the Nor walk bridge disaster.
 Norwalk derives it's name from the ssNorwalk oyster" an esculent mollusk with which the waters of the sound in this locality are thickly infested, and the cultivation of which constitutes one of the most prolific sources of revenue in the town. The Norwalk oyster beds, T kl4 thority of an experienced oysterman, yield the enormous amount of 200, 900 barrels annually. Large quantities of these are shipped to Europe. and last spring 8 local dealer received an order for two barrels of Norwalk oysters for Queen Victoria's own royal stomach. The order was filled with the choicest specimens to be found, the shells being scrupulously washed, scrubbed, sand papered and furnished, all of which was supposed to have saved her Royal High ness vast amount of bother when she cooked them. The process of oyster growing is interesting, and requires far more attention and hard work than is generally supposed by those whose only positive knowledge of the fruit is con- fined to it's digestibility. succulency and affinity for pepper-sance and catsup. An intelligent detailed description of the process would require 8 more thor ough study than have given it, and more of your valuable space than you would surrender without growing From the time the spat or spawn is de posited, which fastens onto rocks, old boots, shells and everything within reach - like some persons you may know-untl the oysters attain market able size, IS about four years, and when it is considered that during all this time the oysters are subject to damage or loss by b~Ing smothered with mud from tn, dredgers, the violence of storms, the ravages of the star-fsh and other nat ural enemies, and the thievery of pirates. it will be seen that the business, though lucrative under favorable circumstances, is by no means free from risks. These 9Uv,UUO barrels produced annually, re- turning . revenue to the growers, of 45OO, 900, fill long felt want in society, the world over. If, as the St Louis Christian Adrocdte maintains, the oyster, by it's ever present help at church bene- fts, contributes more unshelltishly ''to the glory to God than any rival, ,thenNor- walk may be credited with originating and perpetuating more means If grace than any other town in Connecticut. and contributing no less to the cause of the devil by the same means"
 The population of the town numbers 15,OOO inhabitants who take pleasure il maintaining trio of useful and orna- mental local governments-town, city, and borough, the city of South Norwalk having about 4,OOO and the borough Nnrsalk, about 6.OOO inhabitants. The boroughites, besides being denied the right to assume the metropolitan dignity of their down town neighbors, are forced to swallow humiliation of pride, but find . solace in the fact that their city breth ron are not privileged to pay into five mills as high tax as themselves, the borough and town assessment being 2( mills, exclusive of school district levies while the city and town lists call for IL mills.
 The present muddled up condition ot Norwalk < politics IS an interesting prob lem for future solution. It Is attribut able largely to the long hatters' strike oi last winter and, spring, the influence o1 which made itself felt in church, com
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