The Newtown bee., 1888-06-15
Botsford to Birmingham.

Work on the Derby extension is being rapidly carried on and the task of grad ing bids fair. to be completed in a few months, while ties and rails can be laid in a short time. A BEE reporter who followed the line from it's western termi- nus, short distance below Botsford sta ton, to the river at shelton, found about 700 men ut work. The section near Bots ford, about three miles, has been let to Taylor & Gridley, who set up derricks and other machinery and were to add scores of new men, this week. Short stretches were graded, but work had been delayed by lack of machinery. Mir Taylor makes his headquarters at Mir Julius A. Beers's, where he and Mrs Taylor and surveyor named Sutliife are boarding. Fred Hollister of Monroe is timekeeper and the section bosses are Adolph Ahlers, Jim Wolfe, Frank Up- ton, Tom Collier, John Doran, James Driscoll, Eli Carley, Dan Mclaughlin, C. Frank Conger. Two highways are on this section; the first, near Botsford, is to be carried over the track at an eleva- tion of about 20 feet; at the other, near the blacksmith shop, the track is elevat- ed. Good progress Is made, but, owing to a late start. the completion will inev- itably be delayed beyond the appointed time. The next section of about two miles is worked by Sullivan X Nugent, with Patrick Nugent general oVerseer, Thomas Birne timekeeper and c. Mar sella, Antonio ApOlis, Richard McGuire, Fred Haight, Michael O'Hagan foremen of gangs. This is also wild region and probably will not be completed till Octo- Der. Sullivan X Nugent's work ends at W. <. Bradley's; the track runs over that highway and proceeds to the corner at Samuel Stephens's. Though but little more than a mile long, this section, com prisinI, as it does. a difficult cut and a huge fill, had not been let. The crossing at Mir Stephens's has caused n deal of de- lay. One plan was to change the course of the old road, so that but one bridge should be necessary. It was found that a 22-foot bridge would be required to el
 evatc the highway and that this would be almost impossible for teams from Zoar Bridge. By changidg the grade, the railroad can be elevated l2 feet, pass ing over the highway and securing q bet ter crossing. The surveyors have also run new lines over that part of the layout, one of which cOmpels the remov- al of Mir Stephens's barn and outbuild- ings. The officers themselves seem to have arrived at no conclusion. Below this is the two-and-a-half-mile section taken by Mulhall. He has about l50 lM horses, two derricks, a steam hoist ''and bad country to work Part of the route lies on the steep, boulder-strewn side of the hill which descends to the edge of the Housatonic river, along whose bank the rest of the road is to run. The stream drill is brought into requisit- ion and the roadway is blasted and dug and hewn, foot by foot. Near the mid. dle of this section and of the road, this ledge of rock seems like the backbone o1 the hills. 1t is hard rock, too; granite bOulders and lodges, mostly. The grad ing will probably be finished, however about September l. The east end O Mulhalls section and the west end ol Flanagan's three and a half miles join il a deep depression, where piles will b' used somewhat. John Flanagan x Son with 175 men, use three boilers, thre' drills. three derricks and three hOiStS The men are divided into II gangs ant the foremen are all "solid lrishmen. They find rocks enough, but a stretch O level land mile or so from the end be tokens easy work for while. They eX pect to finish grading by the middle O August. The last section on the Bir mingham end is in charge of Taylor Gridley, who, with 150 men and neces sary machinery, began work early ant continued it so well that their part vii be finished as soon as August l. Tn question of the Bridge street crossing il Shelton has been discussed in all it bearings and yet no decision reached This task will be completed as soon a possible after definite result is obtain ed. It is difficult to say how soon train can be run; estimates of employees rang ed from September to January l. How ever, if no serious hindrance occurs, seems likely that travel will cOmmenc in October or November. The publish ed statements that four, five or six mile of the road bed are graded, ready to b ballasted and the ties laid, are mislead ing. In the aggregate, several miles ar graded; but the work is in small patel es, scattered over the entire layout. Tn division from Birmingham to Samue Stephens's is much nearer cOmpletio than that from w. $. Bradley's to Bots ford. It is probable that after the graC ed portions of the road have been col nected. from Shelton west, men an machinery will be rushed by rail to th
 vacant section and work pushed. TT
 only work done Sundays, at present,
 such as would hinder the men if left ti
 Monday. Bosses universally complai that 1t is almost impossible to secul
 good board, while residents say tn;
 Sunday is no longer day of rest, for u
 Italians sally forth from their lodgins
 in great numbers.