The daily morning journal and courier., 1896-12-18
DOINGS IN OLD DERBY
TALK OF THE ERECTION OF 4 DAM
 tT ZOAR BRIDGE.

iht NiNS NAAha-
 cisms-GOod Roads.
 Derby Dec. 17.--The project some time ago agitated of erecting dam near Zoar bridge so as to utilize the water as a factor ill furnishing elec- tric power is again in contemplation, It is reported that plan to move the church and disturb the cemetery ad joining is under discussion. If so, the people in the vicinity of Stevenson will welcome the busy stir incident to this work and the place will profit in a way to surprise the most hopeful, Even if no such conservation of the rivers en- ergy should ever materialze, there Is need of dam at that point to create a storage reservoir for the use of the Sheldon factories, as each summer wit nesses a feeble supply and there is enough wasted on a Sunday to run several mills for day. A locking up of tons of water to move electric ma chinery at the spot just mentioned might also benefit the Water company in helping them to an extra supply of water to meet their contracts
 A good sign of the times is the in vestment now being made by several in first class tenements for renting. The Globe hotel" as once called, has been thoroughly changed into apart ment flats and the owner not only has put his money where it will return him a good percentage, but has decidedly helped the appearance of the street For years this building has been slight ed both by tenants and by the painters. Now that general remodelling and polishing of the structure has occurred an eye-sore has been removed and dead piece of property given fresh lease of life. On Hawthorne avenue an- other attractive double tenement is to be built by Archibald Beardsley of Bridgeport. Derby has always been short in medium priced rents. The houses now turned into tenements were never designed for small families and have not the conveniences in many cases the modern class of tenements are expected to possess. goods sized, well located apartment house or a set of flats would not go unoccupied long and the income would be a paying one. Shelton has benefited by Derby's dearth of acceptable rents, so that to- day a couple starting housekeeping can be better accommodated in our sister borough in the line of a convenient and reasonable rent than in the city of Derby This should not be the case and it looks we'll for the place that money is becoming active in new and commodious tenements.
 Ten days more and the incoming ad- ministration of our municipal corpora ton will be on the eve of an inaugural tion Two years of respite from eau cusses and election day expenses, an entirely new deal in the order and the exhibition of executive shrewdness of the incoming officers or the contrast with the record of the departing rulers will be a matter for frequent comment and report In the collection of taxes and in the department of public char ities it is highly probable that the new appointees can equal the splendid work done during the past two years. There has been wise economy in the dis tribution of the city's aims and most efficient and thorough collecting of taxes. Who are to get the plums or to WIlOH the SpOllS dle lO De ulSLIlpAltu is an announcement not yet made. To the taxpayers it is matter of great concern that irrespective of party ties the various commissioners shall be practical men, men who are not novices in their line, who will give the city a full equivalent for every dollar put out and will not go outside of the appropri- ation.
 It is quite certain that those who framed the city charter of Derby did not submit it as a perfect embodiment of what Derby ought to have for a constitution. Those who bossed the document did what a the time seemed the best In this feature the people are not satisfied and amendments to the charter may be submitted to the coming assembly. The first concerns the qualifications of mayor, and the one about which not a little talk is heard is that no person ought to be eligible to the position who is not a property owner or taxpayer. Most assuredly has no person a moral right to lcgislate on the property of others unless he himself owns a little, that his care or concern for the interests of others may llNOlNe q treatment ne would or will give to his own pos sessions. A taxpayer is slow to vote an assessment injurious to his neighbor or very onerous. He realizes that he has to carry a part of the load and he will not thoughtless mortgage the cftys property because it virtually be- comes a lien on his own. The mayor of. city should be a man, property possessed and thus directly anxious for that of others equally with his own to thrive.
 The other criticism on the charter is that members of the board of education should be appointments of the mayor, and not the selection of a caucus. There are very few in the ordinary as semblages that dictate the party ticket for election day who are conversant with the needs of school or the kind of men best fitted to supervise the edu- cational interests of a community. In the days gone by. in caucuses, the last nominations of the evening were for the board of school visitors and these were often nominations strangely be- coming Even now it is a question whether many really give much thought to the fitness or experience or ability of a nominee on the board of