The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1898-11-29
I'm PERIL.
I Clinton w as
Fearful.
SOME ONE AT FAULT
On Account of Darkness
and the Bad Streets.

Clinton, Nov. 2S.-This town has prob.
ably never been more exposed to peri
from fire than it was last night Not
only were the streets impossible
blocked with banks Of snow, but whole
sections of the town were in tota
darkness. Had it not been for the vigil
lance of Chief of Police Thomas Muir
ply the citizens Of Clinton might new
er know the extent to which their
streets were not lighted
Knowing that special danger from
FIRE existed, Chief Murphy remained at
police headquarters to see personally
that every beat was covered, and that
the men made their rounds as they
would In calmer weather.
He especially instructed the men be-
fore they went out to observe if the
arc lights were going, and to report any
that were not
1.-THE result" said Chief Murphy to
the correspondent Of The Spy, showed
great negligence somewhere, Large
sections Of the town were In darkness.
One officer brought in a report of five
arc lights out, another report of four
lights out, and other officer similar
report"
Chief Murphy considers this matter
30 important that he will report the
circumstances to the board of select
man for their, consideration, as soon as
he receives thereports of one or two
officers whom he has not heard from.
This communication will be made to
the selectmen, probably not later than
tomorrow.
There is complaint among the people
Of Clinton as TO quantity and quality
Of the light they are getting. 1t IS
probable that before the winter is over
Certain matters connected with light
ing the streets will be looked into IN
the interest Of the taxpayers.
Tonight the town would most GER
talnly burn if a. confag-arion got a talr
start. The streets are but little more
passable than they were yesterday at
ternoon. The business men on High
street spent most of the day wondering
why. The work Of clearing up High
street, and in fact all the streets in the
center of the town, progressed so slowly
that it seemed as if nothing were being
done.
The Clinton and Leominster Street
Railway Company, up to this evening,
had done nothing toward its part HI
the work Of removing the snow from
the street. The work done by the san s
under Superintendent Of Roads Walker
cleared away from the middle Of the
street, where it is piled up by the snow
plow. This latter work it is the place
OF the street railway company to 90
Superintendent of Roads Walker did
not escape the general criticism. This
was partly because more work was
done on the outskirts Of the town than
usual, in order to permit the hands to
get to the mills. On this account, work
10 n
Philbin said that the work OF street
cleaning was entirely in the hands OF
the road commissioners and the super
indendent of roads. He thought that
Superintendent Walker was doing the
best he could.
A gentleman who is familiar with
the situation said: TN the matter of
the statement that Mr.. Walker did rot
commence the work of clearing up the
streets early enough, yesterday ! will
say that l know he had large gang
at work yesterday afternoon, Just af-
ter dinner; it was impossible to pro
cure men and teams at an earlier hour.
For that matter, all of the work that
was done yesterday afternoon, or most
of it, was wasted. The snow dr1fted
SO that the work had to be done over
again this morning.
Mr.. Walker was not in town today.
He had been called to F'itchburg as a
witness in case before the superior
court sitting there
The Girl from PARIS plays at the
Clinton Theatre tomorrow night. Man
ager Cannon says that the company
is in its best form and can be depend
ed upon to give a good show. Della
Stacey is cast for the leading female
role. The advance sale of seats has
been excellent and a large rush sale
is expected Few attractions have been
offered theatregoers in the last ten
days, either in Clinton or surrounding
towns A considerable party are com
ing over from Leominster to attend the
performance.
In few days most of the boys of Co
X will be at their old work again. Thei1
employers before the war are not only
willing but are anxious to take them
on again.
1t seems that about half dozen OF
the company will enlist in the regular
army,
The Clinton Wire Cloth Company sent
for Lieut.. Martin J. Healey to offer him
his old place with them.
The out-of-t boys have all left fol-
their homes. The local members oil
the company will remain in town, ex-
cept those who are going to join the
regular army. A large proportion oil
them will enlist in the reorganized Co
K, Massachusetts National Guard
which will be constructed within the
next 80 days.
Nut" otherwise Martin, Gibbons
astonished Chief Murphy this after
noon when he entered police headquar-