Waterbury evening Democrat., 1905-08-03
THE 0AKvILLE THISTLE
Agreement Said to Have Bsen Reach.
 cd at Ysstsrdays Hearing.

The city officials and the trolley people met at Hartford yesterday 10 be heard before the railroad commits sioners relative to the Oakville trestle question, but when they got together they concluded that the day was made for better purposes than blood letting and instead of throwing off their coats and going into fight they sat down and had heart to heart talk, and before they got through they had agreed upon a way out Of the snarI, the only thing preventing the incident from being closed for all time beiug lack of authority on the part of the department of public works, and this will be asked from the aldermen Mon- day night. The conditions of the agreement will not be made public until the mayor sends a cOmmun1ca- tiOn to the aldermen on the matter. Colonel Burpee, counsel for the trolley company, said so this morning to Democrat reporter, and added that so far as the company was concerned it had no objection to making the whole thing public now, but the city officials wanted to consult the aldermen first.
 The reporter remarked that If the company has not the best of this deal it may back out at the eleventh hour. the same as it did before. "No, sir" replied the colonel. "The compaDy never backed down from anything it agreed to do. If there was any back ing down it was on the other side. We made three different propositions to the city, each of which Ys matter or record, and we have always stood ready to do what we said"
 ''That may be true," replied the re porter, but this was verbal under standing between you and the city attorney" The colonel brushed this aside with a laugh, remarking that no verbal understanding ever had been entered into between him and anybody on that question. The re- porter said that the mayor and the city attorney reported to that effect to the board of public works and that the board gave its consent to it, but later they were informed that it fell through and that the company had de- cided to apeal to the railroad commis- sioners This was answered by an other ha ha, and then the astute col onel hurried away to his office. Col onel Burpee is in Watertown to-day endeavoring to get the selectmen Of that town to give consent to an arrangement similar to that reached between the officials of Wa terbury. Just what this is nobody who knows cares to state, but in case it should be anything less than the city has contended for right along the city is bartering away the headway it has made in the courts. It would be all right to let the road be built and operated pending the determination of the question of damages provided the company agrees to pay fair share O. the cost, but if they get there on any other agreement the people might just as well make up their mind that they will have to go down in their jeans for the full amount. Let the company begin litigation with the steam road in the name of the city, make them pay something if they can, and if they fail to make good their contention, foot an equitable portion of the cost them selves. If they put up bond to do this the city would be on the safe side, but if this is not attended to before the city commits itself to anything it would be just as well to say go ahead and do what you please and the tax payers will carry all the entire burden of expense. While nearly everybody you meet is finding fault with the methods of the business ad- minstration, some of them have faith in the mayor, the board of public works and the aldermen to feel satis- fled that they will not let the city get the worst end of the deal in this three cornered fight between the Con necticut Railway and Lighting con- pany, the Consolidated road and the City of Waterbury. The outcome of this fight has been watched with con- siderable interest for the past three years and now that it is about to he declared off it is but natural that the public should be deeply interested in the terms of agreement Everybody wants the road but few think 1t fair that Waterbury should pay more than reasonable share of the expense. There never was any other question at issue. and there isn't now, no mat ter what Colonel Burpee or anybody &<.