The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1909-07-02
BEDDING NEWS OF GENERAL INTEREST
 TO OUR READERS

TO OUR READERS
 Bedding, July 1.-W. H. Hill and w. E. Hazen, appraisers on the estate of the late John Todd. have submitted their report to the probate court. The inventory shows the total valuation of the estate to be $143,OO0. Of this amount real estate represents S3,439
 The personality consists almost wholly of savings bank deposits. The de- ceased owned upwards of 800 acres. but the more valuable part of his realty consisted of two houses and the farms attached and these parcels he disposed of by deed shortly before his demise
 The other territory is mostly what is known as sprout land.
 Henry R. Rogers and his wife, well known residents of the west side, were the victims of a serious accident on Sunday last. They were driving in the Umpawaug section, and near the residence of J. l.. Biackman met an named Thompson. The latter stopped
 his machine on nearing the horse put started up again as the team was pass ing on the assurance of MT. Rogers that it was all right. Immediately ! the horse bolted and plunged. with the result that the cross-bar was broken and the buggy overturned, giving potn the occupants a violent fall MT.
 
 and a spinal injury which produced paralysis. Mrs. Rogers had one of her knee caps broken and received se- were minor injuries. Both are laid up fears that MT. Rogers may not re- cover MT. Thompson promptly
 brought Dr. Smith to the aid of the sufferers and otherwise did all ne could for their relief.
 Lightning struck and set fire to the house of John Malone near the Five Points during the shower or Monoay afternoon. In the house at the time were Mrs. Malone and a little glri The former was momentarfly stunned by the shock and experimenting that the bolt had fallen on the premises went to the barn to investigate. Find ing no sign of damage there she re turned to the house and went upstairs where she discovered that the electric current had entered the building Just below the caves and started blaze This she extinguished by the appnca.. ton of a pail or two of water and wet clothes. The damage was slight but had it not been for coolness and quick action the house would doubtless have been destroyed.
 The Bedding ball team, after a series of trial spurts, will start in for regu- lar business on Saturday afternoon Of this week with a. game at the Hddge against the Bethels. H., Play os is f9 S7,bs De
 present list there remain of the old timers Ames Merritt, Ed Bradley, Ford Osborn and Harold Frey. The former star battery, Moore and Castle, will probably also take part in some of the games. Among the new talent are
 Herman Smith, Lem Sanford, Walter Casey, Sam Randall, John Muennich and Ray Ezequelle. The program IS to have a game on the Ridge grounds every Saturday afternoon during the summer. Hal Sanford, who was for merly the clubs patron saint in a H. nancial sense, has offered to present silver cup a trophy to be contended for by Ridgefield and Bedding. se- ries of games to decide the contest. After several days of what is known in detective parlance as shadow work, Mrs. Charles Bradley succeeded in tracing her two-egg-a-day Guinea hen to that ambitious fowls new laying lair. Meanwhile there were preached interesting theories as to the hens real motive in thus sequestering herself. ord by attaining a three-egg-a-day standard? Did she even contemplate such a daring innovation as the pro- duction of a new style egg with the white and the yolk each enclosed in a separate package? Such a division would certainly be convenient to the housewife intent on hurried making of cake or mayonnaise. Her owners discovery of the new nest showed that the hen had not evoluted in either of these directions. She was simply dO- ing extra work in her former fashion as was shown by the fact that the new nest contained seventeen eggs. Mrs. Bradley counted the eggs and made a. rapid mental calculation. The hen had been a fugitive for nine days There should have been, at the rate of two per, eighteen eggs. There were
 seventeen. Hence the obvious conclu- sion that for eight days the hen kept up to high water mark and on one day faltered and fell short. All the and since then the hen has done her laying in some retreat yet to be located.
 In last weeks batch of this corre- spondence there was quoted a Iady's dispara ging comment anent Mrs. Ralph w. Ashcroft, the former social secre- tary of Mark Twain, against whom he has brought suit to recover S3,000, rep resenting indebtedness, according to
 allegations in the attachment papers, fer money loaned. This comment, I which was to the effect that Mrs. Ash croft was given to indiscreet reveal ment of incOnSeouential details per- taining to he~domestic affairs of her employers household, stirred Miss
 Julia H. Sanford to indignant protest. Tt struck me-" said she in a conver- sation with the writer which she au- thorized him to make public, ''as a sheer or a fling that under the circum- stances was positively brutal. I have known Mrs. Ashcroft during her stay in this town and never observed any such tendency in her talk as that att tributed to her. If the criticism were true, however, it would be a small matter in comparison with the more serious accusations, direct or implied, which are connected with the case. Newspaper and other reports are to the effect that back of and inspiring the legal proceedings are serious wrongdoing on the part of Mrs. Ash croft and her husband. All this may be true but until the facts are known, as they doubtless will be when the case is aired in court, it is unjust and despicable, in view of the high reputa- tions borne by these persons, to assume that they are guilty of breach of faith or any other form of moral culpability Mrs Ashcroft impressed me very fla vorably as sine did others. In Farm ington, where she has passed most of her life, her social position and her
 standing is such that the best people there refuse to entertain the idea that