Norwich bulletin. [volume] (Norwich, Conn.) 1895-2011, 1909-04-09
FISH OIL, GUANO MAKING,
GARBAGE REDUCTION.
Troubles Of the Sound Shore People
Observation-Disclosures ,F1earing Con-
Cinued-Argument of Counsel.

Hartford. April S.-The hearing OF
! yesterday afternoon before the joint
committee on public health and safety
on the fish oil and guano and the gar
J bage reduction matter so far as the ar
/ guments of of counsel were concerned,
| was continued this afternoon.
In Behalf of the Cottagers.
Charles L. Gross Of Hartford opened
| for the cottagers on the Mantle shore
| and the numerous lawyers on the COM
mittee listened with interest as he de-
scribed the troubles of the shore peo-
| ple with the fish factory nuisance last
/ summer. He said that this fish factory
was ever a nuisance to the shore peo-
| pie, but the worst season they'd ever
| known was that of 1908.
! Mr.. Gross realized that this was an
| established BUSINESS and that there ex
| listed rights by way of a vested inter
est, but he felt that the Mantle Men
| haden Fish Oil and Guano company
could so arrange it's plant as to do
away with the nuisance and ought to
| be compelled to and certainly he shore
| people didn't wish a garbage reduction
| plant brought in from Bridgeport
While they are only residents in that
| town a few months in the year. it was,
| felt that the wishes of the thousands
of such people ought to be considered
| very seriously
For the Bridgeport By-Products Co.
Ex-R x-Representative Day of Colchester
! appeared for the Bridgeport By-Prod
ucts company in support of an amend
ment of the 1907 garbage transporta-
| ton law, which. would permit his con-
| cern to go on and utilize the property
| which it has purchased in East Lyme
| just as it wishes If it can show the
state board of health that it will keep
/ within the law. He believed that his
| concern had a constitutional right to
use the land it owned for whatever it
| pleased as long as this could be done
without injury to anyone else.
Mr.. Day insisted that the growing
| cities of New Haven, Bridgeport, Wa
terbury and Hartford were put to 1t -
care for their garbage and asked where
they could more appropriately 90 than
| to these great shore towns, where the
reduction plant can be far from any
center of population. He referred with
sarcasm. to the testimony of the sum-
| mer residents yesterday and character
! iZed as false much that was testified
| to by DR.. Dart, the Mantle health Of
| fcer.
Questioned by DIR. Sedgwick of the
| committee, Mr.. Day told of the process
\ of reduction and showed how the cook
! ing of the garbage destroyed all odors
/ He turned to President Livingstone to
| answer regarding some technical point
| and the colloquy which followed be-
| tween the latter and the committee re-
| suited in the suggestion by Senate
| Chairman Phillips that the committee
be inXited to Bridgeport to inspect the
reduction plant. which Mr.. Livingstone
| cheerfully agreed to do.
Major Hull of New London Heard.
Major H. A. Hull of New London fol-
lowed for the Mantle Menhaden, Etc,
| Co. He said that the fish oil ard guano
business was established in it's exact
present location in Mantle in 1858,
moved to Giants Neck and then moved
back a few years ago. There has been
| invested now nearly $150,000 partly in
two boats specially fitted for the busi-
ness.
The lobster industry in this state
would be ended by the stopping Cf this
business and that of the one other fish
factory in this state, which is in Mys-
tic. The company has a monthly pay
roll of some $1,000. 1t takes in a good
season about $250,00O worth of prop
erty out of the ocean.
"Out OF the oceanp' cried Mr.. Hull.
why, in two or three years this would
pay for all those summer cottages"
Were not for SALE" interrupted Mr..
Gross.
Major Hull made a comparison be-
tween conditions in the towns of Wa
terford, East Lyme and Old Lyme,
and those about the Mystic fish mill.
The towns of Stonington and Groton
have much larger grand lists and
many more people who live nearer the
fish factory, but they're not asked to
be restricted
He insisted that property values in
the vicinity of the fish mill had large
" increased since it was built to the
loudly voiced protests of the other
side.
Major Hull enlarged on an acci-
dent which happened where a Mr..
Luce had impounded 10000 buckeyes.
which died and drifted down into the
Sound before the accident to the fish
factory's menhaden tank, and protest.
ed against his company's being blamed
for that He also accused the cot
tagers Of dumping their refuse and
garbage back a mile in the woods and
said that one of the doctors who in
spected this spot said that the odor
there far outranked that from the fish
mill
Judge Shumway had said that he
was satisfied this fish factory was not
a menace to health and he would not
close it. said Major Hull and he felt
that it could be operated without be-
ing nuisance.
Major Hull told the committee that
the cottagers who were nauseated
swimming in water with this fish oil
standing on it. He went on then to
describe what had been done, at the
expense Of $4,000. during the winter,
to better the conditions at the fish mill
and called it bad faith for the cot
tagers to come to the legislature to
get legal restrictions which would be
injurious to the business before they
had tried the company in its effort to
improve conditions. He closed by beg