The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1909-03-08
FAIRFIELD
The Recent re-EIectricity-The Flint Blizzard-Dr. ChiId's New Book - The Village Green - The Whipping Post.

Naturally the subject of conversation in town yesterday and Saturday was the fire which destroyed Tyson Broth erS' Substitute Rubber Works. Neither of the brothers lives at the center of l the town, one being domiciled in Stam ford and the other in Southport When | the fire was discovered ':centraP' at Southport tried to send a message to Robert Tyson, but got no response He and his family were sound asleep l and did not hear the telephone. A message was then sent to the residence of H. N. Wakeman,. who lives close by. and his family succeeded in rous- ing the Tysons. The less has been greatly exaggerated in some of the nsa Tbe ma Tos Ds carried an insurance of but s1.5o0 on their stock, and Deacon Wakeman had the same amount on the building. The number of hands employed was not over 10, and by no means 90 has been stated. It appears from the ac- count given by the janitor that at least one-half hour was lost after the fire was discovered before the alarm was given. He claims that he found the fire at 6:15, and it is well known in the village that the alarm was not sounded until 6:45. It is said at the Fairfield Rubber Works that the whis- tie was blown as soon as the alarm was given. There was no delay at that place. Men are always at work in the factory, .a.nG steam was up- The 1ySOGS lneE WOOlO ike to Ilnd a place to locate where they can get better shipping facilities. .; They, say there is too much uncertainty at pres ent regarding the. arrival of goods and the shipping of the products of the plant. There was quite large amount of finished product on hand, about half of which had been taken to the freight depot before the fire, and. the rest was to have been sent the next morning, but the fire consumed it. The firm has orders for its substitute from four of the largest man ufacturerS of rubber goods in the country. It was also dO- ing a large business in making school supplies. such as erasers- It is known that rubber substitute is now largely used in the manufacture of tires for automobiles. Pure rubber is so dear some sort of a. substitute has to be used.
 As stated a few days ago it is the intention of the steam railroad com pany to electrify this coming spring the line from Stamford to New Haven, and surveys for that purpose have been made along the line in this town. There may have been no authoritive announcement to that effect. as stated. but the fact remains, and it is well known to all the section hands. It is announced that the union of Locomo- tive Engineers believes that the entire line will be electrified from New York to Boston.
 MT. Flint who went to Bridgeport to escape any blizzards that might be flaring back in this vicinity. did not See any during the winter he was in tied in his country place at F1int's cor ner than the worst blizzard of the year, or of many years. strikes the town. Some think he brought the storm home in his pocket.
 Dr. Frank Samuel Child'S hand book of local history called Fairfield, An cient and Modern came from the press on Saturday and was placed on pharmacy. It is a. handsome volume of 75 pages, in flexible covers of blue and gray, and contains 31 illustrations. The book has been issued for the bene- fit of the Fairfield Historical Society. The author gives thanks to Mrs. Ma bel Osgood Wright, Milton S. Lacey and Dr. Frank S. Child, Jr., for the il- lustrations. and to J. Sanford Saltus There are a number of interesting dates in connection with the old town. The Pequot war ended in 1887; the town was called Uncoa in 1889 and the name changed to Fairfield in 1645: tSGoody Knapp" was executed for witchcraft in 1853; stockades were built around the meeting house, school house and parsonage in 1889; Stratfield was set off in 1891: Greens Farms was set off in 1716; Weston was set off in 1757; Easton was set off in 1763: John Han cock, president of the Continental Con- gress, was married to Dorothy Quincy,
 
 Sept 2s, 1775; the town was burned by Gen. Tryon. July s, 1779; Washington made his fourth visit to the town Oct. Is, 1789; Trinity church destroyed by a tornado in 1862; the 5th sanctuary of the Prime Ancient Society," was burn ed in 1890, May 30th.
 Dr. Child gives a picturesque histor- ical description of the village green, which still exists, and seldom witnesses anything more exciting than the as semDling on the 4th of July of the D. A. R.s of the town to celebrate the day and listen to the popping of small cannon and big crackers by the up-to- date boys He says: "On the west side of the green a generous piece of water diversified the landscape, mak- ing a pond so deep that Mercy Disbrow and Elizabeth Clawson. reputed witches, were thrust into it so as to determine by sinking or swimming whether they were daughters of Belial or not. It is recorded that they buoyed up like cork'-evidence which satisfied some onlookers that they be- longed to the Evil One. The swamp which extended from the pond into the marshes was a favorite resort of x-rlyoc an6 other wild beaefS and