The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1909-06-08

Never in the history of the city has the Common Council made a more
 humiliating. or more shameful. sur-
 accomplished last night when. urged
 by Mayor Lee in his annual message
 they put through the harbor grab and
 the car barn grab in one and the same resolution.
 corporation he has championed since the beginning of his term could not have been put through except for the change made by Aldermen BuIlard and Gould. In a personally conducted tour of compromise and concession, (which included a hurry-up. breathless visit to President C.S. Mellen. yesterday.) these servants of the people, obtained a form of agreement and a letter. from MT. Mellen. in which something was em- bodied which they described to the council in such phrases as "compensa- tion,' "concesSions'' and the like.
 The visit to MT. Mellen was made by Alderman Gould. MT. Gould. for the first time during his term as alderman was in sweet agreement with the may or. and it was Gould who finally put through the mayors program It was Gould also who warmly opposed the efforts of a minority of the board, em- bodied in the motion of Alderman Will lld1n InOmdS, 10 nave the COnceS- sions'' laid over until the aldermen could study them.
 Mo- said MT. Gould. T am not authorized to leave the offer here. It might be withdrawn"
 Having uttered this ghastly joke, MT. Gould proceeded to enumerate the ad- vantageS gained by the city.
 These advantages will now be re- enumerated, and it will be seen that the job done under the 20 year contract a conservative n a. ment.
 The city gives to the railroad com pany Il acres of harbor on the west side of the river. between the Nauga- tuck dock and Henry street basin.
 The city gives to the railroad com pany the right to cross Stratford ave- nue at the west end of the Stratford avenue bridge with tracks from the proposed car barns.
 The city gives to the railroad com pany the right to enter Congress street with tracks from the proposed car barns.
 welkin ring with his denunciations of this program. He has called public meetings. appointed committees. He has handed out interviews and then more interviews and then yet more in- terviews describing titanic efforts to stop a. cruel and relentless corporation from further and dangerously increas- ing congestion in the two most con geSted portions of the city.
 Alderman Gould smiled in the direc- tion of the Mayor for the first time in and the Mayor smiled in the direction of MT. Gould
 The men who are usually found in the City Hall when a railroad is about, to win "a victory, smiled too. but it was when Alderman Gould described the concessions that had been obtain ed.
 The 'tconcessions'' are as follows: The railroad agrees to lay grooved rails in Main street.
 It agrees to remove the Naugatuck dock and dredge out beneath it and also to dredge beyond the government line to depth of IS feet to the 12 foot anchorage basin.
 It agrees not to close the sidewalk under the railroad viaduct at Fairfield avenue This is the walk beneath the tracks on the station side. Alderman Gould announced that he had made a careful search and that this walk was the property of the railroad company.
 Between StIatford avenue and Con- gross street, running along the water front. is a strip of land over which the tracks coming from the proposed car barn to Stratford avenue will run. The railroad agrees that the city may Mir. Gould said that this might be for year and it might be forever.
 Finally the company agrees to per- init the city to use for highway pur- poses the portion of the bay at the foot of Fairfield avenue not now used. | For those not familiar with the local | ty it may be said that on the west there is a sidewalk which is at the foot of the incline leading to the rail- l road station On the south of this is | Lhe bay through which the trolley | tracks extend. South of this is the | bay used by teams. South of this | l gain is the bay which the city may lse.
 Virtually the only concession is the | promise to lay grooved rails through | he new pavement in Main street
 Even while Alderman Gould was speaking the Naugatuck dock had been abandoned. The dredg- |