Norwich bulletin., 1911-10-21
WHAT WORRIES M0NTAUk AVENUE A Sale of a Lot Shows the. Rise in Value
 in Six Years
NEW LONDON REALTY LIVELY
Committee Sent Waterways Convention-Bui1ding Trades Dul-Mayor Mahan Fails in No Endeavor to
 Advance City-The Money Appropriated For
 Steamer in Danger of Being Used for Auto Engine.

l hue have a fear lest the new board of l assessors in connection with the taxa 1 ton advisory committee appointed by the court of common council with a 1 view to equallzing taxation and in- creaSing the grand list without increaS-- 1 ing the tax rate, may base valuation l on the value of the latest building lot l sold on the avenue and at forced l sale. At an auction sale of real estate | last Saturday was included a building 1 lot not far from the Montauk avenue | Baptist church which was sold for | Sl, 400. Six years ago the purchase price of this same piece of real estate | was $60O in open market. the valuation therefore has at least doubled in six years.
 There is at present indication that | the value of this identical lot will be l farther increased in the near future, as the present owner is colored and l therefore would be an undesirable res- 1 ident of that neighborhood, and may waive building on the lot for a reason able consideration, which means sub stantlal advance in the price paid for the property. Should this come to pass .he Montauk avenuerS are fearful that this lot may be taken as a basis of valuation for other property on the avenue Fortunately, however, for the parties directly interested the board of assessors happens to be composed of men competent to properly assess prop erty for taxation and would not be guided by fixing values on the pur- chase and sale price of the special bit of property referred to, especially as the circumstances are something out of the ordinary. It can be put down as fact, however, that the present owner of the property did not make the pur- chase with the intention of losing by the transaction.
 It was innovation in municipal man agement for the court of common coun- Gil to authorize the sending of a com mittee of the council to the waterways convention in Richmond, the expenses to be paid from the city treasury. It may have been an excellent idea, in keeping with the advanced progress SiVenesS of the city and all that, and been long step backward had the council taken unfavorable action but just the same it Is something new in New London. Just what appropria- tion the expenses of the trip will be taken from is not easy to figure out as there is nc special appro priation for expenses of that nature, unless by some little stretch of rule of consent it be. taken frcm the much abused mis- cellaneous fund. The action of the council in this matter is undoubtedly generally approved put would not have been permitted when the so-called old fogies of today had the control Of municipal affairs. A business boom trip of this nature, no matter how good the result, would have been classed as jrnkering trip and such a thing would never happen in those good old days we sometimes hear about and when New London was at standstlll 1 It has been plainly demonstrated of late that there should be an appro- prfation at the disposal of the mayor to meet just such expenses as those incurred in the On to Richmond trip
 and for the proper entertainment or official visitors to the city, as there is no valid reason why the mayor should be expected to foot the bills for the entertainment of the zcltys
 guests, or in doing business that tends to the advancement of the best inter
 ests of the city. There is such fund in other progressive cities. Why not in New London?
 It may not he generally known but 1t is fact ust the same that all curing the summer there has been un-
 usual dullness in the building trades III New London, so much so that maSons
 and carpenters have sought and se-
 cured work in other places and the
 prospects for work of this kind during
 the winter is not encouraging just at
 this time. All this in spite of the fact that first-clasS tenements are remark
 dDly scarce to l1Itu, dS IlI ctN NaiAoOiC
 tenements of this grade are occupied.
 The coming of the operatives and off1-
 cers of the New London Ship and En-
 zine company has increased the de-
 mand for tenements and the increase in the working force of that concern will increase the demand. This means that more houses of a high grade must
 be built in New London to meet the demand, for provision must be made for the large increase in population
 that is sure to come to the city With in the next few years.
 Not many years ago there were
 great many empty tenementS in New
 London. These have all been rented
 and now the construction of> new houses must be commenced and that of course means, activity in the build
 ing trades and the workmen now en-
 gagged in other places will gladly re- spond to the home call.
 There are several so called minor of fees within the gift of the court of
 common council such as pound keep
 erS fence viewers, weiShers inspectors
 of lumber, gauger, tythingmen and the like, all old time town officers, and at
 the first meeting of the present coun-
 cil, it was suggested by an alderman that the tythingmen be cut from the list on the ground that they were
 ancient officers and numbered up the list of city officers. The mayor re-
 minded that sheriffs too, were ancient officers and advised that it would be
 well to proceed cautiously, as it may be that the officers may be required by statutes in town governments, as they certainly once had statutory ex- istence and perhaps that such statutes
 may yet be in force. So the matter of electing tythingmen was deferred
 until next meeting that information re- gard!ng the legal status might be learned
 The duties of the tythingmen in years that have passed in New London were to preserve order in churches during divine service and to make complaint of disorderly conduct, and were looked upon and respected as church consta bles and, strange to re- late, their services were actually re- quired in some of the churches. The tythingmen were usually men who had some duties in connection with the church and were present at all serv- ices, which presence and clothed with legal power had an influence in the preservation of order. It may be that the service of tythingmen may not be required in the churches of today, but