Norwich bulletin., 1911-04-22

George C. Waldo. editor of the Bridge
port Standard, Charles II. Briggs of
Boliver, w. Va, John ELLINGTON. Sac
ramento. CaL, Frank c. Jeffrey of
Greenport, George A. Martiniis, Togus,
Me, John B. Morris of Philadelphia
and William w. Miner of Westville,
Mass. The other survivors not resi-
dents of New London are J.. Alden
Rathbun and Robert P. Wilbur of
Mystic. Edwin o. Chapman of New
York. Joseph A. Burrows of Washing
ton, D.. Mortimer: Lee of Boston.
Another interesting feature of the
reunion of the survivors of the first
company was the getting together. of
two of the comrades. General George
Haven and Lieut.. Colonel Hezekiah B.
Smith. These men served together in
the first company and We're intimates
for years in the mi1itaryase of the
state. but there came a time, about
twenty years ago. when there was
disagreement in matters military, and
the two former friends ssepara ted and.
since then have been bitter opponents
OF each other on every possible oeca-
sion. At the reunion they shook hands
over the bloody chasm and once again
they are staunch friends.
The yachts Of the New York Yacht
club squadron will not give New
London harbor the qoby ON the. annual
urday. Aug. o. and remain in port I'M
til Monday morning and then sail to
the eastward. While in port the yacht
owners will be entertained by Morton
+. Plant, and in appreciation of the
courtesies the yachts of the fleet viii
be dressed in bunting by day and. by
electric lights at night, making ma
rine view that can be painted only by
the presence of the fleet of the New
York Yacht club, the largest in the
United States. The time was when the
Pequet residents and the -townspeople
technic 6iaspiay in honor of the pres
ence of the fleet, which was enjoyed
by the visiting yachfsmen and crews,
the townspeople and many visitors
from Norwich and elsewhere. The
grand illumination of yachts and an
extensive display of fireworks served
as satisfying attraction. to- all visit
ors, this celebration being held on the
first night Of the yachts in port which
would be on Saturday this year, If
there is to. be a repetition of this ex-
hibition of local enterprise. d. 49,.
OF course, there is no Pequot hotel,
with its many guests, but there is
Pequot colony of generous people, and
the Pequot waterfront lawn is still in
tbs same old place and could be. Sc
cured as ain exhibition place for, the
fireworks This celebrat ton is a mat
ter that could not be taken rup by the
court of common council and carried
to 81 .sucCessful issue, as 1t is In a
MEASURE beyond their jurisdiction, as
Il, appropriation of money for such s;ra
occasion uId legally be appropriated
by that body. The project could, how
ever, be Lrt.perly taken UP by. thar
SEMI official tody known as the NEw
London Board Of Trade. that. cares, for
the city's end OF the Yale-Harvard boat
races. 1t is suggested that the. Board
or Trads take the matter under con
si6eration and arrange for a big cele-
bration of this nature when the big
feet of yachts come to port A COM
mlttee formed of members of that body
and acting for the organization would
find generous response from the people
and there would be no difficulty in
raising an ample, fund to provide, for
the biggest celebration. of: 1.-The kind
ever given on the waterfront 1t would
show to the visitors that the city was
not dead, or seyen sleeping. land that
the people Were alive and ready to.
show appreciation of everything that
tended to advance the interests of the
city. s5r
If properly presented, there is no
doubt but generous supporter the cell
ebration would be given blythe guests
of The GrisWold on the opposite side
Of the river, as they could ,senjoy the
display at an even better advantage
than If given on the. lawn of the mag
nif1cent hotel. This is a. matter wor-
thy the considera ton of tl1elBoard of
Trade and is well within the jurisdic-
ton of that organization.
The story of the Installation of Rev.
Giles Buckingham Wilcox as pastor of
the Second Congregational church is
told in a local newspaper as a hap
pening of ffty-two years ago, but
mention is not made that, the sexer-
cises were held in the old wooden edi-
flee that was located on the corner-of
Jay and Huntington streets, and which
was destroyed by fire about forty years
ago. which woulds give the impression
that the handsome granite -adifice., on
the hill was the house of worship at
that time. There have. been fires and
fires in New London, but none inter
ested the firemsn and the people OF
that time more than did the burning of
the Second Congregational church 1t
not only gave the first steam fire en-
gines a practical working out, but. it
gave to the dremen and the rest of
the residents something to talk about
at the time and for years thereafter,
and to this day is talked Of whenever
old fremen get together for a smoke
talk. ~
There. was an epidemic of fires about
that time and french Were suspected
lief was strengthened by the way in
which any particular. company would
run from the Hrehouse direct to- the
fire, knowing the location before the
alarm was sounded, the alarm consist
ing of i general ringing Of church
bells and the street cry of ..Fire,D
There was no general systematic alarm
in those days, and the hose reels were
drawn by hand. for there were no
horse -drawn wagons or self -propelIing
fire apparatus. In this particular fire
suspicion was so strong against mem
bers of a certain fire company that
there was talk. of arrests and the sus-
pected members Were asked to resign
from the company, which. they did with
out protest. 1t was the strong rivalry
to get first water at a. fire which came
to the mind of the enthusiastic fire.
man when under the influence of that
which inebriatess and converted ; the
otherwise good citizen and hard work
ing firemansfnro a firebug. Of course.
this class of firenen, yvere-few in mum
Der. but there We're just enough of
them to bring discredit upon the whole
fire department and-7ti1py were grad
ually weeded out. and in the process
many innocent men were required to
walk the PLANK
The big bell in the belfry of the
Second Congregational church was
silent on the night of that. fire. and
one of the first firemen to reach the
engine house, before a single church
bell sounded the alarm, had the jumper
out of the house and on the way to the
burning church. He knew just where
the fire WAS before starting, and TOLD
his fellow members, to step lively and