The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-02-21

Speaking with one of the largest tax
 payers of the town of Huntington, ! Saturday about the caustic vote of [ lack of confidence in State Highway ] Commissioner J. H. Mcdonald, a re-
 porter of the Ansonia Sentinel asked [ why this was done and received in | substance the following reply: Tt is 1 time some one told the truth about
 this matter and I am glad MT. Birge | offered the resolution. The whole h g. | tory of the good roads, so far as this | town is concerned, has been one gigan- | tic humbug. The commissioner has | seemed to have a spite against the | place and no one here has been able
 to get any satisfaction from him. The condition of Howe avenue, north of BrtGge street, Is a striking commen' aryt
 on the work done here, for which the ! town has paid out its good money. This work was pronounced unfit by the ! contractor who built 1t, and he tried
 hard to have the plans amended but was snubbed for his pains. That he
 was a local man accounts for the road ] being as good as it is, as he exceeded the plans and specifications in order to try and make the road pasSab'e- Then under the directions of the high | way commissioner the road has been | twice oiled. The first time it was a failure, and last season the operation was repeated with glowing promises | Of using better oil and having better
 methods. The result is plain to all.
 
 town was voted with the understand ing that it was to be expended in Howe avenue between Bridge street and the borough line and it is stated that assurances to this effect were re- peated y given by the commissioner. When the improving of the highway of, the commissioner is said to have promised that this should be a portion of his much talked of 'Trunk-lines' and the work pa for out of the funds ! lg-iFN 11l work was really done last year the town was called upon to pay its share for 1t out of the funds appropria ed for work in Howe avenue, supposedly within the borough limits. It is felt that the amount expended on this short stretch of highway was far too much, and there is a feeling here that it was almost entirely for people pass | ing through here in automobiles rather than for any good to the town. The i fact that it is stated on good author i ity that the highway commissio"e" has
 expressed his intention of continu ng | the work to the south, and a belief ! that any money appropriated by the 1 town would go for that purpose is in my orinion, one of the biggest factors i in Friday nights action. In fact that vote rightly expressed the opinions of
 the people of Huntin- ton when it said they have no confidence in the judg- ment of the highway comm isst oner." When J. A. Birge, the offerer of the resolution was spoken with concerning
 
 it was time some one protested against the way things were going and as no
 one else said anything, I thought I | would
 As a matter of fact the condition of Howe avenue north Of Pridge street has Teen a matter of much com-ment, and it is acknowledged by all that it was in far better shape beFore the | large amount of money was expended to macadamize its surface than it is at the present time. It was very good ! --f, A1,1 replacing of the gravel by crushed stone has not proven a success thus far. Attempts have been made to have Commissioner Macdonald visit | the place and suggest a remedy from
 prevail ing conditions, but thus far to no avail, and these things combined
 with the very general indignation over | the South End matter undoubtedly | led to the action of Friday night. | A gentleman, who Is in close touch with st ate matters, said this morning | that he thought one reason for the | alleged neglect and unsatisfactory treatment of Huntington, bv the state highway commissioner, might be trac- | ed to the actions of the Selectn1en of the town. He said he had been in Hartford or at least three occasions, when the commissioner had invited ! the SC ec+men of the various towns to consult with him concerning the road
 work, and on none of these occasions did he see any representative of the i local selectnen present. He said tr at while other towns kept hammering away at the commissioner for wo. k they wanted done Huntington did nothing of the kind, Tut after making
 the wants of the town known the se- . lectm men let the commissioner severely 1 alone. Commenting on this a gentle man of this place said: ''To my mind this defense, if it was intended as sII-h ! for the commissioner was making the
 case against him the worse. That it | shou be necessary for selectmen of the town to metaphoricalIy go down on their knees to the "Czar of the | highways is something that should