The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-04-30

for their attendance. These who have
 raised the bugbear of the expense of holding g. town meeting should remem-
 Der that it Is very small in compari- son with the $500 appropriated for a
 superficial survey of the town for sew CTS which is of no practical benefit. It is possible that that more town
 meetings at even the inflated expense would be a benefit.
 STAR CHAMBER. MAKES
 TAXPAYER INDIGNANT. Board of 'SeIectmen and Board of Education Little Secret Societies.
 Editor Bridgeport Farmer:
 Stratford, April 30. Dear Sir:-I have lived in Stratford
 about year and I have often won dered why we never see anything about the doings of the selectmen, or the Board of Education in the news- papers. I lived in Bridgeport and | moved to Stratford to get a home of my own. I see accounts of every
 meeting of the Common Council and | of the Board of Education there in all
 the newspapers and there is a big howl when any of the boards hold a secret session. The Farmer is tho only paper which ever makes any eff fort to let us know what is going on OIlICldI C1TCl0S. Is not the puD11C allowed to attend the meetings of the selectmen and the Board of Educa- tion? If the meetings are open why don't we ever get any reports of them in the papers? When have asked old residents about it they say that Stratford." / Now, what I want to know is if this whole town is run on the star chamber plan and If the se- lectmen and other committees who as- 'sume all the authority have a right to shut themselves up and do public
 business without allowing the public who pay the bills to know what they are doing have lived here a year and I never heard of a meeting of the Board of Education. Do they ever have any regular meetings and if they do when and where?
 TAXPAYER AND PARENT. It is no wonder that the air of se- crecy which surrounds all public bus mess in this town has surprised a resident who has been accustomed to open meetings with newspaper com ment on all public matters. The town school committee which is generally dignified by. the title "Board of Edu- cation'' has always denied the press any information except such as suited its members to divulge. It has re- sented questions of public interest as impertinent and has assumed to dic-
 tate just what should and should not be published. It has been the cus- tom of correspondents in the town to
 submit to this dictation without 8
 murmur rather than incur the i'll will of the officials who boast that they
 can stop any story and put the cor respondent in bad by calling up the office and roasting him. One or two such experiences usually cures a re- porter of attempting to do anything startling and he drops back into the old way, picks up a few items Jim Jones' fence and Jane Hawkins visi- tors from out of town and lets it go at that. He draws the same money and incurred the i'll will of the ruling persons. By making himself promi- nent he. as mark for the resent ment of the officials who will make it unpleasant for him in many ways and perhaps expensive if he has property
 to pay taxes on or Is affiliated with any order which takes hand in poli- tics. It is not the policy of the gov ernment of Stratford to answer any questions.
 Owing to a clash in dates Prof.
 Shaw has been obliged to change the day evening of this week and the
 place to Redmen's hall which he as- sures his pupils he has secured for that evening. This will not detract one whit from pleasure of the Occa- sion and the demand for invitations assures a large attendance.
 The ladies of Christ church guild will hold rummage sale at the town
 hall on Thursday from 10 a. m. till 2 D. m., where the general public may rummage to its hearts content. George O. Lines has disposed of
 chased for the Dingbat clubs star night attendance at the performance of the Milk Inspector at Polls to. night After the show the 60 ticket holders will sit down to the tables at the Stratford Inn where feed ed. Stratford night promises to be
 the star performance of the ''Milk Inspector as far as enthusiasm and attendance is concerned.
 Stratford contributed its share of performers at the entertainment of
 Mary Silliman chapter, D. A. R., at Warner hall in Bridgeport last night. "An Evening with Dickens" was the attraction and the following were seen in prominent parts: Mrs. w. B. Bristol, Harold Bristol, Arthur Pow ell, George Powell and Harry Brown. Charles w. Blakeslee jumped over a fence on Strawberry Hill one morn ing last week and straddled the big gest black snake ever seen in this town. The snake was about twenty feet long and seemed to De dormant. Blakeslee believed that he had at last captured "Old Tom'' the historic ser pentine monster which has been seen by many residents on different occa- sions during the last century. He brought endorsements with the inten
 tion of capturing the old fellow alive and placing him on exhibition. A concerted movement brought out the prize from it's shelter in the bushes but it did not move. "Old Tom" was a twenty foot length of discarded gar den hose.
 Miss Lillian Flynn of California street, was very pleasantly surprised Saturday evening by the appearance of a large number of her friends. The evening was spent playing games, etc. Music was rendered by some of the talented guests from Milford, Strat- ford and Bridgeport. A very fine luncheon wes served after which the guests enjoyed an auto ride to Mill ford. Among those present were: Lillian Flynn, Carrie Dumraese, Anna Van Hacht, Isabella Clapp. Agnes Kel- ley. Edna Wilcox, Marion Oviatt. Mary Ryan, Gladys Merwin, Marguer- ite Robinson, A. c. F1ather, Daniel Turney, Lawrence Molloy, Paul Bren- dle, Walter Berger, Howard Richmond, William OMalley, Percy Morton, John w. Barr.
 Large cape collars of lace, reach ing almost to the waist behind, are ef- fectively used to soften the short taf-