The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-02-21
BRIDCEP0RT'S
MARVELLOUS
DEVELOP
It's Remarkable Growth No
ticed By Alert Newspaper
of City of Films

Today's New Haven Journa1-Cour-
Ter has the following to say OF the
marvellous growth of Bridgeport that
viii be read with interest.
bridgeport is a, fast growing city
growing in wealth and population
rapidly and growing @marvelously in
it's manufacturing establishments.
Whether it is growing in grace is not
so certain but the assertion made not
long ago in one quarter that is is "the
wickedest city in Connecticut must
be set down as a base fabrication.
'tBut Bridgeport's growth in size
has been amazingly rapid Fifty
years ago it was nowhere IN comparl-
son with Hartford. It was then
measly little town and wholly refrain
ed from putting on airs. 1t had little
to boast of except P. T. Barnum and
the great Snowman hadn't begun then
to reach the zenith of his fame as
phflanthropist and promoter OF
Bridgeport's prosperity. OF course it
size itself up and it's possibilities and
was greatly melted thereto by the
establishment lin it's midst" of two
great sewing machine factories that
became widely famous.
I'm those self-same fifty years. how
ever, Bridgeport has improved and
other city in the state Tt has
achieved and made good, and chiefly
as a manufacturing center. Its man
ufacturing establishments are notably
numerous and many Of them of large
size. Go almost anywhere in that
city and one sees new factories IN
process of erection, also new and COM
Portable looking homes, half dozen
or even a dozen at a time, in some
places. The city is spreading out in
every direction except where the wa
tiers of it's harbor and Long Island
Sound are a bar to further building
progress.
.fFIne homes that were a few years
ago on the outskirts have now become
central DrODertv, Its largest ana
most important and populous GENE
terry few years ago quite distant
in the country, is now almost sur
rounded by attractive homes, the in
tervening space of g. few years ago
now no longer pasture land but thick
rapid growth is apparent out Fairfield
avenue, on the main road to Fairfield
and in East Bridgeport which now
has spread out until 1T laps on tc
Stratford and it is difficult to discern
where Bridgeport ends and Stratford
begins.
'FAs . city of manufactures Bridge
port is doing stunts and some day II
will perhaps even more closely ap-
preach New Haven in this respect
than it does now. Also all along Fair
Bees the lower part of dwellings in
process of conversion into stores.
But Bridgeport sadly lacks fine
buildings and has nothing to boast in
comparison with Hartford's Capitol
and the pa1atia1 insurance buildings
of the latter city and it does not be-
gin to compare with New Haven in
this respect The vast array Of Yale
university's noble and imposing struc-
lures sets New Haven in a class by
itself, to say nothing of its great new
marble county court house, its free
public library and the various inpoS-
ing new structures built for banking
and mercantile purposes.
Even Bridgeport's fine large new
hotel is dwarfed in comparison with
New Ravens great Taft hosiery and
the plain unadorned exterior of the
StratfieId fades into the common place
! in comparison with the Taft's frontage
| exterior on Chapel and College SITS
But some DAY en1erprlslng Br1ogepor1
progress in this respect also