The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-03-11
BENNETT.
 NEW HIGHWAY
 COMMISSIONER
Sketch of His Career Success fui in All His Undertak-
 ingS

Charles J. Bennett, the new highwas commissioner speaks plainly, say l what he means in no uncertain terms
 and is yet a man who. by unconsciou
 tact, wins the friendship and respec l of those he has dealings with Blu 1 35 years old, he is one of the younges ' if not the youngest, highway commis
 sioner in the country, and yet thos
 that have had any business dealins'
 with him express the utmost conf
 dence in his ability to 'thold down the job.
 Mr. Bennett has won a high place 1T the esteem of those with whom he ha.
 been associated in the past. His mat
 ter-of-fact4 way of doing business, his deep interest in his work, his fairness in handling any situation that migh1 arise, and his habit of never giving ar order that he, himself, could not car rY out, and his willingness to work as hard, CT even harder, than any ot the men, have won nin1 the respect oG the men lower down as well as the approval Of those higher up.
 MT. Bennett is an oI ganfzer of abil- ity. is a good executive, looks into the future in his planning, is economical in the way he appor+ions the work to be done, and also is 8 man who orig insteS as well as executes As an
 
 these qualities, with his great nat ural diplomacy, make him a unique man for his new place, in the opinion Of his friends
 Mi. Bennett has always been willing to give ur much of his supposedly informs ton pertaining to problems iil his department. He is a thorough believer in taking the employees in his department into his confidence. If any have any suggestions to offer they are urged to do so, and If the .sug- arg adopted. In this way, in the past the men, under 41im have felt as if they were put on their honor to do their best work.
 It k of course as Hartfords superin- tendent of streets, that Hartford kncrws the new highway commissioner best Three years ago, Frederick L. Lord. now city engineer of New Ea- ven, but then city engineer for Hart ford, was made superintendent of streets and was given the right to have an assistant He selected MT. four weeks before he had made great headway in the department. He ear 1y eliminated politics from the depart ment. As a. result of his efficient work. the board on February 10 1911, when MT. Ford resigned as superin- tendent, unanimously appointed MT Bennett to the position, at salary of $2, 500 a year.
 During his term, he succeeded in a general bracing up of the department, saved the city money by carefully planning the work of the men, and also originated many things. He also the present night cleaning of streets, instituted the flushing or washing of the asphalt pavement, and did away with the old system of TO- tary brooms and hand sweepers. He also has worked up two measures, now ing for the city laying two miles of improved pavement a year without petition of the abutting property own CTS and for the city to be it's own contractor in the laying of sidewalks, curbs and gutters.
 By close application to work he say ed the city thousands of dollars in every year that he was connected with the department and when in 1912, an effort was made to get him to go else where, the board recommended that his salary be increased to $3, 800 a year
 Some idea of the character of the man may be gained from the way he was appointed highway conmis- sioner. The office sought the man, not the man the office. While, of course, he knew his name had been suggest ed to Governor Baldwin he had no hopes of securing the position and, in fact, had taken no steps to do so, On the morning his nomination was sent to the Senate, he received his first intima ton that he was seriously con sidered.
 Within. a ha1f-hour of the time his name was sent into the Senate, he was work, he noticed a man come in and 1 take a seat alongside of his desk. | Looking up, he found the man, who l was Edward s. Thomas, executive sec l retary to the governor, smiling quiz l zica1ly at him. ''I suppose you know what am here for,'' said MT Thom- as.
 'tNo,'' replied MT. Bennett, ssI do not l and, further, I don't know who you are''
 Somewhat surprised, Mr. Thomas re- l piled: Well, I am here to offer you | the highway connmissionership of the state. The governor has looked up l your record and believes that you are the man for the place.
 MT. Bennett inquired as to how long 3 time he was to be given to decide, l and MT. Thomas replied ''Ten min | utes."'
 The upshot of it was that MT Ben l nett accompanied MT. Thomas to the | Capitol, where he had an. interview | with Governor Baldwin. There he in- l luired most carefully as to whether | James 1T. Macdonald, the ex-highway | commissioner had got to go, and the governor assured him that he had. He | a1so assured MT. Bennett that his nom- | nation was perfectly legal. Before | 1e would accept it, however, he stipu-i ated with the governor, that he should | De allowed. to continue as superinten- lent of streets in Hartford until his successor had assumed office, and that | le should be allowed to give what | ,in1e he could to conferring with the from time to time, as vas necessary in order to carry out certain matters now before it. To his the governor readily agreed, and i've minutes later, his appointment as highway commissioner was being read ,efore the Senate. The story of his