The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-08-26
SAUGATUCK RIVER
 FOR HYDRAULIC co.
One Mile of It Will Occupy Bedding Territory Fears
 For the Hull Cemetery.
TWO MILE TUNNEL. AND
 DAM 200 FEET HIGH
Artificial Lake Three Miles Long Which Will Extend In- to Redding-Weston To
 Be Submerged.


 Bedding. Aug 26.-Having acquired possession of a good part of Easton for the purpose of increasing its water storage capacity the Bridgeport lily drauHc Co. is about to enter upon a similar undertaking in the adjoining town of Weston With the inpound- ing and diversion Of the waters of the Saugatuck river as it's object the Weston project rather lays over the other an engineering proposition, for while the latter. comprises a canal as one of it's features the former will have a two mile tunnel through q mountain flor the conveyance of the
 water to the new Easton branch of the system. The plans for linking the Saugatuck river with the Bridgeport water supply were laid out several
 years ago, but son1y recently have steps been taken to carry them into 1 operation Surveyors are now at work
 mapping the territory to be flooded,
 purchases of the land required are being made and it is asserted on seeming gly good authority that the construction or one or both of the two dams to be built will be com menced thds fall.
 The main dam is to extend across
 the deep gorge at the lower end of Valley Forge at or near the old P1att Keeler mill and will have a, height of about 200 feet Through a nearby val 1ey at the east flows a lively trout brook and across this depression les ser dam will be erected. Through the range of high hills rising at the east side Of the valley is to be bored the tunnel which will take the water to the canal that skirts the cem etery near the John Ogden corner in Esas-
 ton. The estimated cost of the pro-
 ject is in the neighborhood of a mill lion dollars.
 The main dam win create the largest pond of the companyss sys- tenn, the submerged section extending northward to the lower end Of the
 Glen, aa distance of more than three
 miles. For mile or so below this point the valley broadens out to a
 wide expanse and comprises the lower part of Sanfordtown. Through the
 valley runs the highway. to Westport and this will goz under water will
 also part of the back road from the east connecting with. it at Buckley s Four Corners. From. the Corners there
 branches in a. southwesterly direction the NorwaIk road which will be wiped out for a distance of only few rods beyond the corner. The obIitera ton Of the roads mentioned will necessi- tate the opening of new thoroughfares from the former Newtown turnpike to the Lyons Plains section of Weston
 and from the foot of the Glen on the
 other side of the valley to connect with the Norwa1k road.
 Besides the name of Valley Forge the district to be submerged bears that
 of The Devils Den.1 It comprises many bits of beautifully picturesque scenery, all Of which will disappear
 except those on the hilltops. At the
 house of pr. Gorham, which is at a
 considerable elevation as compared
 with the site of the dam the water will have depth of twelve feet. or the ponds length of upwards of three miles about one mile will occupy Red- ding territory in the towns south western corner.
 To many families in both towns one probable consequence of the project
 causes no little apprehension and anx- iety this being the. Threatened i'm
 volvement of Hull cemetery in San fordtown. The cemetery is located on ground not very much higher than the adjacent low lying meadows border ing on the river and is believed to be in danger of submersion. If so the
 water company will naturally wish to have the remains of those buried there removed before the tract is flooded and indeed this would be a necessary preliminary to- the flooding. To the living friends O. the cemetery s silent occupants such removal or any violent interference with existing conditions would be most objection able and is likely to be stoutly re- sisted.s George Banks, a native of Bedding and now a wealthy resident of Philadelphia, has declared that he will use every legal means to prevent such an invasion and in that effort there are many ready to cooperate It has been suggested that if the com pany is permitted to raise the water above the cemetery'ss level the ground might be left as it is and protected by the building of a waterproof dike. Included in the land recently bought by the Hydraulic Go. towards the ex- ecution of it's plans is the farm o1 Frank Wheeler Negotiations for nu- merous other tracts are now in pro- gress, Mir. Southey of Westport be Ing one of the oompany's agents in the business. He recently approached | George s. Banks in reference to buy ing the Rufus Gould place which MT. Banks purchased two three years
 ago. supposedly the representative
 of Henry CHa1) Sanford. Mir. Banks
 told MT. Southey that he had no au- thority to act in the matter and re- ferred him to Attorney S. c. Shaw. Ii is conjectured that one reason whict influenced the Hydraulic Co. to make | such a determined effort to secure the l Stephen Sanford property at approxi mate1y it's own figure and a-bandoning
 proceedings when the effort failed was consideration of the effect a more lib era1 policy in that case might have upon the real estate question as af l fecting the Weston situation. This may not be so, but the theory is cer- | tainly a, plausible one.
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