The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-10-01
BEDDING RESIDENTS . CLOSE CALL FROM
 SURGEONS KNIFE
Annual Town Meeting Next Monday to Discuss Ques-
 ton of Roads.
SENATOR PICKS CANDIDACY WAS
 BEGUN TOO LATE
Mrs. Stephen Sanford Enter tains Elderly Ladies at House Party = Jonathan Sanford's Place Sold.
Ry our special correspondent1

| | Redding, Oct. 1.[Had L. O. Peck
 been earlier in the field as a. candidate
 he would doubtless have received
 renomination from the Democratic convention of the 24th senatorial dis l trict, held on Monday in Dangbury. As | it was he lost to x-Representative l Samuel L. Stevens of Danbury the 1 formal ballot being. twelve, to eleven in the latter's favor with one vote for l sBedient of Ridgeheld. At the recent Danbury primaries MT. Stevens name
 appeared on the ticket as a preferen- l ttal candidate for senator and was the l only 0ne so voted for. While this en-. dorsement had no binding effect on the
 delegates it gave MT Stevens a cer-
 tain technical advantage Aside from that his success was mainly due to the
 zea1ous efforts in his behalf put forth by Attorney Charlie Murphy. The latter himself was a seeker for the
 senatorial nomination two years ago and his convention defeat by MT. Peck
 at that time evidently ranked and gave impetus to the fight he waged to compass the Reddtng mans defeat this year. Of the Danbury delegates 1 Stevens had five and Peck three. Ridgeheld's four gave ex-Representa- tive Bedient their votes on the infor- maI ballot. It Is said that the under
 standing was that all should change to Peck on the next ballot. Three of l. T mainine one, again voted for Bedient and thereby tipped the scales in favor of Stevens. On both ballots the four Redding delegates voted for AGr. Peek Whether his eleventh vote came from Bethel BrookheId, sherman or New Fairfield did not appear. but on the first ballot these supported MT. Ste yens, having been corraIled for him
 before MT Peck actively entered the race.
 Features of the convention proceed ings were the adrnirab1e nominating
 speeches made by D. s. Sanford for Peck and by MT Byrnes for Bedient. | made unanimous. Tn the last 1egi@1a- ture he supported all his partyss meas ures and otherwise made an excellent record. He is a young man in the tWenties. by occupation 8 matter and in his own town at least Is expected to prove a winning vote getter. At the same lime conditions In the district are less favorable for Democratic suc- cess than they weer two years ago by reason of the fact that the Progress give party had 8 candidate of their own in the field while this year they have formally endorsed BisseII, the Republfcan candidate. Why they should do so is one of the mysteries. as BisseH is c1assed as representa- tive Of the odtous Republican machine and therefore stands for everything obnoxious to the Progressive princi- pIes Despite the endorsement 1t may safely be asserted that Mir Peck would have received large share of the Progressive vote and there is no good reason why it should not go to MT. Stevens. The district was carved out with the intention of making 1t safely Republican and the purpose succeeded so well that MT. Peck was the first Democrat to carry it in period of p years.
 The call for the annual town meet ing on Monday next includes no spe- cial measures to be acted upon at the business session except the proposi- ton that a vote of approval be given to the change Of location of the new bridge built in Georgetown during the year. Should the meeting decide to fix the tax rate instead of deferring action until after the new grand list ] lis made up the rate will probably be twelve mills, the same as last year. Anything less would mean g balance 1 on the wrong side between income and outgo There will be no action regard ing an appropriation for state roads, but the town has yet to pay it's one quarter share towards the cost of the new Georgetown road, the amount be- ing approximately $2.0o0. There must also be met quite 9. heavy bill for the ] repair outlays on the ten miles on i state roads. The $26e paid during the | past year on this score represents only 1 minor details, the main burden of ex- pense being a matter of future ac- counting. There is a disposition on | the part of the public to wince slightly l at the present weight of taxation. l While the rate is not so high the in 1 crease in assessment va1uationa has l the effect Of unpleasantly swelling tax l bills and the tendency continues in a
 
 ditures last year were between $28, 900 | and $29; 000 Gut down expenses is the | cry of the complaining citizen, but | when asked to specify in what depart ment this can be done without detri- | ment to the public interests he is at a loss for an answer. As a. last desper- Ate resort some are disposed to favor a return to the contract system for road repairs, urging that in this way there can be effected saving Of per haps $2,060 a year. They realize, how ever, that this surface economy would really prove costly, and gives cause f for regret because the contract sys- tenn has been thoroughly tried out in the past and rejected as unsatisfac- tory. At Mondays meeting the advo- cates of the contract, the supervision and the selectnen systems will prob ably all be heard from. In general the situation may be summed up in the statement that while our roads are costing a good deal they are not as good as they should be or as good as they might be if full value was re- ceiyed for the money expended But the remedy? That's the point.
 F. P. Sanford, when asked about the truth of the report that he had de- cided to build 8 residence and business plant on thesfx acres reserved in the sale of his own and his mothers prop erty in Pleasant Valley to the water company, said: That is not true. I am now considering offer for the purchase of my meat business and if the deal goes through, shall prob ably remove from town. If 1t does not