The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-12-18
BIDDING ASSESSOR SURPRISES BY HIS
 TWISTED MEMORY
Ien's Club to Be Useful and Agreeable Without
 'Splashing.

BsSorS have included in their roundSs of taxable property the building nd land owned by Bedding Grange hese did not appear on last yearos bstract and no taxes were paid on hem although they did figure in the rand list of the previous year Con. squentIy an explanation was sought V Assessors Pickney and Burr from heir associate, Albert Gorham, who esides being the veteran member of. he board, has served several terms s Grange master MT. Gorham pro-. seded to explain that after the prop rty had been listed in 1913 the se- ectmen abated the taxes upon it on he ground that the Grange library Eas a public library within the mean rlg of the law and therefore, exempt rom taxation. They made a like s1Iing in regard, to the Mark. Twain library. Feeling assured that. the al- ggad decision as to the Gange prop, srty was wrong Messrs- Pinkney and Burr proceeded to make outsa list for despite MT. Gorham's $ protest The la.ct that the list subsequently, disap- Deared is an incident of no great moment as the paper may have been nnis1aid and a new one can easily be prepared. A general inquiry into the main facts however, showed that Mr. Eorham's recol1ections in regard to Ihenn were wholly at fault. Messrs Read, Barnes and Stocking, the 191 3 selectmen.S unite in saying that they did not abate the taxes. on the Grange property and were not asked to do SO. They even hesitated to grant the Abatement asked for the Mark Twain library although the reasons for it were oversw helming as compared with those in favor of the Grange library. Fsdrtherrnore charge for the Grange - T-.- -T~-- of 1913 with an entry showing that khey were paid. Naturally no entry roncerning them appears on the rate book of last year when MT. Gorham was the ruling spirit of the assessors board
 Soon after Christnas a meeting will be held to forward the organization of Men's club, the plan being to Invite to the conference from 25 to 30 citizens representing all the towns sections and churches. At the same time. according to one of the leaders in the movement, it is to be in no sense church organization but a purely civic body animated by social and get-together purposes. When asked if the club was intended to re- v4ve the Protective League under another name the citizen referred to said they did not purpose attempting so much splash He added: t.Spe4 ciaca1ly what we shall try to do cannot now say. That will be mat ter of natural evolvement sprfnging from good intentions directed, I hope, by inteI1igence- We shall not aspire to upset things or make the com xnunity over but shall end eavor to be useful as well as agreeable. There are activities tending to the public welfare that such q body can prop erly engage in. but which if under taken by a single individual might cause him fo be looked upon as a busy-body or crank. For one thing we are likely to arrange for occa- sfonal stereopticon lectures on sub 5ects having a popular appeal and plenty Of other desirable schemes wi1Ip robabIy suggest themselves as we go along
 A suit has been brought by Ei F. Sanford against John F. Jennings, of Romano, Cal, to recover the amount of taxes that were unpaid upon the store property in West Red ding which the plaintiff bought from the defendant about the 1st of last January. MT. Jennings gave in the conveyance a warranty deed, thereby guaranteeing. the property to be free of encumbrance. Subsequently,, as MT. Sanford sets forth in his com plaints he learned that the taxes for 1914, due in October preceding the sale and amounting to $71.5O, were still unpaid. To prevent the placing of a lien he paid the bill himself and now seeks to collect from the former owner who has refused to make good. A horse and harness represented as belonging to the defendant and now in the possession of NJ J.. Trowbridge of Bethel, was attached in the action. The case is down for a hearing before 2 local Justice on Monday next.
 To the great disappointments of the members of the Center Congregational church Rev Francis T. BatcheIler has declined the unanimous call recently extended him to become their pastor They supposed his acceptance was a foregone conclusion and so it proba- bly, would have been. but for the strong pressure brought to bear upon by his present charge in TaIcottviIIe to remain where he is, this pressure being exercised through a unanimous vote of the church reinforced by UT gent individual appeals He has held the pastorate for seven years and his previous pastorate covered a period Of IT years Pending the engagement of a. regular pastor Rev M Stewart will continue the chief supply for the Center church.
 At the meeting last week of the Episcopal church vestry Rev George Gilbert of MiddIetown gave an ac. count of the work he was doing tc stimulate by the aid Of social meth ods, religious interest in the country { districts outside his par1sh.s This campaign he carries on mostly ir school houses where there are held dances. games and various other di. versions as an Introductory and ac. quaintance forming means prelinin. ary to the subsequent holding of ser. vices These efforts had been pro. ducttve of highly encouraging re suits Mr. Gilbert expressed the be. lief that it would be an excellent thing to revive the oIdtirne social GUS. toms such as husk1ng, quitting and spelling bees and singing schools il which everybody might participate ir spirit of reaq democracy.
 Lorenzo B. lNicho1s, well knowr