Norwich bulletin., 1915-10-16
NEW LONDON'S NEW OFFICIALS
Republicans Named in Place of the Democrats-Mayor
 Rogers Policy Applauded-FIe Commissioners Please.

Mayor Ernest E. Rogers has taken the reins of the New London. city gov ernment in hand and promises to glvs the people a real business admintstra- | ton, and his many friends hope that | he will bc able to stick close to his text. In his inaugural he set forth the policy and the council members and the readers of newspapers applauded ! the sentiment expressed therein. It | with essential, of course, to comply with the declared wish of the majority of the voters. to put none but mem | oers of the dominant party on guard, and this was done to nicety, and without regard to the length of party membership, in at least one instance. After placing all the departments of the city under republican control, I Mayor Rogers announced that politics | should be eschewed for the rest of the municipal year, and that the court of common council and the mayor should work in unison for the advancement for all that was good for the advance ment of the city.
 According to custom, the democrats holding paying offices were ousted and the republicans they succeeded were put back into their old places, with l the exception of building inspector and city physicians. new republicans being chosen for these offices. The selection of the standing committees l showed the mayors good judgment and the republican majority in recog- milton of the long and efficient service of Alderman Richard M. Crockett elected him to be senior alderman. and acting mayor in the absence or inabil- I1ty of the mayor, or for other reason unable to attend to the duties of the office.
 Mayor Rogers showed most excel lent judgment in his selection of the fire dePartnent oomittee, or fire com missioners, and will perhaps see to it that each member of the committee receives the customary gold badge of office, at the expense of the city they serve. It so happened that by some hook or crook there are three mem bers of the council who are not con nected in some way with the member 1 ship of the fire department, and he named this trio, Aldermen Sherman, Murray and. Cook as that committee. 7 Surely competent committee who will attend to the business of the de- 7 partment for the best interest of the public, but perhaps in no better way i than most of the committees that have gone before. However. it was a f good move on the part of the mayor and both he and the committee will F soon be convinced that all that gilt : ters is not gold and that things are 7 not always what they seem.
 There is a feeling in the department that there has been partiality shown , by former, committees in the matter oi , l supplies to the several companies, and ] that for the past few years one cer- . tain company had the call over all others as the chairman of the fire committee was a member of that par ticular company. This new committee I will soon find out the fallacy of such feeling and that as matter of fact hxr rfac Of fhok -nl1 l.. v the company received less attention in
 that regard than any of the seven
 that compose the department. The Y committee will also learn that despite n the hints of graft, that the department
 has received a better grade of supplies
 and for less money than ever before a by purchasing through a local agent : for fire supplies, even if that agent Q happened to be the foreman of one o1 h the fire companies.
 n The reduction of the membership oI |. the fire department to three from five s is another good move, and had thi: d plan prevailed much of the present Q jealousies, based on fancy rather thar e on fact, would never have come into = existence, there would be no semb,
 lance of that rule or ruin policy in thu g committee, and all would have beer . harmony. the city reaping the benefit = What the volunteer fireman can d. V was demonstrated at the Goldsmith n building fire last Tuesday night wheI O only the roof of the wooden struetur B. was burned and the fire kept confined f in comparatively small space. Whili e on this subject. just few lines il q explanation. The F. l.. Allen Hool if and Ladder company was the onl,
 company of the entire department tha n did not respond to the fire alarm witt |! its accustomed alacrity. The loca
 newspapers gave as a reason that tn |" horses secured by the fire committe 1t to draw the apparatus had been takel y away from the Harvey stable and sta .- bled in Belden street, half a mile dis 1t tant from the truck house. Which i
 not true As a matter of fact tn
 horses selected to draw the hook am ,r ladder truck are owned by the F. H n and A. H. Chappell company and sta l. bled within two hundred feet of tn
 truck house. The horses with drive responded to the first toot of the fir
 alarm. whistle and were at the fir
 house before the alarm thad com.
 pleted the first round. The horse
 and driver were in front of the house
 when Assistant Chief Engineer Goldi
 came running along to get to the fire
 He opened the doors~ and the horse
 were hitched to the apparatus and tn 5 driver on the seat ready to make tn
 run but the driver. who is new at th
 til some member of the truck com
 pany arrived to give him directioni
 Therefore the delay in the truck |
 arriving at that fire was, not up to tn
 chairman of the fire committee as in T timated in the local newspapers. Ha
 the driver known Assistant Chief Col
 die and followed his instructions tn
 hook and ladder truck would hay
 been at the fire just as quickly as an
 of the other horse drawn fire appar
 atus, as usual.
 But these conditions will be eharc
 cd, now that there is new fire com
 n1ittse and the truck company is t
 have a motor-driven apparatus of it
 own selection. unless this new com
 mittee butts in and insists that 1t hay
 something to say in relation to the -se
 lection and purchase of fire apparatu
 as the city charter provides that 1
 such cases where an excess of $3C
 Is to be expended. bids must be advel
 tised for; this in spite even Of an
 nasty action taken by a city meetinl
 The fire committee is, responsible |
 the citizens for their action and 1t
 therefore their duty to act for tn
 Icity's best interests. In this partiC
 nlar inEtanca the city meeting vol