Middletown transcript., 1915-10-09
Written for the Trascriptl
A FORMER EDITOR

nc OhiJOoANOAs ~ AAAJ AA@eN
rticle which appeared in the Transcript
ept. 25th, referring to the paper under
IS present management, l intended to
ay that it had put The Transcript on
Easy street" The typewriter made
t EAST Street, and the intelligent
changed it to"Main street..
This is literally true, but it will be OBJ
served that twas Moreau Bros. who put
The Transcript on "Main street. some
twenty-seven years ago; it remained
for the present Editor to put the paper
on Easy street. F"
When it was suggested to the Editor
that write something for the paper
about Middletown, a bystander spoke up
and said Give 'em a rub about the
brick sidewalks. " prefer not to tell
the people of Middletown how to run
their affairs. That is the job of the
local editors and have no inclination
to butt in. The sidewalk question was
a live issue when lived in Middletown
and it probably is yet. l have had eX-
perience as Town Commissioner and
know what the Commissioners are up
against. 1t is probably true that the
people in every town kick about side
walks. If Middletown has the same old
walks as she had twenty-seven years
ago it is because majority of people is
satisfied with them. Here is a sugges-
tion; If our friend who made the re-
mark about the sidewalks has a piece
of property in town, let him set good
example by laying nice, up-to-date
concrete walk in front of it. 1t will be
fine object lesson and my observa-
ton goes to prove that he will soon find
lot of imitators. Ancient Rome is
said to have been kept clean by the
simple expedient of every man sweep
ing in front of his own domicle.
When we came to Middletown d. l..
Dunning kept the post Office and a sta
tionery store in the center store of the
Town Hall block. Marion Hardcastle
kept store in the uptown store, and
do not remember who was in the other
store. had quite a time in finding
the Town Hall block. Saw it from g
side street, but when got back or
Main street it seemed to have disap.
peared. 1t finally dawned upon me
that the old building had new front
A great improvement. If l may be
pardoned the suggestion, a lotmore new
fronts are needed on Main street, in Mid
dletown. There is nothing like put
ting up good 'front.'" whether it is il
business, in social life, or just store
front.
The water works were built during
the time Moreau Bros. were in Middle
town, and The Transcript was a strong
advocate of the improvement. The
fire company was also organized sooI
after the completion of the water work.
the junior member of the firm taking
an active part in the new company. Al
outside concern soon after this put il
an electric light plant, to which was at
tached the fire alarm whistle referred
to in my last letter. | am informed
that the town now owns the electri
plant, which is good thing thing.
While we were in Middletown Their
was much talk about a railroad t
Odessa. On a subsequent visit som
ten years ago noticed that trolle,
was in operation. On my recent visit
noted that the tracks had vanished an
the trolley was no more. 1t did not pay.
did not wonder so much at this last as
did when | first saw the trolley. Tn
men who induced capitalists to pu
money in such an enterprise, to connec
towns of this size must have had stron
powers of persuation, l was told b
one of the citizen that he Main stree
had never been in good condition sine
the trolley tracks We're taken up. A
we landed at the station we were obli(
ed to decline very pressing invitatio
to take a ride in the Odessa jitne,
Jitney service seems to be the solutic
of the problem of travel between Mi,
dletown and Odessa. Way back in IL
time when the Delaware railroad WI
built, the Odessa people made the mi
take of their lives when they steer,
the railroad away from their town in
effort to conserve their shipping inte
ests. The result was Middletown, whlt
never would have been on the map Il
size it is if it were not for the railroa
} Smyrna did the same thing, and Cla
is a consequence similar to Middleton
We have a town in similar case in o
own county two miles from a railroa
which makes 1t a long ways fro
everywhere. The Odessa man | rec,
lect most distinctly at this writing
Joseph L. Gibson, who at the time
was in Mlddletown was Cashier of t
Odessa bank. He is now living In M
dletown. | should like to have Sc
t him. He is an affable gentleman and Q
r relations were always very pleasant.
When l lived in Middletown Bro
street was built up no further than I
Hoffecker residence, and the home
S E. R. Cochran at that time Clerk
e the Peace, seemed to be way out
town. Now 1t seems right in tov
Handsome residences reach almost
the way to it; and the time may not
IS so very far off when Old st. Ann
/ will be within the corporate limits
IS Middietown.
n | prefer Freehold. N. j.. to MidC