The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-08-24
TWO CLOSE CALLS
 IN AUTO MiSHAPS
 IN BEDDING TOWN
Citizens Discuss Plans for Gel ebration With a
 Pageant.

Bedding. Aug. 24-The plan of holding a historical pageant next year to commemorate the settlement of Bedding is very much in the embryo stage as yet and may or may not take definite form and grow to accomplish ment. Unlike many other Connecti- cut towns, Bedding was not settled by a detachment from an older Colonial body but by the occasional incoming of single families. It had its munich pal beginning not as a town but as a parish, its lower part being set off from Fairfield under the latter desig- nation in 1729. Of the upper portion an Indian chief whose habitat was in the hometown section, had a sufficient degree of ownership to have the va lidity of the land deeds he gave acknowledged by the General Court predecessor of our present legislature, although the court itself sold at auc- ton, in 1722, all which had not pre- viously been disposed of. The court made its first individual sale from the upper portion in 1887 and the next in 1700. Bedding did not attain town ship dignity until May, 1767, when the General Assembly passed the act of incorporation. So that while no single one of the episodes mentioned is de- terminative in fixing the time of set clement, the year 1917 is as good as any to select as one boundary of hun dred year periods representing as it does a fair average between the earlier and later dates of significance. When 1867 comes around there will proba- bly, be a celebration of the bicentenary of incorporation, but this is an event too remote to arouse present interest.
 If a settlement celebration is held Putnam Park will naturally be one of the main places of interest and per haps the scene of the chief features of the pageant. There may include to some degree a reproduction of the log and earth huts and other conditions attending the encampment of General Putnam's army therein the winter of 1778-79. The march of the British troops across Bedding Ridge on April 26, 1777, might also be re-enacted in cluding the lunch which Squire Her ron gave General Tryon and staff on his premises adjoining the Episcopal church. The suggestion is made that
  settlement times,, the Revolutionary period and modern times, and that Charles Burr Todd, Reddings histor- ian, plan the representations for the first, Albert Bigelow Paine for the second, and Dora Read Gooda1e for the third. All three authors are iden- tified with the town.
 A head-on collision between autos r. TYy1. serous consequences than might have been expected. James Driscoll was driving towards his home for dinner on the cross road which intersects the state highway and coming up the lat ter thoroughfare was Walter Sterling driving Samuel Miller's car. Thinking that Sterling would keep straight ahead Driscoll steered to the left at the corner. At the same instant Ster- ling also turned towards him and the both running at fair rate of speed, met in a violent crash. Dris- coll was tossed into the air and landed in the roadway at distance of 20. feet from his machine. The shock rendered him unconscious, but his bodily injuries consisted only of se- were cuts and bruises. Sterling retain ed his seat and escaped unhurt. Both cars were badly damaged, the. Cadil- lac rather more than the lighter ma chine.
 Another auto accident which might have turned out much worse than it did, occurred on Great Hill west of the Ridge on Sunday afternoon. Jo- seph Adams, truck gardener of Westport, was part way up the hill in a Ford delivery car, another man be- ing on the front seat with him, and his two boys on, the rear seat, when his gas gave out. He undertook to back down the hill, but the brakes worked and his companion alight- ed and tried to arrest thee ar's de- scent by blocking the wheels with stones. A-<moment later the car swerved and plunging down the bank was completely overturned with Mir. Adams, then it's sole occupant, under heath. John Tucker and others gave their efforts and suc- ceding in fighting the machine and extricating MT. Adams. He was severely bruised firm the squeez- ing he had received, but his hurts proved not to be, serious. P. Britt Nash conveyed the party back to Westport in his car and later under took to repair the damaged car.
 In the discussion before the Mems club last week on improved methods of town finance ex-Senator Bissell, told of the experience of his town with a finance committee charged with the duty of making estimates of for the information of the annual town meeting. He said the system worked well in Ridgefield as an aid to intelligent action regarding and the tax rate but that in the last analysis responsibility rested with the voters whose indiffer- ence might make the committees work of little avail. He also said that he saw no reason why the selectmen could not do the work now done by the special committee. Ex-Selectman w. c. Sanford spoke on the subject of this towns indebtedness. He said that 25 years ago it was about $24,OOO and despite efforts to reduce and f1uc- tuations it remained at approximately the same figures. It was now, how ever, relatively less owing to the large increase in the grand list. Fx-Select- man Barnes expressed the opinion that if the town were to have a finance committee it should include the se-