Norwich bulletin., 1916-06-09

rons, where it was hard for him to see his hand before him.
 Norwich Is indebted to the late A1- ba F. smith largely, for it's water ays- tenn. He resided in beautiful place on the Scotland road, afterWard oc- cupied by Dr. Rowland It was due to his initiative and untiring energy that what we now call sFaifvieU was brought into existence, and since then the addition of Stony Brook not to mention the famous "Bog Meadow leaves us care-free as to an abundant supply of excellent water. MT Smith was a man Of commanding presence. the first president of the water board and Is kindly remembered by many of the older residents of Norwich
 TaftviIIe Prosperous Community.
 Taftville has come to be the teenl- ing and prosperous community of the present day and it's growth has been marvellous. It seems misnomer to style it a village for it contains an important portion of the towns pop ulation and is an important element in the business and social life of Norwich.
 Mir. Burlke's wonderful memory brings to mind ThamesviIle in the days when the Mftchelis and .. M. Huntington had two or three rolling mills in that thriving village These were busy days. at high wages in that community, and the beautiful houses on the east side of Thames street. on the hill, were many, if not all of them, built by John Mitchell and his broth CTS. Thamesville ran down for a per- iod of years, and little was doing there in the way of manufactures. At present, with the Cutlery, the Ameri- can Strawboard Co, the power house of the Shore Line Electric Railway and other smaller enterprises it is one of the city's busy spots. and will become of even greater importance upon the construction and operation of the new woolen mill, recently or ganfzed. MT. Huntington, like Mir. Mitchell, was one of the most ener- getic of our business men and under Co.,, was associated with Theodore Raymond, formerly living in the house on Broad street now owned by i Arthur H. Brewer, Esq, in the West India trade, their offices and Ware~ house being on Commerce street. run | ming through to their wharf in the I rear of the store.
 At the time this firm was in bugi- ! ness, they had a number of vessels l trading directly with Porto Rico. car be saleabie there, or sailing in ba1- | last, if a cargo were wanting, and re- | turning to Norwich, with molasses, sugar, bay-rum, and the like. The old ''brig George" which had British register and flew the Union Jack would | lie at the Huntington wharf for what seemed a great length of time in load 1 ing and unloading, and one's mouth waters at the remembranee of the molasses-sugar found c1inging to the inside of the casks some two inches | thick and easily removed by a short | length of barrel -Stave and still more easily conveyed to the mouth, with highly satisfactory results. After Mr. Huntington's demise, Mfr. Ray mond associated with him in the bus mess, Jonathan Trumbu1l, long the genial librarian of the Otis Library, who made several voyages to the West kIndies on their vessels, and can tell many highly interesting anecdotes re- garding his experiences in the islands. and of their many primitive or pecu- liar customs.
 | Trolley convenienees.
 II We are all inclined at times to
 kick at our present trolley system and it's service, and perhaps in some instances, with some degree of 5ustifi- cation, but when one lets the mem
 have written, our present facilities for travel are as Pullman car to a Wheelbarrow.
 In those days, should you desire to go to Willimantic, seventeen miles dis- tant, and did not care to drive over
 some of the most ezecrabIe roads in
 existence--in the spring and winter
 merely roads in name-you were left
 to the tender mercies of the New Lion- don Northern Railroad, where. if the
 engine steamed" all right and you
 were not obliged to lay out too long
 for a freight, which seemed to have
 the right of way, and, in addition, it
 did not take the fireman and his as-
 sistant at the station, if one appeared
 on the scene. to wood up" the en-
 zine at South Windham, wood beina
 the fuel at that time, you were req
 sonably sure to arrive in time to at- tend to a small amount of business
 and all for the modest sum of seV-
 enty cents, and your return home al
 night was subject to like vicissitudes
 This was then the only railroad fe New London, as well; the single train Irun by the Norwich and Worcester tC
 New London being the steamboat | train, at night, which ran around tho
 curve, as it was called, to the New sL,ondon tracks.
 Now, you may take steel electris
 car, well appointed, and for srnal
 sum, twenty-five cents or so, be fl New London in less than an hour and lin Willimantic in some eighty min, l utes, and there is half-hourly ser vice in the one case and an hourly i1 Ithe other, and the same or a lil<I
 service is given on the other troales
 lines.
 Now in these old days as MT. BurkI remembers we had, first. the bus, witt
 it's straw filtered floor, for the pur
 pose of warming the passengers feet
 and let it be said that it was highl.
 unsuccessful in the execution of it
 purpose-running over fixed route
 likely to furnish traffic, and at a yer.
 slow pace. There was, in addition C
 the Greeneville and Norwich Tow
 lines as late as in the Eighties, on
 of these 'busses, driven by a Mir. liar
 vey, which starting at Thamesvfll
 went up Broadway and through Lin
 coin avenue and the Falls and bacl
 to it's starting point, and it was con
 sidered a great convenience, leaving a
 it did, the Wauregau House, a littl
 before noon on the dinner trip. an
 shortly after 5 p. m. to take the res
 idents of the section named to thei . homes. The late Col. George Perl1ni
 after he ceased to walk to his hou1, s was one of it's constant patrons. ,-t First Horse Car.
 When the horse-car first made it = appearance .on our streets, it ran a we believe, to Greeneville, and after
 ward the line was constructed frol the square up Franklin street to Nor ,4 wich Town, running up the maj S road, now North Washington stree E instead of through the Falls ae q !. present. The cars were small a1IaiI \ and 1t would be difficult to findsone C