The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917, 1917-02-01
STATE POLICEMAN
AS FACTORY HAND
GOT TWO CULPRITS
Travelling Court Visits
Georgetown Tuesday and
Does Good Business
Especial to The Farmer)

charged with liquor law violation.
| Having information Of the strength
of the case against them they pleaded
guilty and were each fined $50 and
costs, total or $165. All the ma
chineryi of justice concerned in the
affair, the trial justice, prosecutor and
chief witness was brought into the
tvillage for the occasion, local talent
| being in no deg1 ee represented. The
store of the defendants is located
| just below the old railroad station and
they have BEEN under suspicion OF IL
| legally selling for a long time. They
promptly produced the cash for the
payment Of the fines and costs. The
disposition Of their cases was follow
ed by the arraignment before the
same tribunal of Harry Baird keeper
Of small lunch room, on the charge
Of permitting gambling on his prem
ises. The specific accusations were
| that he permitted his patrons 20 play
traps while at his place and also that
| he had a gambling device in the shape
Of slot machine A fine and costs
amounting to SIS were imposed in
the case.
While reading at his home on
Monday evening by the light q lamp
suspended from the ceiling John
Muennich, the Ridge store keeper and
secretary and treasurer of No. Fire
Co., heard "a slight cracking which
he ascribed to the pattering OF the
rain against the window panes. Up
on laying aside his book, however,
and starting to turn out the light ne
found that the SOUNDS had come from
the ignition of the wood ceiling above
the lamp. The resulting smoke mao
given him no warning on account OF
escaping upward through the ceiling
cracks In the bath room above he
found quite blaze in progress At
ter smothering the flames by the use
Of hand extinguisher he cut through
the bath room floor and found that
the sleepers had also caught produc-
ing conditions which a few minutes
delay would have made serious. Mr..
Muennich finished the e.-tinguishing
job without calling for help and con-
graduated himself on the fortunate
escape from worse results.
An adventure Of A. G. Barnett with
q fox at the twilight hour last Friday
evening had some features out Of the
common He and William johnson,
his employe, were milking when they
heard a commotion among the fowls
In the poultry house nearby. AS they
approached to investigate large gray
fox ran out and finding its retreat
cut off lodged into the opening be-
meath the building where 1t took
refuge in a corner. Three revolver
shots were fire at disadvantage as
to position apparently failed % reach
the. animal and then q pitch fork was
brought into reduisition 1t was not
long enough to reach, but Its thrust
- Nkf nj O..
Ing the refugees as It seized one OF
the tines with its teeth. More than
this and constituting the queer part
Of the performance, the fox main
tanned the grip until 1t had been drag
ged out from cover.
AS the two men grabbed it the AMI
NAL suddenly went limp and seem
ingly lifeless, giving rise to the sup
position that one or more OF the bull
lets had taken. fatal effect. Still APP
parently inert it was carried around
to the back Of the house, Johnson
meanwhile expressing the suspicion
that the fox was playing possurn be-
cause no wound was visible. He was
right. AS the bearers were about to
lay down their quarry It opened its
eyes IN way betokening normal vi
tality and great craftiness. This fur
tive peep was it's undoing as a shot
through the head quickly made the
pretence Of death reality. The skin,
which had pretty markings relieving
the general gray, is to be converted
into a nuff.
A small tract in sanfordtown be-
longing to Levi Gilbert is among the
parcels recently ''bespoken'' by the
Bridgeport Hydraulic Co. and a num-
IA.n - H.. A. - I'll
pected to undergo the same, process.
It is the company's intention to drain
the swamp sections intersected by the
brook which starts on the west slope
of Redding Ridge, the object being to
prevent the discoloration OF the water
due to contact with swamp vegetation
and also the stagnation Of pools left
when dry spells stop the flow. Most
lof the land to be drained is now
owned by Randolph Bradley and II.
G. Mcclellan. The prospective taking
over by the company Of many other
small streams had not been looked for
until recently and indirectly as well
as directly will have the effect of ma
terially curtaling the towns milk pro-
tAction. The low grounds bordering
t.-ese rivulets are not only the most
valuable for milk and late season pas
turage, but denial Of access to these
brooks by live stock will make the
problem of providing another means
of water supply difficult In fact the
los of these streams will virtually put
many farms out of commission as en-
titles for stock purposes, dairy or 9TH \
erwise. The precise object Of the bill
introduced by Representative Shaw to
amend the law relating to local tax.
alton OF water company property is
not fllly understood here as these
holdings are already taxed by and for
the benefit Of the towns. The purpose
OF his other bill, described as seeking
to fix limit to the conpany's land
purchases. is probably designed to
prevent their holding of surplus ter
ritory beyond certain period, this
being in accordance with the viows
recently expressed by Mr.. Shaw in a
talk before the local Mems club Still
another bill, emanating from the COM
pany. provides for the creation of a
special consta bulary to patrol tn vr
watershed territory as an additional
protection against contamination.
The death of Mrs. Phoebe Free oc-
CURED last Friday at the residence Of
Miss j. H. Sanford. a cousin. whose
guest she had been for several weeks
Double pneumonia was the cause. The
deceased was widow, GO years Of
age, and the granddaughter of Rev.
Aaron Hunt, who served pastorates
with the Center Methodist church of