New Britain herald., 1917-11-14
SAY CHIEF NORTON
 SHOULD BE ELECTED
That Seems to Be the Opinion of
 Citizens Of the Town
HE MAY RESIGN OFFICE

the Y. M. o. A. and K. of c. Fund $762 Has Been Turned In.
 If it costs the town of Plainville in
 the neighborhood of $2O to have a bonfire extinguished by Fire Chief Dick" Norton, the Plainville Hose company ct al., people are wondering if it wouldn't be necessary to mort gage the town in order to pay debt which would be incurred if a real con- f1agration took place. But of course everything has gone up on account of the war which seems to be the only logical answer.
 In these times of stress everyone is
 trying to cut down expenses especial ly unnecessary expenditures. Not only
 individuals are trying to economize
 but towns. too, have started conserva-
 tion movements. In this town of Pla1nVille movement has been start
 ed to eliminate needless expenditure
 of money along fire protection lines.
 "Toot! Foot! Foot! Plainville is
 saved, etc., etc.," seems to have struck
 friendly chord in tho hearts of resi-
 dents of the town. This morning cit-
 izens were up in arms over the action
 taken by Fire Chief Norton in calling
 out the hose company Monday night
 to extinguish a fire which had been
 built by one of the watchmen of the
 New Haven road at the North Wash ington street bridge to warm himself.
 They are of the opinion that Norton
 should be busted from office. Citizens state that the Plainville
 Hose company taken as a whole is a
 decided asset to the town if managed properly. But recurrence of Monday nights affair would give 1t a decided leaning toward the liability column. Rumors which cannot be verified
 are to the effect that within the next
 few hours Fire Chief Norton will be able to prefix the letters 'Ex" before his name when signing 1t.
 Members of the board of fire con- missioners were reticent this morning when interviewed. Although they stated that one meeting had been
 held and that another session would
 take place this afternoon they re-
 fused to disclose what action had been
 taken, if any. Results of their confer
 cnce will in all probability be made known tomorrow.
 It seems to be the consensus that the commissioners are giving Fire Chief Norton chance to hand in his resignation. For this reason, it Is
 said, the board does not wish to di- vulge its decision until later. Yesterday at least one of the mem bers of the fire board visited the scene of the alleged fire, presumably to determine to what extent the fire chief was Justified in calling out other members of the department. Chief Norton, Tuesday, in an inter view with a Herald correspondent contended that the watchmen had no right to built a fire of any description without a permit being issued or per mission being granted. He also stated that after discovering the blaze he watched it for 5 minutes to learn if anyone was nearby who would be able
 to put it out in case it spread. "It
 did spread to the grass and as there
 did not seem to be anyone in the
 neighborhood I sent i'll the alarm,"
 he asserted
 Members of the Hose company as
 we'll as the citizens of the town seem
 to be disgruntled and several of them, it is said, went home Monday night when they learned why they had been called out. It has also been learned that one prominent member of the
 department has turned in his keys,
 automatically rendering his resigna-
 tion at the same time.
 "Watchful waiting'' will only de-
 termine the eventual outcome of the controversy.
 Funeral Tomorrow.
 Funeral services for G. Frank Neale
 who died Monday morning in the
 Hartford hospital will be held Thurs day afternoon at 2:30 o'clock from
 the Plainville Baptist church. Inter ment will be in West cem Neale, who was a native of this town was the son of MT. and Mrs. Rolanzo Neale. For a number of years he worked in the ; Sessions Clock company in Forestville. Fra formally he was affiliated with Har- mony lodge of I. O. O. F. of New Haven and with P. O. s. of A. He was also Red Man and a member of the Knights of Pythias. For
 number of years he served as a mem-
 ber of the Forestville fire department. He is survived by a brother and three sisters; Charles Neale of North Hampton, Mrs. Francis Schroder of La Joliet, Mich., and Mrs. Alice Hough and Mrs. Josie Andrews of Long Beach, Cal. Also a daughter, l Mrs Herbert Arnes of Springfield and several distant relatives among whom ! is Mrs. Arthur Booth of this town. The Hartford I. o. o. F. will have charge of the conmittal services at the ceme- tery.
 Fund Still Rising.
 It was announced this morn 1 ing that to date $762.00 has been raised through the efforts of