New Britain herald. [microfilm reel] (New Britain, Conn.) 1890-1976, 1917-10-25
SELECTMEN HOLD
SPECIAL SESSION
Three Appointed As Members Of
the Town Plan Committee
THEY MAY NOT ACCEPT
Raymond Roberts Returns Home Aft
err Receiving Honorable Discharge
er Receiving Honorable Discharge
From the Navy at Expiration of
His Enlistment.

Efforts which have been in the
| works for several weeks to appoint q
town plan commission were brought to
| a head last evening at a meeting of
| the board of selectmen in the Town
| hall. 1t was definitely decided that
the new committee should be COM
posed of three m embers, one demo-
| crat and two republicans.
After scouting the ranks of both the
| republican and democratic parties for
| suitable men who would be able to
lend their time and efforts to the town
| the following men were appointed:
Judge A. H. Condell, G. H. Newton
and Harry Castle. Whether these will
| accept the appointments and will be
willing to act in the capicity Of men,
bers of the newly formed committee
| has not yet been determined. The
three are we'll known but owing to
their business activities it is doubtful
If they will consider the appointments.
! The duties of the committee will be
varied. They will have charge of lay
| ing out the streets, building lines and
will have the power to approve or
disapprove OF unimproved property
| layouts.
| flTSC ooloCIlIld1 j. j. Johnson Will
act as a member of the committee and
will preside at the meetings.
At last evenings session the fol-
| lowing men were re-appointed men,
| bers of the fire comm ission for the en-
suing year: H. c. Thompson James
Simpson and John Shelly Henry Or
visit, who has served a number Of
years as tree warden, was again chos-
| on To act in that cana itv
Receives Honorable Discharge.
After serving three and one-third
years in the United States navy, Ray
mond Roberts, son of Mr.. and Mrs.
! Charles Roberts of 176 West Main
| street, has received his honorable dis
i charge.
| The discharge was granted him az
| ter he had served his term. Roberts,.
who is but 81 years Of age, arrived In
| town Monday, coming from Norfolk,
! Virginia, at which place he was mus
! tered out of the service.
| During his three years in the serv-
| ice of Uncle Sam, Roberts mas en-
! countered many thrilling experiences
| One Of his exploits was as mem Der
! Of the battleship Nebraska when 3o
| fighting nephews OF Uncle sam
| climbed aboard the German liner
mans into custody with only three
shots being. fired, two of. which were
accidental The German subjects were
| later tnterned.
In speaking Of the exploit which
| proved to be rather a tame affair,
Roberts says that 35 members of
the crew were selected to capture the
| Germans on board the liner. Under
the cloak Of darkness they crossed the
harbor, landing within several blocks
Of the pier at which the big ship was
| locked. The signal was given to
rush aboard and they went over the
top, expecting to be greeted by rain
of lead. Much to their surprise, he
states, those on board fled before the
boys in blue like a flock Of sheep.
The majority Of them hid in their
state rooms or other parts of the
ship and had to be routed out, al
though it was not necessary to re-
sort to force.
During an inspection Of the ship
later 1t was found that the Germans
had disabled the engines. broken the
wireless and done as much damage
as possible Only for the fact that
efforts would have been made to sink
the ship.
Roberts also bears the distinction
of having seen six months war serv-
ice during which time he ran the
gauntlet of U-boats stationed in the