New Britain herald., 1919-04-11
15 People Bid for One Rent in
 PlainViIle
LOCAL SOLDIERS
Randolpla Stewart antl Douglas Hop- kins Were Both Prisoners of War in Germany-Idberty Loan Campaign WEI Start April 21.

The people of Plainville and also the town officials are in a quandary at
 the present time as to the best way in
 which to meet the housing problem.
 The town of PlainVille, together with
 most surrounding towns and cities
 has been facing this problem for
 some time but the conditions have never been so apparent as at the pres ent moment A large number Of houses, in town have been sold within the last few weeks and the families occupying them have been given mo- tice to vacate within 8 certain time Several local mon have found it i'm possible to get rents and have hired cottages for the summer at the sea, shore and intend to build as soon as possible. Between 10 and parties appeared yesterday afternoon to try to get one rent that was vacant.
 U Is very. evident that something
 WILL nave to be done very soon to meet the housing problem in Plaln- Vile The lead in this movem ent
 Will proba bly, be taken by the manu- facturmg interests as it is the em- ployes Of the, local factories who will have 10 De accomm odated if local in dustr1es are to keep on their feet. The d number Of tents about two years ago and the employees lived in them dur ing the summer. The colony became known as the Tent Citl'' and was an object of curiosity to visitors and to people passing through the city, as the tents were erected beside the main road. While it is not probable that such action will have to be taken in Pla1nville it is certain that some dis position will have to be made to meet the situation The majority of the prominent business men of Plain vile have been considering the qucs- tion seriously for some time.
 The Trum bull Electric Manufa ctur- ing company erected a number of houses for its employees on East Broad street or Broad street extension, as lit is sometimes called. These are prac- ticallX all occupied and still there are emp1oyes of the company who desire to locate their homes in PlainVille who cannot be accommodates The TrumbuIl Electric company was the first local factory to begin this inno- Nation as 1t has taken the lead in Vari-
 ous other progressive movements and
 many local people look to the firm tc~take the initiative in further developments regarding the housing
 problem,
 Back from Prison Camp.
 Privates Randolph Stewart and
 Douglas Hopkins spent the past two | days at their homes in Plainville.
 They came from Camp Devens where
 the rest of the 26th Division are await
 ing discharge. They were obliged to
 wait several hours in Hartford for the
 first train to Plainville, but did not
 mind that when the prospect of seeing
 home was in sight. They walked from
 the station to their homes, which is
 a fairly long walk to civilians, but the
 boys said it was nothing when com
 pared with the hikes taken in France.
 Stewart and Hopkins have three serv-
 ice stripes and a wound stripe. They
 also wear a stripe to signify that they
 were taken prisoners.
 Theys were memb bers of Company D
 of Bristol which is a part of the 102d
 Infantry. They served at the Mexican
 border and when they sailed for France they were the youngest mem- bers of the com pany They were pals on board ship but on arrival in France Hopkins was assigned to the mail service and they separated.
 The story of their capture is well 1 known. It was at SeichepreN on l April 21, when Companies I, F, c and l D suffered heavy losses both in killed 1 and captured men. Stewart went over { the top with a platoon which was l soon surrounded and they had to sur 1 render to Fritz. Hopkins heard of 1 the capture and went over at the next l signal to avenge Stewart, as the men ! considered that capture meant death. l He was also taken prisoner and was l sent to a German prison camp, but l not to the same ono 10 which Stewart | went Both men spent several months l in the prisons. living on food sent by 1 the Red Cross, and experiencing the l wretched conditions for which the 1 German prison camps arc noted. They l were released shortly after the cessa- l ton of hostilities and met again in 1 their own lines.
 Their own happiness at seeing home ! was oqualled only by that of their 1 parents The mother of one of the 1 boys received a telegram and she ran l into the home of a neighbor and told 1 the good news in a 71ystercal manner. ! The neigh Dor was mystified and had 1 to ask numb of ra pid-fire ques- 1