Republican farmer., 1920-04-09
BEDDING

Of the man WnO uaS HSuItd III e11O pauper section of every annual town report for the last 45 years under the designation of Blind Joe" seems to be unknown to anyone in Bedding. In the next report he will be the subject of one more entry varying from it's predecessors by giving the cost of his burial and thus marking the close Of the chapter as Blind Joe" died 8 few days ago from gangrene follow ing the freezing of his feet during one of the cold spells of the winter He had reached the age of about 75. A resident. sometime since deceased, brought him to Bedding soon after his coming to this country from his native Ireland. He was then a husky lad, and a willing worker, but eata- ract growth on both eyes destroyed his sight after he had been here year or SO and his only refuge was the poor house then maintained by the late Squire James Sanford first selectman and since. as an institution, having had many changes in respect to keepers and locations SfoAd and accomplishing the blind man shifted from one to the other, keeping in TO- bust health and always willing to do such tasks as his disability permitted. Meantime the frugal taxpayer was often moved to expressions of impa- tienee at seeing the charges for ..Blind Joe's" support staring him from the record during successive years and wondered if something could not be done about it. Members of successive boards of selectmen de- ciared that they felt the same way and defensfveIy and desparing1y ask ed what could be done They said that townwise the mans brief stay in Bedding previous to his blindness was the only residence affecting his status as a foreigner and consequently hts could not be shunted off and upon some other town. Neither could he be- sa0dIed upon another state and he had also failed to qualify as state pauper of our own Connecticut. Fur thermore he had no kin on this side or across the water able or willing to care for him. Long range opinions from doctors who had been consulted were to the effect that a surgical op- eration on the eyes would probably be only a waste of money. To deport Joe back to Ireland by smuggling him through the legal barriers was also a plan discussed and dismissed. So the unweIcome guest stayed On un- til exposure due to his own careless ness brought the end
 What constitutes a public service vehicle within the meaning of the staee law requiring the owners to furnish 8 bond as an insurance of in, deTnnify to passengers who may be injured while riding in such vehi- cles is a doubtful matter which many local car owners would like to have cleared up They are the ones who carry passengers to some extent while not making a business of it and would probably cease to be carriers were the law applied to the4n as the premium cost of the $10,000 bond re- quired for a seven passenger Car ts $250- Robert Nichols, who carries the mail between the Ridge and West - R Redding sought information the subject from Inspector Kirk of Beth el and was advised that it would probably be all right to take passen- gers over this route, but that ex tension of the service to other pointa would call for bonding The doubs regarding the bonding statute alss exists as to the Federal Government law imposing $10 yearly tax on ! every motor vehicle which carries passengers for hire. The definition is not qualified in any way and pay ment of the tax would seem to be re quired for the transportation of eveE a single passenger, although as yet no attempt has been made to enforce it locally with such a degree of strict ness
 Bills amounting to about $740 for snow removal were approved by the selectTnen at their meeting last Mon day, making total of $1,500 which the town has expended the past win ter to keep the roads open The sum is far in excess of the cost in any previous year and will probably cause readjustment of the appropriations already voted as these set aside only S100 for snow remoyeI- The S1, 400 deficiency can be met by a tax rate higher than the original estimates called for and this will presunla. bly be done at the adjourned town meeting which the selectmen have appointed for Saturday. April IT, al , o'clock The roads are getting set tied rather sooner than was expected after the spring breakup although the autoist must still go wari1y to avoiG getting mired in the occasiona, sioughs which remain. The Putnam Park road is again impossible,
 The death of Mrs. Marion Luther which occurred on Tuesday afternoon at the home of her parents in Red ding Center, caused deep sorrow II the community. She was daughter 0 Captain and Mrs Charles Day anG her marriage to Howard Luther tool place only about three months ago Lately she suffered an attack of tn flu, but was convaleseing when ty phoid fever developed. Owing to he
 weakened condition the fatal termi
 nation of the disease seemed iron
 the start to be inevitable. Her az
 was 24- Sine was a pleasing singe
 and a social favorite in her numer
 ous circle of appropriateness.
 A lecture in the Community cours wSH be delivered by John Spargo a the Ridge upon some date towards tn
 latter part of the month not yet fixeG
 NIT. Spargo is widely known as a So fiahSt of the scholarly and conserva
 tive kind and since the Russian cal 9sclysfn and the Red agitation in thi
 country has gained special prom
 hence by his warfare on RoiSnev
 by means of the spoken and printe
 word His lecture here will be on tn
 same lines.
 On account of the same date havin
 been origin nally chosen for the DeIr