Norwich bulletin., 1920-03-27
(special to The Bulletin.)

k6pecial 10 The Builelln'j
 New London, March 26.-That com-
 nnittee of the New London Chamber of
 Commerce that boomed for the pur-
 chase of Miller pond for the financial
 interest of the owners, to respected
 citizens of Westerly, backed by mem
 bers of the court of common council
 has resulted in lowering the city
 treasury in the sum of $1,7o0. This was the charge of Engineer Cairns of Wa
 terbury. Readers will recall that the
 board of water commissioners recom- mended the purchase of Bogue brook
 property to increase the water sup ply of the city, while the other inter ests advocated the purchase of Miller
 pond. There was squabble in the council over the matter that resulted in hold-up of the water board pre- position and going outside of the board to get the opinion of a disinter- ested civil engineer. The expert from Waterbury was called in and he coin eided with the views of the water board, and recommended the Bogue brook plan as preferable to the Miller
 pond proposition. Then the council adopted the Waterbury engineers re- port and the plan of the local water
 board went into effect.
 While the money paid for the ser. vice of the expert, was useless ez- penditure from the start yet it was money-saver for the city, at that. The point had been reached where the court of common council, at the in stance of the chamber of commerce, had discredited the water board, and action was about to be taken that would have saddled Miller pond on the city. when the suggestion to get the opinion of an outside expert was decided upon. The result was not what the Miller pond promoters ex-
 pected. but there was no going be- hind the returns. Not even the most
 overburdened taxpayer will raise ob- jection to the charge of Engineer Cairns, as his report really save big
 money to the city and the extension of
 the water service will prove to be ade-
 quate for the needs of the city for years to come.
 Now that the snow and ice is gone and the surface of the highways is discernable, it is plain even to those
 who have no ideas in regard 10 road maintenance and repairs. that while 1 the appropriation for streets as sci forth in the annual budget is very large, still it is inadequate to put the | highways in as good condition as they were before the heavy sneWs came and remained until removed without artificial means. Montauk avenue for ] instance, for nearly it's whole 4engtt 1 of about three miles is very much ir need of immediate repair. There are 1 long stretches where Sse macadam is now a crumbled mess. and almost inn passable. Like conditions prevail ir
 n1any other leading thoroughfares. SC there is work. and lots of it, right ir
 view for the highway department. Tc do this needed work requires a very
 large amount of cash. and its use can
 not be charged up to the extravagant account of the present administration The cause of the really bad con- ditiors of the highway cannot be at tributed to any nember of the court
 of common council or any human be-
 ing, as they have no control over the
 clements. Therefore taxpayers ex-
 pect to add a little more to the al-
 ready heavy burden. A special city meeting for an additional appropria- tioh for streets is among the near
 probabilities.
 The street department, or some city
 officials, arc responsible, however, for
 wasting the public coin in connection
 with the laying of the new sidewalk
 on one side of Orchard street. Ma
 teriai for this work was carted. into
 that street just before the city meet
 ing was called to fix the budget for the year. The appropriations went through without much of a hitch, and there were no opponents to the appro- priations from Orchard Street and vii cinity as that street was to get a proportion of the appropriation for sidewalks. The material, however, was permitted to remain in piles ir that street until the cold weather
 came Then the work of building thf sidewalks was commenced. A large | section of the walk was laid and kept ' in condition by the nightly covering o1