Putnam patriot., 1924-05-09
CHAMBER ACCOMPLISHES MUCH
 FOR PUTNAM IN PAST YEAR
Secretays Report Read Last Nights Annual Meeting Dis
 closes Constructive Work Without Trumpets

Al last nights annual meeting of I the Chamber of Commerce.. the re- port of the secretary, covering. tn part. the organizations activities dur I ing the past year. was read and was as follows;
 What has the Putnam Chamber of 1 Commerce been doing since the last annual meeting7 To answer that ques- | tion in detail. telling about everything that our officers and eur organization have done. would take up too much time. tonight. SO for brevity's sake vour secretary will mention only the more important of our activities.
 There have been four dinner-meet- ! ings at the Putnam Inn. three of which were largely attended. The last one drew so small an attendance that the enthusiasm of the entertainment committee was slightly dampened, ta say the least. Speakers who entertain ed and whose talks had a practical val
 ue recognized and appreciated by their audiences, were our guests at each meeting. The plan of holding monthly meetings of this character was the rec ommendation of our president, and ! their value seems to warrant their continuance, in the opinion of the membership generally.
 During last August several thou sand people enjoyed the four band concerts held on Union Square. Dane | ing on the macadam was popular on these Wednesday evenings. These pub | lie events served ao attract many peo- pie to Putnam; the novelty of them prompted the public to recognize the progressiveness of our merchants, and | they added to the prestige of our city. During the past year our organiZa- ton was asked by the State Chamber
 of Commerce to lend it's support in a survey of postOtfice conditions with a
 view to correcting any faults that there might be in the Putnam office Former Postmaster Gilman and Thos. H. deCoudres were named a committee to look into this matter They found the Putnam office funetioning excel lently. but somewhat handicapped in giving maximum service. Certain iiii- portant mail for instance, did not ar-
 rive in time for early morning distri-
 button. and by working in cooperation with Postmaster Macdonald. were able to have this and other matters adjust ed
 Chain Stores May Come Here
 Some weeks ago we received com munication from the J. E. Penney Co.,, which operates chain stores. telling us that the concern wished to locate in
 Putnam. and asked if We would not fill out the questionnaire that accom- panied the letter. IL is certain that no information of importance concerning
 Putnam was overlooked in forwarding the Penney Company it's questionnaire.
 When the Putnam Savings Bank
 started preparations for the erection Of it's new building. the directors of l the Chamber of Commerce interested i themselves in the matter of influencing | the bank trustees to move the new structure back three feet from the es- 1 tablished building line, to permit of the widening of Main street. in front of the building. A committee of our organization waited upon the trustees. Events moved swiftly and later came the announcement of the decision Of 1 the trustees to move the building line back. This public spirited action l found immediate and enthusiastic ap- provai. not only from the Chamber but from the city generally.
 Almost out of a clear sky came the report from Hartford that there was | to be meeting of the Public Utilities 1 Commission to hear the arguments of representatives of the larger cities Of | the state, favoring a five cent fare in
 the cities. It was recognized that If | this was permitted, suburban trolley ] lines would have to fix fare to make each individual line pay. As this IS ] impractical. the lines would have to be abandoned. Our own trolley line was 1 included in this latter class.
 Go Before Utilities Commission
 It is now matter of history on how delegation of close to fifty local men went to Hartford to protest against this five cent fare being allowed. The Chamber of Commerce and Rotary Club combined forces to make the demonstration possible, but must not be held responsible for the blizzard that marooned most of the Putnam delegation in Phoenixville all night This demonstration showed two or three things emphatically; first, that Putnam opposed the move by the cit ies of the state to wreck it's trolley service: second, it showed to the whole state, anew. that Putnam was alive and had a mind of it's own; third, that ia the Chamber, Putnam has an organization that is ready at mo- ment's notice to jump right into an emergency and to do vigorous things to get results It also demonstrated tine value of spirit of cooperation be- tween the Chamber and the Rotary Club.
 For another year, the Chamber has sponsored a Cleanup and paint-up campaign. That last weeks event was successful is not denied. That il was good thing and worth the effort to put it over successfully, is conceded. To give children great CT incentive to enter wholeheartedly into the undertaking, your directors
 decided to award two S5 prizes to the individual child in the parochial and the public schools who put in the
 most hours and had the best record for effort made during the week of beautifying Putnam. Cards on which 10 keep the record of each child com peting, were provided by the Cham Der. The cost of this printing and the prizes, was met by the directors them selves. who ehipped in to create this special fund.
 Revise Ordinances
 That the charter and ordinances of the city are now in the progress of revision. seems an assured fact, thanks