The Waterbury Democrat., 1937-08-25
Curtain Descends On HolIywOod'S
 Drama Of Homeless, JObleSS Men
Police Enforce Health De- partment's Edlct for
 DereIiCts to Vacate

1G was moving uay booay at k9Ot~ lywood," the squatters colony in the Golf Lots, near the banks of the Naugatuck river. With police warr- ings that they must leave today or he driven out forcihly, the men who make their homes in the crude tin and wood Shacks in the muddy lowlands along the river were pack ing up their few belongings and pre- paring to leave the place that, for some of them, had been home for years.
 Deadline
 This reporter this morning ac- companied Lieut.. Fred Hickey and Lieut.. Patrick Moylan of the police vice squad as they visited the col- ony to make sure that the squatters were leaving. The health depart ment and the owners of the prop erty asked police to have the squat ters removed. They were first warned by police last Friday, but the dead- line was extended to tonight.
 Rats scampered through the dump adjoining the colony, while cats prowled about after them. The air was thick with flies and had c foul stench. A few feet of the path lead- Ing to the huts lay the decaying re- mains of what was once @ dog.
 Crude Shacks
 There are some 25 or 30 shacks in the colony, one cruder than the other, with the exception of one palace" which is the pride of its owner and the squatters as well. This shack was first whitewashed and then given 0 coat of delicately- shaded pink paint. Outside is a bench, also pink, similar to one that might be found outside Q suh- urban cottage. There was even a well, the bucket being housed in a pink cabinet.
 The other huts were in sharp contrast. Rudely and crudely put together, they are dismal and dirty outside and inside. Each one has a bed, with or without bed clothing, @ stove of some sort, and perhaps @ crude chair or two. Several Of the shacks had piles of wood stacked be- side them.
 From one hut man was carry- ing @ sewing machine. His wife lives with him, he explained, but she was working today. and he was get- ting the things ready for moving. A few tattered garments hung from a clothesline outside. We stepped inside. The floor was filtered with refuse, a table Was covered with un- washed bottles, and the bedding was gray with dirt.
 Where To?
 We came to another hut, where a man was sleeping inside. He woke up to let us in, and looked bewildered when the officers told him he must leave by tonight. "Bu' wherell ! go?" he wanted to know.
 We're only following our orders," the policemen said.
 Outside another hut 6 man was shaving before a broken mirror. Yes, he knew he was supposed to go, but he didn't think he could get @ job. When did he work last2 Oh, two years ago he worked for a couple of weeks in a shop. He didn't like 1t, though. This man, we found out, was a participant in & brawi at the col- ony in which knives and hammers were used and which almost caused the death of two of the squatters.
 We came to an empty shack. One of the squatters explained that the colored man who lived there was in the hospital. having been wound cd in a stabbing affray. Farther on were the shacks that once were the homes of two squatters who lost their eyesight from drinking home- made smoke" little more than plain wood alcohol.
 Has Cash?
 Yes, the Squatters said, they knew they had to 90, but where? And 50 they were taking their time about moving. We met the man who owned the pink shack, who, the others told us, had several thousand dollars in the bank. He didn't hesitate. Sure, he had a little money, but he liked 1t here. He supposed he'd have to get out, but 1t was a nice place, and cheap. too. He thought maybe he'd go look for a job this afternoon. He wasn't sure, though.
 Finally we'd visited all the shacks and Lieuts. Hickey and Moylan had told all the squatters that they'd have to leave by tonight. As we started to walk away, they huddled in little groups, talking 1t over.
 And as we walked by the dump on our way out the rats were still scampering, the heavy malodorous stench was in the air. and the air