The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-03-22

HeBlOIlal pTlQe III law SulOICe- ment should be encouraged. Noth- ing is quite as necessary as proper respect for the rights of others and the orderly conduct of town affairs. Present-day attitude to- ward the law could be improved by an educational campaign and by the appointment and election of the highest type peace officers. A constable can be an honor to a community, or a bad dream.
 SOuthbury had one constable who was so full of zeal that he made a flock of arrests before he quali- fed. Court was held over at Bull le$ Hill School, upstairs where the stove smokes. The defendants came in, the constable made his charges; then somebody asked if the cop had a bond. He didn't have but he had nimble- witted son who drove like the wind to WOodbury and returned with evil dence that bond had been ap- piled for. That didn't suit the court, or the audience. All cases were dismissed. Perhaps the of- ficer should have been cited for contempt of court? He probably would have been except for the fact that he had the sympathy of old timers who knew him when he was a struggling young man in Waterbury.
 Profiting by the experience gained in law enforcement, this gentleman served as a member of the bridge committee and never forgot to put his bill in promptly for services rendered. Other mem berS of that committe never reali- zed that a charge should be made. They went to Hartford at their own expense and the town books were out of balance when the committeeman neglected to tap the town treasury. It pays to be meticulouS about town business. Our most successful officials are super-meticulous about expense accounts. Small towns seldom have a scandal because everybody watches the cash box.
 There's one sure way to identify a bridge. If a Democrat laid the planking, all timber will be cross wise and the resultant rumble of approaching traffic can be heard far and wide. Republicans stress g quieter type of bridge-planking, timber spiked lengthwise so that wagon wheels sort of ripple along without a chatter. Anyway, that's the way the old bridge down near Charley Bradley's Place was laid.
 Laying timbers the long way was quieter but when those tim bers were green, then the sun got In its work and the shrinkage caused trouble. It happened ex- actly the way all our Democrats expected it to, and we lost good blacksmith on account of the er- TOT in construction. Tip Hall just couldn't stand the strain, after that first disaster. He had to move to York State to regain his bal ance and restore his sadly shat tered nerves. Tip would have been here yet, if the blanks had been laid crosswise.
 Charley BradIey's dog started across the road just as Model T hit the bridge. The driver, one Charcoal Daisy from Depot Hill, reached down to blow the horn and the car hit one of those cracks between the planking. Be- fore anybody could warn the lady, that car had done an abOut-face and twisted itself up like a colt with the collie. Tells, howls, screams, and the tinny grinding of torn metal aroused the lOafers at the Post Offlce. Men ran to rescue the damsel, Tip Hall drop ped. a redhOt horseshoe into pile of .shavings and almost burned down. the shop. Women let the bread burn as they bounced out the door and ran dOwnstreet to- ward the bridge. The village was in an uprOar worse than when COer's bull got lose. Folks wished that bridge had been built right when they saw the wreckage.
 
 The injured lady threatened suit but the right people saw her first and the affair was quieted down before 1t went to court. After that. for years, a leading cam- paign issue was always the safer planking of town bridges. Now the State has charge of the bridge over the, Pomperaug, the surface is concrete and the cracks aren't big enough to lose a wheel in. :. Things are safer now but not so interesting since Tip Hall went away.