The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-02-01
SOUTH
BRITAIN
BRIEFS
BY BILL GARRIGUs

The FIRST Of the month is a good
time for q lesson in safety. High
way safety Is a necessity, and it's
scarce. just the other day we had
such a demonstration Of confus-
ion through lack Of reasonable
care In the operation Of motor
vehicles, that this column believes
the tale viii be received by the
public as an example Of what may
happen in any community. One
afternoon, two bug hunters were
working on the Brown Brook
Road. They parked their truck
and dismounted. It seems that
they were seeking gypsy moths,
and at this time of year these
months are easy to capture be-
cause they hang with their heads
down and wear heavy underwear
that impedes their progress. The
two bug hunters had located q
school of the half-frozen moths
and were making plans for their
capture when a Shepaug Country
motorist topped the hill and roar
ed down upon them. One bug man
was crushed against the side of
the, truck, the other was tossed
to the side. Groans from the in
:, jured echoed from the lodges in
Paradise and the party line went
into action Immediately. The She
paug man tried to untangle his
car and then attempted first aid
to the injured federal men. A
phone message to the State Po-
lice went over the wires and soon
troopers reached the valley and
made inquiry for Green's Farms.
Now Greens Farms is down near
New York, and the police were so
advised. If they had made it
clear that they wanted to find
Lyme Green's farm up near the
Garnet Mines, everybody would
have given the correct directions,
but they didn't.
The rescue squads finally got
Strengthened away and climbed
Purchase Hill, whisked past the
new school farm plant, took Null
berry Corner on two wheels, and
slid down grade toward Squeak
street. That's the way the hard
surfaced road goes; not straight
to anywhere, just crOoking around
like a pot hunter ducking q game
warden. The cops didn't realize
that we built that road that way
ON purpose. If it had been built
straight, too many merchants
from Roxbury would have come
into town looking for business.
One minute Miss Laura Platt
saw the squad cars pass and the
next minute they had gone over
the ridge to the westward, bear
ing away from the scene of dis
aster and circling like bugs in a
berry bowl. That was the first
lap. Down on the fats again the
police scanned their maps and
headed for the highlands again.
Miss Annie Stiles halted one car
to ask the time of day; Purchase
folks crowded to the roadside ex-
pecting the return of the Robin
sons from their wedding trip. Bill
Wilcox heard the motors and
wondered II 1t wasn't Sam Pierce
returning from Florida. Amos
Barley paused In the preparation
Of a new speech and Kate
.Clancy's stew burned while she
watched the motorcade. Cobbie
Stilson jumped out of the road
Just in time to prevent second
accident and trooper yelled at
him. Confusion reigned Supreme
for an hour or so while the Law
was getting few lessons in
orientation. Meanwhile, those bug
hunters were crawling away to-
ward the hospital and the She
paug man was trying to explain
why his brakes failed.
The unsnarling Of this accident
cost the taxpayers Of Connecticut
q pretty penny. State troopers,
duly certified under the merit
system, failed to locate the region
where one Of Connecticut's lead
ing citizens, Lyman Green, has
lived these many years. The Hon
orable Harold Hicock will have to
hold court and decide ON the
Shepaug mans blame. All-in-all.
it was o pretty costly affair and
IL could have been avoided If one
lone mot0rist had used normal
care in driving down a steep
grade =. The only ones to win
i'm this case seem to be the gypsy
meths. They escaped unframed.
When that New Yorker, who
bought the old Bradley place re-
turns to the villa beside the Pom
peraug, he is going to be plenty
angry. Up in the lot, far remov-
ed from the highway, federal men
have been busy eliminating some
new kind of pest and cutting
down the New Workers. trees. It
looks like the slashing left behind
by city woodchoppers. Probably
some local folks will be blamed
but they can certainly prove their
innocence to even a New Yorker
by just whacking down few