* * *

Newtown fire officials didn’t get everything they want in the way of restoring cuts made by the Board of Selectmen in its proposed 1983-84 budget, but they have managed to convince First Selectman Jack Rosenthal to support restoring $15,000 for purchase of firefighting equipment for the five volunteer fire companies.

* * *

Patients in the alcoholism treatment ward at Fairfield State Hospital Canaan House staged a public rally Tuesday afternoon to protest alleged drinking on the ward by certain nighttime aides — an action which sources say spurred top hospital officials to proceed with an investigation of the incident. “This is alleged,” emphasized the hospital’s Superintendent, Dr E. John Scales. “It is being fully investigated by our personnel department. The alcoholics have been told this.”

* * *

Bethel police chased the El Camino pickup in which four Newtown teens died and two others were injured last September because the officers believed themselves to be under assault by the driver of the pickup, according to a report released last weekend by the Bethel Board of Police Commissioners. According to the report the officers chased the El Camino at speeds from 68 to 72 mph along Old Hawleyville Road, at one point close enough to read the license plate.

* * *

The operator of a pickup was nowhere to be seen after going off Obtuse Road Tuesday afternoon. A motorist reported the accident, but when Patrolman Klaus Ertl arrived about two minutes later, the operator was gone. The truck had been stolen from J.C. Construction Company of 95 Beekman Avenue, North Tarrytown, N.Y.

* * *

An unusually high number of bids was received by the Cyrenius Booth Library for the planned fire code renovations and installation of an addition with an elevator. The 15 bids will be referred to the Public Building Committee, which will begin investigating references for the apparent low bidder in preparation of a recommendation to the Board of Selectmen. In order to bring the building into fire code compliance, it will be necessary to remove and replace the cane fiber ceiling tile, install a fire detection system, build an exterior stairway, and install fire doors throughout the building.

* * *

When trucks pull into the Newtown landfill Saturday, March 19, through Friday, March 25, they will end up on a scale to be weighed before they dump their load, Highway Superintendent James W. Murphy announced this week. The scales are on loan from the Solid Waste Management Unit of the state Department of Environmental Protection, and the week-long procedure is planned to help officials find out how much garbage is coming into the landfill weekly. “We’d like to know why the landfill is filling up so rapidly,” explained First Selectman Jack Rosenthal.

 

March 21, 1958

Newtown’s civic activities will be the beneficiaries of a novel “first nighter” policy adopted by the Board of Directors of the Town Players at a recent meeting. Profits from the opening night of “Born Yesterday,” the first 1958 presentation now in rehearsals, will go to the Cyrenius H. Booth Library. First nighters at the future productions, in mid June, August, and October, will also be helping other worthy Newtown activities to be announced by the board.

 

* * *

Friday, March 28, has been designated Student Town Government Day, when high school juniors and seniors at the Newtown High School will have the experience of running the town. Only juniors are eligible to run for office. On March 28, student officials will meet and confer with town officials. Special meetings have been arranged of the Planning and Zoning Commission, Zoning Board of Appeals, Board of Education, Town Hall Managers, and Finance for the student officials to attend.

* * *

Considerable controversy developed in last Thursday’s adjourned annual town meeting when townspeople sought to cut back a 32-mill tax rate, trying to pass resolutions for 29 or 30-mill rates. Finally the meeting approved the 32-mill rate. The new tax rate represents a rate increase of two and a half mills over last year.

* * *

The car purchase committee of the Newtown Fire Department Carnival met this week to arrange for the purchase of the car for the carnival to be held July 7 through 12. A Plymouth, two door hard top convertible has been selected. It will be iceberg white, metallic coral top, with power flight transmission, radio and heater. The purchase will be made through Amaral’s Service, Newtown.

* * *

More than 250 people attended the St Patrick’s Day dinner and dance at St Rose Parish Hall Monday to enjoy a typical Irish dinner: corned beef, cabbage, potatoes, rolls, butter, pie, and coffee. The many couples danced until about 12:30 to the music of the Carl Hine band of Danbury.

* * *

The Newtown Post Office has offered the following additional information to assist patrons in the change-over from rural delivery or PO box delivery to city delivery. Patrons do not have to give up their post office boxes if they desire to call for their mail at the post office. Patrons intending to receive services should begin at once to give correspondents and publishers their house number and street name.

 

March 17, 1933

“The Friendly Kindly Man and Other Poems,” is the title of an unassuming pamphlet published for distribution among friends by Allison P. Smith, editor of The Newtown Bee. The poems are written amid rural scenes for lovers of nature of devout mind, and are full of touches that will be homelike to Connecticut people. [Waterbury American]

* * *

Effectiveness of Connecticut’s campaign for the prevention of diphtheria during the past dozen years and the necessity for continuing the fight if further improvement is to be made, were shown in the weekly bulletin of the State Department of Health, which reveals that had it not been for the general adoption of preventive methods the number of cases, last year, would have been seventeen times what it actually was. The decrease in the diphtheria case rate since 1920 has been more than 94 percent.

* * *

Hawley School: Electricity! What a magical word! An unseen power, the possibility of which the scientific world tells us is but little known. Glenn L. Morris, scientific lecturer, will explain and demonstrate many of these puzzling phenomena when he comes to the school auditorium on Tuesday afternoon at 2 o’clock. The stage will be literally covered with apparatus. The admission will be only ten cents and everyone is invited.

 

* * *

Our heavy winds of last week did considerable damage to roofs and trees in the vicinity of Hawleyville and Brookfield. C.S. Williams of Obtuse was so unfortunate as to have the wind take the shingles from part of his roof last week. It took 500 square feet of Red Cedar Perfection Shingles to repair the damage.

* * *

In the largest attended milk meeting ever held in Newtown at the Edmond Town hall on Tuesday night, 400 milk producers in Fairfield County registered a mighty kick over the intolerable prices now prevailing in the dairy industry, and aiming to help the low-price situation. While many dairymen were at white heat there was little expression for any radical action.

* * *

At the annual town meeting, adjourned from October 29, 1932, and held at the Edmond Town hall on Saturday, March 11, the recommendation of a 19-mill tax by the Board of Finance was voted into effect by the taxpayers. The tax payers of the town as a whole are pleased with the reduced tax rate of 19 mills, a reduction of one and ½ mills from last year’s rate, and appreciate the efforts of the Board of Finance, the Selectmen, and the School Board in making this reduction possible.

March 20, 1908

W.O. Bartow of Botsford, who is a sawyer for Howard Wheeler of Monroe, had a narrow escape from death while sawing at the mill which is now located on Mrs Sylvia Mallett’s land at Botsford, last week Monday. While sawing, a stick flew and hit him a glancing blow in the chin inflicting at very bad flesh wound. Dr Wales took several stitches to close the wound. Had the stick struck him square in the face it would have surely killed him. It will be some time before he will be able to be at work again.

* * *

The traveling has been very heavy and bad on the roads since Saturday. There are days when we long for the flying machine. It is grievous and vexatious for both man and beast. But a little patience, and the mud will soon be a thing of the past.

* * *

Dr H.V. Walls, who came to Newtown with the purpose of taking up the practice of medicine, has changed his mind and will locate elsewhere. Dr Walls had already begun work here and his sudden change comes as a surprise.

* * *

Patrick Campbell, at the Sandy Hook gristmill, has taken the exclusive agency for the Daisy molasses feed for stock, which won the first prize at the International Milking contest at St Cloud, Minn. He will also handle the Sterling stock feed, the Sterling scratch fee for chicks, the Sterling chicken feed and the usual staple goods. Custom grinding promptly attended to. It may not be generally known that Mr Campbell grinds rye flour at this mill.

* * *

Tuesday was Contract day at the local factory of the Borden’s Condensed Milk Co. Practically all the old patrons signed for another six months, including some new ones. The prices for the ensuing six months are 10 cents a can higher for the month of April than the corresponding month a year ago.