Turning Back The Pages

100 years ago — April 1919

TACONIC — Mrs. Edward Ashman and infant son went to New Haven Monday where the child is receiving treatment for its eyes caused by spinal dislocation.

(Adv.) For Sale — Small cottage belonging to A. Moxon at Salisbury. Price $150. Apply to C.H. Osborn.

With the approach of the auto touring season, it would be a good idea to install a few “silent policemen” at the intersection of some of our streets, and thus render them less dangerous.

The chemical plant at East Canaan closed last week for an indefinite period which with the burning of the lime kiln throws a large number of men out of work.

50 years ago — April 1969

Unmufflered racing cars raced around Lime Rock Park’s 11/2-mile sports car course Tuesday afternoon for the first time since court action closed down operations at the end of the Labor Day racing program in 1968.

A secluded, scenic campground on the shore of the Housatonic River north of Kent was revealed this week as having been the grisly graveyard for two murdered men since January of this year. Police are continuing intensive investigation to identify the men, who apparently were not area residents.

John Fitch of Lime Rock realized a 14-year ambition when his latest invention — the Fitch Inertial Barrier System — was publicly unveiled  in a spectacular demonstration at Bridgeport Airport Tuesday before a critical nationwide audience of 175 state and federal highway officials, safety experts and the press. The barrels are three feet in diameter and range from 30 to 36 inches tall with each type calibrated to do a specific job via the amount of hollow area at the base and the amount of sand in the upper portion. The six-part barrel is made of a high-density polyethylene formed by a novel structural foam process.

KENT — State police continue to investigate a serious case of arson which resulted in the complete destruction of Mrs. Harold DeWitt Smith’s home below Bull’s Bridge early last Saturday morning. By the time firemen arrived at the secluded scene, more than a mile south of the covered bridge on a narrow dirt road, the house was lost. Tons of coal in the remaining cellar fed the fire, but several outbuildings on the property were saved.

25 years ago — April 1994

Television viewers in Northwest Connecticut will be the first in the state to receive small-dish digital satellite television beginning next month. As many as three national firms will be involved in what will probably be a two-year race to construct the local on-ramp for the much-discussed telecommunications superhighway of the 21st century.

Items originally appeared in The Lakeville Journal.