Record-Journal from Meriden, Connecticut • 11

WALLINGFORD RECORD SECTION OF THE Sr' MaHrta ImH TMMhy Man lag After Deadline Ridgeland News Shoe Box Murder Mystery Set Wallingford All Agog Ridgeland To Have Own Record News Section Coming Events Today At 4 pm Legislative hearing on conaolidation act loom 411 State Capitol Hartfoft At 7:30 pm Court of Burgesses Town Hill At I pm Board of fluca-lion Moses Beach School Tomorrow At 8 pm Board of Selectmen Town Hall At 8 pm Town Planning Commission Town Hall At 7:15 pm Board of Water Commissioners Water Department office time one of the feet thet not have to Weetview did Now a all tewer in the bor annexation are other from purely seeking the question that "creeping do much and they the police comes as a and does are told Westview consideration facts and and it to make feelings of the indicate much from that Traffic Study To Cover Rush Hour Flow Lt Louis Gtrriep) of the Bor ough Police Department will study new traffic system undertaken on a trial basis yesterday The police lieutenant who la In charge of traffic control will collect results of manual contsol at the intersection of Quinnipiac and Cherry Streets during the 5 rush period The system was first tried yesterday when Sgt John Reynolds directed traffic at the intersection when employes of several plants were enroute home Deputy Chief Carl Grasser said the preliminary result proved effective and would be continued for several days on a trial basis until Lt study is completed Tonight Warden John A Buza and the Court of Burgesses will receive a traffic plan report from the Technical Planning Associates of New Haven It will be presented to borough officials by Peter Hale who is also chairman of the Town Planning Commission One of the features of the plan calls for establishment of one-way traffic on Quinnipiac Street and Hall Avenue an Avenue BY BOB GARS SON INFORMED SOURCES say a tilling! orb mgn it in line to be a county commissioner starting Oct I The appointment to the lucrative position will be made by the legislature sometime before it adjourns and the person named i scheduled to take office beginning Oct 1 CLARENCE ANDREWS of North Haven has been serving as county commissioner for the past seve 1 years His term was due to expire Oct 1 1955 but he has continued to serve because no successor was named by the 1955 Legislature Andrews told us last night that he has informed his state central committeeman that he does not desire to be renamed to the post and ht assumes a successor will be named by the Legislature Andrews said he has heard that several persons are interested in the appointment but that he does not know who will receive it An informed source here however said the appointment -will be made from the 12th District which encompasses Wallingford North Haven East Haven Branford North Branford Guilford Madison and Hamden The same source said he has been told that tentative agreement has been reached to give the appointment to Wallingford it has been at least 20 years since a Wallingford resident was named county commissioner and if the report of the agreement is true it would mean that the name would be chosen by the Republican Town Committee Officially the appointment is made by the Legislature but that group would not be likely to oppose any name submitted by its members from the 12th District WE ARE TOLD that maneuvering for the post already is under way although no name is likely to be chosen for many weeks to come The only name being mentioned at the present time is thst of GOP Town Chairman Anthony Kowai Sendra-h'erreira ski but opposition to his appointment may develop in the near fu-i ture The post of county commissioner is much sought after Little work! is Involved and the salary amounts to $3 S00 a year The battle within the party framework is likely to be a hot one now thn they were last was tried In the last attempt telling point waa the borough retidente did pay a tewer tax but HHi property owner sewer tax wUI be charged user Including thoee ough Thote behind the move however feel there advantage aside financial one and are best way to put the across They realize consolidation" will to equalize the tax rate are aware that even service they now get from the borough not have to be supplied THE QUESTION we is to be put before the Hills Association for it as soon as full figures have been obtained will be up to that group the initial move At any rate the proponents seem to support for consolidation area Community Plans Saturday Wallingford Community workers board guests will gather day's concert for a at St George's Inn at I The concert itself will 8:15 pm Reservations supper should be made before Friday The concert which the young lyric eoprano Cardillo will be the Wallingford series Members of the hold a reception for soprano at St George's the concert fV Under the plan traffic wouk Ijf Omgtt AffairS SeUCS avel west on Hall Avenue and! Scheduled Begin Thursday travel east on Quinnipiac Street Warden Buza is also expected committees Beginning today The Record will publish a bi-weekly column of nows from the Ridgeland area The news will cover activities of Ridgeland residents and other items of Interest to that are of Ymlesville will cover activities of Ridgeland residents and other items of inter4 est to that area of Yalesvtlie Mrs Frank Anderson of 33 Ridgeland Road will be the Ridgeland correspondent of The Record News items may be telephoned to her it COLony 9-7839 A native of WlfkeiBirre Pa Mrs Anderson who was Audrey Seaman before her marriage attended Wilkes College Mr Anderson who Is a salesman for Ryer-son Steel in Wallingford was transferred here from Cleveland The Andersons have one son Douglas age 8 a pupil in the first grade at the Parker Farms School Mrs Anderson is home room mother for her First Grade Mr Anderson Is ohairman 9 Women in the Ridgeland area who are interested in an open discussion regarding foreign affairs are invited to attend the first of eight meetings sponsored by the Foreign Policy Association a national organization at the home of Mrs Howard Swatkins of Parker Farms Road this Thursday evening at 8:15 Mrs Rosemary Pluffy will lead a discussion on the subject "How Should the Compete with If you plan to attend please call Mrs Swatkins at Colony 9-2866 and watch this column for future meetings and their subjects Scout News An action packed and well attended meeting was held by Cub Scout Pack 24 Thursday evening at Parker Farms School Following the opening ceremonies five Cubs John Tassmer Donald Schattan Michael Smith Harold Rose and Timothy Tyler awarded Webelos Badges by Cubmaster Harold Buntele The four iut named boys were also presented Boy Scout neckerchiefs as they represented the first Cubs to graduate from Pack 24 into Boy Scouting Boy Scouts from Wallingford Troops 4 12 and 27 it looks today a cartpath through the trees paralleling Broad Brook Reservoir (Photo by Rusczek) MERIDEN DAI MYSTERY lw? Thu Body not yet Identified A MOST REMARKABLE CASE to announce Burgess for the year at session Some time ago he said there would be minor changes in the committees providing the burgesses desired to serve on additional committees Members of the Court of Burgesses sre also expected to ballot on seniority ranking of the board Senior Burgess Gilbert Boyd (R) is the top-ranking member of the burgesses having the authority to serve as acting warden in the absence of Mr Buza Town Property Transfers Listed Property transfers recorded in the office of Town Clerk Henry Wachteihausen include: Housatonic Development Carp to Mr and Mrs Francis Xavier Anderson land and buildings on Donald Court Revenue stamps 51595 Housatonic Development Corp to Mr and Mrs Columbus Buc-cini land and buildings on Sunrise Circle Revenue stamps 31595 Housatonic Development Corp to Mr and Mrs Victor Scionti land and buildings on Sunrise Circle Revenue stamps 31595 Housatonic Development Corp to Mr and Mrs John Dunn land and buildings on a 1 i Court Revenue stamps 31595 Donald Aheam (o Mr and Mrs Henry A land and build-i ings on Carr Street Revenue stamps 31430 Green Manor Estates to Mr and Mrs Lester Lake land and buildings on Farms Road Revenue stamps 31485 Foreign Policy Discussion Scries Scheduled The first in a series of discussion group programs held in conjunction with the Foreign Policy Association will be held this week under the joint sponsorship of the League of Women Voters and the Wallingford Junior Woman's Club The topic under discussion at this week's meetings will be: "How Should the Compete with Similar discussions are being held throughout the nation as part of the foreign policy program "Greet Decisions of 1957" Fact sheets and opinion ballots which will be used in the discussions have been prepared by the Foreign Policy Association snd will be made available at the first meeting The schedule of this meetings: Tuesday at 8:30 Mrs Jack Marvin leader at the home of Mr John Fitzgerald 28 Norman Avenue Tuesday at 8:15 Mrs Milton Zucker leader at the home of Mrs Robert Woodson 92 Ridge-land Road Wednesday at 10 a Mrs Vincent Devine Feeder at the home of Robert Atmore 125 North Elm Street Thursday at 8 Mrs Randolph Erskine leader at the home of Mrs George Cushman 208 North Elm Street Thursday at 8:30 Mrs Edward Gallant leader at the home of Mrs Albert Field 243 South Main Street Thursday at 8:15 Mrs William Paxton leader at her home on Whirlind Hill Thursday at 8:15 Mrs George Duffy leader at the home of Mrs Howard Swatkins Parker Farms Road Friday at 8:30 Mrs Watson Woodrow leader at the home of Mrs Cecil Eskola Shady Drive Ail interested persons have been invited to participate in the program which has been designed to stimulate intei est in the foreign policy Mrs Walter Carmody and Mrs Michael Ferris are serving as co-chairmen St Pierre Auxiliary will meet at 8 pm tonight at St Pierre Hall Refreshment will be served by Mrs Margaret Russell Mrs Tessie Saunders and Mrs Pat Selesh Obituaries Leslie Edwin Brocks Leslie E- Brooks of 77 Trcmper Drive died at Veterans Memorial Hospital Monday morning after a lengthy illness Surviving are his wife Emily Ballard Crooks: two sons John and Philip: two daughters Dorothy and Janice Brooks: two brothers Ralph of Wallingford and Charles of Marne and three sisters Mrs Rosie Varnay of Florida Mrs Maud Pullen and Mrs Edna Keys of Maine Funeral services will be held from the First Baptist Church Wednesday afternoon at 2: 30 Burial will be in In Memoriam Cemetery The Rev Roswell Cummings will be in charge of the service DIED BROOKS it 77 Tremper Drlvr died Monday morning at Veteran Memorial Hil)ital In Meriden Friend may rail at the Bailey Funeral Home 273 Siuth Elm St Tuenday from 3 to 5 and from 7 to 9 pm Funeral All Mori of HHwriw a 4 Iti iiihllia" mtfc MRS FRANK ANUERSIMl Rldgelaad Cormpewdeat 81 Rd C0 9-7M Mrs Frank of the ways and means committe of Cub Pack 24 of YaiesviUe Mrs Anderson is an ardent bridge fan were present to welcome the Cubs into the troops At the conclusion of the awards Dr Harlan Smith of Yale University showed colored slides of the planets and the sun and explained briefly some points of interest about each The meeting was adjourned following an announcement by Rickard Reid incoming Pack Committee chairman that ha tickets for the first annual Bltge and Gold banquet would go sale within the week Nursery Club The Nursery Club committee pf the Parker Farms A is wil on the way toward exceeding its goal of 200 members Latest reports from their chairman Mrl Douglas Butler of Ridgeland Circle indicate over 150 have already subscribed to the plan It is anticipated that when final totals are received the clq will be well over its 200 mail Surprise Party Last Saturday friends anf neighbors of Evelyn Niles Cre view Terrace surprised her wilj a combination birthday and hous wanning party also anticipate ready response tl our future needs and At the end Peterson sai4 the YMCA here had 1252 members There were 193 organize groups with an enrollment of 276 These groups he said held 2177 sessions with total attendance of 36646 PETERSON SAID there were 68 special events dances trips and socials with an attendance of 5102 and he listed an attendance of 9503 for the 124 sessions held by 106 groups without special enrollment Peterson said another 43 non -YMCA group held 105 sessions with an attendance of 3464 Peterson reported that 15910 persons used game rooms and lounges and there were 110 interviews by staff members Total attendance for all aetivi ties he said was 70265 Brevities A meeting of the past matrons and past patrons of Mizpah Chapter will be held Wednesday A pot luck supper is planned for 6:30 pm A business meeting will follow Mizpah Social will meet today in Masonic Temple A covered dirt! lunch willbe served at 1:30 pm The annua! meeting will follow With reports and an election of officers Directors who will serve as hostesses will be Mrs Miriam Breckendidge Mrs Mabel Burgh-off Mrs Jessie Wilke and Mrs Mabel Bailey The Wallingford Homemakers will meet today at the home of Mrs William Bertini of Pond Hill Road Miss Jean Egbert director of the Wallingford Visiting Nurse Association wiH be guest speaker Mr and Mrs John Kalendyk of 1 Franklin St are vacationing ill' Florida The executive boats! of the Wallingford Junior Club will meet tomorrow night at 8 pm in the home of Mrs Roger McMahon 389 Long Hill Road The 4-L Class of the Advent Christian Church will meet at 7:45 pm tonight at tbe parsonage at 92 Fair St Hostesses will be Pris- cilia Proctor and Ruth Dunlop Concert Supper Concert members and before Satur buffet supper begin at for tha at the Inn will feature Christina third in the association will the young Inn after Miss Presents Sandra Mrs Charles Sendra of Pego Spain announces the engagement of her daughter Presenta to Joseph Frank Ferreira son of Mr and Mrs Joseph A Ferreira of 254 No Cilooy St Miss Sendra is living with her uncle and aunt Mr and Mrs Charles Piert of 521 No Elm St Mr Ferreira is a graduate of Quinnipiac College and attended the University of Connecticut The weding will take place in April COiony 9-4423 for tompleu heatino jSewies rHE DALY co 181 NO COLONY ST Tbe sums! Sunday qatatada of WaflLog-ford vu greatly dbtsrbed Sunday when ft bactttt gMerafty known that a body had baas fcMuxi i a 4w bos over is tbe Part er Fartu diatrict eft i lotoeraed oy Charles Jomb fie tftecofwy cae about fa thte wa Kderard Terrell hie brother Joaeoh 'mL BiM Soawre were SENSATIONAL though it was tbe Shoe Box Murder carried only this modest headline in the Meriden Republican of Aug 9 1886 YMCA Needs To Expand With Surrounding Area funds and more room are needed by the YMCA to meet the ever-expanding program made neces- to and the rowin8 community Mrs Oscar Martha land and and the growing demands made on the organization jg In his annual report General Secretary Oscar Peterson pointed out that more than 100 paid and volunteer workers are being buildinSs at David Drive and Marc Drive- Revenue stamps $1705 Bruce Development Corp to Mr Mrs Eusene Leon lajld HERE IS SHOE BOX ROAD as A PROPOSAL to close off the southern pert of Shoe Box Road in YaiesviUe caused not even a ripple in Wallingford's town meeting recently But 70 years ago the little used roed was the center of interest The Meriden Republican of Aug 9 1886 reported: "The usual Sunday quietude of I Wallingford was greatly disturbed1 yesterday when it became generally known that a body had been found in a shoe box over in the' Parker Farm district in a lot owned by Charles Jones THE BODY was found hacked to convenient size stuffed into a large wooden packing crate that had containtd shoes The box was abandoned in a wild and swampy area near the Wallingford-Cheshire town Hne To this day no one has discovered the identity of the victim No one has revealed the identity of the killer A winding rutted logging road curves into the matted undergrowth from the Yalesville-Cheshire Road into the dark woodland depths where the shoe box and it contents were discovered 70 years ago The lane tied to the folklore of the village became known officially as Shoe Box Road Still open but used only by the curious or by seekers after solitude is the northern end The pages of the 1886 edition of the Daily Republican are yellowed now and freyed with age The long-ago story however leaps alive from the page charged with suspense as it was told: THREE YOUNG MEN of Yales-ville were out for a Sunday ramble in the woods They discovered the shoe box in its natural cradle huddled beneath a growth of small trees and nearly hidden from view by crowding huckleberry bushes Edward Terrell his brother Joseph and Giles Somers pried the cover from the box Inside bedded in straw and tar paper they found the torso of a man headless' armless legless Medical Examiner McGaug-hey was called Sonstable Austir made the Initial investigation NO CLOTHING was found The box was an ordinary crate used to ship boxes of shoes Lettering on the box identified the original contents ironically as toe fine stitched" Constable Austin said the box had been hauled or carried 300 or 400 feet along the little used wood-path to its hiding place The surrounding woods were scoured but the missing head RES MONTH HEATER NORMAL INSTALLATION CO 9-7751 A PARTIAL CONSOLIDATION of of town and borough may result even if the consolidation act now before the Legislature is not approved in town and borough referenda A group of Westview Hill residents has been quietly gathering facts and figures in preparation for a renewed move to have that section of the community annexed into the borough A SIMILAR MOVE failed a few years ago and proponents of the plan are not overly hopeful They feel they will have to sell the plan on the ba9i of its financial considerations and those sre even worse Export Watch and Clock Repair LINUS HILL fc SON ChurcJS St ValeiiviUe Just East of the School BqpteMMUm The August 17 edition of the Daily Republican admitted that are plenty" One rumor had it that the head of the victim was found in a nearby well The rumor was false faded with the dwmdhng hope of s0 On September 26 the case leaped into prominence again A FARMER living nearby found the forearms and legs of the murdered man wrapped in paper They proved nothing and added nothing to identification The story slipped quietly from the columns of the Daily Republican replaced by news of Geroriemo's capture in the Southwest and more up-to-date killings in the Northeast There are those living today who remember the events that- shook the village for months and aye for years afterwards FREDERICK BURGHOFF of Hanover St YaiesviUe recalls the story He was seven or eight years old when the body was found He remembers police investigators concentrated on YaiesviUe butchers in an effort to solve the crime At one time according to newspaper accounts a butcher's employe who "had a number of irregular habits" and who mysteriously disappeared was the prime candidate for the role He was later found hale and hearty WALLINGFORD POLICE have no record of the crime in their present files Vividly remembered however is a Wallingford constable of that era who swore he knew the murderer and who swore he would carry that knowledge to his grave James Pearce former YaiesviUe resident who now lives in Hartford remembers the murder and the furore that accompanied It Pearce's father (Pearce was nine at the time of the murder) was a teamster for the GI Mix Company of YaiesviUe Sometime before the murder was discovered the elder Pearce was asked to deliver a shoe box from the railroad depot YaiesviUe HE LEFT THE BOX on the porch of his home for pickup It was collected and disappeared I The Daily Republican carried 1 MORE MANPOWER more used to carry out present activities Peterson said the number includes three full time professional employes two full time persons to take care of the office and building a parttime bookkeeper 19 supervisors gym leaders and program aides and 103 serving on boards councils committees and volunteer lay leadership positions Peterson listed many of the activities carried on at the YMCA and noted that the also serves civic groups and "is playing an effective part and has a real place in the community DO NEED he continued "We do need a bigger plant and more equipment We do need more manpower in paid and volunteer leadership Our work over the past year has been partially geared to thli area of endeavor We have reviewed our policies have stressed the importance of membership in the YMCA have been concerned over our physical and financial needs and have improved our personnel "The redesigning of our programs require constant evaluation objective study and analysis We seek at all times to make the program attractive of satisfying value to the individual provide new experiences encourage new friendships and expose members to new insights that require their seif evaluation of their manner of living in work home school church and community "PROGRAM CONTENT in our club groups and all YMCA activities is motivated by a desire to serve people to serve the community" Peterson said more people both young and old are taxing YMCA facilities and they must be improved he said the time to act on our building plans and develop pur campsite we continue to develop our program to meet the needs of as we maintain oik serv ice to as many as possible within the present lynits of our staff budget and facilities then we can and limbs were not immediately found RUMORS theories and just plain gossip built up a dozen stories for public consumption in the days that followed A Daily Republican reporter presented the telief that a group of medical student had done the deed Dr McGaughey denied this The gleam of suspicion then pointed to a butcher or butchers Farmers acquainted with the rudiments of butchering were not above investigation Police Chief Ford of Meriden was drawn briefly into the probe New Haven County Coroner Mix did a post mortem in an effort to find the original cause of death Poison was briefly considered No trace was found POLICE were thwarted in the very first step toward reasonable solution of the crime They were unable to identify the body Files were combed Missing person reports were studied The absence of a head was a major stumbling block in identification The August 11 edition of the Meriden newspaper listed the members of a searching party which scoured the woods in a further search for clues Included were Warden George Dickerman Prosecutor George Wallace George Simmons Roswell Morse William Hall and Town Clerk Martin This posse "beat the bushes and examined the pools in the swamp where the body was according to the newspaper report AH to no avail SUSPICION POINTED at one stage in the case to an unidentified tramp seen hanging around the railroad depot by Station Agent Tuttle Constable 'Austin was of the opinion that the murderer or murderers burned the limbs and head of the victim to cover their tracks A piece of silk necktie reportedly saturated with blood was found on the highway near the Shoe Box Road entrance New Haven detectives were brought into the case eventually Detective McNamara patiently sought to untangle the meager evidence available Without and buildings on Ridgefield Road Revenue stamps 5605 Mr and Mrs Frank GoodhaJI Creswick to Mr and Mrs Bruce A Eiche of North Haven land and improvements on Jenna Road Revenue stamps 3275 Bruce Development Corp to Mr and Mrs Harry William Clarke land and buildings on Ridgefield Road Revenue stamps 3880 Anderiot Construction Co to Mr and Mrs Arthur Cox land and buildings at Apple Tree Lane and Robert Lane Revenue stamps 522 INCORPORATION Articles of incorporation for the Connecticut Wholesale Builders Supply Corp have been filed in the office of Town Clerk Henry Wachteihausen Incorporators are Garvin Kiernan Thomas A McCarthy and Stuart Marplc Jr all of New York The firm is capitalized at 3501)00 with 500 shares of 3100 par value stock fbi JtorV on Sept 26 1886 Demur A tam am- One Pring (sic) remembered he took a box from the Yales-ville depot three miles above Wallingford to a spot near where it was found last May" The man who contracted for the teamster's services according to the newspaper account was "a stranger with a disabled who said he hailed from Chicago He told the teamster the box was bound for Cheshire No more was heard of the stranger No more was heard of the box until it (or its counterpart) was found four months later The lead faded as did ail leads Only the mystery remained It is revived on occasion when memories are touched at the mention of Shoe Box Road or when a car slows down in the fading dusk near the entrance of the rutted lane that disappears into tha bhrekness of the woods beyond NO DOWN PAYMENT AUTOMATIC GAS WATER teuss-UNiD) ONLY $15300 INSTALLED ORDER YOURS TODAY HOUSATONIC PUBLIC SERVICE CO.