USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > Meriden > Years of Meriden 150: published in connection with the observance of the city's sesquicentennial, June 17-23, 1956 > Part 18
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Ernest Kirby was engaged by the city in January 1944 to compile Meriden's war records, and his report was made first in July 1945. The following figures were taken from his statistics at that time: 5,631 inducted (of whom 4,879 were still in uniform in September 1945); 146 dead; 377 wounded; 28 prisoners (of whom 20 had returned by early August); 3,104 in the Army; 1,060 in the Navy; 171 Marines and 161 in other branches; 156 women in the armed services, of whom 56 were WACs, 39 Waves, 10 Spars, 39 Army nurses, 7 Navy nurses, with 5 dis- charged at the time when the first report was made. On December 1, 615 from here were still in the service.
Organized to advise the returning veterans was the Veterans' Advisory Center at 22 Liberty Street in the old high school building, then called the Welfare Building.
The Volunteer Office of the War Council was located in the same building. It was closed in October 1945, but Mrs. Matilda A. Young, who had been in charge of the office, was appointed secretary of the War History Office and continued the work of the Volunteer Office on a part-time basis.
Meriden residents who lost their lives in the service of their country in World War II were:
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WORLD WAR II
Albert R. Athorne
Francis E. Gaffey
Leonard Baranski
Carl A. Gardon
Emil E. Beierle
Raymond W. Gearing
Joseph E. Bergeron
Hugh R. Gibney, Jr.
William F. Berwick
Lawrence Gleason
Edward Bieluczyk
Howard T. Gracey
Arthur J. Biesak
Robert Gregory
Welles Bishop
Michael J. Grieco, Jr.
Vincent J. Blachuta
Robert W. Grinold
Menceslaus Bogacz
Robert Halstein
James H. Brandenberger
Dana Harlow, Jr.
Fred Emil Brechlin
Wayne G. Havell
Frank Budzinack
Donald A. Hofmeister
Joseph J. Byczynski Joseph Cahill
Warren Hough
Albert Caivano
Harold Jobin
Vincent S. Cannatelli
George J. Kafka
William J. Carrozella
Walter W. Kaminsky
John T. Cashen
William Kapitzke
Paul Carl Chaya
Norman P. Kelly
Carl J. Ciasulli
Robert S. Kidder
Louis M. Cook
David M. Knell
William J. Cooper
Edward J. Koczon
Louis J. Corradino
John Kolek
Arthur H. Crooker
Frank P. Konopka
Jerome F. Curran
Walter Koozmitch
A. Morse Curtis, Jr.
Robert Kroeber, Jr.
Charles E. Cushing
Henry C. Landry
Henry A. Dahlke
Ronaldo F. D'auria
John R. LaRosa Howard Lebo Walter Lepack
Mark Daybill John H. Dearborn
Benjamin L. Liber
Anthony Dlugolenski
Alexander Logoyke
Walter J. Douksza
Ernest Luca
Frank R. Dowling
Lionel J. Ludsier
George E. Dupuis Manfred R. Falk
George S. Macri
Herman B. Faricelli
Joseph Paul Madona
Thomas M. Fitzgibbons, Jr.
Joseph Majewicz
Robert W. Fowler
Robert E. Lynes
Anthony Maletta
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August W. Horton
WORLD WAR II
John J. Malm
Donald T. Robison
Nestor J. Malone
Joseph E. Rogers James Rosi
Francis R. Maney
Kenneth C. Runge
John F. Mason
Theodore J. Rzegocki
Paul E. McCarthy
Edward O. St. Onge.
Wesley J. Meiklem
Joseph F. St. Onge
Dorrance Merriam
Joseph C. Saleski
Paul Mingrino Michael Molon
Bertrand K. Sawyer John V. Scarfo
Joseph Morelli
Francis J. Schaefer
Donald W. Moyer
Carl A. Scharmer, Jr.
Benjamin Muzyczka
Kenneth E. Smith
Julius A. Nessing
James V. Spinelli
Stanley J. Niewiadomski
Theodore T. Stafinski
Arthur Nitsche
Joseph A. Sullivan, Jr.
Russell P. O'Brien
Edward J. Szymaszek
Maurice O'Connell
Donald J. Teagle
Stanley Orzech
Albert J. Tetreault
Dominic Paluconis
Joseph J. Trigilio
Arthur Panciera
Harold C. Trostel
Everett Parrish
William R. Whalon
Herbert T. Perkins
Jack Williams
Theodore J. Pinkos
Edgar Worley
John Podgurski
Bronislaus Woronik
Irving C. Pohl
Herbert A. Wunsch
Bronislaus Przywara
Carlton W. Wusterbarth
Joseph S. Pulaski
Richard H. Young
Arthur J. Radtke
Raymond Zavaglia
Charles Rahner
Frank A. Zawacki
Robert Reilly
Rudolph J. Zebora
Edwin W. Ridley
Victor Leo Zlotowski
Robert I. Robinson
Edward J. Zuraw
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William F. Malone
CHAPTER THIRTY
The Korean War
THE KOREAN WAR which followed World War II, has been described as a "police action" but its effects were those of all-out war, so far as this country was concerned. American soldiers fought and bled and died in large numbers, and at least 15 men from Meriden were among those who perished as a result of their service.
It is unnecessary to rehearse here the steps which led up to the conflict in which U. S. armed forces were involved, which began when the North Korean army invaded South Korea on June 25, 1950. The Security Council of the United Nations demanded immediate withdrawal. When this was refused, the U. S. ordered Gen. Douglas MacArthur to send aid, and he was named com- mander in chief of the U. N. forces. Bitter fighting ensued, especially after 200,000 Red Chinese troops entered the war. The long combat was finally ended when an armistice was signed by the United Nations and the Communist delegates in Panmunjom on July 27, 1953.
In this war, which resulted in a stalemate, the following Meriden men died, according to records kept by the Record-Journal:
Francis H. Abele, killed in action in 1950; Robert P. Abele, killed in action in 1950; Malcolm E. Aldrich, listed killed in action in 1951; William H. Burke, lost at sea in 1950; Donald Dibble, reported missing in action in 1950, no subsequent report; Derrick Donovan, killed in action in 1951; Lorenzo Dupont, Jr., died of injuries in 1952 when hit by a car in Germany; Robert J. Gervais, killed in action in 1952; Burton A. Gracey, killed in action in 1951; Joseph C. M. Gravel, killed in action in 1951; Warren H. Leining, killed in action in 1950; Frank J. O'Brien, Jr., killed in a parachute jump in 1954; Joseph F. Owsianik, body found in San Francisco Bay in 1952; Robert M. Strauss, killed in plane crash in 1954; Joseph Zuber, killed in accident in 1951 at air force base in Texas.
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CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Labor Unions
As EARLY AS 1880, individual trades here were organized into labor unions, but were not affiliated with any central body.
The Knights of Labor movement began to sweep the country in 1883, motivated largely by a desire for political influence. Almost anyone could be admitted to this organization except liquor dealers and lawyers. The reasons for their exclusion were not stated publicly.
Mechanics Assembly No. 2501 was instituted here in 1884 in Circle Hall on Colony Street as a unit of the Knights of Labor. Other units were soon formed in different trades, and the move- ment flourished for four years, but disintegrated in 1889, when the influence of the American Federation of Labor became dominant. The strong Buffers and Polishers Assembly here with- drew from the Knights of Labor to join the AFL, which led the way for many other local unions to follow.
The Central Labor Union was organized September 21, 1890, in Martin's Hall, State Street and soon gained strong support. John Reynolds was the first president. In 1906, 23 local labor organizations, representing every union in the city, were affiliated with this body and took part in the Centennial celebration.
The organization remained active and gained strength. It was instrumental in founding Undercliff Sanitarium, where beds were established for the care of union members or members of their families afflicted with tuberculosis.
In July 1915, the C. L. U. observed its 25th anniversary with a celebration at Hanover Park at which Samuel Gompers, presi- dent of the American Federation of Labor, spoke. Mr. Gompers was taken on a sight-seeing trip through Meriden by Thomas L. Reilly, then U. S. Representative; and Julius C. Stremlau, then president of the Connecticut Federation of Labor, introduced Mr. Gompers to the assembled unions. Meriden at that time had 2,500 members in unions affiliated with the Central Labor Union.
In 1944, the body moved its headquarters from 29 Colony Street, where it had been located for 44 years, to 721/2 East Main
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LABOR UNIONS
Street. During World War II, it set up a committee to give aid and advice to returning veterans. This was done in response to a request from the War Department, according to the late Frederick L. Neebe, long secretary of C. L. U. Serving on the committee were Henry J. Burke, president, John L. Moran, Joseph Bogucki, Ernest T. Bradley and John T. McGlew.
The office of the Central Labor Union is still at 721/2 East Main Street and John T. McGlew is president. More than 20 AFL unions are affiliated.
Although the merging of the American Federation of Labor and Council of Industrial Organizations has been completed on a national level, they have not yet been combined on the state and local level, but this must be accomplished under the agree- ment within two years.
Only two local factories have CIO unions: the New Departure Division of General Motors Corporation and the Connecticut Telephone and Electric Corporation: the first, UAW, local 987, and the second the Electrical Workers Union.
It is planned to merge on a local level within a year, officials have stated.
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CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Public Utilities
ELECTRICITY AND GAS
IT WAS 70 years ago this year that electricity was first made available to Meriden people for lighting their homes, and 93 years ago that gas was piped into homes for illumination and heat.
The subsequent years have seen mighty developments in techniques and scope of service, thanks in large part to the integration of the Meriden utilities into the Connecticut Light & Power Co. network 30 years ago.
Whereas gas and electricity were both once produced locally at plants on South Colony Street, consumers of the Meriden area today burn gas which is a mixture of natural gas - coming to them directly by pipeline from Texas and other southwestern producing centers - plus locally manufactured gas. Similarly, Meriden consumers today use electricity manufactured by steam or water power at great power plants in the state, and soon will be using electricity generated of atomic fission in facilities to whose construction the Connecticut Light & Power Co. is contrib- uting.
It was in 1863, during the Civil War, that gas was first introduced into Meriden. A small 30,000-cubic-foot gas holder stood on South Colony Street about opposite Gold Street. By 1875, the use of gas in Meriden had grown so substantially that a larger installation was necessary, and a new plant was constructed on Cooper Street on the site of the present CL&P facilities.
A large brick gas holder with a conical roof was built in 1875. This was capable of storing 100,000 cubic feet of gas, which seemed like an enormous amount at the time. By 1890, however, the holder was far too small and its walls were extended another 20 feet, thereby doubling its capacity. The old holder continued to serve for another decade or so, until 1901 when a much larger steel gas holder was erected. The brick gas holder remained on the premises until it was torn down in 1935.
Gas was made locally by burning soft coal. A by-product was
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PUBLIC UTILITIES
coke. During World War I and the years thereafter the local gas works were the mecca of Meriden boys sent by their families to draw home a bagful of coke on their hand express wagons. Coal was short in those days, and boys from many parts of the city made regular trips after school to the gas works, standing in line until the burlap bag which they brought was filled with coke which helped to keep the home fire burning.
The large telescopic steel tank which stood on the property on Cooper Street finally became inadequate, even though it held some 750,00 cubic feet of gas. In 1949 this tank gave way to the large steel globes called hortonspheres in which the Connecticut Light & Power Co. now stores a million cubic feet of gas each, under 60 pounds pressure.
The erection of the hortonspheres, largest in the world at the time of their erection, was just another step in the development of a gas service which provided not only Meriden, but also Middletown, Cromwell, Southington, and Cheshire with gas. Since September 1953 natural gas has been brought to Meriden by pipeline from the oil fields to be mixed with manufactured gas.
When gas was first introduced, it was largely for purposes of illumination in homes, stores, and on streets. As an illuminant, it displaced kerosene lamps which, in turn, had displaced candles. Even in the 1890's, after electricity had been introduced, some homes were piped for gas at the same time that they were wired for electricity. Today, of course, gas finds little use as an illumi- nant, but a great use industrially and an increasing use in home heating.
Meriden has had electric lights since 1886. Two men, Fuller and Wood, pioneered in electric lighting, starting with the old carbon arc light which persisted for many years as a street light. In 1885 Fuller and Wood set up a steam engine in the Lonigan building on State Street, until recently the headquarters of Miner, Read & Tullock. The steam engine powered an arc light machine. They had a few lights attached so that local citizens could see how they worked. Then the citizens were besought to form a local electric light company.
That is what happened in Meriden. E. A. Fitzgerald was Fuller & Wood's representative in Meriden. He set up three street lights as a demonstration, one at West Main and Butler, another at West Main and Colony Streets, and a third in Crown St. Square,
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PUBLIC UTILITIES
and he persuaded six local men to buy the plant. These men were Charles F. Linsley, Charles L. Rockwell, Abiram Chamberlain, E. B. Cowles, H. S. Geary, and John L. Billard. The men built a small building next to the warehouse, and set up two arc light machines, one for lighting stores, the other for the 30 street lights which they installed. That was in 1886. In 1887 they exchanged their stock for stock of the Meriden Gas Light Co., and two years later moved their plant to South Colony Street where electricity continued to be generated for the next 26 years.
Great changes took place in the field of electric illumination. Alternating current displaced direct current, and Thomas Edison invented the incandescent lamp which displaced the old arc lights. Edison showed his invention at the Columbia Exposition in 1893; five years later incandescent lighting was in use in Meriden.
It was in 1926 that the Connecticut Light & Power Co. entered the picture in Meriden by merger of the Meriden Gas Light Co., the Meriden Electric Light Co., the New Milford Electric Light Co., the Woodbury Electric Light Co., and the Westport Electric Light Co. J. Henry Roraback was president of the CL&P at that time.
Meriden's gas and electric companies have had an exceptional record of continuous management. Joseph A. Hadley was mana- ger from 1865 to 1895. Charles A. Learned became manager in 1895 and continued until after the merger of the local companies with the CL&P Co. He was succeeded by Albert S. Jourdan of 30 Chestnut Street.
After Mr. Jourdan's retirement, James H. Doak, the present manager, was appointed.
TELEPHONE COMMUNICATIONS
Communication by telephone in Meriden has been possible for more than 78 years. A commercial telephone exchange was opened in Meriden on January 31, 1878, just three days after the world's first commercial telephone exchange was opened in New Haven, making Meriden the second city in the country to have commer- cial telephone service.
There were only six subscribers when the Meriden exchange first opened in 1878 under the management of Ellis B. Baker. Today there are more than 20,000 telephones in Meriden, according to Einer C. Setterling, Meriden manager of the
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PUBLIC UTILITIES
Southern New England Telephone Co.
The story of the growth of the telephone in Meriden is one of steady progress. As the city grew, the telephone service grew, and new technical developments promptly found their way into the service in Meriden.
The switchboard used in Meriden, which is the oldest com- mercial switchboard still in existence ( the days-older New Haven switchboard having been destroyed) was built in the Edward Miller Co. in Meriden by Roger D. Blish. Today the old Meriden switchboard is on display in the Bell System museum in New York City.
Among the earliest subscribers who still use telephone service are the Miller Co., in whose shop the switchboard was built, the H. Wales Lines Co., and the Charles Parker Co. In their earliest days, telephones were largely an accommodation for commerical and industrial establishments; few homes had them at the be- ginning.
Mr. Baker and Mr. Blish, who put together the first switchboard in Meriden, used carriage bolts and the knobs from teapots for some of the fixtures which were mounted on a walnut panel about two by three feet in size. The office of I. L. Holt, insurance agent, in the Wilcox block, accommodated Meriden's first switchboard.
Shortly after the exchange was opened, it was moved to 10 Railroad Avenue in the rear of the coal office of Mr. Baker. In 1880, the exchange was located on the top floor of the Morse & Cook block. The name of the company was changed to the Connecticut Telephone Co. then and Elisha Ryder became the local manager. He subsequently moved his office to the loft over the Western Union Telegraph Co. office in the old railroad passenger station which stood in Winthrop Square, now the site of the Colony building, opposite the Winthrop Hotel.
Two years later, in 1882, the company was organized under its present name of the Southern New England Telephone Co. The office was moved to the second floor of the railroad station which preceded the present brick station. There the exchange remained until 1898 when it was shifted to the Lyon & Billard Co. building, and in 1904 to the building on South Grove Street now occupied by the State Employment Service.
All the changes of location were made in response to the need
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PUBLIC UTILITIES
of expanding service, and in April, 1925, the company moved to a fine new building on Butler Street. This building, much enlarged, is still the site of the company's local business office and operating quarters in Meriden. One of the principal expansions of the building came in 1950 when the business office was expanded. During the reconstruction, the business office occupied temporary quarters for some months at 67 East Main St., moving into its renovated quarters in December, 1950. The present two- story building will be raised to the height of four stories in 1957, according to plans recently announced. The enlargement will be made in anticipation of direct customer dialing on long distance calls, expected to be placed in effect here in 1958.
Technical progress in telephonic communications has been steadily reflected in the service of the Meriden exchange. As early as 1889 the first metallic circuits in the exchange were used, and the first long distance circuit of copper from New York to Boston was connected through the Meriden office in the same year.
At the turn of the century, and for a few years thereafter, telephone wires were strung overhead on poles bearing many crossarms. These were removed, and subsequently gave way to the underground conduits. Improved equipment, larger switch- boards, greater speed in handling long distance calls, characterized the growth of the local exchange. In 1949 there occurred a major development in the cutover from manual operation to dial telephones. Up until that time all calls required the assistance of an operator. Now, under the dial system, only long distance calls require operator assistance, and soon even that will be reduced to a minimum.
When the Meriden exchange moved to its new quarters on Butler Street, the late Carl T. Kent was manager. He had come to Meriden in 1921, succeeding William Moran. Mr. Kent con- tinued to serve here until 1947, when he was promoted to become assistant to the district commercial manager.
Succeeding Mr. Kent as manager was T. Valmonte Hedgpeth, who had been assistant manager. Mr. Hedgpeth continued as manager in Meriden until 1955 when he became supervisor of working practices at the New Haven headquarters. The present manager of the Meriden office, Mr. Setterling, came to Meriden in April, 1955.
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CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Meriden Newspapers
MERIDEN, Wallingford, Cheshire, and Southington form one contiguous area in the very heart of Connecticut. The four communities have kindred interests which bind them closely together.
Two modern daily newspapers serve this area - The Meriden Record and The Meriden Journal, both owned by The Meriden Record Company and published in the Record-Journal plant at Crown and Perkins Streets. More than 26,000 copies of the two newspapers, according to audited circulation figures, are distrib- uted daily.
The newspapers had separate histories prior to June, 1949, when the Record purchased the Journal, and moved its entire staff across the street to become integrated with the dual enter- prise of morning and afternoon publication under single ownership. Since that time, there has been constant improvement in the plant and in the quality of the newspapers. Structural and mechanical changes have been numerous and, at the same time, the volume of news and features published has been greatly increased, with corresponding increases in readership and advertising.
THE MERIDEN RECORD
The Meriden Record traces its beginnings to 1860, when its predecessor, the Meriden Republican, began as a weekly news- paper. Later, the Republican became an afternoon daily.
On November 28, 1888, a number of pioneers in local industry and banking took over the directorship of the newspaper corporation, the Republican Publishing Company. The group included Charles Parker, the city's first mayor, Nathaniel L. Bradley, C. F. Linsley, John L. Billard, William F. Rockwell, S. A. Hull, Horace C. Wilcox, W. F. Graham, and O. B. Arnold.
Four years later, William A. Kelsey, manufacturer of home printing presses, offered to assume the liabilities of the corporation in exchange for 60 per cent stock control, and the board was glad
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to accept the offer. Its members had learned from experience that newspaper management was not their province.
Mr. Kelsey initiated new and successful policies. He appointed Thomas H. Warnock editor and Edwin E. Smith business manager, and gave them authority to conduct the newspaper according to their own ideas. At the time, he had already left Meriden to reside in Washington, D. C., which remained his home for the rest of his life.
The Record was started in 1892 as a one cent morning associate. In 1899, the two papers merged and became the Meriden Morning Record. The Republican was continued until March 1, 1899 as a weekly, and was then suspended.
The close association of Mr. Warnock and Mr. Smith endured for more than 40 years and was ended only by the death of one of the pair. Edwin E. Smith was made secretary of The Republican Publishing Company when it was incorporated in 1887, with William F. Graham as president. Mr. Graham resigned as president and treasurer the next year. He was editor and business manager of the Republican until his death May 18, 1891, when Mr. Warnock became editor. Tom Warnock, the first editor of The Record, had gained his newspaper experience under Mr. Graham, by whom he had first been employed in 1886. Mr. Smith and Mr. Warnock worked together in building the news- paper to a position of prestige and leadership until Mr. Smith's death in 1934.
William A. Kelsey became president of the corporation in 1905, and Mr. Smith was elected vice president and treasurer. Shortly afterwards, he was named publisher. After his death, his son, Wayne C. Smith, became general manager, and later pub- lisher. Mr. Kelsey served as president from 1905 to 1931, when he was succeeded by Mr. Warnock as president. In 1948, Wayne C. Smith was elected president and Mr. Warnock became chairman of the board. The company changed its name to The Meriden Record Company to conform to the name of the newspaper.
Mrs. Blanche Hixson Smith, wife of Publisher Wayne C. Smith, joined the editorial staff of the Record in 1940, writing book and theatrical reviews and editorials. After the purchase of the Journal, she became executive editor of both newspapers. Carter H. White, her son, an attorney, vice president and general counsel of the corporation and active in the direction of its
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affairs since 1948, is now the assistant publisher and general manager of the Record and the Journal. After the death of Mr. Warnock in 1952, Warren F. Gardner, who had been managing editor under him, was raised to the position of editor.
Assisting in the editorship of the Record for more than 40 years was Julia Lansing Hull Warnock, who served as associate editor, book and music critic, and editorial writer. She retired from active newspaper work in 1943, shortly after her marriage to Mr. Warnock. Her death preceded his by only a few months.
The first home of the Record was on Veteran Street in the building which has been occupied for many years by the Meriden Boys' Club. However, the Meriden Republican began operations on East Main Street at the corner of Veteran Street. The present main building, designed as a newspaper plant, was erected in 1905, but has been greatly altered and enlarged, with an addition housing the garage, heating plant, and paper storage, while complete modernization, both mechanical and in office quarters, and the addition of executive offices, has taken place. A new 40-page Hoe press was installed in 1948 in the enlarged press- room. The latest mechanical processes are used in the production of both newspapers, including the automatic setting of type by means of teletypesetter tape punched on special machines. The Record also receives the Associated Press wire service on tape.
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