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Street. Several times when their house was
crowded, I shared a large bed on the top floor with Billy Robbins and
Spot, the dog. I never enjoyed
this because Billy insisted on opening all
the windows as wide as he could, and in the morning my throat would be
sore from too much cold gaseous air. Moreover, Spot was apt to get
restless in the small hours and scratch himself, which made
sleeping difficult.
Now, returning to South Avenue and proceeding in an easterly
direction, I have only routine associations with the portion
between Wellesley Street and Cutter's Corner, except for the house where
Mable Page was murdered in 1904. Although a Charles Tucker was sent to
the electric chair for the crime, my father always maintained that he
was innocent and the true culprit not even
a suspect. He never mentioned the name of his candidate, but he saved
all the newspaper accounts of the trial, which over the years, made
better nesting material for mice than reading material for the
researcher.
We often bought cider at the mill at Cutter's Corner while my
father called on Loring Young across the way to discuss town affairs.
Loring, my father and Bert Tyler were Weston selectmen for many years.
Things usually went smoothly for them. How- ever, during
construction of the Weston Center bypass through
a long stretch of swampland, Mr. Charles Freeman, who ran a screen
factory on Crescent Street, claimed his water rights were impaired and
brought suit against the selectmen for damages.
When the case came to trial my father and Loring were
not too concerned about it but Bert Tyler was so worried that
he could hardly sleep at night. My father's behavior on the stand
did nothing to relieve the uneasiness of poor Bert's state of mind. |
