NEAFC 32nd Annual Conference.pdf - New England Association of ...

NEW ENGLAND _/kSSOCIATION O1~ FIRE CI-IIEFS
I might mention that my secretary has. adopted the Gregg system for her
proficiency and skil£ulness, and I am eternall)r grateful to the Mr. Gregg wh~
invented that system.
As I do not see, she is very tho.ught£ul, arid whenever I get a letter that is
marked "Personal and Confidential she covers her ears so that she won’t hear
what she~is reading! (Laughter.)
Perhaps I should explain that title o~ "Judge" which His. Excellency, the
Governor, was so kind.to include in his presentation o£ me to this distinguished
gathering. It goes back to the days. when I was in college and was a candidate
for the football team. I got out there every day and practiced, and every
SaturdayI sat on the bench, but we got through my freshman year nicely, with-
Out my services.
, Then, in my sophomore year, I was there every Saturday, and practiced
all week, but we had a fairly large squad, and so they got through a tengame
schedule without needing me at all. And the same was true in my
junior year. But, in-my senior year, the squad had been sharply reduced, and
l~here were very few of us substitutes sitting on the bench. But, they got
through the first nine games of. the t.en-game schedule without an.y chance
my .serving. -
We got into the last game 05 the last year of my term in college, and at
the end of the half, three o5 the five substitutes had been used; that le~t another
fellow and myself, and in the third quarter, there was another injury and the
coach called upon the other substitute to go,in. That left me alI,._~lone. Now,
there is nothing malicious about me; I wasn t hoping or wishing ~la~ anything
would happen to any of the boys. I was available. Then, as you might expect,
in the fourth quarter, there was another injury, find ther~’-I was. The coac~
came right up to me and said: .........
ttPowers .~, .......
-
. . -
Powers, ge~ up; I m sendmgm the bench! (L~iught~t.)
And ,hat"iff~ere I got the~ title o~ Judge; fr.om all of those ~years of faith[
ful service on the bench! .... ’ " .....
More seriously, I might explain to you that I did serve as a Probate Judg9 for thirteen years, and that is why they actually call me.."Ju,dge."
And you, know, my experiences., as a Probate Judge we?e very interesting.
Of course~ a Probate Judge is an individual ~who cannot be.::~f:rnuch use to
you while you ar~ alive, b~i~he will take’Very good care 0f ydfi:~ iSi~6perty, a5ter
.you aredead! (Laughter.)
.! Among the many duties 05 the Probat~ Judge is the examination ot~ the
accounts of administrators, executors and gflardlafis, etd., and I can remember
a woman who came in to see me; she was’. the ex-eeu~ix :o£~her husband’s¯ will.
He had died, leaving a large estate. He lest everything .to her,.with only one
condition, and th, a.t wa,s_~.that she have a tombstone erected above his grave,
~ith the simple inscription of ’his.name,_._ the da~9.~ b~:tli~i ’bir.th, the date of his
’!death and "Prepare to follow.m e_" .~:
She-came.-io, with her acc.oun__.t?as execg~;.r;3,~.~ a.~.d it w_~,as $ 63, 5 0-~-;or this stone
cutting business ..... .Now, I was.born~a poo~oy, and I am,,in. £avor o5. the labor-
.ing man, but, it seemed to me that. $63:~0 ..£..o~r~h~se few words, might be consider_..ed~cNse!in.g,
an_d I asked he_r.,.how come, and:_~bat~was .t_h__e..$_63,50 for?
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