~ :: i?:ii¯ :i i. theFFa11 kiln n ews-recorD Vol.26, No.14 ’I~vosections, ,12 pages Phone:(201) 725.3300 Thursday,April 6,1978 Secondclasd postagepaid at Manville,N.J. 08835 $4.50per year/15 cents per copy ’ Movinggoes against his grain 87.year.oldWilbur Smifh fighfs condemnafion byStuart Crump Jr.. reasonI’m trying to holdout. It’s not lie llASPLANS to hookup oneof ThePacket GrooI~ for sale." the mill’s three waterwheels to an’ Hewants to keepthe houseso he’ll electric generator,figuring he could WilburSmRh is hardly the sort of havesome place Io live "If I get much .produceenough electricity to heatthe personyou would expect lo do battle olderthan I amnow. I’m only 87," he mill and his houseand providethem withthe Stateof New Jersey. said, witha chuckle. withlight. Sucha hook-upwould be a’ Thequict-spoken, 87-year-old Thestate has offered himabout snapfor him.He’s been tn the elec- electricianhas lived On a seven.and-a-$50,000for the entire area,including trical businesssince 1910 and probably halfacre area of land.onWeston the buildings.The house alone he has knowsall there is to knowabout such Causewaybetween the Delawareand insuredfor $75,000,andhis insurance malters. RaritanCanal and the MillstoneRiver companyvalues the property at "Therewas no electricity In Man- for over60 years. Hcintends to keep $140,000. ville whenwe went into the business," onli~,!n,g there.’ be’recalled."We wired up 90 percent" TILE’MILL itself playeda smallrole of the housesin Manville,and we took TIlE STATEof NewJersey -- in the Revolution, whenBritish onMillstone andEast Millstone. I had specificallythe GreenAcres program soldiersattempted to raid if’andsteal 35 menworking for meat onetime."¯ -- has anhounecdits intention to flour for their troopsin January1777. "Manyof those, fellowshave since condemnMr. Smith’sland, take it Asmall force of GeorgeWashingtan’s goneinto businessfor themselves.We ~omhim and add it to the state’s men, who were encamped in all hadenough work. I’ve bada very canal park. MilIslone,came up and drovethem successful life. We.did so much Hiscase has attractedconsiderable off. business.It didn’tgo to’curheads. We publicinterest in the last several "I just usethe millfor storagenow," just kept on makingpeople happy all. weeks,and attorneyJohn Trombadore Mr.Smith said, "but eventuallyI’d’ over.We wired up the housesalong the of Somervillehas offered to assist Mr. "like to movemy business into it." LincolnHighway all the waythrough Smith"in fighting his case. Mr. commutingto workin BoundBrook FranklinPark to NewBrunswick," he Trombadoreis the SomersetCounty everyday is a bit morethan he cares said. publicdefender. to dothese days, even though he’s only "I’d like to siaythereby the oldmill "I boughtthat propertyin 1010,"Mr. 87-year-young."Too much traveling," becauseI love waterpower. I rehunt ¯ Smithrelated during an lnlerviewat hesaid. that damby the mill three times.The his placeof business,Smith Electric in "It’s a lovelyold mill," Mr.Smith first timewith Wood, but the ice torett said, "Theentire thing is built without up. Sothen we’used steel but it rusted BoundBrook, last Tuesdayafterhoon, nails. Theyused wooden pins. Heavy out in three years. Finally .weused "I don’t rememberwhat I paid for beamsgo all thc wayacross the roofof concreteand it’s beenthere about30’ it," he said. Onthe propertyat the the mill. Thekids haveknocked out years,"ha said. time of purchasewas an old pre- the windows.It’s a shame.But the ~RevolutinnaryWar mill, anti old post frameis in excellentshape," he said. Sec WILBURSMITH~page 5-A office, a churchand an orchard. "I .remodeledthat old mill," he explained."I put a newfoundation underIt: It wasabout ready to fall into Absenteeismrate high the river." Mr.Smith now lives in a house across fromthe mill whichbe built ¯ himselfsome thirty-plus years ago. for single day opening .. -Thehuge, 13-room house has three ThreeWeeks ago a 6-3 split b~; the ’ ATTENDANCESTATISTICS show fireplaces.Most of tile roomsarc now Franklin Township Board of 1,087 of the high school’s 1,754 rentedout, blr~Smith explained. Education. shortenedthis year’s students,or 62 percent,missed class Easter vacationhy openingtownship Friday.One group of studentswas’on .p "MYWIFE has been gone12 years schools for one day, Friday of last a week-longexcursion with faculty ’ . now,"be recalled. He and his wife week. chaperonesto Senegaland was due to. weremarried for 50 years."I’m all While.pupil absenteeismdistrict- arrivehome onthe weekend... WILBURSMITH sitson tha fiont p0rch ofhis hemson West’an’Causeway.... ’ con- theDelaware andRarltan Canal Park.Mr. Smith’s propert~/:contains a grain:miil, a alone. I’d like In keep that place up widewasreportedat~peroentandbl SampsonG. SmithIntermediate templatingtheGreenAcresdecisiontoacquirehis7.bacresoflandforexpansionof post0ffice, achurch, afieldusedtogrowcornandanorcherd. .r" there,"¯ substitute teachers werehired to School reported 456. of the normally.~ " ..... ’,’The state’bdiighta’lOO:fbol:sti’ip th-""O)ver classes, school administrators: enrolled986 student~" ~er~’ absent :’ .... ": " . " :’~’(;’ ........ ¯ ..... ’ " ’ " ~~, :.i:,~:i’ )’ !" .....~i:! ,.. i ~-~:~,ii :, frontofmy place inabout 1958,asI.,,, recall, toprovide accesstothe park I ,c,i~,,,,,.appeared".satisfiedwith the day’s. Friday,while elementary attendnnee below.Green Acres is whatthey call ¯ "it’s better-to haveone’tough daY ’ waSDr.reportedWhyteindicatedat32percent.most teachers ’ ’ : . il. Theyhoughtaloloflhatlandalongthan three tough days," school respondedto the SchoolBoard’s No appeal pla ¯nnedon.................... t$125G.......... cu..... Ihereup to Princeton,but they didn’t superintcndentRnnald Whyte said, calendar changeand providedthe : ’ " takemy place because they said they referring Io the board’s minority administrationwith at least 10 days hy Steve Goodman -. TownshipBoard of Educationvoted : "i’m glad it’s Ocei’,"sbe said.""Now the SchoolBoard voted.t0 prohibit the. didn’tneed it," he said. opbfioothat students wouldbetter noticeof their plannedabsences. .. ManagingEditor unanirdouslyto accept Franklin . wecan get tasomeof the problems’ admissioncharge.’ "...’ i. ¯: "Nowthey comealong andwant to benefit .educationally by opening .... ..... TownshipCouncil’s $125,000 school that shouldbe dealt with." Initially, the boardwas laid the take mywhole place awayfrom me. schools on Wednesdayand Thursday Per diem rates for substit’u[e ’ In a 20-minutepubile budget session budgetreduction, moneywould help defray costs: in- That’s whatI don’t want. Andthe of last weekrather than for twodays (cachetsin FranklinTownship schools last Monday,attended by only one Thevote came on the last dayof (he IMMEDIATELYTACKLING one of valvedin the upcomingband trip to ridiculouslylow. That’s ¯ the ifi June~ is $28. : ¯ township resident the Franklin 20 daysallowed to consideran appeal those "problems,"the SchoolBoard Virginia.At a later data, Mrs.Sulam ¯ ¯ ’ . ’ " to state Commissionerof Education metin conferencesession to discuss said she was told the funds were Fred.Burke. the issue of chargingadmission to subsidizinga year.enddinner for band Basedon recommendationsfrom annualwinter and spring concerts, members, SchoolSuperlntandentRooaldWhyte, "Doyou charge admission for the board removed$72,000. from somethingthat is part of cu/’rieular AGREEINGPARENTS should hot teacherssalaries, $50,000 from out.of- activities?" boardpresident Sondra be chargedto see student programs district tuition appropriationsand Sulamasked the group. "showcasingor culminating.In-’ $3,000from employee insurance. Presentboard policy is unclearand struotional programs,’;the board Tile final figure for the 1978.79 does not differentiate between votedto direct Dr. Whyteto draft a operatingbudget is $13,740,82L85,and donationsand ticket sales, according comprehensivepolicy establishing the will generatea tax rate of $2.85per to Mrs.Sulam. distinction betweencurricular and $100of assessedvalue, Last year’s tax Ticketsfor a Marchband concert a t extra-curricularproductions. ’ rate wassix centslower at $2.79., the high schoolwere sold at $1 for adultsand 50 cents for studentsuntil SecPOLICY, page’lg-A CALLINGIT a budget"we can live with," the SchoolBoard ellminaled , :’’ three’ proposed teaching positions .... TwO faculty positions bad been and inside ..... creatednntlelpatlng a ll0.pupil in- crease ut FranklinHigh School, The arls ................................................ :, ; I-FF third teaching slot was on the CancerCrnsade................................. .. ........ ,,.6-A elementarylevel, Franklinlligh.lighls ...................................... 9.A,l I-A In addition to $39,000in salary loternotlonolbazasr........................................... 8-A savings, hospitalization and unom- Jerecy Phybill ,,~,,. ......................................... 164 ploymentInsurance costs amounting letters to the edhor..... *, 5.A to $3,000wore cut, obhusrlcs ............................................. ..... Ig;A Tltlc I contingencyfunds of $1g,O00 pollechlotter ....... .................... ............. ,,, 24 were removed from the budget sports ................................................ 10.A,I I.A followingreceipt of. anticipated tmvnlernm .................................. ;. ; ,.......... ; ,’, 4.A federalsubsidies, Substitute teaching voiceof Fronkllu’rmvoshlp ..................... ’ ............... ;.?.A appropriationswere reduced hy $10,o00 andanother $0 0O0was cut nowthat lonexnr sabbat ca s for nextyear rove beenapproved, Lastly,six