STONINGTON – Nearly 400 union quarrymen employed by six local granite firms did not report for work today because their demand for an eight hour day had been refused.

It is understood that the employers would grant the demand, were it not by the union, which they decline to recognize.

Stone cutters and tool sharpeners, numbering nearly 300 men, not involved in the controversy, also went out on strike when it was learned that the union could not be recognized.

50 Years Ago, 1955

BROOKLYN – Snider Homers twice; Dodgers need one more. Duke Snider slugged two tremendous home runs today and lifted the inspired Brooklyn Dodgers to within one game of their first World Series title on a tingling, 5-3 victory over the New York Yankees.

PASO ROBLES, Calif. – James Dean, brilliant young motion picture actor and sports car road racing enthusiast, was killed tonight in an automobile accident near here.

A spokesman for Warner Bros., where Dean had just completed “The Giant,” said he had no details of the accident except that Dean was en route to a sports car meeting at Salina’s, driving a small German speedster.

25 Years ago, 1980

NEW YORK – Republican presidential nominee Ronald Reagan says he would choose Supreme Court justices on the basis of “the whole broad philosophy” they would bring to the bench – and would not rule out jurists who support abortion.

AUGUSTA – Gov. Joseph Brennan would “vigorously resist” construction of a nuclear waste disposal site in Maine, he said Wednesday.

“I think the real test is where the safest place is.” he said at his weekly Statehouse news conference.

He said he believes areas of the Southwest are safer places than Maine to dump nuclear wastes.

BEIRUT, Lebanon – Conservative Arab oil nations in the Persian Gulf are concerned that the Iran-Iraq war could spread to their shores and touch off a superpower confrontation in the Middle East.