Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1871-07-06
G9s 9ailp SPY: aalOrteste GbmOap aunng, yug g. 1871

here forty-four years ago, and nearly one
third of the time since its municipal organization
and for &, one or two years knew yop all And as
| Der the drinking habits of that time wildly The
country store In the east village kept an open bar,
| and no thought of shame attached to it, Strong
| liquors were offered on all social occasions at we'd
dings and funerals; drunkenness very common
and the general sentiments of the community
viewed all efforts to change these customs as anati
| cal and absurd. Experience was on the side OF the
| habit, and all experience was against the new
FORM k remember Dr. Nelson then in his prime,
| ticipate in these services. / remember his
coming into the school house and telling the time
| had come to abstain wholly. The SCOTS and jeers
| passed idly by him. honored him then and have
honored him ever since for the kind, brave way in
which he delivered the TRUTH on this subject to us.
late these pledges. All thanks and honor to him,
too. To-day he is our honorable president
=, Now don't let me deny they were fanatics; but
there were fanatics on the other side. How rare,
| indeed, it is to find man, body of men, who have
that poise which inclines neither to the right or
| left. No; we have to be on the side of the fanat-
les for the right fanatics for the wrong; for tenn
| perance, or intemperanoe. And these men wisely
and nobly called upon us boys to be with the fanat
| les, who were for temperance.
Now of the men. There was one of great age
| Mr.. Watson, many of whose family are before me.
He went about In his Zone hoss shay" He was
always found In the pulpit near by, because he
| could there hear best the public service. Over
these bleak hills he came in all seasons. 1 was a
boy and, so speak of the impression he made on my
mind of a sanity man, and which yet remains.
| When have seen in certain pictures venerable and
excellent faces waiting for the summons to depart
hence, they have brought to my mind that humble
| and intent listener.
Then there was Mr.. Parsons. He was in the bat
tie OF Monmouth, and told of the oppressive heat
of that day and of the wounds and sufFerings he
passed through, which had disabled him for life
but remember most distinctly of all his account of
Gen. Washington. My friend who has just sat
down told us he remembered his death. This man
had often seen him, and spoke in such terms as
might fifty use who had seen being from another
and brighter sphere.
| There was another aged mana militia captain
the first had ever seen. As he sat in the store he
would tell how we had whipped the Britishers,
and how we always should whip them. They were
indeed very contemplate foe. Now you will read
lily believe good deal of what he said was to
me- He told the other side of the of-repeated story
senate Mars. Yet later experience has shown that
| the men of real war often give you very different
impressions. Did you not see how the sentiments
of peace were appauded to the echo lately in BOs-
| ton when the war-scarred veterans of the army of
| the Potomac were in council? And have you not,
also, been gladdened by the sight of our greatest
| leader of our recent war-he who received Lees
| sword at AppOmatox-taking the initiative in the
treaty of Washington? So that the grandest title
fall shall be his, great as were those which went
| before; the divinest of all the benedictions ::
| blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be
called the children of God" And so recall to-day
| more kindly him whom call the man of war; and
shall feel more charitable to his class In all the flu
| ture.
DR.. Austin Flint has been again referred to- No
boy OF times Will forget MN. His grasp was like
| that of vice and he had great joy in giving us
welcome by hand shaking. 1t showed no want of
respect if we sometimes went out of our way to
avoid his all too affecti0nate greeting and what
| firm, cheerful, trusty citizen he was. Towns and
states and Kingdoms rest upon such men. This
| town was fortunate in having men of a rare no.
| bity of character, of which class DR.. Flint may
| stand type
And there was the "young doctor" doctor
ayoung doctor to-day. He must excuse the free
dom am taking for he has dealt freely with me,
| when in his power, professionally
But about a railroad to Leicester. 1t was init
mated to me was to say something on the subject
and indeed 1t must naturally follow from reference
| to the stage coaches of the time am speaking of
| Their passing the event of each day. They
were the product of no small amount of skill, en-
| terprise and public spirit Where they are among
| the things that were we now find, usually, a rail-
road; but Leicester is of the exceptions. Some
are glad to be exceptions. An Indian chief was in
| Boston short time ago called "Stone Calf" 1
use it here because "it was his name" l wish he
| had had another. Now, Stone Calf said save as
| from railroads; don't have them built through our
territory, and here gave this sensible Rail-
road men are bad men. That was enough for him.
1t don't seem to be to you: tLaughter.l You want
onef (Yes) Well then, let me say directly, de-
pend upon yourselves. There are two reasons why
You are not likely to get it in any other way.
First: Branch roads have not generally been
found profitable, and stockholders don't expect
their directors to do what will not pay them divi
dends.
Secondly: The managers of existing lines have
great outlays before them to keep abreast of their
urgent needs Take for illustration, the Boston
and Albany. 1t ought to have great passenger
station in Boston, and that means on such scale as
does not yet exist in that city. 1t is to have one,
we expect in Worcester, in due time. 1t needs
and is building and buying more and more cars for
its urgent necessities 1t is introducing steel rails
laying new tracks, Strengthening its curves increas
ing the number and quality of its trains. Now, to
do all these things vast OUTLAWS are necessary,
And the greater part of what have said applies to
every other road. submit then there is no ground
of complaint if the B. & A. or any other don't do
this work. But what then shall be done! Ascer-
tain the best points of connection and the best
routes. Look it all through thoroughly. Then the
question of gauge must have careful attention. If
the common one OF four feet eight and One-iuches
Is chosen because of its manifest advantages, by
over it and by saving the breaking of bulk, build
according to your means, having regard mainly to
the narrow gauge, which means gauge between
two feet and three feet six inches. Last
summer SUNNI w. went out Of my way to
to see the Festinioy road; pronounced, truly the
most wonderful road in the world. Its guage is %
inches 1t is about ID miles long and climbs up 00eet
among the Welsh hills to bring slate to the
| PortmadOc. 1t has been the most profitable road
in Great Britain, Its dividends have averaged 12k
per cent upon its total cost after all its changes
from horse to steam railroad. rode upon it at
speed of not less than twenty-five miles an hour
The best engineers said before parliamentary COM
missioners It was too narrow for steam
| to be used in safety, and thought it i'm
practicable, and but one locomotive firm, the
| Messrs. England, of Hatcham, would undertake it.
| The impossible was accomplished. Its speed was
restricted to twelve miles on the ground again of
safety, but experience showed this was mistake
| and 1t is now like other roads in that respect
| With its Fairlie's engines which have proved
great success, its capacity has been greatly en-
larged. Mr.. Spoouer, its engineer told me that he
should advise gauge little wider, say two feet
and six inches So you the battle of the gauges
is no longer between the four feet, eight and half
| inches. and the wider, be II five or six or seven
| feet In that the narrower has become master of
| the field. 1t is now on the defensive and is
assailed by the same arguments its friends
Ionp trs,ra DvA.
| to depart has come. give you this sentiment:
The Leicester of III: Too high for a railroad it
has been said; too low to be contented without
one. A liberal public spirit courage and the MAR
ROW GUAGE are the recOnciers by which its vallies
may be exalted, its rough places made smooth, and
the locomotive be brought to the "Hill."
8. "The City of Worcester-While pure water
bears health to her homes she cannot forget its
source in the green hills of Leicester. The cur
| rent OF her busy life is strengthened by our
sons and daughters, and she honors us by
| choosing for her chief magistrate an Earle of
| Leicester"
Hon. Edward Earle, mayor of Worcester, was
introduced to respond, which he did, as follows:
| Dir. President: My few months study in
| yonder academy did not embrace rhetoric
| neither did our alma mater endow all her SONS
| with the gift of oratory like the one we have
listened to with so much interest this forenoon.
| But of the city of my adoption / feel Just
sense of pride in saying she ever stands ready
to accord to all her neighbors full credit for all
these good things. And who can say she has
not laid some pipes and pulled many wires for
| Leicester. Her bulwarks are her shops of in-
| dustry and her temples of education. Her
| palaces are the homes of their directors, her
people proclaim with open arms, come one come
all; all may come that will come.
4. "Spencer-0ur eldest daughter-child of
| our youth. Though she has far outgrown her
| parent, we glory in her enterprise, industry and
wealth. Her children are as welcome as our
| own"
Emerson Stone, Esq, responded. He related
the difficulties experienced in procuring the act
of incorporation for Spencer in 1912, twenty
one years after the incorporation of Leicester,
at which time it passed the general court, but
was vetoed by Gov. Shirley seven years later
it was again attempted, and again vetoed, but
in 1853 an act of incorporation was granted,
and the town was named Spencer in honor of
Gov. Spencer Phillips. He spoke of the years
of toll and hardship experienced by the settlers
after they set up in town by themselves, until
after thirty-three years of uncertainty and home
sickness, they had been smiled upon by pros
perity at every decade, and from five houses the
number had grown to 600 with nine boot shops