Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1872-01-05
wInehenaon,. Railroad Prospects.

a correspondent VI tn0 pos'oA AuNeIiisel
writes:
The town seems to be shut III by hills, anS
| one would never dream in looking down uDo,
it that half a dozen railroads could ever con
verge here. Yet here they are-the Cheshire
| connecting Boston with Bellows Fails: the Mo
nadnoek railroad, completed 10 PeterborO, anC
soon to be connected with Concord; the Ware
River road, graded TO Baldwinsville, and to b.
opened next summer through to Palmer
/ making Ninchend0n only six hours from New
! York; the extension Of the Worcester and Gard
ner again asked for, and a new connection with
Manchester also, which, if built, will require g
shorter connection with the Vermont and Mas
sachusetts for the convenient transfer of west
eTn shipments. All these railroads and rumors
| OF railroads indicate that WinehendOn may be
| come the distributing point for a good deal Of
| the HOOsac tunnel traffic, as well rs an i'm
| portant railroad junction. A look at the map
is sufficient TO show that the line from Concord
| N H., to Palmer will be an important trunk
| line. Winchendon is almost exactly the cen.
trail point on the line the distance 10 Concord
being As miles; TO Palmer 40 miles. The lire
| has been built systematically, so to spea and
| when completed Will be made up of three or
four different roads. The COntoCOok Valley
road, extending from Concord to Hillsboro
bridge, has been in operation several years.
Two years ago two other links in the line were
cOnstrucied-the first section of The Ware
River railroad, Is miles in length from Palmer
TO Gibertvie, and the Monadnocf rail-
roa1, Is miles in length, running from Win
chendon to Peterboro. At the time the two lat
ter enterprises were begun, the projectors of
both expected them to be nothing but branch
roads. The Ware River road was leased to the
New London for Is years, and the MOnadnocl1
road was left Unbiased, probably because there
was too little travel upon it to make it desirable
for the Cheshire railroad TO lease it. The build
lng of the Ware River railroad from Gibertyille
TO Winchendon was brought about almost by
accident. 1t was mainly due to the enthusiastic
efforts of the late Col. ArtemaS Lee of Temple
ton, the ambition OF whose life it was TO see a
railroad running through this pleasant valley.
Work was begun last summer, and the road is
now ready for the track, which will be laid as
soon as the weather permitS-probably in March
and trains will be running by midsummer.
The entire cost will be about 81 200 000-the
money being furnished by towns along the ronte
and by New York bankers. Mr.. Charles A.
Stevens of Ware is the president of the company.
The section between GlbeTtyille and Palmer has
proved very successful as it pays the interest on
its bonds and something more 1t is expected
that the road when its northern connections are
complete, will be very good property. The Bos-
ton and Albany railroad is reported to be al
ready anxious to lease the whole road.
The unbut section between PeterborO and
HilIsboro bridge will probably be put under
contract during the coming year. A charter
has been obtained, and eX-GoY. Stearns is at the
head of the company which will luid it. The
ContocOok Valley road is operated by his com
pany-the Northern railroad. A meeting was
held at HliSboro few days ago in aid of the
project, and nearly all the money which will be
required has been obtained. 1t is said that it
will not be q costly line to build. When this is
finished the entire line between Concord and
Palmer will naturally come under one manage
ment The managers of the Boston, Clinton
and Fitchburg railroad, who are striking out for
81 "a rpl Of
tempted to take hold of the AGOnaduock rail
road, and the two or three cars which now do
all the business between Winchendon and Peter
bOrO bear the imprint of the former railroad.
The project has been given up, however, as a
bad Job. The MOnadnOck road was poorly
built, but has been improved, and will undoubt-
eddy be improved still more when it comes to be
a thoroughtare, as there is a grade of nearly
ninety feet to the mile near the Winchendon
station, which will need 10 be remedied.
1t Is the purpose of the managers OF the WOr-
Cester and Gardner railroad to make another
vigorous effort, this winter, TO secure a charter
for the extension Of their line to this town so
that we may expect to see the warm contest of
last winter repeated in the coming Legislature
II the opponents of the line are equally alert
and determined in lobbying against it. Some
of the senators who opposed the extension, last
year, are reported to have dropped their hoStil-
ity with the close Of the session, which they had
maintained simply TO carry ont promises made
before the legislature of 1870 assembled, and il
is sand that the Vermont and Massachusetts
folks have again promised not to actively op-
pose the extension. Mr. Baxter ID. Whitney
the well known manufacturer of this town. who
is the principal friend Of the Icad here, is re-
elected TO the senate, aud will do all in bis power
to secure the charter for the extension. 1t might
fairly be questioned whether, after all, it is
worth the while to extend the road at present
as the Ware river people have offered to let the
or md frDfr1 tI,,s,.
road for less than half the amount which that
road would have to pay to sustain au indcpend-
ent line; but as yet Colonel Phillips, the preSi-
dent, has been unable 10 obtain any favorable
terms from the Vermont and Massachusetts, raul
road, and no arrangement has been made where
by the trains from Worcester can run into Win
chendon by way of Badwinsville. The exten.
sion having been defeated in the legislature, no
movements have yet been made toward securing
station grounds here, but it is proposed to To-
cate the Worcester and Gardner tracks on the
east side of the present railroad station.
Concerning the proposed road to Manchester,
it may be said to lie between Winchendon and
Ashburnham, with the advantage al present on
the side Of the latter town. The Concord inter
eSts are not favorable to connecting Manchester
with WinchcndOn, Surveys have recently been
made from Winchendon to the present terminus
of the road on the state line in New Ipswich. If
the friends of this route press il in the legiSla
ture, il will form an interesting element in the
railroad quarres which are bred in this locality
and fought out at the state house.
The great increase in railroad facilities which
the manufacturers Of the town are a&out to have
will undoubtedly encourage them to increase their
business and lead to the introduction of new in
dustries The repair shops Of the Ware river rail-
road will probably be lOcaled here. The manu-
featuring interests Of the town are already large
and the wateI-power is the best in the country
There is fall OF 200 feet in the distance of about
FG.NEa v.as1a aVt1N a 49, g.
ing. Two miles above the VILLAGE is Monomonoc
lake, covering $500 acres, and lying partly in the
town of Rindge, n. H., from which the supply is
obtained. The waterpower within the limits OF
the town exceeds 5000 horsepower in the dryest
season, and of this amount not more than one
quarter part is actually employed. Theleadiug in.
dustry is the manufacture Of wooden ware. For
30 years WinchendOn has supplied nearly the
whole American market With wooden ware and
for the past ten wears the town has been the
head quarters of the foreign trade also. The
manufacture of pals and tubs was begun in
1884 in a curouSly small way bv the late Elisha
Murdock. He took a little mill at Waterville
and started off against the judgment of some of
his nearest friends; but he was successful, and
built up large establishment which is con-
tinued i'll his name and is now the largest OF the
kind in the country. His brother, Mr. Ephraim
Murdoch, Jr., now the president OF the Cheshire
railroad, is said to have engaged in his early
years in peddling the pals, etc, made by his
brother, which occupation he gave up to become
a manufacturer himScli and he also has ac-
cumulated fortune. At the present time there
is made here daily some 5000 pals, 5000 tubs,
and 1000 wash-bOards, and unnumbered chnrns,
rolling-pins, lemon-squeezers, clothes-pins and
the dozens Of domestic utensils which are indis-
penSable in every family. Nearly all the wood.
ware manufactures Of the east are located
within twenty miles of Wnchendon, and three
quarters Of the products of the mills are made
by or sold through the houses OF e. Murdoch
& Co. and L. MurdOck, Jr.-the leading houses
in the trade. The factories of the former firm
are located at Waterville, upon the line Of the
Ware River railroad, and are quite extensive.
The FAMOUS RAPHAEL AT A LOWER FIGURE
1t is understood that the price OF the duke Of
Ripalda's Raphael, now exhibited in the ma
tiOual gallery in London, but lately in the Lou
vfe, has been reduced from 5000 900 to $4,000
the latter being sufficiently high Price for
any single picture. The London AthenRum
contends that 100000 would be an enormous
sum Tor picture which has been so severely
rubbed and unfortunately rcpniied in many
parts as this one. Nevertheless, it has many
qualities Of inestmabc beauty. Few Raphaeis
Of this size are likely to come into the market,
and the history OF this one is complete, if that
is worth anything, in a case where all we care
about is the proper merits and the condition of
the painting. A correspondent of the Athenaum
ur9es that the well-knOwu Murillo was bought
from the Soult collection for the Louvre for