Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1872-02-24
Misfellameons.
Remarks Of Senator Dunning Of Plscat.
aUuiS,

In Senate, Feb o. bill an act to incorporate the
Piscataquis Central Railroad Company.
Mr.. PREsIDENT.-The bill before the SEN
ate is an important one, not only for the
county of Piscataquis, but think if it passes
would contribute largely towards advancing
the material interests of the whole State. A
railroad running from Dexter through Dover,
Foxcroft and Sebec to BrownviIle, will ac-
commodate very large portion of the people
and business of Piscataquis county, and de-
velop the resources of that section where there
are large deposits of slate, iron and granite.
The villages of Dover and Foxcroft are both
ilourishing villages, with factories and numer-
Gus mills and fine water power, capable of
doing much larger amount of business than
they now do, if they should have the pro-
posed road.
Passing along the line of this proposed
road eight miles from Dover we come to
Sebec Village, which is also a flourishing
place with woolen factory and mills equal to
any in the county, with the best water power
IN this eastern section of the State, with a
large timber region north of them and near,
which this railroad would render available;
this with slate and granite will furnish large
amount of freight for the road.
Five miles from this point is the terminus
OF this proposed road, Brownville. Here the
slate and lumber business is extensive and
with this railroad to shorten the distance to
Portland and Boston, they will in five wears
do four times the amount of business they now
do, in furnishing slate and lumber as freight
for the road, the Pleasant river running as it
does through the length of this town, making
fine water power. The amount of lumber
now standing on this river is estimated by
good judges to be over three hundred millions
large portion will be manufactured at
Brownville if they can have railroad facilities,
for 1t costs too much to drive this river to
Oldtown. The katahdin Iron Works in town.
ship north OF Brownvile have suspended oper-
ations on account of the expense in hauling
their iron by teams so far. l understand they
Will resume business as soon as there is a rail.
road to Brownville. These works when in
blast make from six to ten tons of iron per day.
In fact the slate quarries in Brownville,
Sebec and Barnard, already in succeisful op-
Grafton, and in process of opening, with the
mills and factories on this proposed line of
railway, will furnish almost freight enough to
pay the interest on the cost of constructing
the road
Now, sir, why do we ask for this charter?
Because we shall save one-third eff what il
now costs on our freights to and from Port
land and Boston, it shortens the route and
slate can be shipped to those markets without
the extra expense of loading and unloading at
seasons OF the year; Dover being So miles
nearer Newport by this line, Sebec SO miles
nearer, Brownville 80 miles nearer.
We need this road in order to get our
western mails the same day, as they do in
other places out of this county. All express
matter, too, lies over one day at Bangor or
Dexter. The man who takes the train at
Dover or any town on the Bangor & Piscata-
quis road for Augusta or Portland, is subject
to the same inconvenience. He arrives at
Oldtown. The Piscataquis road is obliged to
wait one, two or three hours for the Z. N
A. Road there and when he arrives in Bangor,
it is too late to take the western train, conse-
quently he is obliged to wait until the next
day, and pay two dollars for staying all night
and also pays for forty or fifty miles extra
travel.
Now sir, it is but few days since there
was resolve passed in both branches of this
Legislature, appropfating $500 to repair
the highways in that county, so the people
could get their mails. No we want to obvi-
ate the necessity of calling for any more funds
from the State for this purpose, but shall be
obliged to, am afraid, unless you are will
ing that we shall run a railroad into the CEN
ter Of the county; then we will have our mails
the same day, and save three dollars on every
ton of freight we have to send or bring TO
Portland or Boston.
Bangor men tell us we have road now to
Milo, within six and half miles of the quar-
ries, and this ought to answer; but they do not
give us any assurance that they will build "A
branch to Brownvi)le, which they should
have done long ago, or the State should have
kept the public lands set apart for this branch,
as by act Of the Legislature in 1864, they
had no right to those lands by that act, as you
will see by referring to it, until they had
built TO the slate quarries; but they sold