The Portland daily press., 1872-02-20
The Inhabitants Of Standish and the
z Portland and OgdenSburg Railroad.

Mr.. EDIToR;-Last Saturday Standish held a
town meeting, and there was large turnout
The voters have recently been somewhat excit-
ed in consequence of an action which has been
commenced against the town by the Portland
and Ogdensburg Railroad Co. The action is
founded upon the following votes of the town
at a meeting holden some time ago, to witt
''Voted, that the town raise the sum of $2O,-
900 to aid the construction of the P. & o. Rail
road, provided said road shall be located and
built through the town of Standish, between
Sebago Lake and Saco river Second-voted
that the town will raise the sum of $4,000 for
a term of not more than twenty years, but paya-
BILE at the pleasure of the town after five years.
and that said sum be and the same is hereby
appropriated to the payment for 200 shares of
the capital stock of the p & O. Railroad, to be
subscribed for by the town in aid of the cons
struction of that railroad"
This meeting was called to see what action
the town would take in relation to this suit
After very little discussion the town voted to
defend the action, and chose H. j. Swasey, Esq.,.
agent for that purpose who is to consult with
other counsel, see if the town is legally liable
for the sum they voted and report at a future
meeting. 1t seems that majority of the vot-
ers are for backing out-regardless Of any NOR
al obligation-if the law will allow them to do
so with impunty. They place themselves
squarely upon the law unmixed with the Cos
pei, ignoring previous votes and forgetting how
hard the VerDonters are at work to meet their
friends of Maine on the banks of the Connecti-
cut river, and thereby open up way for trade
and travel to the Great West from the Atlantic
coast. believe it is not considered very hon
orable for an individual to back out from an
agreement when once solemnly made, and it is
much less SO for town, State or nation to do so.
The meeting was a very quiet one and but very
few speeches were made How our Supreme
Court will treat these votes of the town is not
for me to say. The lamented Judge Davis
gave it as his opinion that the town is legally
liable. But is is easier, as human nature is
constituted, to see and even feel the force of
moral obligations than to fathom legal ones.
There is said to be "a glorious uncertainty in
the law" but conscience, if properly needed,
seldom gives out an uncertain sound One
thing is, however, quite certain, "the railroad
is built through the town of Standish and be-
tween Lake Sebago and Saco river" And it is
$4,000 to aid in the construction of this rail-
way, and never intends to do SO unless clear,
naked law compels her.
A TERRIBLE DISASTER AT SEA-A brief no.
tice of the loss of the steamboat America has
been given in our telegraphic news From
Buenos Ayres papers, full particulars are taken
of this terrible disaster which took place De-
,IorC Lo+xx- D,,o A
video. The total number ON board was about
200. AT midnight an explosion was heard,
which awakened and alarmed the passengers,
but the captain quieted their apprehensions by
saying 'that tube had been broken, which
would oblige him to cast anchor for an inter-
val, and the only unpleasantness was that they
should not reach Montivideo till, perhaps, mid
day." Many returned to their beds and fell
asleep, until half an hour later terrible cry of
"FuegO" ran through the ship, while the flames
were bursting from the afterpart, near the la
dies saloon. The scene which followed defied
description. In less than four minutes the ves-
sci was wrapt in flames, and the passengers
struggling in the water or hanging on the
wheels of the paddle boxes. The boats were
unavailable on account of long dsuse, and the
flames spread so rapidly that in the panic no
other means of escape could be organized.-
Desperate struggles were made by the madden
ed wretches for the possession of bits of plank;
life-belts were snatched from the weak hands
of women; revolvers were drawn, and two or
three persons shot; husbands perished trying
to save their wives, and children were drowned
before the eyes of their parents Meantime
the Villa del SaItO sfa ton
speed to the scene of disaster and saved sixty
SIX OF the passengers French schooner hav-
ing picked up twenty more. The cause of the
accident, which resulted in the death of nearly
100 persons, is supposed to have been a defect
in the boilers, which had long been reputed to
be in dangerous condition.