Daily Kennebec journal., 1884-04-05

STRONG, April 4.
At the hearing in Porter's Hall, Thursday,
on petition of the Franklin & Megantic Rail-
road Co. for the approval of the location of
its road, great number of people from the
towns to be affected bv the decision of the
the hall being filled to its utmost capacity.
The full board of commissioners were pres
ent. Hon. ID. N. Mortland presided. Many
prominent citizens of Franklin and Somerset
! counties were present, also other gentlemen
interested, Hon. r. w. Dnnn of Waterville,
President Aver of the Somerset Railroad,
President Beal of the Sandy River Railroad
Hon. Samuel w. Sargent and Vsrnum b.
Mead of Boston, William Atkinson of Emb-
den and others.
Hon. Phillip FL. Stubs of Strong, ap-
peared for the Franklin Megantic Railroad
Co, Hon. J. J. Parlin of Anson, for the
Somerset Railroad Co., and the recently
organized Anson & New Portland Railroad
Co., and Major S. C.. Becher of Pennington
| for the Franklin & Somerset Co. Various
associate counsel were also present, Mr..
Stubbs opened the for the petitioners
and introduced evidence to show the location
of the Franklin & Megantic road to be the
only route practicable for effecting a ccnnec-
ton with the great International line now
being constructed across northern Maine,
also to show the distance from tide waters
to Lake Megantic shorter via this route than
by any other. He urged that the location of
the Franklin { Megantic road should be ap
proved, as it did not do violence to the vested
rights or reasonable expectations of any other
roab in nd 1ninn hu
also, arguing that any road now in existence
or any other proposed road would fail to an
swer the needs of the region through which
the Franklin & Megantic line passes, that the
development of any wilderness area bv out
side capital should be encouraged, rather
than vetoed, and that the interests of the
State demandedthat her rural districts should
be permitted to avail themselves Of proffered
railroad facilities where such did not at pres
ent exist, rather than that they should be
doomed to a gradual decadence of popula-
tion and prosperity.
Hon. J. j. Parlin, for the Somerset Rail-
road Co, introduced evidence to show that
the subscription by the town of New Portland
to the proposed Franklin. & Somerset rail-
road was illegal and gave notice that should
the last named road be approved, an injunc-
tion would be petitioned for restraining said
town from issuing bonds or paying for stock
| to aid its construction. He also argued the
merits of the several routes.
Major S. G.. Belcher for the Franklin &
Somerset road. introduced evidence for the
purpose of demonstrating the resources of
the towns traversed by the route he rep
resented, and made an extended appeal to the
commissioners 10 reverse their decision in
the case of his company, arguing that as the
Franklin Somerset road would convene a
larger population and pass through districts
having a greater valuation than either of the
others. it would best subserve the public
interest
In rebuttal of this Mr.. Stubbs stated that
the population that would be directly tribu-
tary to the Franklin & Megantic road. was in
fact some hundreds greater, and the tonnage
of freight produced for the transportation
would be ten fold that produced on the line
of the Franklin { Somerset road.
The commissioners announced at the close
that their decision would be rendered. affect
ing all three routes, at an early day, proba-
bly, this week.