Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1890-12-05
IERMONT"S BOOM TOWN.
The wonderful Growth of the Bnrre
Villages,

The booming towns of the West always
attract the man who likes rush and hurry,
business and growth 1t has been my
privilege to visit that portion of our coun-
try aud see for myself the hustle of a west
ern town. Perhaps my education had been
defective, but | must confess that it did
not suit me. liked the hustle and noise
Of business but there was a general air Of
incompleteness which did not like As II
consequence | was homesick. came back
TO Vermont and determined to stay here
In some respects it is a slow going old state,
yet in others it has plenty of stir for a long
life and peaceful existence Glorious are
the grand old mountains and glorious are
the people.
In many ways Barre is western town
in everything but location. 1t is booming
no other word expresses its growth. Like
a mushroom it has sprung up in a night,
but it is destined to stand forever for it is
founded on granite. The first-formed rock
of the cons agone is its foundation and its
wealth. As long as these hills yield their
riches so long will Barre flourish like the
young bay tree and be an honor and won
der to herself and the state. Ten years
ago this was town of 200 inhabitants
now it numbers nearly if not quite 1000.
A ma portion of the growth has been in
the past five years. Still it continues to
grow. There will be no limit to the growth
when once the stone becomes known.
Old Barre was not different in any essen
tial particular from the scores of villages
scattered all over the state. 1t had good
educational and religious privileges and a
moderate amount of manufacturing, still it
did not change in any important way from
year to year, and shared in the vicisstudes
of other parts of the state
New Barre has risen Phoenix like from
the old. 1t is booming, busting town,
crowded with foreigners who are seeking
work or homes. As a rule they make de
sirable citizens but some had better have
stayed at home than to have come here stir
ring up discord and strife. Large new
blocks are going up everywhere and new
streets are being laid in all directions. The
hillsides are blooming as the gardens of
times gone by, and all along the sides of
the hills are perched dwellings varying
from mansion to a small cottage. Beau
tlful gardens and lawns, and elegant resi-
dences greet one at every turn Nothing
like it has been seen in Vermont since the
first settlers came and began their homes
along the valleys and the rivers.
of the town to keep pace with the unprece-
dented growth in population. As a conse-
quence one finds room at a high premium.
Stores are tucked into all sorts of back cor
ners, or way out of the line of general bus
mess enterprise because there was no room
for them nearer the centres. Some of the
most important business places are forced
back until they are almost lost in the maze
of alleys and the crooked back streets
This is nothing against the town. Indeed
some of the new blocks are models of
strength and beauty, while all are solid and
substantial
Along on the meadows are immense shed,
fitted with machinery for cutting and pol
ishing the stone quarried on the hills -four
miles away. Year by year the covered
space is added to so that later the whole
| level portions will be rooted in and used a.
workshops for the cutters and polishers
The machinery used has much of it beer
| invented since Barre became known as
producing centre of valuable granite. The
/ growth of the knowledge of working the
stone has, in a measure. been concldent
with the development of the industry il
this town. In fact Barre workmen have
in one way and another, contributed in {
great degree to the present knowledge o
working and using the stone.
The nationality which has contributed
most to the development of the quarries il
the Scotch. They are everywhere and
they make good citizens in the main. From
them Americans have gained a larger par
of their present knowledge of the grant,
business. 1t has been their strong shoul
ders which have borne the heat and burdeI
of the day, and it has been their cutteri
and polishers who have made Barre granite
| famous for elegance and utility. All honol
to the Scotch Let us have more of them
| till all our hillsdes echo their rich, musica
| brogue.
If one were to find any fault with Barr,
| it would be with the wretched condition o.
| her streets. Sending annually thousands
| of paving blocks to distant towns and cit
| les it would seem that she might spare suf
| ficient to put her own streets in proper
| shape, or at least make them passably de
cent Now they are all mud worked int,
/ the consistency Of thin mortar by the con
slant passing of heavily loaded teams. L
/ is well nigh impossible to find crossing
| which is passable. Concrete pavements ar,
/ being laid in some parts of the town, bu
/ there is doubt as 10 their permanent utility
under the heavy traffic of the town, and il
bhN NhAi NNu'NAu'of hi"iiAt' l"HNAANhh' W.
have to he put in.
Barre proper is not the only village it
I the limits of the township. There is Web
sterville hamlet located up near the quar-
| ries, which is growing fast, and by and b'
will rival some of the more pretentious vii
/ lagos. A boarding house is there, accom-
/ modating a large number Of quarrymen
and a collection of smaller houses. Tn,
/ general appearance is neat and tasteful
/ There are in addition to this, number o
other collections of houses which might b'
called villages, and some day they viii
claim that distinction with an assuranc,
that the claim will stand. These little vii
/ lages accommodate the workmen bette
/ than the larger one. Today the land is va
cant tomorrow there are houses in proc
css Of erection, aud next week there is
/ fullgrown village smiling out from amonl
/ the stones and knobs b H. ALLBEE.
The right way to cure catarrh, Is % eradicate
/ the poison from the poisonous taint which cause
/ ha 1iaansa hv taxing IIpnU'a Ear1anarilla