Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1891-04-06

Harry Gordon, VINO HAS oeen III the
| III. c. Pierce drug store the past three
years, has closed his engagement, and
thinks of going to Boston soon, where
he expects to find employment as drug
| gist's clerk. He is an honest, faithful
and reliable young man and we bespeak
! for him success. We shall be sorry to
have him leave town. Mr.. Pierce, it is
! said. will take Oscar Cook into his store,
when his school term ends
At the village school meeting on Tues
! day evening last there was rather light
attendance, though several women were
present. w. w. Miles was chosen mod :
orator; DIR. J. A. Pearson, clerk; o. V.
| Joslyn, collector; H. G. Pierce, treasurer
and H. K Dewey, trustee. The report of
the auditor shows debts all paid, with a
surplus of over three hundred dollars
when the expenses of the spring term are
met. 1t was voted to have a new heating
apparatus provided for the heating of the
several rooms.
Rev. S. B. Currier, who has of late been
stopping with relatives in Richford,
and whose sickness and paralysis
have been mentioned in these col
umns, has gone to Florida, where he will
try the benefits of bathing in one of the
warm springs in that sunny cline. He is
almost completely paralyzed in his ability
to move muscle, but still suffers intense
ly from tenderness of his flesh and from
pain. His will, courage and benevolence
still remain, and, in spite OF hope on the
part of his friends, he made the long
journey. Though poor, and dependent en-
tirely on a pension, he was one of the
largest contributors to the church fund
in Richford.
The opposition shown in many quarters
to the system of putting the entire man.
agement OF the highways into the hands
of the selectmen or road commissioners.
shows that there may have been some
neglect, or possibly, abuses, that ought
to be remedied. We have always thought
that the commissioners or selectmen
ought to select in every district or locali-
ty, where they are needed, competent men
who should be instructed to have the care
of the roads in their localities, doing such
things in the spring or the time of heavy
rams, and perhaps in winter, as emergen
cies demand. There are times when faith
full men can save the town hundreds of
dollars by prompt and present action.
This same set of men would be able to
report the exact condition of the roads in
their localities; and those who have the
main repairs to do would act understand
in9ly. The town plan is without doubt
the best for the general supervision of
roads. but this could be assisted and ben
Gifted by the help of efficient men in the
different parts of the town. Complaint
was made last year because roads were
not repaired the first of the season. 1t
is well to be just,as we'll as critical. Last
year the roads were SO wet from heavy
rains that they could not be wisely touch
ed until the middle of June, and heavy
rains commenced again in August, and
there were only a few weeks in the middle
of the summer when road work could be
done. Every one knows that the only
good time to work roads is in the early
season. Those who have the matter in
charge should not make it secondary to
planting, haying or harvesting. 1t should
be done in its time.
We visited Richford on Thursday and
took a look at the big elevator building
recently erected there by the Canadian
Pacific r. R. Co. The citizens bought a
plat of land of several acres at point
some distance west of depot and along
side the track and gave it to the company.
The ground was graded, giving large
yard and siding room. The building is
l00Xl54 on the ground, over a hundred
feet high in the main, with elevator and
weighing rooms towering up fifty feet.
The building exceeds $50 feet in height
Its storage capacity is 100000 bushels
Every convenience for handling, trans
shipping, storing and reloadng grain is
provided for. The grain can either pass
alongside or within the building, where
The grain is allowed to run out of the car
door into pit below, machine shovel be-
ing used to clear the car, when it is taken
up by rapid running elevator to the very
top Of the building, either to be weighed
or to put in some of the storage bins. The
elevators, there being dozen or more of
them, are thick, rubber belts, 20 inches
wide, to which are attached 'buckets"
that scoop up and carry the grain. In the
very top of the building there are five
Fairbanks scales with bins in them hold
ing a thousand bushels each-a full car
load After being weighed, the grain
runs down spouts to cars below, or falls
into some one of the bins to be taken out
at pleasure. The storage bins are pits of
say 10xl6 feet in size that run straight
down from the upper floor of the elevator
proper to the top ofthe lower story room,
where SpOutS are attached to carry the
grain to the cars to be loaded. The build
ing is built in the most thorough manner
and is of immense strength both to resist
the winds and the pressure when filed
with grain. A brick engine house, with
a lofty chimney, big boiler and I75 H.
p. Corliss engine stands near the big
building. The elevator is lighted by cleo
tricity by night and is provided with hose
and appliances for the extinguishment of
fire. The elevator was erected at cost
of $l50,000, and was needed both as a
convenience for the trans shipment of
grain from the cars of that road to those
of other roads, and for the storage of
large quantities of grain delivered to New
England points and for expectation. The
present high and advancing prices of
grain have led shippers to push forward
into the markets and the elevator is not
storing grain for the present. When in
working use several hands will be en-
ployed both night and day. We saw the
pit down which the two men fell 100 feet
while the building was being erected, one
to be killed instantly, the other to mirac-
ulously escape death, though terribly in
jured. The blood stains are still on the
floor where the men were lain when lifted
out of the pit. Richford is a busy and
thriving town. The citizens are do
ing much for improvements and the
growth of the town ought to continue.