Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1892-04-02
MUST KEEP 1T OPEN.
Railroad Commissioners Decide That
Embden station Shall he Opened.

The railroad oommi, sioners hive made =
Dc csion In the case Of the petition by the
Embden people that the Somerset Railroad
station al that piscs be permanen atty kept
open for the convenience Of passengers and
freight traffic. Appended is the report.
decision and order Of the board;
Section l29 Of chapter 81 Of the Revised
Statutes is as follows
The railroad commissioners. upon petit
ton OF responsible parties representing that
public convenience and necessity require
he erection and maintenance Of depot
for freight md passengers, or = passenger
station, oa the line of any railroad, after
fourteen days notice by copy OF said ,tition
upon said corporation, and by publishing
said petition wiih the order Of said com.
mi.sinntrs thereon, in su,h public news
paper as ia dcsigustad in sid order, two
weeks succsssively, ths last public alton to
le prior to the time fixed for sail heSring,
shall hear the parties and determine whether
the prayer ot the petitioners shall be
stsnttd; sud il such prayer is granted, they
shall deteImuc Al what place or places .
depot or station shall be c,ed, or main
tanned If erected. and whether for pas
-engers or Tor passengers and freight "
On the foregoing petition, a hearing was
given By the board at the time and place
de.iRosied In their order o: notice, to tbs
petitioners snd all others interested In the
subject matter. At said hearing, 1t al
peared from the evidence adduced that.
,hough station building for the accom
modsiion of freight and passei gers had
been erected by the Somerset Railroad
Company at the p Iipt nsmod, during . GER
,sin portion OF the past year, especially dur
ing the winter months, the ssme had not
been kept open, neither was any station
agent emplote ed or in charge Of Tbs station;
that though the trains regularly stopped at
the station in Enbden, all passengers lesv-
lng or taking the train at that point vers
obliged to remain in the open air; Il az
whatever freight is shipped or received at
the station must remain exposed until =
regular conductor Of a train arrives to take
Ghsr ga of il and sccept or deliver the same
as the case may be.
The petitioners further CLAIM, that though
the tosn, in its corporate capacity has con.
tfibuted thirty eight thousand dollars to-
yard the construction Of said railroad, no
station, other than the one mentioned, has
been erected or maintained within the lin
its Of the town, and that the distance from
the station building new existing to the sta
zion In North Anson, is five miles, and TO
the station at SoloD, which Is on the other
side Of the Keunebec river, Is three and
ont half miles These fs"t are not contro-
verted or denied by ,he 1iilcials of the rail
road compsby but IS an ex use for not
maintaining the s,a.iun mentioned In Emit
den, say that the amount OF business tho
railroad receives from passenger or freight
us I'll at that point, does no: warrant the
expenditure Of the amount OF money nee
"ssAry TO MAINTAIN q ststion, other than a
4 AZ staiion; that in fact there are only 1872
male adults in the entire population Of the
own that the average receipts from that
station for ti1ieen mo hs weI e only eigh'y-
six Gems per day, etc.
In view Of these facts, does public con-
VeIienc require that the station there erected
.houl1 be i1sintsinec2 The m sre fact that
the income a railroad company may rscfiye
from 3 certain locality is not sufii cient to pay
the exIeBse OF the erection and msiDtsir-
4nae of depot or station, is not Of itself, =
valid excuse for not erecting or maintaining
the zane R,ilrosdi are not chartered and
constructed merely for private purposes or
for private gain. They are public ways,
or ways 10 which the public have rights
which ought and must be subserved.
To enable them TO be constructed and
operated, extraordinary powers have been
conferred upon railroad corporations by
their charters, and as . return for ,uch
powers they must respond to reasonable
public demands. The inhabitants Of the
town Of Embden are entitled to reasonable
railroad facilities. They have contributed
largely to secure the same. Station
bulldir a. have been erected on the line Of
the railroad within the limits Of their town.
Such station should. in our opinion, be
maintained In q reasonable manner. We
do not consider q ststion reasonably main
t.ned where there is no station sgent, nor
shelter provided for passengers or freight.
We therefore Determine that the prayer Of
petitioners shall be granted and direct a. d
order that the Somerset Railroad Company
shall keep open the station now erected Ia
Embdsn for the accommodation AMI com
Tort Of passen gers and for The reception
and delivery Of freight, at all reasonable
times before the arrival ard departure OF
trains at that station, and for the purposes
Aforesaid, shall Immediately employ or pro-
vide such servants or agents as may be
nsces.sry to msiLt.in said station ~ above
provided
ur hands ,hs t.eoiy-sixtIi day Of March.
4 u 1893
ID y AosfLAsD, Railroad
A W HH.pss Commandments
Roscos L, BowxEs. Of Maine.
A true copy Of record,