The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1893-01-10
abatement of the highway
taxes of the village people.

| abatement of the highway
taxes of the village people.
The question of taxation has given
rise to another difference. Mechanic
| Falls is situated in the northwestern cor
ner of Poland. In the southeastern sec
| ton is the famous Poland spring, near
which the Messrs. Kicker have built the
| great hotels to which the fame of the
spring has drawn great patronage. This
property, say the village people, repre-
sents great wealth. possibly as much as
million dollars, but it is taxed on only
small fraction of that, something like
$4,000 or 100000. The village people
also say that they are taxed well up to
the value of their property. This mat
ter will figure in the case when it comes
before the legislature this winter.
The present idea Of the villagers is
this: They have tried the village cor
poration and find it unsatisfactory. They
now propose to take the village of Me-
chanic Falls, including both the Poland
the surrounding country, make new
town to be known as Mechanic Falls.
The friends of this plan say they expect
no opposition on the Minot side and that
Poland may yield gracefully. However,
they think that there Is likely to be oppo-
sition in Poland. The new town would
have a population of about 1000. A
glance at the accompanying map will
show that one corner of the town of
Minot, including the village of Mechanic
Falls, is cut off by bro K This is Bog
brook, which flows into the Little An
droscoggin, and which it lis proposed to
make one of the boundaries of the new
town. Bog brook on zhe west crosses
the Oxford line. Some distance south
of the Little Androsceggin in Poland is
another little stream, called Winter
brook, which also crosses the Oxford
line. This brook has been selected as
the southern boundary of the new town.
To form the eastern boundary tits pro-
posed to draw straight line from the
mouth of Bog brook to a point on Win
ter brook The Oxford line of course
furniahes the western boundary of the
new Mechanic Falls. The map shows in
a general way what is desired. In addi-
tion to the railroads shown upon it, the
Portland and Rumford Falls extension
will soon be in operation, joining the
line shown on the map as ending at Me-
chanic Falls and running in southerly
direction through Poland corner and by
Poland Spring to the city of Auburn.
The greater part of the new town is now
in Poland, but Poland is large town,
nearly 10 miles, and contains several
villages. Its population in 1890 was
2472. Minot in the same year had
population of 1885,
Reporting Law Decisions.
tits said that a bill will be introduced
at this session of the legislature making
material change in the method of pub
fishing the Maine law reports. The pres
ent official reporter, under existing law,
receives a salary of $500 and the copy
right, which it has been the custom to
sell each year to the publisher of the re-
port. A few years ago, a law was passed
in Massachusetts under which the official
reporter in that state is paid an adequate
salary but is not the publisher of the
report, the copyright being retained by
the state. The state then makes con
tract with publishers to, issue the report,
the publisher agreeing 10 sell the reports
at fixed rate. Under this law the price
of the Massachusetts, reports has been re-
duced from $3.50 to $500 volume. The
price of Maine reports to the state and
members of the bar is now $4.00 vol
ume. Friends of the proposed measure
claim that such a law will result in the
lowering of the price of the reports in
this state as it has in Massachusetts.
Prevention of Cruelty.
A measure likely to come before the
legislature is one to establish state
agent to see that the laws. against cruelty
to children are properly enforced.
Oliver Twist.
The Executive Committee of the
Worlds Fair Commission met here today.
Messrs. Waldron and Coe of Portland
appeared in the interest of the summer
resort souvenir for the fair, and the State
Board of Health asked for an appropriass
ton to enable the board to make an exss
hibition.
The committee had under discussion
the matter of an appropriation from the
legislature and they will ask for about
$50, 900. OF this amount some $500 will
be used to return to citizens sums SUBJ
scribed by them through boards of trade
and otherwise, and the balance in equip
ping the building at Chicago and COM
pleting it on par with other state build
ings. The cost of the building has been
more than was anticipated, as owing to
the strikes the commission has been
obliged to expend large additional sum
for cutti g stone.
Gen. Hyde of Bath states that the Bath
Iron Works will make a full exhibit at the