The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1895-10-01
The County Has Been Reaping A
Harvest From Liquor Cases.
A HISTORIC TRIAL WILL SOON
ENGAGE THE COURT.
Rival Claims of the Saco Water Power Co.
and John Hopkinson-AncientH History
Told to the ePress-Interesting Litigation
to Come.
ESPECIAL TO THE PREss.J

ESPECIAL TO THE PRESSJ
Alfred, September 80. The recent en-
forcement of the prohibitory law in
York county may not be OF long duration
but it is meeting fattering financial sue
cess. During this term of court Clerk
Hewey has received in round numbers
$500 in fines in liquor cases This repre-
sents about twenty eight cases. 1t is be-
lieved that total of $4,000 will be reached
when all the cases are settled.
Owing to the illness of Hon. Charles S.
Hamilton, one of the counsel for the
plaintiff In the case of Hopkinson VS.. the
Saco Water Power Company, that action
has been postponed until the next term.
Ringing upon it's decision are number
of other cases, and they recall the
prosperity of Maine village, which has
since been literally carried away piece
meal. In the early years of the century,
the village of Union in the town of Day
ton, was thriving place. The Saco was
damned here and the water power was a
valuable one. The saw and grist mills
gave employment to many men and the
farms round about were among the best
in the county. The prosperity of She
place continued until the 'S0's. but at
about that time severe freshets carried
away some of the mills and the fame Of
Union began to subside. Now, Mr.
Frank Wildes is about the only owner of
a mill there and he is in litigation with
the Saco Water Power company over the
mill privilege. Mr. Wildes tells an inter
esting story of the Union of early days,
and how the river carried away some of
it and other portions were carted OF.
stWhen I went there In '34-I was boy
then,'' said Mr.. Wildes. There were four
stores, six up and down saws, shlngle
mill, two double mills and tannery, and
on a running brook..near byLorenzo Barnes
and Samuel Smith in 1S42 or about that
time began making bobbin stuff. They
made the first used in the mills in Bidde-
ford Lathes, clabboards and shingles
were also sawed on Running brook. In
those days, the stages started at Limerick
corner and ran down through Hollis
Centre, Salmon Falls and Buxton into
Saco.''
1t was in May, 1897, that the first big
freshet came that took out the mills and
in 1886 the others were washed out. Then
the glory of Union was over. Trade
moved in other directions and gradually
many of the farms were abandoned. In
1S45 or thereabouts, the Saco Water Power
epmp pany acquired rights along the river,
and later rebuilt the dam. In 1857, the
company found that the water was cut
ting into the banks of the river SO fast
that they decided to remove some of the
building. 'sFrom 1857 to 1861, )" said Mr..
Wildes, today, II was at work taking
down the old buildings. took them to
pieces, hauled the material to Biddeford
and put up new houses with it and some
of those houses are earning rents today.
[ removed ten in that way, and some OF
them were houses which had once been
owned by the leading men of Union.
Now the river has washed away all the
cellars except one, and the old road has
gone too The river carried away seven
acres at one time in 1856.
1.-TWO of the stores continued the old
gentleman, when asked what had become
of these marts of trade of Unions day OF
prosperity, "I hauled to Buxton and
made into houses. One Is now a house
between Buxton and SolOn Fall and the
fourth was made into a grist mill. ]
bought it when [ bought the mill
privilege Of Jesse d. Harmon, and later
/ tore it down. -
Similarly the meeting house built near
Union in 1910 had been hauled away and
converted into barn. 1t was in 1862
that Jesse d. Harmon erected q mill and
began business in small way. This
mill has since been bought by Mr.. Wlldes
and is now not in operation. In 1893, the
Water Power company built new stone
dam and since then, they and Mr. Wildes
have had suit pending, the company
claiming the land Oh which the mill
stands and refusing to let Mr.. Wildes
have power. They also lay claim to a
farm which Mr.. Wildes has held since
In, i.,o hot
of John Hopkinson. who is suing the
company for trespass, seeking to recover
$4,000 for the granite quarried for building
the new dam but back of this is the
vexed question of the ownership to the
land, and rights ON the water power.
Should Mr.. Hopkinson win his case, it
might have an important bearing on the
case in which Mr.. Wildes and others are
interested.
Near the land to which Mr.. Hopkinson
lays claim is ravine, which it is said is
O natural canal with the possibility of
making them good water powers by
diverting the water of the river into it.
This place, tradition says, WAS once
looked upon with favor by some of the
manufacturing concerns which afterwards
located in Lewiston. 1t is said that
should Mr.. Hopkinson make good his
claim, the entrance to this ravine might
be gained. These suits have not yet come
to trial. and the Water Power company
has in its favor the record of its opera
tions along the river for many years. On
the other hand, Mr.. Hopkinson claims to
have received his right to the land by in
heritance for the Hopkinsons were great
people In the vicinity in the days when
the big saws buzzed in the mills at
Union. Mr.. Wildes will tell you OF
Squire Stephen Hopkinson, James
Hopkinson and Nathan Hopkinson. TheI
there were Nathan Dunn, Simon Smith,
E. P. bennett and Thomas CARL, in
whose house, a big one for those days Of
modest story and half structures, Mr.
Wildes now lives. The houses of all the
others have disappeared, some being
among those removed to Biddeford.
The expectation that Mr.. Hopkinson'
case would be called today brought many
of the residents of Dayton here today
None Of the cases are now likely to b.
heard at this term.
Ex-senator Malone Stricken.
Washington, September 30-Ex- Senator
William Malone had slight stroke o
paralysis this morning. His right arm Il
useless and his tongue parAlyzed so tha1
speech is impossible. 1t is not yet knowI
how far the paralysis has extended n