The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1895-05-27

wIPING OUT A TOWN.
There IL bill before the Massachusetts,
legislature which has passed one house
and been favorabiy reported in another.
and which either at the present or some
future session OF the legislature win as
suresily pass. which provides for the wip-
ing out % existence Of an old settled viii
iage, having several manufacturing in
dgstrfes and a population OF some 3.hso
people, which wIping QUE is TO he accom-
pIlshed by flooding the main business por-
lions OF the town to the depth OF some
torty-seven feet. The doomed village is
that OF West Boylston-
II is for no fault of the people of West
Boyiston that the village IS doomed 10
extinction-to be CELEBRATED from the map,
and it's inhabitants scattered. It's fate is
the result OF progress. OF the growth OF
big cities. The water supply of Boston
has become inadequate and a new supply
must be sought. The river Nashua is the
most available source OF supply. and en-
gineers have determined that precisely
where the village OF West Boylston lies,
on both banks OF the little river. Is the
only available place for the reservoir to
hold the waters OF the Nashua.
The existence OF the small village must
end that a necessity Of the big city be
met-the old story Of the big and the lit
tie fish.
The pending bill. of course. provides for
compensation to those whose property is
taken or its value destroyed by the pro-
posed reservoir. but there is no compensa-
ton offered for the sentimental injuries
which will be sustained. Here is a viii
lage which has been settled since 1901,
and which numbers among its inhabitants
descendants OF the original settlers;
which furnished it's quota OF troops for
the colonists In the revolutionary war,
which has more historical associations
clustering around it than any half dozen
Of the newer states. TO be wiped out, to
be flooded, turned into fish pond. for
sooth. that the people OF nearby city,
the majority OF whom are of alien birth
or alien parentage. should be more plen-
tifully supplied with water. LIQUID but
sparingly. If at all. used by many of them
before they sought refuge on these
shores.
The people OF West Boylston are not
entirely satisfied with the proposed meas
ure. as may well be imagined. They are
hurting In upon the legislators remon-
strances and protests. but the prohabili-
ties are strong that these win go unheed-
cd. Factories, churches. school houses,
dwellings and even the graveyards where
the rude forefathers of the hamlet
sleep will all be swept away, and where
once the pretty little New England vii
lage rested will. within the next few
years. be created a new lake, which may,
from its picturesque location. add a
charm 10 the landscape. a fact which will
scarcely be sufficient to compensate the
former inhabitants of the village for the
loss of their ancestral homes.
IL has been the fate of many historical
New England villages 10 lose their iden
tity by becoming absorbed within the
limits OF a growing city. a few have grad
ually been deserted by all except a small
lingering remnant of their former inhab-
itants; others have been overrun by new
people who have thrust the descendants
OF the original inhabitants into the back
ground and have developed" the sleepy.
pretty. old-fashioned country village into
a new. raw. grimy and unpicturesaue
factory town with its streets filled with
the unwashed fresh importations from
Southeastern Europe-the recognized
American laborers of such communities
Probably the fate of West BoyIston.
while sufficiently hard. is better than this
last.