Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1897-06-09

house. the printing being done on a
special perfecting press which was
built and placed in POSITION for these
papers. The Lane papers were the IL q
Of the late Hon. Il. &. Allen, who mr.,
established them in this CITY. 1t VS.
with these papers that the idea o. the
premium gift picture for each SUBJ
scriber originated, an idea which has
been so extensively copied In var,Uus
forms everywhere in the world. 1t was
always Mr.. Aliens idea to lead never
to follow, and his papers were always
original. energetic and foremost in the
field, and under their new management
they seem to be recovering their former
life and vivacity.
VICKERY & HILL.
The great publishing house of Vicn-
cry and Hill, at the corner of Chapel
and Court streets, is an establish
ment that has long been one of Au-
gustas leading business. 1t has done
vast deal to increase the prosperity
of the city and to add to it's tame as a
publishing center. The head OF TINS
firm, Hon. z. o. Vickery, began life as
a farmers boy in Danville. Maine, and
then as a printer in the kennebec
Journal office. He left the Journal Of
flee to go into the Union army where
he served with distinction, and after
the war he opened job printing es-
Establishment in this city.
Mr.. Vickery was full of ambition and
enterprise, and he saw his chance In
the popular demand for story papers OF
good literary merit. The result was the
establishment in 1874 of an ONCE in the
old Waverly hall buiidins VIII, re ne be-
gan the publication OF v,ckeiy's Fac
side Visitor. This met with great popu-
lar favor, and soon won So wiue d cir
culatiOn and SO great an advertising
patronage that as the years went by
number of similar Story papers OF high
character were eSt;A bhSn.d and the en-
terprise became a leading BUSINESS IN
the city.
In 1879 the business was removed to
a large and convenient building erected
for the purpose on the northwest col
ner of lot where the old Mansion hous
mad STOOD since 1898. This building, a.
number of times enlarged, is still occu-
pied, and is shown in the accompany
ing cut. In 1882 DIR. John r. Hill, who
had married Mr.. Vickery's daughter,
since been active in carrying on The
business. Both Mr.. Vickery and
DIR. nil have taken a prominent leaA
in the affairs OF the city, both alo..g
business and political lines. Botn have
served IN the city government ana
the Legislature. Mr.. Vlckery was aIso
mayor in 1S80-S1-o2, and DR.. Hill was
presidential elector in 1880. Eacn l.,
n,rb1 fad f.
for integrity and 1delity to every trust.
The publishing house of Vickery &
Hill now employs about 165 persons,
with a pay roll of $4,000 monthly. The
tour story papers, Vickery's Fireside
Visitor Hearth and Home, Happy
Hours and Good Stories go to every
part of the world, and have a guaran-
teed monthly circulation of over l, 49,
900 copies. There is sent out over l5J
tons of second class mail matter each
month. The advertising patronage
amounts to $250,OOO annually.
This publishing house is one of the
best equipped establishments of the
kind in the world. 1t is a model of COM
pleteness in every department. Every
piece of machinery that brains or IN
ventive genius could suggest, or money
LIGHT AND WATER.
Augusta is to be congratulated upon
having bountiful supply of pure
water. and it owes much to the AL
gusta Water Company, for it is through
their enterprise we enjoy superior facll-
tiles in the water supply. Augusta
today can boast of the most complete
water system of any city of equal size
in the country. The system was con-
structed between July and December,
1886, by the Augusta Water Company,
which contracted with Mr. George Il.
w escOtt and Hon. Joseph H. Manley
to construct the works. Water is taken
from the kennebec river above the dam
and its analysis proves it to be ex-
tremely pure. 1t is pumped into a
reservoir located upon the farm land
formerly owned by the city, and thence
distributed through the mains. The
pumping station at the west end Of the
dam is supplied with a three million
gallon Holly pump and a two million
gallon Wood pump. There Is a pro-
cess of filtering and cleansing until the
water becomes clear.
The reservoir has a capacity of $780,
ton of 1926 feet above the river and 29O
feet above Water street, at the juno
ton of Bridge, giving 125 pounds of
pressure to the square inch.
The Kennebec Light and Heat Com
pany is no less beneficial to the city
than the Water Company. This COM
pany was chartered in 1887 by the
Legislature which empowered it to pur-
chase the property and franchise of the
Augusta Gas Light Company and the
Gardiner Gas Light Company, and fur
nish light and heat to Augusta, Gardi-
Ter, Hallowell and Togus. The Ken
nebec Light and Heat Company is an
extensive plant, it's power station being
at the east end Of the dam.
The president of the Augusta
Water Company is Mr.. George p. Wes-
colt. Portland; treasurer, Hon. Joseph
H. Manley; superintendent, w. Fl.
Williams. The officers of the Kennebec
Light and Heat Company are: George
p. Wescott, president; George F. West.
treasurer, Portland; w. H. Williams,
superintendent, Joseph H. Manley is
the resident agent of the company.
Superintendent w. H. Williams de-
votes his entire time to the active man
agement of these companies, and his
success is shown by the good service