The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1898-02-24
Winter in Ohio.
The Prosperity that has come to Niles.

Ahc TOspeFlty Unat mas come TO Niles.
Correspondence of The Journal.
NILES, OHIO, Feb. IS, 1898: An inter-
ested reader would certainly think from a
| perusal of the last two editions of The
Journal, that the "Downeasters'' had
been having more than their fair share of
the ''beautiful. Those who have never
seen such a storm cannot imagine the
effect of such piles of snow, any more
| than they could realize the immensity of
ocean from gazing at mud puddle. Peo-
| pie who have never seen great storm, or
| ocean are in large majority here, but
the writer we'll remembers the storm of
April :, 1887, referred to in The Journal,
and had no difficulty in picturing to her.
self the scene from Snowbound, played by
the great storm of Feb. l, 1898
In this State winter has been very chary
of his fierce favors. We have had what
might be called a rainy season, but no
cold worth mentioning, and no more th an
three OF four inches of snow, if all that
has fallen were put together. Feb. 1st
was the coldest day of the winter, and L
do not think the mercury ran lower than
5 degrees above zero. When we get zero
weather. which seldom occurs, the natives
call it very severe. | have never seen it
more than degrees below since l have
lived here. January, 1898, will go down
in local weather records as black January
l wish l could state just how few days we
saw the sun, it would be surprising, but
l cannot, However, they were very few
in number, and it has rained and dri zzled
almost necessarily throughout the winter
thus far, and bids fair to continue
Since l first wrote of Niles to The Jour
nal, there has been a great material
change in the city. Its population has in
creased until it now claims between seven
and eight thousand inhabitants. There
are three very prosperous lines of street
cars, and every car is provided with cabs
f or the motor man, which completely
protect him from the weather, and this
is something you very seldom see on
Eastern street cars. Property has doubled
and sometimes trebled in value, and block
after block of substantial stone trimmed
brick has replaced the low wooden struc-
lures that met the eye when first cam e
here; and three more large brick blocks
will be erected during the coming season
Two large handsome school buildings
three fine churches, and many residences
have been built during this time, much
paving and sidewalks have been put
down, and the city will give it's attention
to sewerage this year. Many new indus
tries have come into town, and business is
brisk in nearly every branch Niles is
certainly enjoying prosperous season;
not boom, but steady growth.
The city owns and operates its own wa
ter works, and electric light plant. and in
consequence will soon have a unique law
suit on its hands. For some time there
has been general complaint that the tele-
phone system in vogue here gave very
poor results, and after night fall was to-
tally useless; and many business men have
even gone so far as to have them removed
from their offices and homes The CITY
recently gave franchise to another com
pany, which will at once erect a plant Tor
whatever they call it and will soon be
ready for business, which OF course will
practically drive ont the old company.
with cheaper rates, improved service. etc.
Now comes Company No. l and asks that
the city be enjoined from operating it's
electric light plant, (modest reques0 al
leging that through some defect in the
dynamos, that the noise from them gets
into the telephone circuit, rendering tele-
phones useless after the lights are turned
on, as no one can hear what is said for
the rumbling and grumbling that is pass
ing over the wires. l am not familiar
enough with electrical matters to put it
technically, but this is the gist of the
matter, as l understand it.
This law suit is attracting much atten-
ton among electrical experts, and the
General Electric Company of New York
will send one of their best lawyers here,
and the Brush Electric Company of Cleve-
land will send their attorney to aid the
city solicitor in defending the interests of
the city.
The balance of expert opinion seems to
be against the telephone company, but
who can tell what will come of law
suit?
The outcome will be awaited with
interest, but it will probably be a long
time before a final decision is rendered,
as it will doubtless be fought clear to the
Supreme Court
In the meantime there is still light in
the dark places, and will be in spite of
legal wrangles and tangles.
DENCIE MCDGETTE BoYNroN.