The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-03-10
North Brookfeld Can
Ill Afford
OF SEWE RS
Tax Rate is Already Almost
Unbearable.

NOilH bEOOhllelu, hdrGI JILL IlC
sewerage question, which has been
brought up annually in town meeting,
bids fair to once more receive a black
eye from the voters. No one seems to
question the need of sewers, but people
do question the advisability Of spend
ing 100000 or even half of that sum,
when the town is now carrying heavy
burden in the shape of a tax rate of
$3.50 on a thousand, and the valuation
of the town on basis which is way
up in the air.
Many claim that if the town valua-
ton was based as it should be, our
taxes would be over $25 a thousand.
With the present heavy rate and ten
years before it can be lowered, narur-
ally many citizens do not want to see
from thirty to sixty thousand more adj
ded, even if longtime notes are taken.
Another reason that will set the sys-
TEN back is the fact which Is begin
ming to dawn upon property owners,
that no matter what the expense Of
putting in the main pipes, they will be
obliged to expend from SIS to $3.50 to
make the necessary changes in their
buildings, an expense which in the ag
gregate will be many thousands of
dollars.
The farmers do not think that they
should be taxed to help people in the
town, when they will recsive scarcely
any benefit. They look at the question
in the light that the towns prospects
are no brighter than many other shoe
towns, and that the benefits derived
from a sewerage system viii be prac-
tically nil as far as they are con-
eerned.
In town some want to see the sys-
tenn put in, and the town pay the bills,
as they say that when the present line
from the factories to the town farm
was put in, the people on the line We're
allowed to enter free of cost, and why
should not the remainder of the citi-
Zens receive the same treatment. Others
say that the abutters should pay rev.
enty-five per cent and the town the re-
mainder.
Meanwhile, the discussion goes on
some claiming that they must come at
once, while the majority secm to favor
the plan Of waiting. The district known
as Canada Is in bad shape, and will
need some attention before many years
| have gone by.
! At the regular meeting Of the Apple
1 ton Club, held in the First Church par
| lors, last evening, an interesting pro-
gram was presented. Miss Nina Glea-
Tuileries, st. Cloud and Little Trainon.'
Mrs. Gilbert r. Webber read about
1.-THE Girondists and Jacobites." Miss
! Lucy Gammell told THE story Of JOS
ephine, the prisoner" Mrs. Katherine
| S. Mason read an excellent paper on
| "Our town--How can we promote Its
INTEREST,"" Miss Mabel p. Banister read
/ a,f.t.i1 fNf r.ia
Antoinette and the Dauphln." Miss FL
len Smith sang.
The club voted not to hold banquet
this year, but to engage lecturer to
appear before them at the end Of the
| season.
| The high school seniors expect to
have the event of the season in the
dramatic line when the Amherst Col
| lege Senior Dramatic Company present
Arthur w. Pinero's farce, 1.-THE Magis-
| trate," on March 81.
The Sisters of Mercy connected with
st. Josephs Church are planning for an
entertainment in the town hall, next
Friday evening, when an excellent pro-
gram will be presented.
The clerk of the board Of selectmen
is at work on their books, and the fig
ures will be given out early next week.
Considerable fun is being poked at
the expense of the Union League bas-
ket ball team. The younger members
of the gymnasium have a we'll organ
ganized team for the past two years
but were not considered worth the no.
tice of the regular team. Early this
season the young fellows, who call
themselves the Union Guards, played
match game with the regulars, de-
feating them by the score of 10 to 0.
Then q second game was played, and
the Union Guards once more won, 8 to
6. Last evening a third game was
played for blood and once more the
Union Guards won, to 4; and it is
said that the athletic instructor was
obliged to go into the game to save the
regulars from still worse defeat. The
Guards now challenge the regulars to
play in any hall for the championship.