The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1899-02-04
VILLAGE WITHOUT VOTE
FOR cENERATloNs4Ts INHABITANTS
HAVE PAID NO TAXES. ~

the White Mountatns-Most Cosmopol1-
tan Settlement In New England States.
Hastings is q little village seated
amid the White Mountains on the
boundary betw, en- Maine and New
Haml shire, and is the most unique
in Aew England, perhaps in the civil
lied world, declares the Boston Globe:
1t contains 800 Inhabitants within
the village proper, with rs many more
at work cutting aud hauling lumber
to the village from the slopes of two
surrounding mountains. 1t has tue
large manufacturing industries, large
store and boarding houses, twenty
six residences, postodice, electric
plant, lighting streets, store: ETC.,
railroad, telephone, fine school, re-
ligous societies and services, excel
lent water system and sewerage
short, as many modern conrenlences
as any village OF it's size in New Eng
land. Yet it is neither city, town,
plantation nor even an incorporated
llace. 1t is nothing.
Its inhabita' is pay no taxes Of any
sort. Babies have been born here,
have grown to manhood and become
the heads OF families and never known
what il was to lay one cent for taxes.
Thee is, OF Course, wild lanl tax and
a state tax on the mill property, but
these are pal by non-resideuts an are
something with which the inhabitants
have nothing to do. On the other
hand, no inhabi ant can vote. They
are, as q rule, we'll educated, the
daily papers have large circulation
here, the people a.e we'll postel III
curreut Gents.
Yet here, in the very heart Of New
England, Is a community who have
no more vice or influence in n..tio al,
state, county or town affairs than
though they lirel in the heart Of Rus
sia. He.e are giay-hairel American
citizens Woo have never cast ballot,
AMI cannot so long as they live here.
IL is the most cosmopolitan village
in New England. Eve:y nation on
earth is, or has been, represented
here
The most remarkable thing about
this most remarkable place is the en-
tire absence Of crime.
Notwithstanding this heterogeneous
population there are 10 ollce, not
even a constable. There was sort
| OF Unstable here, but his com mission
| expired about year ago, and his du-
ties had been so Ii sht he Nj not con-
slider it worth his while to renew it.
Here is the only village il the
! United States to which there,i is no
| carriage ROAD. The only msaas OF
transportation TO or from the outside
world is by arailroad. This railroad
starts at Gileaa and follows the valley
of the Wiz: river along route 50
narrow that in many places there is
barely room for the rails. On every
other side OF the village are noun
Tins so eep that even foot nan c in
Climb their siles only with difficulty
and so high that the sun is visible
only part of the day.
When this railroad was first built a
few persons reutured to drive car
riage over the ties, but it proved so
difficult and dangerous that this
method OF reaching the village has
been abandone l..
This railroad is one of the wonders
OF New Eng and. 1t renetrates four
teen miles into the widest dehias of
| the White Mountains. A ride upon
| it is a new experience, even to trav-
eler who has visited every country
upon ti:e globe. You fellow the silu-
ous White river, wh;rling around
curves of forty degrees, where it seems
ra,rssi;,!e Tor a traiu;> to go; You
! eli nib the sides of mountains at an
elevation of 400 feet to the nsls,
whe~e horse coHld scarcely so and
| could not haul Il load.
You shoot dswn decli7ities which
I are almost precipices, where a break
in the machinery means death. Once
The train dill run away and was
smashe l, killing the t"ainmen. It is
4 freight road, not usually taking pas
se1gers.
Here was the first successful expert
n,ent of hanling logs by rail upon n
large scale i / New England, and upo /
this real was used the first patent
ge tred locomotive for mountain climb
ing in the cast.
! The scho ! is another uni7ue fea-
ture. The scho olhouse was blilt in
1892 BY the two co npanies who oper-
ate here, and the teacher is paid by a
co ltrirut:oa from each workman of
ten cents month. This is taken
! from each mans wages each pay day,
and is enough to pay ior about thirty
; five W eks OF school each year. This
term thee are thirty-seven pupils.
! This territory was granted to Rich
! ard Batchellor by the state of Massa-
chnsetts about mo years ago.
| Forty years ago g. 4. Hastings of
! Bethel and D. R. Fastings Of Frye
: hurg bought 10000 acres here, prac-
i; tica'ly the who'e regiou. IN 1891
; they sold the right OF way through
! their territory, the mill. site at the
j village and twenty acres to the. Wild
| River Lumber Co. OF Island Pond, vt.
! This company purchased at the same
! time 40, QUO acres of timber in Beans
Purchase, just across the New Hamp-
shire line.
They put in the big steam mill,
store, most of the houses, the electric
system, sewers, etc. They cut their