The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1899-02-24
A VILLAGE WITHOUT VOTES.
1t Has Existed for Generations, and
Its Inhabitants Pay No
Taxes.

Hastings is little village seated
amid the white mountains on the
boundary between Maine and New
Hampshire, and is the most unique
in New England, perhaps in the civil
lied world.
1t contains 900 inhabitants within
the village proper, with as many more
at work cutting and hauling lumber
to the village from the slopes of the
surrounding mountains. 1t has two
large manufacturing industries, large
store and boarding houses, &c resi-
denccs, post Office, electric plant, light
ing streets, store, etc, railroad, tele-
phone, fine school, religious societies
and services, excellent water system
and seweragc-in short, as many mod
ern conveniences as any village of it's
size in New England. Yet it is neither
city, town, plantation or even an in-
corporated place. 1t is nothing.
Its Inhabitants pay no taxes of any
sort. Babies have been born here, have
grown to manhood and become heads
CT families and never known what it
was to pay one cent for taxes.
There is, of course, wild land tax
| but these are paid by non-residents and
are something with which the inhabi
tants have nothing to do. On the other
hand, no inhabitant can vote. They
are. as a rule, we'll educated. the daily
papers have a large circulation here,
the people are we'll posted in current
events.
Yet here, in the very heart of New
| England, is a community who have no
more voice or influence in national,
state, county or town affairs than
| though they lived in the heart of Rus
STA. Here are gray-haired American
citizens who have never cast a ballot.
and cannot so long as they live here.
1t is the most cosmopolitan villagein
New England. Every nation on earth
| is or has been represented here.
The most remarkable thing about
this remarkable place is the entire abb
sence of crime. Notwithstanding this
| heterogeneous population there are no
police, not even constable. There
was sort of constable here, but his
commission expired about a year ago,
and his duties had been so light he did
not consider it worth his while to re-
rev it.
Here is the only village in the United
States 70 which there is 10 carriage
road. The only means OF transporta-
ton TO or from the outside world is
| by railroad. This railroad starts at
Gilead and follows the valley of the
Wild river along route so narrow that
in many places there is barely room for
the rails. On every other side of the
village are mountains so steep that
even footman can climb their sides
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 ventured to drive a car
| riage over the ties. But it proved so
difficult and dangerous that this meth
cd of reaching the village has been
| abandoned.
l This railroad is one of the wonders of
New England. 1t penetratcs IA miles
into the widest defiles of tie White
mountains. A ride upon it is q Few
experience. even to a traveller who has
visited every country upon the globe.
You follow the sinuous Wild river,
whirling around curves of 20 degrees,
where it seems impossible for train
to go; you climb the sides OF noun
tains at an elevation of AGO feet to the
mile, where a horse could scarcely go
and could not haul load; you shoot
II II Il IL, IL,
precipices, where break in the ma
chinery means death. Once the train
did run away and was smashed, killing
the trainmen. 1t is freight road, not
usually taking passengers.
Here was the first successful expert
ment of hauling logs by rail upon Il
large scale in New England. and upon
this road was used the first patent
yeared locomotive for mountain climb
ing in the east.
The school is another unique feature.
The schoolhouse was built in 1922 by
the two companies who operate here,
and the teacher is paid by q contribu-
| ton from each workman of ten cents
a month. This is taken from each
mans wages each pay day, and is
enough to pay for about IS weeks of
school year. This term there are 81
pupils.
This territory was granted 10 Rich
ard Batcheldor by the state of Massa-
chusetts about 100 years ago.
! Forty years ago c. A. Hastings, of
Bethel. and d. II. Hastings, of Frye
burg, bought 10000 acres here. prac-
tically the whole region. In 1891 they
sold the right of way through their
territory, the mill site at the village,
and 20 acres to the Wild River Lumber
company, of Island Pond, VT. This
company purchased at the same time
10000 acres of timber in Beams Pur-
chase, just across the New Hampshire
| line.
They put in the big steam mill. store,
most of the houses, the electric sys-
tenn, water system, sewers. etc. They
cut their timber at Beams Purchase
and haul it by rail to their steam mill