The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1899-02-08

ONE NEW ENGLAND VILLAGE THAT
NEVER CAST A VOTE.

Has Three Hundred lnhnhitmnt..
There Arc y" TnNr>. >o Constable.
and No Criminnis There.
Hastings Is Il little village seated
amid the White mountains on the
boundary between Maine ami New
Hampshire. and is the most unique in
; New England. perhaps III the civilized
world.
1t contains 30O inhabitants within
the village proper with as many NOR.
at work cutting and hauling lumber 10
| the village from the slopes of Tie SIR
rounding mountains 1t has twn lar,,
manufacturing industries. large. s,nr.
and boarding houses. III residence.
, poStoilicc. electric plant, lighted street,
etc. railroad. telephone. excellent water
/ system and sewerage IL short. as many
modern convcnirnccS rs any village Of
its size i'll New England Yet il is nri
! thcr city, town. plantation nor cy,n an
! Incorporated place. 1t is nothing
! Its inhabitants pay no tax.s nt any
sort. Babies have been born hare. lav..
! grown To manhood AMI become Head,
! OF families and never known what IL W.,
to pay one cent for taxes
! There are. of course. II Wild land tax
and Il state tax on the mill pru;,rriN.
but these are paid by Nonresident, ami
1 are something With which ,il. ini,ni,i,-
( ants have nothing 10 do On III. u!!!cr
hand. no inliahitant can vote They
are. ~, IL rule. We'll 'lca;,.,l. the daily
papers have Il large circnlat,um and the
people, are We'll M,>i. III current events
IL
England. is Il cniiiinn:.i,y win, havc ~
lnor" voic" ~ int.rrItr IN nn.iunnl
state, county ur tnwn affair, llia"
though they lived iii thr ii,4i:i a.: Ru,-
sia. Here are :,ray !,:..:.'i A:.rvi,~.m
citizens who have ir.v,.i c..-i :; lr,lin,
and cannot So lon:, Il, i!r. 1--we llr..
1t is he most cosmopolitan village III
New England. Every nation III rar...
is or has been represented here
The most rrnarl:lh think nhnat
this most remarkable place. IS ti.r entire
absence Of crime. Notwithstanding. this
heterogeneous population there are no
police. not even Il constable There WAS
Il sort of constable here. hl,t hi- com
mission expired. and his Duties had
been SO light HI did not consider it
worth his while To renew it,
Here Is the only vill;,. i'll the Cnit.,l
/ States to which there is nu rarrinyr
road. The only means ut transportation
to or from tn" outside world is hv a
; railroad This railroad starts ut tiilrad
and follows In" valley of the Wild river
! along u routc so narrow that in many
places there il barely room for the rails
On every other side rf the village are
! can climb their sides only with diff
Guilty ana high that the sun i, visible
only part of IL" day.
When this railroad waS first built Il
few persons vcntursd tuIrivrn carriage
over The ti's. But it proved 81 difficult
! and dangerous that tii, mctll,M OF
reaching the village has been alan-
! doncd
/ This railr L is ono nf the wonders
/ of New England. 1t prnciratr, i miles
! into the widest icil,:, of the White
mountains. ~ ride upon i: is Il new cx-
/ pcricncc. even To q traveller who has
! visited every country upon the globe
! You follow tho sinunus Wild river.
; whirlinS around curves of 40 degrees.
| where 1t seems impossible for Il train to
| go. Hou climb the sides OF mountains
| at an elevation of 400 feet to the mile,
! where Il horse could scarcely go anu
could not haul % load; you shoot down
dcclivities which are almost irccipiccs,
where break i'll the machinery means
death. Once the train did run away
| and was smashed. killing the trainmen
; 1t is Il freight road. not usually taking
| passengers.
fVT nri-
{! ment Of hauling logs ly rail upon IL
large scale III New England, and upon
this road was used the first patent gear
J ell locomotive for mountain climbing
| i'll the east.
The school is another unique feature
! The schUolhuusc was built in 1892 by
the two companies who operate here.
and thc teacher is I,ld by II col.trihn-
. tion from each workman of 20 cents Il
month This is taken from each man )
wages each pay day and is enough IL
! pay for abont 31 weeks of school Il YEAR.
| This territory WAS granted to Richard
! Batchcldcr by the state of Massachu
| setts abont 100 years ago.
! Forty years ago q. a. Hastings Of
| Bethel and ID. r. Hastings of Frycbury
bought 20, 600 acres here practically
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 pur-
: chased Mt the same time 40, 900 acres Of
timber in Beams purchase Just across
: the New Hampshire line.
! They put in the big steam mill, store.
! most of the houses, the electric system,
water system, sewers etc They cut
their timber at Beans purchase and
haul it by rail to their steam mill here,
! which saws 60, 600 feet a day when run
TO its full capacity.
, Carl Storrs may bc termed the father
Of the settlement, as he holds every
public office so satisfactorily that no
other man has been Thought Of III con-
ncction with the positions.
He is the company agent, bookkeep-
er, mymaster, trial Justice, postmaster.
! police, etc Boston Globe