Daily camera., 1901-03-20
CHANGING A STATE.
The Face of Massachusetts, Will Be
Altered by a Reservoir.
Four Towns, a Cemetery and a Rail-
road VIII De Displaced by the
Mammoth New Water Sup
ply for BostOn.

IcScTNOlI Is III ouC VI tAC plSlGSSV
counties of central Massachusetts,,
writes H. H. Lewis in Ainslees. 1t is
about 35 miles northwest of Boston and
about seven miles northeast Of Wor-
cester. The contour of the valley,
broad here and there and narrowing
to almost gulch near Clinton, seems
fitted by nature for just such usage.
The scenery is diversified, consis ting
of hills, wales and woods. Nearby
toward the north stands Mount Wa
chusett like guardian sentinel. The
climate is that of New England, some
what drear in winter, but hospitable,
kindly and open. On account of the
rocky nature of the soil very little OPP
portunity is afforded for agricultural
pursuits, and the population is there
mile. This point, it will be easily un-
derstood, had considerable bearing on
the selection of the site.
To secure supply Of pure water for
a multitude of people it was necessary
TO collect that water from shed un-
polluted by the living or by the dead.
\ population of 90 to the square mile
was not dense enough to ford even a
suspicion of danger.
proof of the broad spirit shown by
the commissioners and their grasp Of
engineering feats is given in their
treatment of the mechanical problems
presented in planning the reservoir.
The flooding of valley even sparsely
settled meant the annihilation Of
homes, the wiping out of small towns,
the destruction of farms and the
changing of the course of public roads
and railways. These problems were
looked upon as mere details by this
daring board.
When il was estimated that total of
5,l63 acres were to be taken from the
different towns in the valley, to-wit:
Clinton. l,l25 acres; Boylston, 2,761
acres; West Boylston, S70 acres. and
Sterling, 4O7 acres, and that the lands
required for the reservoir contained
six large mills, eight schooihouses, four
churches, 800 dwelling>houses, large
Catholic cemetery and railroad, all
of which it was necessary to remove,
the board simply made plans for the
work as a farmer would make plans
for ridding a newly acquired strip Of
land of obstructing Stumps and rocks.
Three principal features in connec-
tion with the construction of the reser-
voir are the removal of six and half
miles of the Central Massachusetts
railroad and its relocation upon the
side of the reservoir, the destruction or
removal, partial or complete. of the
towns already mentioned and the
building of the great dam at Clinton.
OF these three possibly the question of
changing the railway bed is the least
important, although it is an event
worthy of note.
The work presenting the greatest
picturesque feature in the construction
of the Wachusett reservoir is the dem
olition of West Boylston and Oakdale.
Both these places were thriving towns
with important woolen mill interests.
They had existed for nmber of years,
and were growing slowly, but with the
steadiness of New England towns.
They were model communities in their
way. their citizens God-fearing and up
right.
When the news came to the good peo-
pie of Oakdale and West Boylston that
the city" as they call Boston, was
about to reach out like an octopus of
the deep and devour their little COM
munities, they were loath to believe it.
And when it was understood that their
homes, their hearth-stones and the
graves of their fathers were to be COW
cred forever by the waters of great
reservoir they rebelled.
The fact that the state fully intend
ed to make adequate financial restitu-
ton offered no balm. No amount of
money could offset the heart-break at
leaving the spot where a family had
been rooted for century. 1t was some
time before the people of West Boyl-
ston and of Oakdale became reconciled
to their impending eviction, as it might
be called. 1t must be said that the
state was perfectly fair in awarding
damages. Average prices wers ~
lowed for every piece Of pre-
taken, but wherever a tendency was
shown by land proprietor to "gouge"
the board he was fought relen tlessly.
In one case where a certain Italian de-
manded an exorbitant amount for a
wooden shanty, the board needing only
half the space occupied by the struc-
ture, calmly cut it in two and paid the
man only one-half of the assessed valu-
alton.
In awarding damages caused by the
building of the great reservoir the state
of Massachusetts, has established an
important precedent. When town
like West Boylston is practically wiped
out it is understood that the owners Of
property must be compensated for the
losses sustained by them, and also it is
necessary to pay for damages sus-
tanned by storekeepers and manufac-
turerS II this the state did and then