Daily Kennebec journal., 1904-11-10
TO THE SEA.
Charter Granted for Ex.
tension Of B. & A.
Favorable Decision of R. R.
Commissioners. Wednesday.
This Action Means Much to Aroos
took's Future.

RanaOr. No.. a.-(SpeciaD-To an
extent, the Northern Maine Seaboard
Railroad became a reality this morning
THIS was when, after A hearing lasting
about an hour ana Il half the COM
a rharter. The hearing developed
nothing particularly sensational. be-
y"nd tn" absolute denial by Hugh
chaplin. attorney for the T. & A.. that
there vas anything in the report that
the Canadian Pacific railway was be-
hind the movement of the t. x \. to
r:.tend L" die scibOard. 1nrrr was
present 1T the hearing Il large gather
ing of representative .AruoStouk
| county men. prominent among them
being Congressman Powers and r. l..
| Cleveland of Huulton. From down
river there was Albert II. Pierce. of the
great granite industries OF Frankfort.
and President Pendletnn Of the Sears
| port National hank.
! President Cram Of the =. & \. gay"
! an outline Of the conditions in ArnnS-
| took as they now exist. The lumber
| products We're of Il character which
made long rail hauls unprotitablt.
consequently if this line Of industry
was t" II" promoted and developed
| further tne.t must be II nearby sea
l.n.t. Bangor was out Of the question.
as il had open water for only about
| half ot the year. IN" proposed har
! bon 1T Stockton Was one of the best
on the Maine coast Aioostook had
"utarrwn the New England market for
both potatoes ard lumber ard this
made it necessary that there be water
| connections lhtrchy the extra cost Of
| warm ears and men 10 tend fires
| could be don" away with and III"
r"tat"cs shipped by water: lumber
.hiprn"nt% IIust also be made both for
cign and domestic by water.
Along the northern border large
amount of lumber WAS cut. flOated
| down the st. John river. sawed in
| Canadian lumber mills and r"shipped
| to the l-nitcd States He had. in the
| pnSt favored the doing away with the
privicge. bat h. pow felt that this
would be- an iniuStir" to the lumber
mon. THE building Of Il road. such as
WIs proposed. would -iv" an outlet
which would render lL- cXpcdient
quoted unI., rrsS.trY.
ON the question Of he coal supply.
Will" h,. had 10 fault to tind with pres
tax of at least 5000 oGn this year on its
coal TnS came ,thou: in this way:
,nnd,rn ways were not used in dis
1 charging" ut Bangor. thereby doubling
the cost on that: coal coming in a
r., l,,a,, ,oi,
the T. months of the year. made il
necessary to haul many cars on the re-
turn empty. there being no demand
1T that time. III his statement he had
said tn" extra tax w&s 81 a ton. as Il
matter of fact figures IT his office
would show that il vas $l.5O
Congressman PpwH"s said that there
WAS no question but what the conntr
needed The new road if it was 20 do
vclnl,r further. It would give cheaper
TRANSFORMATION for lumber and pcrrit
Of the more ra,lid movement of
l,.tatoes. He CAV" i; as his fears that
under present cnnditions it would Dr
impossible for the county t. get all of
her pctatoc crop to the market this
wear. He felt that II" c%tcnSi"n vas
very much needed and hc hoped to SO"
it huilt at once.
| r. l.. Cleveland. a nrOminant Houlton
potato buyer. said that there was no
question but what the new road was
necessary if Aroosto * was to drvelope
beyond what it already had. The crop
this year wouid amount to more than
TO- 900. 600 bushels or ov.r -, ,00o carloads
Fully - pcr cent Of thn crop went south
he 40
delivered at aperifc times and under
the conditions few dealers dared t.
make contracts for specific deliveries
as there was n" certainty that they
could meet the requirements.
Mr.. Cram was aS>cl ny Commissioner
Chadbournc how mrny cars the road
owned and answered that the number
was 3lS1.
How many cars 20 Won have a day
on the road?" asked Mr.. Chaplin.
The nrmhcr is between 1900 and 1900
!. seldom goes as high as the latter or
So low as the form It. but that is the
range! On one day recently 230O of our
cars were in use on other roads. while
we had only 40 ears Of other roads in
use upon our lines.
Thomas Phair. the ArooStook starch
king. of Presque Isle. said that in his
town there We're 500 carloads of
potatoes for immediate shipment.
There were facilities for loading 80 cars
per day there. but this helped not. as
they were unable to get more than
three cars day.
This year he had ground into starch
good marketable potatoes because it
= seemed to be almost impossible to get
them to market.
: When the announcement that the
commissioners would grant hte charter
was made by Chairman Peakes of the
. commission, there was great shout of
+ approval and a general handshaking.
4 Mr.. Cram Immediately telegraphed
r Chief Engineer Burpee of the B. & A.,
!. at Houlton. to proceed with the survey
e of the new road.
4 The twenty fifth anniversary of the in