Mower County transcript., 1904-10-05
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| For the first time I'm the history Of
Massachusetts al entire village is to. be
put up'at auction and sold to the highest
bidder without reserve. This is the
late OF the village of Wilkinson. which
is seven miles from Worcester. In
cluded il the property to be sold are ;,
the big cotton mills, reservoir, water
privileges, stores. cottages, church and
tenement houses. ~:z.:=22 ! j i #.:.
The sale has been decided upon by
the executors and trustees Of the Horatio
N. Slater estate. Mr.. Slater was mil
>Nona1re mill owner. and he kept buying
property and cutting up his own into
building, lots until whom he died, a few
years ago, he owned the entire village.
The trustees, finding it hard to sell so
much; property at private sale. decided
upon the novel plan Of holding q gigantic
auction:
B.. A. Wakefield, a civil engineer Of
Webster, has been surveying, with a
number of assistants, so az to establish
the boundary lines of the various bits
of property. The sale itself will be
y
to be determined:
With a population Of 600 the village
is one of the nveliest Of its size in the
state. It has telephone and telegraph
connections, electric street lights-some
features which are not to be found
in towns five times It's size It is on the
main line of the Observation-Disclosures
division Of the New Haven & Hartford
railroad. ,...c ~..,.
The church is Episcopal in denomina-
tion. and the pastor. the Rev. Samuel
Hodgkiss, finds his hock increasing
rather than diminishing as the years 60
by. When correspondent visited the
town recently the ladies of the church
were making extensive preparations for
lawn party. >.
:; In the general store. which also in
cludes the post Office, can be found any,
thing from paper of pins to a moving
machine. to say nothing Of candy, cigars,
tobacco, meats, groceries, clothing, etc.
The owner; S. H. Arnold, is the village
postmaster, telephone operator, and
general information bureau. He told the
reporter that there isn't such a mint
of money in the store business, but he
manages, he says, to keep tabs on the
bulls and bears of Wall street in such a
manner as to pull out several dollars
to the best of the stock game every
week. He has a method all his own Of
playing stocks, and says he has been
constant winner, so doesn't care if the
town is sold. ...
: With the exception Of the mills every
building in the town is occupied. The
mills were used for the manufacture Of
cotton for years, being closed only upon
the death Of their owner
The mill buildings, mostly of heaviest
stone, are all in good repair, and. e
there is big reservoir and ample water
power, the property would seem like
a desirable Investment. In addition to
the water power plant, there is a big
steam power plant, which can be used
during the dry seasons as an auxiliary
power.
When the mills closed few years
ago, contrary to the usual course of
things, the residents, mostly mill hands.
found positions in some of the other
mills within few miles and retained
their residence in Wilkinsonville, rid
ing to and from their work in either
the electric or, steam cars. To-day it
is impossible to rent a tenement in the
town at any price.