Windham County reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1901-1906, 1904-04-01
THE MEDDLER:
~ me coat MS put IL on y

one week from tomorrow II will
be up to the people of Brattleboro I,
decide whether the town shall hay,
license now that Il has voted II.
cense. or shall substitute a half-and'
half system that has not yet beer
tried In Vermont and doesn't look as
II II would be much good If II were
tried. No one really expects that the
voters Of Brattleboro will decide to
limit licenses to beer and matted
liquors only. Such course would
throw the bulk Of the liquor traffic
across the river. No less liquor
would be drunk In Brattleboro but the
revenue from license would be re-
duced to one-third the present in
come. II seems strange that some
of the signers of the petition for the
special meeting are the very ones
who always howl the loudest for re-
duction OF expenses every March
They are simply cutting off their own
noses to spite their faces. and all the
good that will come of the operation
VIII be the prevention of the sale of
liquor on the day Of the special town
meeting.
The narrow gauge railroad met
with considerable of a mishap last
Saturday when one of its best bridges
was swept away 'by ice. The narrow
gauge has had SO many petty acct
dents in recent years that its patrons
have become accustomed to putting
up with all sorts of inconvenience,
but such a knockout blow as the loss
of n comparatively new steel bridge
is something out of the ordinary. At
least one good thing has come from
the accident, however The road has
been equipped with few more yards
of standard gauge track. Perhaps
when the bridge has been replaced
by new one the Central Vermont
officials will open their eyes and come |
to a realizing sense of the benefit they
would derive from a standard gauge |
track all the way to South London |
derry. If they do the people of the |
West river valley will feel like giving |
thanks to Old Boreas for freezing the |
zee on the river to such an unprece-
Tented thickness.
There Is probably no river in New
England that is better situated for
'aising hob in the spring than West
liver. Flowing as it does for greater
'art OF its length between steep hills
here is comparatively little chance
or 1t to spread out over low lying
meadows and thus relieve itself of
ortion of its spring burden. Instead
Is obliged to remain within the lin
Is Of its narrow channel and go rush
1g down the valley In doubly in
reased volume. Even In summer a +
ew days of continued rain will turn
ne river into raging torrent. The
'orkmen employed in building the
aslight companys dam were unani-
lous in the opinion that they never
nd been Obliged to cope with more
stream. But the Cen
al Vermont officials do not blame the
yer itself for the loss of their bridge.
hey say that If there had been no
I'm there would have been no ice of
Efficient thickness to tear down the :
ANTE pier which supported the
'idge
=
Yet the dam owners ought not to be
AIMED for anything that Is not really !,
cir fault; they have troubles of their
IN. The same freshet which carried :
way the supports of the narrow
uge bridge tore thousands of feet of =
,odwork from the dam and rendered =
useless for months to come. In 81
ed many people are beginning to =
'nder II II is possible to keep a dam L
ross the river without mourning an l
nual expense so great as to eat up Nj
the years profits.
Road Commissioner Eames must not
get that the town highways need a |
ring cleaning" just as much as any
Use does. There are quantities of
lie things to be done to put the
eets in good condition for sum-
r, and the best time to do them is d
early in the spring as possible. L
e man could be kept busy most of -
time keeping the Main street -
ssings free from mud. Then. too, -
re is the winters accumulations of
4 which need to be taken up and
ted away. The Meddler does not
IN to find fault with Mr.. Eames;
is simply jogging his memory lit
He would also like to call the at
ton of the American house pro-
tors to the appearance of the yard
the south side of the hotel There
hardly anything about its looks
would inspire the writing of edi-
ais on gentle spring"
The Meddler.