Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1904-04-09
BENEFIT BANGOR.
The Queen City Approves Of
Proposed B. & A. Extension.
1t Will Bring New Prosperity to
Aroostook County
Which Will Send a Greater Volume of
Business to Bangor.

Since the announcement, several weeks
back, that u new line of railroad was
projected in Maine to extend from La
grange to Belfast, and to be known as
the Northern Maine and Seaboard line
the question has been asked, many
times: What will the effect of this be
uron BanSor?' Especially pertinent
was this in view of the fact that the
promoters of the projected road were
the leading officers and directors of the
big Bangor & ArOostoOk Railroad. At
the first start many jumped to the con-
clusion that it was going to seriously
interfere with the business of the
Queen City" Such conclusion is
not so strange when one stops to con-
slider that the object-the great reason
for building the road was to get the
products of ArooStOok county to their
destination by water and n more direct
route than is now followed and to bring
such goods as the people of the cOun-
ty wanted to them by the same means.
The new road. of course. means that
none OF this freight shall pass through
Bangor.
AS intmated. on the face of these
facts, it certainly looks as though the
new ROAD would seriously effect Ban
gor'S business interest. but Il Bangor
man ruts the matter in a much Diff
ferent light and insists taht the result
will be quite the reverse.
Says he: The only benefits which
Bangor Row receives from tho pros
pcrity of Aroostook, which is great, is
the trade which she gets. Scarcely a
cent is realized in the city by reason
of the passage of the hundred or more
carloads of freight from AroOstook each
day through the city. The handling of
these cars may make a difference of
half dozen men in the employ of the
Maine Central in Bangor. not more
than that. probably not so many, and it
can be safely said that when the new
road is in operation these men will moi
be discharged. for the other business;
of the Maine Central is increasing suf-
ficiently fast to make them Il neccs-
sity.
Where the effect Of the row road will
he the most felt in Bangor will. undouht-
cdly. he in the handling of coal At the
-. Y.
comes by water to Bangor, where it is
discharged and carried by rail to the va
rous coalng stations along the lire. BY
the new arrangement. undoubtedly. the
coal for the northern Maine road will be
brought in vessels to Stockton or Belfast
which ever eventually becomcs the coast
terminal of the lire. and then carried in
4 he =. &; AS own cars over its own rails
to its final destination. This will save
the long tow up the PcnODHcot and the
high rates Of towaSe. In this one item
alone the road will save most materially
and it ought to make IL considerable diff
ference in the operating expenses of the
road. Now. while this would look like a
serious loss to Bangor, it is rot. 1t has
been well known for some years that tao
facilities for discharSing coal at Bangor
were being severely tested becaus" Of the
ever increasing amount of coal which
WAS being required by the two roads and
the many mills and towns along their
lines. 50 that with what increase til"
Main" Central will show. together with
that Of the pulp mills at Great Works.
Oronu. Old Town, Rowland. Montague
and Lincoln, together with the cities and
towns along the lire Of the Maine Cen
tral from Bangor to Eanccboro. the los;
Of the Il 4 AS. ana the MiIlinoctct pulp
,nill's coal will not he felt.
Now. AS to how Bangor will gain. Tn"
now road must. Of necessity, relieve the
III cscnt constant ear famine i'll -lroostook.
because cars will be sent to the coast
terminus, unIoadcd and rushed hack to
where: needed. instead of going hundreds
of miles before reaching their destination
and after being unloadcd being used for
months; or foreign roads before returning
to Maine. By reason OF the County':' pro-
ducts being sent to market by the water
route n lower freight rate will bc secured,
which will serve to increase business up
north.
An increase Of business up there means
additional prosperity. which means that
the inhabintants Of tho county will have
more money to spend and will buy more.
Now. who is in Il better position to supply
them with what they want than the mcr-
chants of Bangor, both retail and whole
sale? In the past they have supplied the
greater part Of these wants and they VIII
continue 10 do so in the future. al Of
which means n financial gain for Bangor
Another point 1t IS quite wei known that
tbo Y r. A buys a deal Of its supplies
{, D,rror The additional road which
the NOW line will build will increase the
amount of suppiicS reHuiIed' anu 'it'1
again Bangor gains.