Windham County reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1901-1906, 1904-01-01
THE MEDDLER.
"Lf he coat IT'S put % on y


| Contrary to the expectations of many
people the stockholders of the Brat
tleboro g. whitehall railroad did not
see fit to accept the\ terms offered by
the New London Northern representa-
tives at the conference which was held
Tuesday. In other words they did not
feel like being shorn of what few rights
they now possess as an organization, in
order to secure assurances of broad
gauge track between here and Lon
donderry. Whether the action of the
stockholders in refusing to give a de-
cree Of foreclosure against themselves
will delay the construction of a stand
ard gauge track over the "a miles of
road in question is a matter of conjec-
ture; but everyone familiar with the
facts in the case cannot help approx
ing of the action taken at Tuesday S
meeting. Had the final offer from the
New London Northern representatives
been accepted the Brattleboro &
Whitehall Co. would have lost its hold
on the only string it now has to pull
the operators of the narrow gauge up to
the mark The string may not be very
strong, it is true, but thus far 1t has
borne a good deal of twitching and
brought the Central Vermont and New
London Northern companies to real
izing sense of what is needed on the
narrow gauge line.
It is for this very reason that the
New London Northern company was
unwilling to accept any foreclosure de-
cree with n string attached. The com
pany Is willing to construct a standard
gauge track, indeed it is for its inter-
est to do so; but in return 1t wishes
the Brattleboro & Whitehall company
to relinquish every vestige of power
and give up its organization entirely.
Now that the stockholders have Ire
fused to do this the foreclosure pro-
ceedings will be resumed in the United
States Circuit court The counsel for
the Brattleboro & Whitehall company
are unanimous in the opinion that no
foreclosure decree will be granted ard
they win fight the matter strenuously
If the decree is not granted the Brat.
tleboro & Whitehall can use its pro-
ceedings for the appointment of re-
ceiver as a whip to bud" the New
London Northern company, and it
would seem to the Meddler that be-
tween the whip and the string a good
deal of driving could be accomplished.
In any case there Is a strong likelihood
that the next year will see broad
gauge track between here and London
derry, The improvements that have
been made on the road of late have had
that end in view, and the Central YER
mont railroad company knows as well
as anyone the benefits that would be
derived therefrom. If, however the
COMPANY should refuse out of spite to
make the necessary Improvements 1t is
not unlikely that sufficient capital
could be found to pay up the existing
mortgage. and build a broad gauge in
dependent of the present operators.
An amusing feature of the confer
ence Tuesday was the reference made
by Judge H. II. Powers to District At
torney Martins candidancy for the
governorship. In The course of his
remarks in behalf of the New London
Northern company Judge Powers took
occasion to digress little and named
Mr.. Martin as the next governor Of
Vermont The remark brought out a
laugh from all present, and gave Presi-
dent Thompson a chance to ask Judge
Powers il he had any more taffy for