The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1911-05-23

Mr. Byrnes came, he saw and he went
with better idea of the local transpor-
tation needs, Barre and Montpelier hope
But as for disclosing any plans which
the Boston & Maine railroad may have
regarding transportation development in
this vicinity, he did not. Indeed, Vice
President Byrnes was very chary about
making specific statements, his speech at
the joint banquet in Rowland hall last
night dealing mostly with generalties
but impressing his hearers with the
truth of his statement that "We have
come here for business"
Yankee fashion, when asked what the
Boston q Maine intended to do, now that
I it had acquired the Montpelier & Wells
River and the Barre railroads, Mr.
Byrnes answered with another question,
What are YOU going to do to make
it worth whileg" He did say, however,
that with cooperation between the rail.
road and the business interests they
could double the output OF Barre gran
ite But if the banquet did not bring
out any specific announcement of pol
ieies, it did serve to give over two hum
dred representative citizens of Barre and
Montpelier a chance to get together in
a friendly manner and listen to a very
interesting discourse from one of the
leading railroad meu Of the East.
The places at nearly all of the many
tables in the hall were filled, large
number coming from Montpelier and GO
ing back by special train over the NJ
& w r. railroad when the banquet was
ended shortly after midnight. Seated at
the speakers table in the center with
Vice President Byrnes were the heads
of the two municipalities, Mayors Mutch
and Ballard, the presidents of the four
organizations back of the invitation,
President w. G. Reynolds of the Barre
board of trade. President W. c. Cotton
of the Montpelier board of trade, Presi-
dent James Adie OF the Barre Granite
Manufacturers association, President
Samuel Gerard of the Quarry Owners
association, President c. NJ Edison of the
Williamstown board Of trade, members
of the reception committee, speakers of
the evening and representatives of rail-
roads
The banquet, under charge of Mrs.
c. n. Benedict, cateress, was excellent
and, in spite of the large number at
tending, was we'll served The coffee
and cigars were brought on about 9:30
o'clock, at which time Fred A. Rowland
of Montpelier raped for order and in a
brief speech introduced Hugh J. NJ.
Jones of Barre Montpelier" as toast
Of tka Mx xroe
felicitious in his introduction, as usual,
and served to bring out many laugh,
as well as keeping the ball a-rolling.
Riley's orchestra was q valuable aid to
Mr. Jones in the latter work
The speakers, excepting Mr.. Byrnes,
were limited to five minutes, and hence
their efforts were somewhat hurried; but
nevertheless all said something interest
ing John H. Senter of Montpelier, aft
er alluding to the appreciation Mont
pelier felt when the new owners of the
& Wells River railroad re-
stored W. A. Stowell to a position with
the company, told what granite had done
for the Development of Barre and Mont
peler and then declared that what is
most wanted now is a eross-state rail-
road, whether by the gulf route or the
Mad river valley Mr.. Senter thought
such a railroad would be the best de-
medium Barre and Montpelier
could have now.
Public Service Commissioner S. Hol-
lister jackson, speaking as private
,itizen,r reminded Mr.. Byrnes that the
people of Barre and Montpelier are loyal
to both railroads tthe Central Vermont
aud the Boston & Maine,; but. rates
being equal, Barre and Montpelier viii
give their business to the
'ailroad which serves them the better In
he matter of railroad facilities Our
business, Mr.. Jackson said, is interstate
business. Mr.. jackson reminded Mr..
Byrnes that 1T was a good business =
Mr.. Byrnes Introduced.
The toastmaster's introduction of Vice
President Byrnes was most happy, the
'ntire company rising, the orchestra
tril1ing up and megaphone voice from
he far corner of the hall piping up with
little ditty dedicated to Mr.. Byrnes
md the occasion.
When Mr.. Byrnes was permitted to
peak he declared that this was moro
ike meeting ont West than he had
cen since returning TO the East, and
/ had been an inspiration to attend the
,anquet and to look into the faces of
he people of Barre and Montpelier there
He told Of the pleasure II was
o him TO come back 60 Vermont, state
ghieh has given so much to the citizen.
hip OF the country, and he hoped
tring the next few years TO build mp
he material welfare OF the state. He