Norwich bulletin., 1914-09-19
ADVOCATED TROLLEY TO S1ORRS
Mansfield and Wlimanc Residents Appeared Before East ern Connecticut Development Committee = Railroad Men Say It is Question of fFinances-Mans6ed Trol ley Route Favored Over Central Vermont Extension From EageviIle.

that would be benefited by better transportation facilities to reach the Connecticut Agricultural college at Storrs attended hearing given here Friday afternoon at o'clock by the Eastern Connecticut Development committee. The meeting was held in the rooms of the Norwich Business Mems association in the Transporta- street
 Two ways of providing transporta- t1on to the college at Storrs were Chiefly discussed, one by a spur track from the Central Vermont railroad line at Eagleville. and the other by a. troll ley line from Willimantic through Mansfield Center. President Robert W. Perkins of the Shore Line Electric Railway company and John McCraw, southern division superintendent for the Central Yer mont railroad, were present, and when; the matter had been sifted out con- siderably, the railroad men told the meeting that 1t would be largely a matter of finances whether transpor- tation service was provided by either trolley or railroad line and that neither had any money to build with When President Joseph T. Crutten- den or the committee called the meet ing to order. there was an attendance of 25 persons. of whom three were women from Mansfield who had been interested in circulating a petition di- rected to Morton F. Plant and the Shore Line road directors.
 President Cruttenden said that it l now seemed to be the question wheth state of Connecticut should provide some easier way of reaching Storrs, so that the people of Connecticut could | bring away more of the valuable in- formation which has been accumu- | lated there and should be more easily available to the people. President Beach of Storrs. He invited President c. L.. Beach of the college to present his views on l the subject.
 The president said that there are | from 30 to 40 families resident in the | community and presumably 400 to 500 people, including the student body, who want a chance to get better com munication with the outside world, | presumably turning towards Willi-
 mantle. Besides passenger traffic there
 would be freight to be considered. | Their college used 2000 tons of coal | per year besides considerable miscel- | laneous freight and in the course of
 the building operations there has been
 from 20oo to 5000 tons of building
 material There is annually about | 5000 tons of freight brought in by way of Eagleville. which costs s1.25 per ton to have.
 The college is in a position to grow,
 he said. and if the state assists. it will probably double its enrolment in l the next two years or so.
 l On the point of passenger traffic, | President Beach referred to conven- | tions which come to the college which he said had brought about 1500 people | in two or three weeks this year. As | the college extension work grows this
 number will increase.
 President Beach said he was not familiar with the best route, but | thought that one through Spring Hill
 and Mansfield Center would develop | the most passenger traffic. The Gen. tral Vermont railroad has suggested the possibility of a storage battery | car which could be used on a spur
 track which could be built from Eagle | vile.
 Professor c. A. Wheeler, also from | the colleges who had at one time made | a survey of the Eagleville route, said that it is miles from Storrs to VII
 limantic and miles from Storrs to | Eagleville. He spoke of a definite | proposition that the Central Vermont road had made that if the state would build the Eag1eville spur, the Gen. tral Vermont would put on freight cars at switching charge of 25c per | ton.
 WiIIimantic Board of Trade President
 President J. c. Tracy of the Willi-
 mantle Board of Trade advocated the Mansfield route as serving the public
 better, as more villages would be reached and the road would pay better | in dividends and in convenience to the public than the Eagleville route.
 Herman Johe of the Max Pollack & Co. mill at Conantville told of the prosperous career of that industry ir the last 14 years, having twice en-
 larged its plant. and spent s60,000 in the past two years in improvements to buildings and equipment. He desired very much that the projected line, il built, should go byfthe mill. (which could give it much freight business. It was 1000 tons of coal a year.
 | Senator William F. Gates of Willi-
 mantle advocated the Conantville- Mansfield line and said Gurleyville people would also be benefited. There would be milk teams to send milk by this line. Prof. A. G. Gulley of Storrs brought
 in the question of building to Stafford
 also, but said there is a large territory to be benefited by the Mansfield route l There would be an easy grade except at Mansfield north.
 Superintendent Mccraw.
 | Superintendent MoCraw of the Cen: tral Vermont responded when called
 upon, saying that there was no ques.
 tion but that the college needed mors
 transportation facilities if it were tl
 grow. By the Eagleville way there
 would be but 2.4 miles of track tc
 build.
 He spoke of the storage battery cal
 which might be operated. It could bt
 run safely at high speed and by con-
 nection with Central Vermont traini
 might meet the passenger demand
 Freight could be transferred in tn,
 usual way and would mean a savins
 of $5.000 to sS.000 a year possibly fol
 the college. There would be no grea
 physical obstacles by the Eagleville
 route. He said he was not present tt
 make any proposition.
 A. W. Buchanan of Mansfield Cente spoke for the Spring Hill route, whicl he said would have easy grades ant would go by two churches, the larges
 mill in the town and two other mills
 and the whole east side of Mansfield would be benfited
 l.. J. Storrs of Mansfield also advo
 cated the Mansfield Center route, ant Rev. w. S. Beard of Willimantic spok for this route. , President Perkins of the Shore Lin road professed his interest in seeinl the college given better transportatiQ; facilities, but said that on the figure
 presented there was not much encour
 agenent that the road could be pro } htably operated. Just how to rats ,~he money would be the problem an I , didn't believe ten per cent could b