Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-06-06
STATE BOUNDARY
DISPUTE.

IN the early history of the country
we heard a great deal about state
boundary disputes. Massachusetts,,
New Hampshire and New York, all
thought they owned some parts of
the present state of Vermont. New
York and Connecticut and little
Rhode Island had a few Naboth's
vineyards in view. War was threat
ened between these states over
boundary disputes. But we thought
these had all been settled a hundred
years ago or more. 1t seems, how
ever, that the Providence Journal
has learned of a border dispute, or
a rumor of such a dispute, between
New York and Connecticut of re-
cent date. 1t says:
Connecticut proposes to keep a
close watch on a boundary survey
which the New York state engineers
are going to begin on the 18th. The
New York surveyors will be well
come to run their lines wherever
they choose, but there will be
trouble if they attempt to alter any
of the boundary markers agreed
upon by the two states 10 years ago
1T seems that the portion of the
border in which New York is just
now taking a special interest is that
which extends from Massachusetts,
II miles south. The Hartford Times
says that a bill passed by the legis-
lature at Albany, under which the
survey is to be made, is believed
/ by many Connecticut officials and
property owners to have been occa-
stoned by the desire of certain in
terests in New York state to in
clude within the boundaries of that
state a small island in Lake Riga
upon which another road house or
camp, similar to those which al
ready exist on the New York side
of the boundary, could be convent
entity located" 1t would be of in
terest to hear what New York has
to say to this. To most people Lake
Riga has been hitherto an unknown
sheet of water. Will it loom large
hereafter?
connecticut and New York had
a boundary dispute that lasted two
centuries. At last it was settled
in the 1905, Fishers island being
given to New York and Mystic
island to Connecticut. As a result
of this decision, the New York
boundary comes within three @
four miles Of southeastern Con-
necticut and southwestern Rhode
Island, and Fishers island is part
of the town of Southold or Long
Island, far away.
THE story is told of an election
day when the weather was too
stormy to permit the election Of
ficer on Fishers island to carry his
returns to the town clerk of South
old by way of the New London and
Greenport boat. He was forced to
go to New York city by train and
thence by train up most of the
length of Long Island, the round
trip requiring him to make a jour
ney of nearly 500 miles to perform
his official duty within the con-
fines of a single township"
1t would be rather strange if the
location of a road house should be
the occasion of a revival Of hos
tility between two of the original
thirteen colonies that formed the
United States. In the newer west
ern states we heard practically
nothing about boundary disputes.
One reason for that no doubt was
because they were surveyed in the
modern way from meridian lines.
In the old fashioned surveying,
lines were run from metes and
bounds, some natural landmark be-
ing taken as a starting point. These
national landmarks were often
trees or stones or some mark that
has long disappeared from the land
scape and SO disputes about the
original survey lines we're rather
fr>ou>n< Manu- <raeks ~ land ara