Radio Script #783

Little Talks on Common Things

November 24, 1968

Among a number of old publications that recently came into possession of the Waterville Historical Society is the first issue of the Waterville Morning Sentinel on March 3, 1904. Before that the Sentinel had long been a weekly, but next March will see the 65th anniversary of its appearance as a daily.

Its front page stories were divided between foreign and local news. On the foreign front the headlines read: “European power likely to cause general clash. This new and startling assertion is intimated to come from the French Ambassador to Great Britain. Other news of the far eastern war general and indefinite.” The story beneath the headlines said: “A London correspondent telegraphs the Echo de Paris that a certain person in London, supposed to be the French Ambassador, is conducting a press campaign in England with the object of creating a conflict between France and Britain.”

The war to which the headlines referred was the Russo-Japanese conflict, which Theodore Roosevelt engineered to a close by bringing both sides to agree to the Treaty of Portsmouth.

Strange as it may now seem to us, one dispatch quoted by the Sentinel told of Chinese taking the Japanese side. Twenty Chinese had been caught signaling Japanese ships off the shore near Port Arthur. Russia was believed to be planning dispatch of her Black Sea fleet to the Far East. A story from St. Petersburg deliberately accused China of being an ally of Japan. Russia claimed her army was in excellent shape, supplied with warm clothing for the tough Manchurian campaign, and with transport fully supplied. How false that Russian optimism proved to be! Within a few months a whole Russian fleet was sunk, Japan was victorious, and the proud Russians were humbled at the Treaty of Portsmouth.

It is easy now, with hindsight, to spot that victory as the beginning of modern Japanese militarism, her vicious attack on China, her seizure of some Pacific islands, and her securing of others as a result of the First World War, the rapid build-up of her army and navy culminating in the ignominy of Pearl Harbor. And poor, defeated Russia! No one could possibly foresee that 65 years later she would be one of the world’s two great powers, waging cold war against the United States in a nuclear stand-off.

The local story, given quite as much front page space as the war news, concerned harness racing in Maine. It had these headlines: “One Thousand Dollars in a free-for-all purse. Eastern Maine horse breeders’ association so decided at meeting in Waterville yesterday. Will give $5,400 in purses at August meet. Fine cavalcade of horses.” The association’s treasurer was E.P. Mayo. whose publications and whose interest in fairs and racing I have mentioned more than once on this program. He reported a sound financial situation, with the year’s receipts exceeding expenditures by $613. The association was welcomed to Waterville by Mayor Cyrus W. Davis. Applause greeted the appearance of Waterville’s veteran horseman, Hod Nelson. Hod declared that the Central Maine Fair Grounds in Waterville had the best track in Maine, and that was where the association ought to hold its principal meet. The group enthusiastically voted to hold the August meet in Waterville.

In the afternoon there was put on what the Sentinel called a cavalcade of driving horses, under the direction of Se1 Whitcomb and R.F. Haynes. Its success, said the Sentinel, was beyond expectation. Open to horses in the vicinity of Waterville, it drew out the finest. For a matched pair the prize went to Albert Nye of Fairfield; for a single trotter to Hod Nelson; for pacer to Guy Hume of Shawmut; for lady driver to Mrs. William McManus of Waterville; and for pony class to Norris Webber.

Now let us turn to the Sentinel’s account of that parade: “The first division began to form about 1:30 on Gold Street. the second on Summer, the third on Sherwin and the fourth on Upper Silver. The parade was in charge of City Marshall Plaisted, mounted on a white horse. It moved up Silver to Main4 up Main to its junction with Elm, then down Elm to Silver and on to Gold. Heading the parade was the venerable champion Nelson, driven by his proud owner. That horse is now 23 years old old, but he is still a handsome animal, carrying his head as kingly as ever, and stepping off like a colt. Every onlooker knew that this Waterville stallion once held the world trotting record of 2:09. One novelty of the parade was a sleigh 54 years old, driven by Wesley Dunn. While the’ judges deliberated, more than 2,000 people in the street awaited their decisions. So many fine teams assembled, in addition to those in competition, that no one can doubt this region’s supremacy in fine horse flesh.”

Compared with what we now pay for the Morning Sentinel, its cost in 1904 is an indication of what inflation has done for us during the intervening 65 years. Today we pay $28 a year; in 1904 the price was $6. Single copies cost three cents.

The leading editorial naturally concerned the paper’s change from weekly to daily. That editorial began: “This morning the first number of the Waterville Morning Sentinel is presented to the public of Waterville and Central Maine in the hope that it will meet with welcome and will deserve commendation. Every morning of the week except Sunday this paper may be read at the breakfast table or before the business day has begun. It will contain all the news of the day, and it will seek to serve its readers with the very cream of the news of the city, the county, the State, the nation, and the world.”

The long editorial ended with a statement of the paper’s political position. It was frankly a Democratic paper. The editorial said: “Believing in the principles of the Democratic Party, we shall support those principles with all the ability and all the energy we possess. But we shall be charitable toward those who disagree with us, endeavoring only, courteously but firmly, to convince them of the error of their views.”

If anyone failed to read the edioria1, he was left in no doubt about the Sentinel’s stand, because on the same page in large type appeared the names of the candidates whom the paper supported for the City election soon to be held. Heading the list was the Democratic candidate for Mayor, Cyrus W. Davis. Among the candidates for alderman were Charles Miller, Edgar Jones and Arthur Daviau and among the councilman candidates were Professor Edward Hall, the Colby Librarian; Jules Gamache, Head of the Falls grocer; and down on the Plains, Augustus Carey.

Only a single column in the eight-page paper was devoted to sports and that told the story of a basketball game in which the Taconnet Club defeated Boston University 25 to 22. On the Taconnet five were two Hurds and the center was a Grindle, both good Winslow names. Of the game the Sentinel said: “There was much rough work. although no actual fights and no player was removed for excessive violence.”

Now let us see how the Sentinel planned to keep the town up to date on the doings of local people. Here are a few samples: “Herbert C. libby, Harvard ’04, is at home for the spring vacation.” “The Colby baseball team started indoor cage practice last week.” “Hascall Hall, cashier of the Merchants Bank, has returned from a visit to his sister in California.” “The Christian Scientists occupied their new hall in the Savings Bank Bldg. on Sunday.” “Plans are on foot to celebrate Patriots Day with a concert by school children in the Opera House.” “Green Brothers are rushing to finish their 5 and 10 cent store for next Saturday’s opening.”

“Charles Vigue is in Hot Springs, where he is recovering from a long illness and will soon be home.” “One drunk and two hoboes stopped at the police station Thursday night. They were given lodging, then the next morning were hustled out of town.”

The Sentinel was much concerned about employment at the Hollingsworth Mill, which (by the way) was a fairly new industry in 1904. The paper said: “The shutdown at the Hand W mills has caused many of the men to seek temporary employment working on the streets or cutting wood or at any other honest tasks they can find. Continuation of this shutdown is getting to be serious.”

A society called the JB’s (and no one seemed to know what JB stood for) held at the Armory on Front Street, called for a full column in the Sentinel. It is interesting to note what dances pleased Waterville Society 65 years ago. After the usual grand march there was a JB waltz, followed by two step and schottische. Then came a square dance called lancers. Then several round dances were followed by a quadrille, and that by the Portland Fancy. The evening ended with a good-night waltz. With glowing enthusiasm the Sentinel commented: “The scene from the gallery was one of the handsomest ever observed in the Armory, that has seen many social affairs of the first order. Whenever the orchestra started a dreamy waltz or a lively two-step, the many colors of the ladies’ dresses, contrasting with the black of the gentlemen’s formal clothes, made a most pleasing effect. The event was one of the most successful social gatherings ever held in this city.”

The Sentinel in that first issue had high praise for an insurance agency that 65 years later is still doing a leading business in that highly competitive field. The story said: “The L.T. Boothby Insurance Agency was purchased from John Bradbury in 1865. Mr. Boothby at first specialized in farm property and came to know every farm within 25 miles of Waterville. In 1873 W.A.R. Boothby became a member of his father’s firm. The son became interested in mill insurance, with the result that the company now holds insurance on some of the largest manufacturing plants in Maine. In 1886 the agency had grown to such proportions that Martin Bartlett was added, and in 1887 the firm took over the competing company of Meader and Phillips.

Mr. Bartlett is now Maine representative of the Mercantile Fire and Marine Insurance Company, as well as the Hamburg-Bremen Company. He has been a member of the New England Insurance Exchange since 1896. From mill insurance the Company expanded to cover electrical hazards and now insures a number of electric railroads and power plants in the State. Thirty of America’s strongest insurance companies are now represented by the agency. The present officers are President W.A.R. Boothby, Treasurer Martin F. Bartlett. chief clerk Thomas Ransted. Employed in the firm are three members of the Allen family: Charles, Frank and Ethel.”

Who advertised in that first issue of the Sentinel? Compared with today’s paper, those ads were few indeed, though some of them were three columns wide and half a page deep. One of the big ones was by Redington and Company. It pictured an open fireplace with what I would call a most uncomfortable straight-backed chair in front of it. But the ad was headed by the question: “Isn’t this comfortable?”

Redington also called attention to rugs flat prices so low as to astonish you. Silver Street prices do ; t. ”

The Atherton Furniture Company was not going to be outdone by Redington. Atherton said: “Every purchase made from us must be satisfactory or it is no sale. We ask just one favor. See our line and get our prices before you buy elsewhere.”

That “elsewhere”, of course, meant just around the corner at Redington’s. L.H. Soper called special attention to his lace curtains and window shades. Dorr, the apothecary, wanted people to know that he operated the old, reliable drugstore.

Believe it or not, those four ads were all there were in the first issue of the Waterville Morning Sentinel. The owners of the Sentinel knew that they faced keen competition from the venerable and highly popular Evening Mail, which held nearly a monopoly on the town’s advertising. That monopoly would not last long. Within another ten years the Mail would publish its last issue and the Sentinel would live on into our own day.

And with that salute to Waterville’s 65 year old morning newspaper, we must say goodbye until next week.

Year: 1968