It is not too early to initiate plans for two waterville anniversaries.\u00a0In 1952 our city government should recognize, with appropriate ceremonies, the\u00a0l50th anniversary of Waterville’s incorporation as a town. For it was in 1802\u00a0that the inhabitants of the growing community on the west side of the river\u00a0secured their political independence from the parent town of Winslow.\u00a0Waterville is a much bigger city now than it was in 1902 when our centennial\u00a0was held. Then they had a glorious three-day celebration with the\u00a0mammoth parade I told you about two weeks ago. perhaps we do things with more\u00a0restraint in the middle of the century and we are unlikely to devote three\u00a0days to honoring our 150 years of corporate existence. But we certainly must\u00a0have a fitting celebration. Right now the city government ought to start\u00a0thinking about it.<\/p>\n
Four years hence in 1954 comes an event of much greater significance -one\u00a0in which Waterville, Winslow, Fairfield and Oakland may all appropriately\u00a0unite. Nineteen fifty four is the 200th anniversary of the building of Fort\u00a0Halifax, and that is the most important slngle event in the history of this\u00a0section of the Kennebec Valley.<\/p>\n
In 1661 the Colony of New Plymouth sold all the lands for 15 miles each\u00a0side of the Kennebec River, from what is now Merrymeeting Bay to the present\u00a0Skowhegan, to Antipas Bo!- es, Edward Tyng, Thomas Brattle and John Winslow.\u00a0This tract was called the Kennebec Patent. Settlement was slow and insecure.\u00a0The few hardy souls who ventured to make homes in the vicinity of Cushnoc\u00a0Falls (now Augusta) were constantly harassed by Indians until the building of\u00a0Fort Western. The fate of settlers who came farther up the river to Ticonic\u00a0Falls was even worse. Their lives and fortunes were never safe from Indian\u00a0raids.<\/p>\n
When, therefore, in 1749 a company was formed called the New Plymouth\u00a0Company to encourage settlement on the Kennebec Patent, they petitioned the\u00a0new governor of the Province of Massachusetts, William Shirley, to build a\u00a0fort at the junction of the Kennebec and Sebasticook Rivers. The bitter struggle\u00a0between the English and the French for control of North America was at\u00a0its height. Brunswick had been burned flat in 1722; Father Rasle had been\u00a0killed at Norridgewock in 1724. Other settlements had been wiped out. Our\u00a0Maine historians tell us that in 1749 there were only two families of white\u00a0people living above Merrymeeting Bay.\u00a0Governor Shirley responded to the plea and appointed tQ build the fort\u00a0General John Winslow, descendant of the John Winslow who had become one of\u00a0the four proprietors in 1661. With 800 soldiers of the king he built a fort\u00a0consisting of five buildings and a stockade 800 feet long. It is one of the\u00a0corner blockhouses that still stands and that we call Fort Halifax today. Of course Winslow got its name from the general who built the fort, but\u00a0the actual master builder in charge of the workmen was a man who already lived\u00a0in Maine, Isaac Ilsley of Falmouth (which was, of course, the old name\u00a0for portland).<\/p>\n
As soon as the fort was built General Winslow and his 800 men departed,\u00a0and in their place was put a permanent garrison of 80 men under the command\u00a0of Captain William Lithgow, for whom Winslow’s present Lithgow Street is\u00a0named. Here at last was protection for the settlers. Threatened by Indian\u00a0raids, they could take refuge within the stockade and have protection of the\u00a0soldiers’ guns.\u00a0By the accident of war and diplomatic negotiation, Captain Lithgow proved\u00a0to be the only commander that Fort Halifax ever had. Nine years after the\u00a0fort was built England and France signed the Treaty of Paris ending the French\u00a0and Indian wars. The fort was then dismantled, but its work had already been\u00a0accomplished. settlers were now numerous and their homes were permanent. Eight\u00a0years later in 1771 there were enough of them to secure incorporation of the\u00a0town of Winslow.<\/p>\n
So I vigorously contend that 1754 was the most important date in the history\u00a0of this region. The building of Fort Halifax made settlements possible.\u00a0To Fort Halifax the communities of Winslow, Waterville, Oakland and Fairfield\u00a0owe their very existence.<\/p>\n
Now for a new topic of local historical interest. I am told that in certain\u00a0parts of the business section of Waterville are reservoirs or water storage\u00a0places long ago covered up or filled in. One of these is said to have been in\u00a0Post Office Square, another in castonguay Square. Who can give me information\u00a0about them? Were they really large, stoned or bricked wells, fed by springs or\u00a0underground veins; or were they receptacles into which water was poured and kept\u00a0for use in fighting fires?<\/p>\n
A number of persons have asked me when certain modern conveniences first\u00a0appeared in Waterville. One such question is, “When did we first have city\u00a0water?” Long before the splendid and epoch-making accomplishment of Harvey\u00a0Eaton in forming the Kennebec Water District, assuring that what is happening\u00a0to New York City in 1950 can never happen to Waterville long before that –the waterville Water Company had been formed. As early as the 1870’s the need\u00a0for a supply of water beyond the private wells was keenly felt. So in March,\u00a01881 the Legislature granted a charter to the Waterville Water Company to lay\u00a0pipes and furnish water to the town. Several years went by, and the company\u00a0could not come to agreement with the town on terms, especially regarding the\u00a0source of supply and the service of hydrants for fire fighting.<\/p>\n
In 1886 the town voted to accept the company’s proposal to introduce an\u00a0adequate supply of water into Waterville “for the extinguishment of fires and\u00a0for domestic, manufacturing and other purposes”. It was agreed that the water\u00a0should be taken from Snow Pond ~n Oakland and delivered through 14 inch pipes\u00a0to Pleasant Street, then graded in size so as to meet the requirements of the\u00a0different streets. Finally it was agreed that the system should be finished by\u00a0December 31, 1887.<\/p>\n
But both the company and the peqple of waterville had reckoned without\u00a0the folks of Oakland. The citizens of that town arose in wrath and passed the\u00a0following vote: “The town of Oakland does hereby earnestly and emphatically\u00a0protest against the taking of any water from Snow Pond by the Waterville Water\u00a0Company, and that the selectmen b~ instructed to use every legitimate means in\u00a0their power to prevent the consummation of the subtle, underhand and wicked\u00a0scheme of said Water Company to rob the people of this town of their vested\u00a0rights and property.<\/p>\n
The aroused citizenry of Oakland won their fight. In 1887 a new charter\u00a0was granted to the water Company, providing that they should take the water\u00a0from Messalonskee Stream instead of Snow Pond. On May 5, 1887 the town of\u00a0Waterville and the waterville Water Company came to an agreement, and Charles\u00a0H. Redington was appointed chairman of a committee to locate fifty hydrants.<\/p>\n
So Waterville’s first municipal water supply came from Messalonskee\u00a0stream. I have found a number of citizens who, when told that fact for the\u00a0first time, say they just cannot believe it. But back in 1887 people didn’t\u00a0know nearly so much about contaminated water as a carrier of dread disease as\u00a0they know today. Yet some of them knew enough about it to make a determined \u00a0fight to substitute the pure water of China Lake for the polluted water ofMessalonskee Stream, and the victorious leader of that crusade was Waterville’s\u00a0honored and greatly respected elder statesman, Harvey D. Eaton.<\/p>\n
In his recent economic report to the Congress President Truman ~oke\u00a0an emphatic word for the free enterprise system that has been the bed-rock\u00a0of our American economy for two centuries. The President said: “Of all the\u00a0dynamic forces of expansion in America, one of the most important is business\u00a0investment. If we are going to attain the goal of a $300 billion nat~\u00a0ional income in the next five years, we must equip ourselves with more and\u00a0better industrial tools.”<\/p>\n
Unfortunately what the President did not say is that there is a definite\u00a0shortage of business funds to pay for more and better industrial tools.<\/p>\n
A careful survey of business plans for new plants an4 equipment in 1950, made\u00a0by the famous McGraw-Hill Department of Economics, shows that all industry\u00a0manufacturing, mining, transportation and utilities — plans to invest\u00a0$12,400,000,000 in new plant and equipment this year. And that is 13% less\u00a0than was actually spent in 1949. The $6,300,000,000 which the manufacturing\u00a0industries alone plan to spend for new plant and equipment in 1950 is 15%\u00a0less than their 1949 expenditures. With the need for more and better industrial\u00a0tools clearly evident, as President Truman points out, why are the industries\u00a0actually planning to ~end less?<\/p>\n
The answer is that they cannot get the money. Most companies cannot sell\u00a0new common stock except at ruinously low prices. Investment capital is not\u00a0attracted.<\/p>\n
What can be done about it? One way is to lower the taxes on business income\u00a0so as to release money for new plant and equipment. Perhaps an even better\u00a0way is to repeal the present double taxation of dividends, which are now\u00a0taxed once as corporate income, then taxed again as personal income. Whatever\u00a0method is adopted, the main point must not be overlooked. If business cannot\u00a0get enough new tools, five years from now we shall have not a higher, but a\u00a0definitely lower total income in the United States.<\/p>\n
On this program we do not pretend to economic wisdom. The confusing opinions\u00a0of the professional economists only confuse us the more. But old-fashioned\u00a0Yankee common sense tells us that if President Truman or anyone else\u00a0wants expansion of industrial plant and equipment to assure that much talked\u00a0about $300 billion national income in 1955, the money must be found to make\u00a0the expansion. And that: money can be found only by ploughing in the profits\u00a0of industry or getting new investors to take risks which increasing government\u00a0regulations make them more and more unwilling to take. It is a problem not\u00a0easy of solution, but one which American ingenuity must somehow solve.<\/p>\n
Several months ago I paid tribute to the Railway Mail Service, pointing\u00a0out that two of my neighbors are retired members of that honored brotherhood.<\/p>\n
It must have been with a feeling of sadness that the older men: of the RMS\u00a0learned that this respected name would be heard no more. For on November 1,\u00a01949 the Railway Mail Service went out of existence, and the Postal Transportation\u00a0Service took its place. Thus did Uncle Sam bow to the changing times.\u00a0The Air Postal Transport had grown to such proportiqns that efficiency dictated\u00a0a united postal service, including both rail and air. Hence the RMS is out\u00a0and PTS is in.\u00a0But our reason for mentioning tonight these men who form the arteries of\u00a0the postal service, whether by rail or air or any other method, is not to bemoan\u00a0the passing of a name. It is rather to call attention to the stiff examinations\u00a0these men must pass.<\/p>\n
Many students in high school and college have just come through the ordeal\u00a0of mid-year examinations, and the glad news or the sad news is beginning\u00a0to reach the folks at home. The passing mark in most high schools is 70; in\u00a0most colleges it is 60. What about the clerks of the Postal Transportation\u00a0Service or the old Railway Mail Service? In the original examination for\u00a0appointment they must get at least 85 in postal laws, space regulations and\u00a0junction connections, and in the examination on mail routes no mark is acceptable\u00a0if it is less than 97. Each clerk must learn the names and routes of\u00a0from 4,000 to 8,000 different post offices.<\/p>\n
Unlike men admitted to many other occupations, the postal transportation\u00a0clerk is examined not just to get the job, but repeatedly at intervals while\u00a0he is on the job. He must not get rusty or careless. Records of the Post\u00a0Office Department show that, on every such examination wbile in service, almost\u00a0all regular clerks made a:: grade better than 99, and some of them hit a\u00a0full 100 over and over again.<\/p>\n
OUr young people are irritated by examinations. They want to know what is\u00a0the sense of such terrible ordeals. Perhaps many a teacher is hard pressed to\u00a0give boys \u00b7and girls an acceptable answer. But not so the Post Office Department.\u00a0Just because Uncle Sam requires that 97% of perfection in frequent examinations,\u00a0your letter, however crudely addressed and wherever mailed, seldom\u00a0goes astray. In the shortest possible time it is delivered to the person\u00a0for whom you intended it.<\/p>\n
Of course the transportation men do not deserve all of the credit for this\u00a0achievement. The men and women in the post offices, from the tiny hamlets to\u00a0the big cities, the postmen who trudge weary miles over icy and slushy streets,\u00a0the rural carriers who encounter every hazard of tricky weather all these\u00a0efficient, 10yal people play their part so that “neither snow, nor rain, nor\u00a0heat, nor cold, nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion\u00a0of their appointed rounds.”<\/p>\n
Year: 1950<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Read the script for “Little Talks” program #55, broadcast on February 12, 1950<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":405,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1153,35296],"tags":[],"builder_content":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7095"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/405"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7095"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7095\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7095"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7095"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7095"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}