<\/p>\n
More than once on this program I have mentioned that lively newspaper, the Kennebec Democrat, published in Waterville by the fiery Ben Bunker in the 1880’s. One of his editorials in the issue of June 20, 1888 reveals what people were talking about on the political scene in Maine 75 years ago, as it also reveals the straight-from-the-shoulder shooting of Bunker’s editorial page. He wrote: “We have lots of friends who can run this paper better than ourselves and know how to please all factions and clans in the Democratic party of this state. We are cautioned not to meddle with the tariff, as the farmers don’t understand it, and also we had better remember that Maine is a lumber state. We have actually lost several subscribers who have personally suffered from the effects of drinking rum, and they object to our views on the Maine prohibitory law. And for everyone of those reformed drunkards who do not stop to reason, there are a hundred persons who urge us to fight for a license law, and endorse all we say in favor of liberal legislation for the sale of pure liquors and the suppression of drunkenness.<\/p>\n
“We have another class of subscribers who have not been treated fairly by the political bosses. They want us to bang the party and would be pleased to hear of disaster to the Cleveland administration. We have others who don’t want us to print anything about politics, but stick to door-yard gossip and country talk.<\/p>\n
“Now, gentlemen, we cannot please you all and we are not going to try. It would give us a lot of satisfaction if some of our friends who think they know how to manage a newspaper would furnish copy for the beautiful girls who set type in this office, and who are in danger of their lives every minute while waiting for the grist from our pen, because we have a blood-thirsty foreman who goes about in his stocking teet with a mallet in his hand and a fierce countenance adorned with streaks of ink, impatiently waiting to go to press.<\/p>\n
“Read this paper semi-occasionally with the Bible and you will be happy. Vote the straight Democratic ticket and you will be saved, but in Heaven’s name don’t increase our burdens.”<\/p>\n
Bunker was always digging into the Republicans. In another column of the same issue he had this to say about the Republican chairman, Joseph Manley, and a rising Republican politician, Edwin C. Burleigh: “The well laid plans of Joe Manley and Edwin Burleigh to pack the Republican state convention with delegates from the back towns and plantations was almost as clever as their attempt to keep out of the convention leading Republicans like Hannibal Hamlin. There may be some unsophisticated Republicans who do not believe that Joe Manley planned the nomination of Burleigh and has made a trade with Seth Milliken to put Burleigh into Congress two years hence. So slavish are the leading Republicans who stand in fear of Paper Credit Joe that they dare not oppose him. Manley is one of those politicians who would starve to death if their snouts were kept out of the public cribs. Their desire for office is greedier than the appetite of a school boy at a church supper.<\/p>\n
One of the most respected citizens of Central Maine at that time, a man of unquestioned integrity and public service, was E. P. Mayo of Fairfield. Listen to what Ben Bunker’s paper had to say about him. “E. P. Mayo, editor of the Fairfield Journal, couldn’t even be elected as a delegate from his home town. He is the man who helped fix the small towns and plantations for Burleigh. Bunker made direct charges of corruption against the Republican leaders: “The purchase of town delegations, and even of whole counties, for cold cash, certainly proves that the nomination of Burleigh is one that does not represent the honest Republican voters.”<\/p>\n
In this middle of the twentieth century not a year goes by without breaks and thefts of property on our Central Maine lakes.<\/p>\n
That same condition prevailed 75 years ago, as is shown by an ad in the Kennebec Democrat in 1888. “$100 reward. I will pay the above reward for information leading to the conviction of the person who broke into the house on my farm at Pattee’s Pond and maliciously destroyed my farming implements. Notwithstanding my kindness toward all persons desiring to use my building and grounds for picnics, a series of depredations have been committed of the most outrageous description. I will gladly pay the reward to apprehend the guilty party.”<\/p>\n
The Kennebec Democrat was still going strong in 1890. Republican papers were making much of Gov. Burleigh’s reappointment of a Democrat to the Maine Supreme Court, when Ben Bunker slashed out at what he called their blatant hypocrisy. He said: “It is about time that old chestnut about Judge Libbey’s Democracy was withdrawn from newspaper circulation. Years ago, it is true, Libbey was a Democrat, at least in name, but we have no evidence that he ever voted the Democratic ticket in a state election. At any rate he certainly is no Democrat now, and he hasn’t pretended to be one for a long time. In fact he is so close to James G. Blaine that he is as delighted to be called a friend of Blaine as an Englishman is to be called a crony of the Prince of Wales. The Republican papers well know that there is not a judge on the bench who will go further than Libbey to obey the mandates of the Blaine Republican ring. It is disgraceful to their party and an insult to the state to keep referring to the Judge as a Democrat.”<\/p>\n
As an historical item, the issue of the Kennebec Democrat for January 15, 1890 is worth preserving, because it contains a three-column history of the Unitarian Society of Waterville, an account of the dedication of the Ware Parlors, and two line drawings — one of the front of the building, the other of its ornamental fireplace.<\/p>\n
I have previously, in earlier years on this program, told the story of the building of the Ware Parlors, but in this issue of the Kennebec Democrat I find a few additional details, especially about certain embellishments. For instance, the frescoing was designed by Strauss Brothers of Boston. The walls were done in oil and the ceilings in water colors. Designs were executed on the walls in low relief in a texture of arabesque. A beautiful chandelier hung in the center of the chapel. The contractors who erected the building were the local firm of Bowie and Paul.<\/p>\n
While we are on this subject connected with the stately Unitarian Church that was a gracious adornment of Waterville’s otherwise drab Main Street for some 75 years, it is well to note the names of citizens and former citizens of this city who gave generously to the building of the church itself in 1866. The bell was donated by Alben Emery. J. M. Crocker presented a clock , and Col. R. <\/em>H. Greene of Winslow provided the pulpit Bible. George F. Gilman of New York, son of Waterville’s wealthiest citizen of the early 19th century, Nathaniel Gilman, gave the pulpit furniture and the gallery chairs.<\/p>\n It is well known that the church’s first pastor was not originally a Unitarian. Rev. D. N. Sheldon had once been pastor of the Waterville Baptist Church, and had later been President of Waterville (now Colby) College. He had adopted Unitarian theology while still president of the college, thus causing heated dissension within the faculty and trustees, as well as among the institution’s Baptist supporters. There was a lot of feeling generated in the town’s religious circles when Sheldon, who had for several years been a minister in Bath, returned to Waterville to become minister of its new Unitarian Church.<\/p>\n In 1869, when the new structure had been in use for three years, Samuel Appleton placed in the tower the large clock by which many Waterville people checked their watches as they passed up and down Main Street. In 1881 Mrs. Sarah Ware provided the pipe organ that furnished music for the church throughout its remaining years. In 1889 a rose window Was installed behind the pulpit, and the ladies of the church raised funds for the complete recarpeting of the floor. In the same year, 1889, electric lights were installed.<\/p>\n In the 1880’s publishers used to fill columns of the many weeklies published in Maine, not with boiler plate items distributed by some syndicate, but with local items of single sentences, sometimes of very few words. Here are several such items that appeared in one issue of the Waterville Mail in 1886:<\/p>\n “Frank Redington is in Boston, buying stock.<\/p>\n “A large flock of robins was seen in Belgrade in early March.<\/p>\n “The strike of scythe grinders at Oakland has been settled.<\/p>\n “The Passamaquoddy Indians of Maine now number 531, all farmers.<\/p>\n “The combined Estates of Ex-Gov. Coburn and his brother exceed four million dollars.<\/p>\n “Down in the town of Knox is a five year old boy who weighs 101 pounds.<\/p>\n “Samuel Springer of Belgrade is starting a factory at Embden Pond to make broom handles and baseball bats.<\/p>\n “Commissioner Ham has presented the President of Mexico with a basket of Maine spruce gum.<\/p>\n “Electric lights seem now assured for Fairfield. The company is promoted by William R. <\/em>Connor and Amos Gerald.<\/p>\n “Mr. Frank Skinner no longer works for us. He is now reporting for the Sentinel.”<\/p>\n In the 1880’s even the city papers had many trivial, personnel items, such as sometimes still appear in the rural correspondence to small town weeklies in Maine. Here are some personals from that 1886 issue of the Waterville Mail: “Miss Alice Jones of New Portland is visiting her mother on Silver Street.<\/p>\n “Miss May Hoxie is visiting friends in Skowhegan.<\/p>\n “Byron Boyd is in town.<\/p>\n “P. S. Heald and son have returned from Boston.<\/p>\n “Professor Hall was in Portland on Thursday.”<\/p>\n Seventy years ago there were people disturbed about public transportation just as we are disturbed about it today. They were the people who did not own a driving horse and had to depend upon the railroads, or in a few cities upon the new electric cars or the horse cars. Just as we today are concerned by the Scarcity of public transportation in Central Maine, so were our grandfathers concerned about discriminating fares. I am sure you will share my interest in the following letter written to the Editor of the Waterville Mail in 1890: “Has not the Waterville Board of Trade sufficient influence with the railroad company to get low rates for passengers between Riverside and Waterville, just as we have had for several years between Riverside and Augusta? Riverside Station is 7-1\/2 miles from Augusta, and round trip tickets cost 50 cents, a trifle over three cents a mile. A one-way ticket to Waterville costs 60 cents, and round trip is \u00a71.00, more than five cents a mile. Do you people in Waterville like that discrimination in favor of Augusta merchants? Several of us in this section like Waterville better than Augusta as a place to trade, because in your city we can buy goods, especially groceries, cheaper than in Augusta. But we don’t all have teams of our own, and the low fare south against the high fare north bids us go to Augusta.”<\/p>\n And with that reference to the age-old rivalry between Augusta and Waterville, we must say Good Night for Old Times’ Sake.<\/p>\n Year: 1963<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Read the script for “Little Talks” program #554, Broadcast on December 2, 1962<\/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":[1182,35296],"tags":[],"builder_content":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8226"}],"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=8226"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8226\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8226"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8226"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8226"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}