\nIt is not generally known that at the turn of the century a number of periodicals of regional circulation were being published in Waterville. Thanks to Mrs. Ernest Poulin. widow of our former postmaster who carefully preserved several issues of those periodicals, I am able today to tell you about them.<\/p>\n
About 1900 it was the practice of printing firms throughout the nation to print a weekly newspaper made up mostly of identical boiler-plate material for several towns, the only difference in each town’s issue being a brief section of local items. One such publishing company was the W.M. Ladd Co., situated in the Haines Block on Waterville’s Common Street. On December 16, 1898 the Ladd firm issued Vol. 1. No.1 of two papers: the Vassalboro Times and the China Tribune. The ads in both papers were mostly by Waterville merchants, only a few from Vassalboro or China. Each paper had just two columns devoted to local news. Ads consumed more than half of the total space.<\/p>\n
That first issue of both papers contained the same identical editorial, except that one used the word Times, the other Tribune. Both said: “As a local paper we will endeavor each week to gather local news in the many towns immediately surrounding, and to give such news impartially, without fear or favor, but always guarding our utterances as a prudent spokesman should.”<\/p>\n
Each paper was the same price — one dollar a year.<\/p>\n
The big news from Vassalboro was the beating up of a mentally deficient man by a number of young fellows and their hearing before a trial justice who bound them over to the next term of supreme court. This is the way the Vassalboro Times told the story: “John Merrill says that Harry Bushby came into his barber shop on Saturday to get a shave. When Bushby got into the chair and Merrill started to lather him, Bushby began to cough. Someone emptied some whiskey into a dipper and passed it to Bushby. After the shave, Bushby started to cough again and Merrill gave him another swig. Bushby sat down on a backless chair, then fell to the floor unconscious. About 10:30 p.m. Merrill and Bert Priest carried the insensible body to the home of Charles Axon, his brother-in-law. Axon summoned Dr. Menzies who worked on the victim for several hours. The doctor stated that Bushby was unlikely to recover from his injuries. All who were in the barber shop testified that no injury had been inflicted on the man. His injuries were such, however, that they could hardly be sustained by a fall from a chair. Bushby is a mentally weak man and anyone who would wilfully injure him must indeed be depraved.”<\/p>\n
The Times account then continues with a different turn to the story: “On Tuesday Charles Axon, the brother-in-law, had a number of men summoned for hearing in Waterville, and the judge bound three of them over to the supreme court. The mill company promptly discharged three who were engaged in the episode. Bushby is 62 years old and came to Vassalboro from England in 1864 with his father and mother, together with several brothers and sisters.”<\/p>\n
Here are a few other Vassalboro items from that first issue of the Times: “The Ladies Relief Corps held an entertainment and sociable in the hall Thursday evening, from which they realized $6.00. Cake and coffee were served. Elder Bridgham spoke and the meeting closed with all Singing America.”<\/p>\n
“Last week was mighty cold. On Tuesday at the north end of George Oldham’s house, the thermometer registered 28 below at 6 a.m. At the Winslow R.R. Station it was 36 below. It can’t have been any colder in the Klondike.”<\/p>\n
“The drug store of Samuel Lightbody is tastefully decorated with Christmas novelties. His Ferris wheel, turned by a mechanical contrivance, is a great curiosity. Lightbody’s store at North Vassalboro is a fine place to shop at Christmas time.”<\/p>\n
Now let us turn to the other paper, the China Tribune. No crime news came from that town. Instead was happy news of a social event, when Mr. and Mrs. J. O. Fish entertained the China Lake Yachting Association with an oyster supper, sandwiches, cake and coffee, followed by a program of music and recitations. Mr. Fish was winner of the 1898 races with his sloop Ethel. As Commodore of the Association, he spoke feelingly of the group’s program. He stated that the Association was the second such boat club to be incorporated in Maine.<\/p>\n
Some Waterville news found its way into both the Vassalboro and the China papers: “There was a good time for everybody at the Baptist vestry in Waterville on December 15. An old time spelling match was the feature, with well known people participating. Since admission was only ten cents, the event drew a crowd.”<\/p>\n
“Theatre-going people will have a chance to see the County Merchant at the Fairfield Opera House this evening. The play is a good one and special cars will be run to Waterville after the show.”<\/p>\n
“Fred Nudd of the firm of Nudd and Snell, undertakers, has been in Cuba for several weeks, arranging for bringing home the bodies of a number of men who died in battle or of tropical fever in our war with Spain. Mr. Nudd also brought home a large box filled with relics that he picked up on the battle fields.”<\/p>\n
Another Waterville publishing firm at the turn of the century was the Central Maine Publishing Co., 120 Main Street. They printed several county weeklies, and like the Vassalboro and China papers, the contents were identical except for a bit of county news. In October, 1905 the company issued two such papers: the Waldo County Commercial and the Hancock County Press. The Waldo paper was datelined from Stockton Springs and Searsport, the Hancock paper from Bucksport. In the latter were a few items of Bucksport news: “The football game on Saturday afternoon promises to be exciting when Eastern Maine Conference Seminary will play Old Town High School on the Central Street grounds in Bucksport.”<\/p>\n
“On Thursday the Maine Central R.R. is offering excursion tickets from Bucksport to Bangor and return for one dollar. The ticket also admits to the concert of the Maine Music Festival.”<\/p>\n
“Miss Endine Spofford, a prominent summer resident, has closed her summer home here and returned to Brooklyn. Miss Spofford’s horses and carriages were shipped last week by boat to New York.”<\/p>\n
In the Waldo paper were these items from Searsport: “Dr. Hopkins and his daughter Ella have returned from Poland Springs, where they attended the meeting of Mayflower Descendants.”<\/p>\n
“C.H. Monroe has placed his engine in a new touring car and is operating it very successfully.”<\/p>\n
“The ladies have arranged for John Lancaster to take them by buckboard to Bangor next Saturday, so they can attend the Mme. Eames concert. The opportunity to hear Maine’s world-famous opera singer on her native soil is not to be missed.”<\/p>\n
Another Waterville paper of the period was the Maine Democrat, published by William R. Pattangall. Its first issue appeared on July 16, 1909. In his announcement, Pat said: “Maine’s newest and liveliest exponent of Democracy will come out every Friday at Waterville. It will contain all the latest political news and gossip, written in an interesting style. $1.50 a year.”<\/p>\n
It is well known that Pattangall had little use for Maine’s prohibition law. In his newspaper he said: “The Civic League Record remarks: ‘We are coming to the conclusion that politics and sobriety are not so closely related as has been represented.”‘ Well, even Mr. Pingle can’t be fooled all the time.<\/p>\n
There’s nothing like going away from home to learn local news. The Manchester Union says that beer sells in Bangor for 20 cents a bottle. Lots of Bangor people have been paying 25\u00a2 all along and thought it was all right. ”<\/p>\n
“It is reported that despite the efforts of politicians, the buffet in a certain hotel in Kennebec County will not run this summer, by order of Sheriff Getchell. Is somebody really trying to enforce the liquor law in Kennebec?”<\/p>\n
Another Waterville paper of the same period was The Iconoclast, published by J.H. McCone at 132 Main Street. This was not a weekly, but a semi-monthly. Its price was 50 cents a year. Trying to live up to its title, the first issue on November 16, 1900 took a crack at several things: “Will the new street lights burn better with practice? The city has paid a good price for no better lights than it had before.”<\/p>\n
“Sheriff Pearson of Cumberland County seems to think he can dance up and down that county with search warrant in one hand and a temperance address in the other. Well, he will think he has been somewhere when his two years are up.”<\/p>\n
“Some years ago a corporation was formed called the Kennebec Water District. The Legislature granted the company a charter on condition that it purchase the Maine Water Co., already serving Waterville and Fairfield. The Maine Water Co. is one of those giant octopuses that are bleeding our state. This city should own its own water supply, but a city that can’t build a $40,000 city hall because its debt limit has been reached will find it hard to buy a water plant for half a million dollars.”<\/p>\n
Like Pat’s Maine Democrat, McCone’s Iconoclast paid its respects to the liquor law: “When the Waterville saloons recently shut down on beer and hard stuff, the thirsty were not discouraged. Previously the open hours at the City Liquor Agency had been 7 – 11 a.m. and 2 – 4 p.m. At their last meeting the city council increased the hours by two. Business has since been so good that it is now proposed to run the place wide open fifteen hours a day. Liquor is sold at the agency for medicinal and mechanical purposes only. It is surprising how much sickness and mechanical industry has suddenly sprung up in Waterville.”<\/p>\n
So many papers were published in Waterville in the years just before and just after 1900 that we cannot cover them all in one broadcast. So more on this same subject next week.<\/p>\n
Year: 1971<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Read the script for “Little Talks” program #874, Broadcast on January 3, 1971<\/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":[42946,35296],"tags":[],"builder_content":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9106"}],"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=9106"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9106\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9106"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}