Vol. VI. No. 11 
MANCHESTER, 
MASS., SATURDAY, 
MARCH 14, 1908. 
24 Pages Three Cents. 
STREET SUPERINTENDENT APPOINTED 
Supt. Kimball succeeded by Benj. M. Crombie. 
Lively Hearing at Manchester. 
Issue Settled by Appointment of new Man by Board of Selectmen. 
Benjamin M. Crombie is Manches- 
ter’s new superintendent of streets. He 
was appointed by the Board of Selectmen 
attheir weekly meeting Thursday even- 
ing, despite the pressure that had been 
brought to bear toward having the board 
re-appoint George Kimball, who hasbeen 
superintendent here for the past eleven 
years. 
‘The appointment of superintendent of 
streets has been the one issue of the town 
meeting this year, as far as there has 
been any issue. It was felt that Mr. 
Kimball might not be re-appointed and a 
petition was placed before the board ask- 
ing fora hearing on the matter. ‘This 
hearing was given in the Town hall 
Wednesday evening, and it was one of 
the most spirited hearings in the history 
of the town. 
The wording of the petition was as 
follows: 
**We,the undersigned, as citizens, feel- 
ing deeply interested in the welfare of 
our town, and especially in that branch 
thereof known as the Street Department, 
and feeling that the subject of road con- 
struction has grown to be acknowledged 
as one requiring much scientific know- 
ledge and practical experience, far be- 
yond that possessed by those to whom it 
has not been a subject of long and care- 
ful study, and hearing with much regret 
that your honorable board are seriously 
contemplating a change in the manage- 
ment of said department, do hereby. pe- 
tition your honorable board that prior to 
the appointment of any person to the re- 
sponsible position of Superintendent of 
Streets, that you may appoint for the near 
future a place and hour at which your 
petitioners and all others interested may 
appear and be heard in support of our 
firm conviction, to wit: that the best in- 
terests of the Town of Manchester will 
Continued on page J7 
THOUGHTS HERE AND THERE 
BYoeD sah 
Things sometimes get curiously mixed ; 
in the tariff, buttons and stoves are 
classed together, so are bullets and 
buggies, so are cannon for war and crosses 
for churches; but it might almost be sus- 
pected that asly sarcasm is intended in 
this last classification. 
But as to tariffs, why cannot a tariff be 
framed that will be just to all the great 
interests of the country, with favor to 
none—that will represent actual business 
conditions, and not the pet theories of 
politicians? 
Whatever may be the difference of 
opinion as to some of the President’s 
utterances and methods, no one can ques- 
tion that business is being done on better 
principles because of the increased sense 
of responsibility to stockholders, to com- 
petitors, and to the public, which these 
LAMSON. 
utterances and methods, however un- 
guarded they may sometimes have 
seemed, have caused; asa matter of fact, 
the President's course is meeting with 
approval by many clear-sighted business 
men who see in it the promise of solid 
prosperity, even if it be at the cost of 
some present curtailment of business. 
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‘There is a vast difference between the 
truly comic and that which is mere silli- 
ness; Douglas Jerrold, Leech and Nast 
were masters of the former; any min- 
strel show is sufficient to the latter. 
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Considerateness is something that is al- 
ways at a premium; the absence of it is 
sometimes due to want of thought rather 
than want of heart; but whatever the 
Continued on page 20 
FIRE AT “HIGHWOOD” 
Chicken House and Gardener's Cottage Prey of 
Flames at West Manchester. 
An exploded or over-turned lamp in a 
brooder house at ““Highwood,’’ the 
William B. Walker estate at West Man- 
chester, Tuesday afternoon, resulted in 
a fire loss of very nearly $7000. The 
chicken house, in which were four in- 
cubators and six brooders, and some 200 
chickens of various ages, and the garden- 
er’s cottage, occupied by Thomas Jack 
and family, were almost totally destroyed. 
It was considered fortunate that the large 
stable adjoining was not lost also. 
The fire was first discovered about 
3.40 by the man in charge of the chick- 
en brooder house, who had been in Mr. 
Walker’s employ only a few days. The 
fire department was summoned by tele- 
phone message to the station, box 52 
being “‘rung in’’ a little after 4 o’ clock. 
‘Though the steamer, hose wagon and 
hook and ladder got away in good time it 
was fully half an hour or more before a 
stream was turned on the fire, which, by 
this time, had gained good headway. 
The high altitude of the estate and the 
distance of the nearest hydrant from the 
fire, seriously handicapped the firemen 
in meeting the emergency. 
The single line of hose, when finally 
the water was turned on, from the steam- 
er, measured a little over 1600 feet. A 
break in a piece of hose caused by the 
abnormally high pressure under which 
the hose was put, caused another short 
delay. 
Seeing that the chicken house and the 
gardener’s cottage connected by an L 
was doomed, the firemen turned their 
attention for the time being to the stable. 
This was saved. ‘The furniture was 
practically all removed from the cottage, 
with the exception of a piano, and several 
other pieces of furniture. 
Mr. and Mrs. Walker were in Bos- 
ton when the fire started, but they 
arrived later. Hot coffee andsandwiches 
were served to the firemen and the “‘all- 
Continued on page 4 
