MANCHESTER 
The town library was recently 
presented with twenty-two volumes 
by the author, Ralph Henry Bar- 
bour, who now makes his abode with 
us the year around. A list of the 
books was printed in our last issue. 
The gift is one of the largest ever 
made to the bountiful collection of 
books at the local library and the 
gift ought to be the more appreci- 
ated from the fact that the author 
himself is a resident of the town. 
We understand that ‘‘Jumbo,”’ 
the Italian that gave so much 
trouble in the Italian camp last fall 
and who was finally captured by the 
then chief of police Gorman, under- 
took to ‘‘shoot up’’ a bar room in 
the North End, Boston, one day re- 
cently. He was captured and is 
now serving time. 
George West Larcom has sold his 
estate on Hale street near the Man- 
chester line to Hon. Geo. H. Lyman. 
The estate consists of land 60 by 
142 feet and a cottage house. It 
abutts the purchaser’s summer es- 
tate. 
Boston Theatre 
The patrons of the Boston The- 
-atre were given a positive treat last 
Monday evening in the presentation 
of ‘‘The Fortune Hunter’’ written 
by Winchell Smith. The play is 
filled with delightful humor, not too 
strongly drawn, but just that happy 
medium which leaves a pleasing re- 
membrance. Crowded houses greet- 
ed the performances last week and 
curtain calls were the demand after 
each act. During the action of the 
plot the actors were interrupted 
with shouts of merriment and hand 
clapping from the audience. The 
plot, in brief, deals with the at- 
tempts. of a city boy going to the 
country seeking an heiress to marry 
so that he can start in business. 
The title role is played by Will 
Deming and the manner in which 
he depicted the role stamps him as 
a comedian of the first water. None 
of the pleasing opportunities were 
lost or slighted by him. Edith 
Luckett in the part of Betty Gra- 
ham was sweet and charming. Her 
lines were rendered in a girlish and 
winsome way that appealed to the 
audience. Forrest Robinson as 
“The Druggist,’’ Charles Fisher as 
“Blinky Loeckwood,’’ John C. 
Brownell as ‘‘The Sheriff’? handled 
their parts in a convincing manner. 
One of our contemporaries —ad- 
vises scales for the farm, and that 
San-Jose critter is doing its best 
to supply them. 
NORTH SHORE BREEZE 
NEW SYSTEM 
Manchester Votes to Adopt ‘‘Ac- 
countant’’ System of Handling 
Town Accounts 
The special Town Meeting in 
Manchester, Tuesday evening, re- 
sulted in three important things, 
the acceptance of the new statutes 
pertaining to the handling of the 
town accounts by an accountant, 
the appointment of a committee to 
revise the town by-laws and_ the 
resignation of Edward S. Knight as 
one of the assessors. 
There were 44 voters present 
when Town Clerk Jewett called the 
meeting to order at 7.34. About 
twenty more had come in before the 
meeting adjourned. 
After the warrant was read, Ray- 
mond C. Allen was elected modera- 
tor. The committee appointed at 
the last March meeting to look into 
the matter of handling the town ac- 
counts reported as follows: 
Citizens Town of Manchester :— 
Your committce appointed to ex- 
amine and report with reference to 
the acceptance by the town of 
Chapters 598 and 624, Acts of 1910, 
1espectiully submit the following: 
A visit to Swampscott was made by 
some of the members and the work- 
ing of the law was explained by the 
officials having the matter in charge. 
A competent man was sent by the 
Director of the Bureau of Statisties 
to. explain in detail and answer such 
question as would enable your com- 
mittee to more thoroughly under- 
stand, by the exhibition of books, 
etc., in what way the proposed plan 
was better than our present method. 
Your committee would unanimously 
recommend: 
1—That the town accept Chap- 
ters 598 and 629, Acts of 1910. 
2—That the Selectmen be author- 
ized to petition the director of the 
Bureau of Statistics for a sufficient 
audit of the books of the town as 
deemed necessary. 
3—That proper steps be taken to 
abolish the office of auditor. 
4——That the Selectmen of 1912 be 
authorized to appoint an account- 
ant for three years as provided for 
in the act above-mentioned. 
F. K. SWETT, 
H. T. BINGHAM, 
M. B. GILMAN, 
DaTaBELATON, 
EDWARD S. KNIGHT, 
ALFRED S. JEWETT. 
No motions being offered on the 
report the moderator set before the 
meeting as motions the recommen- 
dations of the committee in the or- 
der made. The moderator read the 
statutes in question. 
13 i 
Chairman E,. 8. Knight of thes 
board of selectmen stated that the 
state had devised a model system, 
one that all the towns will adopt 
sooner or later. He felt that Man- 
chester ought to adopt this up-to- 
date system. 5 
The motions as consistent with the 
recommendations in the above. re- 
port were passed without discussion. 
It was further voted that the off- 
ice of town auditor be discontinued 
alter March 4, 1912. 
The following committee was ap- 
pointed to revise the town by-laws: 
K. S. Knight, W. R. Bell, R. C. Al- 
len, G. E. Hildreth and G. E. Will- 
imonton. 
Mr. Knight, whose term as assessor 
expires in 1913, read his resignation 
as follows: 
To the Citizens of the Town :— - 
Gentlemen: Having served the 
town as ‘‘ Assessor,’’ for ten years I 
feel that my personal interests are 
such that in duty to myself I must 
retire from this position. I there- 
fore request that my resignation as 
assessor be accepted, the same to 
take effect Mareh 4, 1912. 
Respectfully submitted, 
EDWARD S. KNIGHT. 
Jan. 30, 1912. 
It was accepted. 
At 7.58 the meeting adjourned. 
Candidates for Town Election 
There appears to be plenty of ac- 
tivity among the candidates for 
town office this year. Edward 8. 
Knight will run again for the board 
of selectmen. Selectmen Bell and 
Cheever will not be candidates for 
re-election. Mr. Bell, however, is a 
candidate for the board of asses- 
sors for three years. Lyman W. 
Floyd has filed his papers for the 
board of seleetmen and assessors (3 
years). F. G. Cheever is candidate 
for seleetman and for the unexpired 
term caused by the resignation of 
E. S. Knight as assessor. R. C. Al- 
len is candidate for the trustee of 
Public Library. N. P. Meldrum is 
running for selectman and assessor. 
William Spry is candidate for tree 
warden. And there are lots more to 
follow. 
Flower Show 
The mid-winter flower show of the 
Massachusetts Horticultural Soei- 
ety will open at Horticultural hall, 
Boston, tomorrow and continue Sat- 
urday and Sunday. The feature of 
the show will be the exhibits of 
roses, carnations and primulas. 
Winter apples and pears and forced 
vegetables will also be shown. 
