Page 4-The Journal Opinion-January 21, 1981
NORTllEAT PUBLISHING COMPANY, Inc.
5.
• Publisher of
Journal I1 Opinion
Weekly nnwiMper peblisked in Brtldford, Vermont, Subscription rotes - Vermont lind New Nempcklre. $9.00
per year; $6.00 for six monlhs; eat lfl state - $12.00 per year end $1.00 for six montks; Senlar citizen
discount $1t.00,
Robert F. ltuminski
President & Publisher
Bradford 7
' Woodsville
802-222-5281 ;
603-747-2016
An Independent Newspaper
Playing on
bridges no game
Chucking an occasional snowball is
part of winter fun, but throwing
pieces of ice and snow from bridges at
moving automobiles and trucks below
is no game.
It's dangerous for both the
youngster who occasionally do it, and
for motorists who, startled by the
impact, can lose control and crash.
Cpl. Robert Haradon of the Vermont
State Police asks parents to caution
their children against this practice,
which is as dangerous for the
youngsters as for motorists because
the Interstate Highway bridges were
not meant for pedestrians and a child
could be hit.
Bradford had one such near tragedy
earlier this winter when ice thrown
from a bridge broke a motorist's
windshield. Fortunately no one was
hurt but a tragedy did occur in a
similar incident this year in central
Vermont, and New England has
recorded deaths in the past as a result
of such incidents.
We share Cpl. Haradon's thought
that no youngsters would want such a
serious thing on his or her conscience
as the result of a thoughtlessly foolish
act and we join the State Police in
suggesting that parents warn their
children of the dangers of playing on
the Interstate bridges.
Let's keep the snowball throwing
within the hounds of good fun. Tossing
ice or snow from bridges at passing
cars underneath is out of bounds.
Ambassadors of sport
A group of Woodsville parents has
formed the "Belgium Booster Club"
to help their high school youngsters
take advantage of a unique op-
portunity--a trip to Belgium next
August to play on a U.S. high school
soccer team. A Belgium soccer team
will return the visit at a later date.
The Belgium Booster Club will
sponsor car washes, food sales,
suppers and other events to help their
children experience this "thrill of a
lifetime." It will also ask for direct
contributions.
It's a worthwhile project that will
also put Woodsville in the spotlight
when the team from Belgium visits.
We urge you to support the effort of
The Belgium Booster Club by
patronizing their fund-raising events
and making whatever donation is
possible.
It will take a considerable
sum--$7,800--and these parents
realize they are asking a lot in
soliciting area residents to support
them, but they think it's worth it and
so do we.
The Booster Club has asked civic
organizations and businesses° to
support
soccer exchange.
"Inflation has. imposed hardships
on every family in this economically
deprived area. However, the fine
response of civic organizations and
businesses in the past has made so
many worthwhile opportunities
available to our children that we once
again request your financial con-
tribution," said Michael Ackerman
for the Club.
The 12 Woodsville High School
students were good enough to be
chosen as young sports ambassadors
from the Upper Valley area to
represent the United States in soccer
competition abroad. Let's not let
them down.
The economy indeed is tight and
everybody has plenty of use for every
hard-earned dollar, but a lot of small
contributions can soon add up to
enough to make this international
sports exchange possible.
Solutions
II
• -" . J
by Tom Evslin
Yesterday I listened to officials from
New York State and Connecticut say that
Vermonters shouldn't be allowed to work
in their homes. It was at the Labor
Department hearings on the regulations
which say that people in the knitted
outerwear industry -- including Ver-
mentors who knit ski hats -- have to do
their knitting in factories.
The official from New York said that
there was a problem with sweat shop labor
in New York City. His Department, he
said. was about to do a study in the city.
They were goaded into action by network
television reports of the wholesale ex-
ploitation of illegal immigrants.
Therefore. he said home work should be
eliminated nationwide.
"'Do you have any evidence that home
workers are being exploited in Vermont ?"
I asked him.
"'No, I don't know anything about
Vermont."
"'Have you studied the rural areas of
your own state?" I asked.
-No.-
"Suppose you regulate home work in
New York and we regulate home work in
Vermont?" I asked.
He didn't like that suggestion. Because
of the problem in New York City, he wants
home work banned nationwide. He is
afraid that. it home knitting is banned in
New York and not in Vermont, jobs will
move from New York to Vermont. He may
be right about that
The official from Connecticut said that
someone had told him that there was a
problem with exploited home workers in
the urban areas of his state. He also wants
home work prohibited nationwide in-
cluding Vermont. He wouldn't answer any
questions so I couldn't ask him if he knew
of any problem in Vermont.
Everybody who testified in favor of
prohibiting Vermonters from knitting hats
in their homes was from somewhere else
citing problems somewhere else. There
probably is a problem in New York City. I
certainly don't know and wouldn't try to
tell anybody from New York how to solve
their problems.
I can't resist pointing out, however, that,
if there ilva oblem in Hartford and New
York City, (hal problem exists despite the
fact thatome Work is already banned by
both federal and state regulation, in both
these places. And I hope I don't sound
bitter when Lsay that the Labor Depart.
ment might better spend its time and in-
vestigative energies protecting the ex-
ploited city dwellers than in its current
attempts to send Vermonters to non-
existant factori. "
Perhaps each state should take
responsibility for proecting its workerL
from exploitation, at least until it is cleaff -
that the state has failed. We shouldn't tell
New York how to solve its problems. And
we certainly don't want to be forced to
implement their solutions to problems we
don't have.
Alcoholism
and You
|
with UNCLE MILTY t ....
| /
Dear Uncle Miity,
Those questions in laQt month's column shook me upa little
bit, and I would like to learn more about alcohol and
alcoholism so that I may make sure where I am on the
drinking ladder.
People say the CRASH Course is excellent for such in-
formation. Can you tell me something about it, and is it
pmsible for people to attend voluntarily?
Full of Questions
Dear Full ofQtiestions:
The 25 questions in last month's column had a lot of people
thinking about what is happening in their lives. We've had
many calls and letters.
The CRAStt School is based upon the belief that if a person
drinks and he can stay below the level of alcohol impairment,
he is in control of his drinking and is entitled to his driver's
license.
However, if after a few (3 or 4), a person doesn't want to
stop drinking or tries to stop and finds out he cannot, then
alcohol is in control. These people must learn to control their
drinking or stop altogether. This sounds easy to a normal
drinker, but is impossible to persons who are problem
drinkers.
The single purpose of CRASH is to provide people with
honest facts about alcohol and how it impairs body and
mental functions. This program gives you the opportunity to
examine your own drinking to determine who is in control --
YOU OR ALCOHOL. If you are in control, fine; but if not,
you'll want to find where you can get help for the problem.
This alcohol education program has been designed to
provide you with information and insight to help you to un-
derstand clearly how alcohol affects your behavior, as well
as your body skills. Through lectures, films, and group
discussions, you will have the opportunity -- along with
others -- to openly and frankly examine the facts and the role
alcohol plays in your life.
Classes are 2tz hours long, starting at 6:30 p.m. for four
consecutive weeks.
Class I covers a) blood alcohol concentration, b) tolerance
to alcohol, c) drunk versus impairment, d) under the in-
fluence, and e) understanding the necessity for each person
to know how much alcohol he or she consumes any time they
drink. (Awareness of what you are doing).
Class II covers a) how alcohol affects the brain, b) safe
drinking and driving levels, c) false statements about
alcohol, and d) how to prevent future trouble.
Class III covers a) definition of problem drining, b) un-.
derstanding alcoholism, and e) your own drinking.
Class IV covers a) learning what safe drinking limits are
and b) if you find you need help, where to get it.
In regard to your second question, anybody who is in-
terested may attend. The only fee for those who don't have to
attend is a small donation to Orange County Mental Health.
I've taken the course for DWI and enjoyed the program,
and I also enjoy instructing the course.
The next classes begin Monday, Jan. 19,1981 at the Chelsea
Court House at 6:30 p.m., and Saturday, Jan. 24, 1981 at the
Woodstock Correctional Center at 6:30 p.m.
If you have any questions, just write Uncle Milty, OCMHS,
Box 278, Bradford, Vt., or call 802-222-4466.
Keep under control,
Uncle Miity
From the office of
Gordo00 J. Humphrey
U.S. Senator
New Ilampshire
Character is destin,
Y
Stonesheds of the North Haverhill Granite Company (where Grossman's is now)
The North Haverhill
Granite Company had a large
stoneshed at the present
location of Grossman's. From
there, the stone was loaded
onto freight cars on a railroad
siding In'hind what is now
Boudreault Plumbing's shop.
In 1896, the general
manager and superintendent
of the North tlaverhill Granite
Company was John B. Benzie
Scotland and had come to
Barre by way of the
stonesheds in Quincy, Mass.
tte worked one year in North
Haverhill, then moved to
Groton and started his own
stoneshed. (from Groton
Times, Groton and Ryegate
special edition, around 1900)
George Batchelder of
Woodsviile used to live in the
house just north of
Boudreault's shop, and says
that when he was a kid, the old
stoneshed was used for storing
machinery and he was for-
bidden to go in there -- but he
used to sneak in there
sometimes. The building was
later moved on rollers and
planks to the neighboring
Dennis Merrill farm (later
Frinks', now Kenistons') and
was used for part of the barn
there. For a long time after
the stoneshed was moved, the
(Charlotte Fadden's grand-
father,. He was born in Granit qua.rrie
Stonesheds in North Haverhill
plow would turn up granite
chips. Mr. Batchelder says
that house sills and fenceposts
had been made there.
Across the road was
another stoneshed, operated
by Rosa Brothers. It was a
semicircular old frame
building with a derrick in front
of it - the usual arrangement
in those days. Sometime,
probably before 1900, it was
moved to South Ryegate,
where it became part of
Rosa's operation there (now
Gandin Brothers). For
moving, this old frame
building with mortice and
tennon construction was
probably unpinned and taken
to South Ryegate in sections.
It is said that the back
section of Laurence Smith's
house was made from one of
,the stonesheds. Also, three
honses,t tho urn, ..... ,-' ,--
village are supposed to have
been f'r mer "company
houses", moved from the
other side of the railroad
tracks. These would be Clyde
Foo{e's now David Lackie's),
Patron's Incorporated, and
Sibyl Enderle's. These three
houses appear to have
was powered by a waterwheel
in the lean-to with a sluice
from the French Pond area.
Later a hot-tube gasoline
engine was used. George
remembers that water from a
stream was used for cooling
the engine, and when the
water got hot, mosquitoes
hatched out in it.
" Jesse's daughter Ellen
had married Cyrus Bat-
chelder, a former printer in
Nashua and Lancaster and in
Sanford, Maine, whose skill
was put to good use in let-
tering gravestones. Cyrus
(George Batchelder's father)
eventually became head of the
company. By that time. they
were no longer quarrying at
Pond Ledge. but brought stone
in from elsewhere from
Barre. or Quincy, Mass.. or
even from Scotland, Finland.
color ordered. When a
previous gravestone had to be
matched, Cyrus knew where
to get granite to match it, and
would make rubbings of the
original gravestone so that he
could match the design and
leltering perfectly. In the
early days, the pink granite
the weather.was bad. E
tually Cyrus gave up hishl
and shop at Center
and carried on his
barn at his home.
(Note: Another
dant of Cyrus
grandson, is Wilbur
of Peacham.)
Two years ago, I arrived in Washington
to take the oath of office and begin my
term as your senator I thought back upon
the moment recently--it is one, obviously,
I shall always remember and
treasure--when I watched the large new
group of senators arriving in town. Like
me. most all of them come to Washington
determined to cut back the growth of
government, restore incentives for
working Americans and rebuild the
strength of our defenses and the credibility
of our foreign policy.
They are an outstanding group of men
and women, and as I watched them being
sworn in, I couldn't help wondering what
was going through their minds. I was
especially struck by one individual whom I
predict will have an impact upon our
country--Jeremiah Denton, now a retired
Rear-Admiral and Senator from Alabama,
but formerly a prisoner of war from 1965
until 1973 in North Vietnam.
Here. pledging to uphold, honor and
defend the Constitution, was the same man
who had re peatedly blinked
T..O...R..T...U..R..E... in Morse Code
during a television interview from Hanoi
in 1966; and who, upon regaining his
freedom in 1973. had stepped off a plane in
the Philippines to announce to the world:
"We are honored to have had the op-
portunity to serve our country under
difficult circumstances. We are
profoundly grateful to our Commander-in-
Chief and to our nation for this day. God
Bless America,"
Molt individuals bring to Congress an
expertise in law, business, education or
some other profession. But Denton offers a
different and perhaps unique perspective
that could well prove invaluable. To put it
bluntly, he has lived inside hell on earth
and not only learned how to survive, but
actually emerged a much stronger person.
For the better part of his seven and a
half years in captivity, Denton endured
torture and lived with vermin for
celimates inside a jail the size of a
refrigerator. Such situations tend to
concentrate a man's mind and enable him
to get his priorities strmght. What Denton
learned about himself was that his sur-
vival hinged upon his strength of
character, which, in turn, could only be
sustained by an unshakeable faith in his
most basic beliefs--God, family and
country.
Now. Denton is no obsessed, moralizing
zealot preaching imminent doom and
eternal damnation. He is a tough but
compassionate man who loves life and who
enjoys, like many other good sailors, in-
dulging in a bit of colorful language from
time to time. Still. when he returned from
Vietnam, he was shocked to find an
America he did not recognize--a country
that was carelessly, even willfully,
discarding the very values upon which he
bad relied to survive.
The widespread outbreak of por-
nography, abortion on demand and in-
creasing social tolerance of adultery were
all new to him. Observing the dramatic
escalation of divorce rates, he asked: "If
we can no longer commit ourselves to a
single person whom we love, then how can
we commit ourselves to more abstract, but
equally important concepts? If the in-
stitution of the family dissolves, then this
country loses its basic building block, its
nmin foundation as a nation."
Then. ton. Denton is convinced our long
neglect of our national security could also
have disastrous consequences. By the mid-
l.t0's, he says, "We will have less national
security than we had proportionately when
George Washington's troops were walking
around barefoot at Valley Forge."
So as I watched the new Senator from
Alabama being sworn in. it occurred to me
that here was a man who would not be
swayed from his beliefs and would also
have an impact upon the nation. And not a
moment ton soon, because as Pulitzer
Prize winning commentator George Will
has written:
'For nations, as for individuals.
character is destiny..."
Madelelne Kunln, (D-Vt.)
Lieutenant Governor's Report
Legislative session opens
Even in good times, the purse is never
plump enough to flU the palm of each
outstretched hand, but this year, the state
purse shows no bulges at all.
Not only dowe begin with deficits in both
the highway and general funds, but we
originally been identical.
inside and out, and with a
quality of design and con-
struction which indicated that
they were built for company
managers, not laborers.
Patten's was moved sometime
between 1893 and 1909, judging
from old deeds (Hubert
Eastman to Oscar Swift, 1893,
and Swift to John and Wilbur
Eastman, 1909).
Another old deed, found
by chance, gives us the names
of other granite companies
working in the Briar Hill area:
WondsviUe Granite Company
and New Hampshire Westerly
Granite Company (Book 487-
page 314).
Jesseman Granite Company
George Batchelder has
told us about the granite
company founded sometime
before 1883 by his grand-
father. Jesse Jesseman, who
operated a quarry and
stoneshed at the foot of Pond
Ledge in Center Haverhill (the
present Maurice Horne place,
where James Morrill has a
rock-crusher now).
In the early days there
were eight men working for
the Jesseman Granite
Company, cutting granite
blocks from the base of the
ledge (while other companies
were cutting from the top of
the ledge). They got gray
granite from the south end of
the ledge, and pink granite
from the north end. (Note:
This was the source of the
name of North Haverhill's
"'Pink Granite Grange.")
There was a huge derrick
close to the base of the ledge
for handling the big blocks of
granite. George Batchelder
remembers one large order of
paving blocks sent to
Massachusetts.
George says that there
were steel pins driven into the
ledge, for climbing when
necessary, making a trail'up
the steep part of the ledge.
When Grandfather Jesseman
was nearly 80, he went up over
the trail -- just to prove that
he could. Nobody knew where
he had gone, and when he
came back he looked like he
had "been through the mill".
Jesse Jesseman had cut
and hand-hewed all the tim-
hers for his stoneshed om
that he used from Pond Ledge
was the hardest granite
anywhere, and dulled his
chisel so fast that he would
have to have it sharpened
before finishing even one
letter.
In later years, Cyrus
moved his family into North
Haverhill to the house north of
Boudreault's shop during the
winters. George and others
remember his father hiking
out to Center Haverhill every
day to the shop, then coming
home soaked and muddy when
At the fall of the gavel, the 180 members
of the 198eneral Assembly took their
seats, marl(tog the opening of another
legislative session.
One of the first and undoubtedly the
most difficult issu which will face this
year's legislature is how to allocate the
state's budget and balance it--both in the
highway fund and in the general fund.
The power of the purse remains the
crucial power of any legislative body.
l
I
Soapstone quarries s
North of Briar
an old soapstone
(Drive .7 mile north
corner by Millers 3
Kenistons; follow the s
wall and fence eastwar
to the left of the ledge.f __l
Errol Nelson re a__t
the quarry from hisdlaan ,ul
and climbing around on
rocks. At that time, t an][hrol
way up there was
open fields, but it basil
ictive hen ---- "Errol used tell "
there, atad was full of waif ,:i,,
about 40 feet deep. Etll
dumped in a pailful of I
hornedpout, but doesn't k
whether the descendants
any of them are still there.
says the soapstone could
sawed with a crosscut
but it dulled the saw
Some of the soapstone
like it had feaLhers in it.
used to be used extensivel
making stoves, sinks,
forth -- some of it is
use. but not from here.
There also used
soapstone quarnes in
and Orfordville.
(Next week:
Ryegate, Groton,
Newbury. By the way,
welcome more
and photos of quarries
mines of this area.)
may face further deficits during this year,
unless cutbacks are made. On top of that,
there is a prospect of a federal tax cut,
which would effect our revenues, as well
(please turn to page 6)
dead white oaks. which had
been killed by some kind of
blight. The building measured
40 by 40, and also had a lean-to
blacksmith shop. The place
Cyrus Batchelder at work on Manning Boulder, on
trail below Lake Tarleton. which commemorated
Manning railroad accident in 1924. Photo from Mr.
Batchelder's granddaughter. Caroline French. *
Page 4-The Journal Opinion-January 21, 1981
NORTllEAT PUBLISHING COMPANY, Inc.
5.
• Publisher of
Journal I1 Opinion
Weekly nnwiMper peblisked in Brtldford, Vermont, Subscription rotes - Vermont lind New Nempcklre. $9.00
per year; $6.00 for six monlhs; eat lfl state - $12.00 per year end $1.00 for six montks; Senlar citizen
discount $1t.00,
Robert F. ltuminski
President & Publisher
Bradford 7
' Woodsville
802-222-5281 ;
603-747-2016
An Independent Newspaper
Playing on
bridges no game
Chucking an occasional snowball is
part of winter fun, but throwing
pieces of ice and snow from bridges at
moving automobiles and trucks below
is no game.
It's dangerous for both the
youngster who occasionally do it, and
for motorists who, startled by the
impact, can lose control and crash.
Cpl. Robert Haradon of the Vermont
State Police asks parents to caution
their children against this practice,
which is as dangerous for the
youngsters as for motorists because
the Interstate Highway bridges were
not meant for pedestrians and a child
could be hit.
Bradford had one such near tragedy
earlier this winter when ice thrown
from a bridge broke a motorist's
windshield. Fortunately no one was
hurt but a tragedy did occur in a
similar incident this year in central
Vermont, and New England has
recorded deaths in the past as a result
of such incidents.
We share Cpl. Haradon's thought
that no youngsters would want such a
serious thing on his or her conscience
as the result of a thoughtlessly foolish
act and we join the State Police in
suggesting that parents warn their
children of the dangers of playing on
the Interstate bridges.
Let's keep the snowball throwing
within the hounds of good fun. Tossing
ice or snow from bridges at passing
cars underneath is out of bounds.
Ambassadors of sport
A group of Woodsville parents has
formed the "Belgium Booster Club"
to help their high school youngsters
take advantage of a unique op-
portunity--a trip to Belgium next
August to play on a U.S. high school
soccer team. A Belgium soccer team
will return the visit at a later date.
The Belgium Booster Club will
sponsor car washes, food sales,
suppers and other events to help their
children experience this "thrill of a
lifetime." It will also ask for direct
contributions.
It's a worthwhile project that will
also put Woodsville in the spotlight
when the team from Belgium visits.
We urge you to support the effort of
The Belgium Booster Club by
patronizing their fund-raising events
and making whatever donation is
possible.
It will take a considerable
sum--$7,800--and these parents
realize they are asking a lot in
soliciting area residents to support
them, but they think it's worth it and
so do we.
The Booster Club has asked civic
organizations and businesses° to
support
soccer exchange.
"Inflation has. imposed hardships
on every family in this economically
deprived area. However, the fine
response of civic organizations and
businesses in the past has made so
many worthwhile opportunities
available to our children that we once
again request your financial con-
tribution," said Michael Ackerman
for the Club.
The 12 Woodsville High School
students were good enough to be
chosen as young sports ambassadors
from the Upper Valley area to
represent the United States in soccer
competition abroad. Let's not let
them down.
The economy indeed is tight and
everybody has plenty of use for every
hard-earned dollar, but a lot of small
contributions can soon add up to
enough to make this international
sports exchange possible.
Solutions
II
• -" . J
by Tom Evslin
Yesterday I listened to officials from
New York State and Connecticut say that
Vermonters shouldn't be allowed to work
in their homes. It was at the Labor
Department hearings on the regulations
which say that people in the knitted
outerwear industry -- including Ver-
mentors who knit ski hats -- have to do
their knitting in factories.
The official from New York said that
there was a problem with sweat shop labor
in New York City. His Department, he
said. was about to do a study in the city.
They were goaded into action by network
television reports of the wholesale ex-
ploitation of illegal immigrants.
Therefore. he said home work should be
eliminated nationwide.
"'Do you have any evidence that home
workers are being exploited in Vermont ?"
I asked him.
"'No, I don't know anything about
Vermont."
"'Have you studied the rural areas of
your own state?" I asked.
-No.-
"Suppose you regulate home work in
New York and we regulate home work in
Vermont?" I asked.
He didn't like that suggestion. Because
of the problem in New York City, he wants
home work banned nationwide. He is
afraid that. it home knitting is banned in
New York and not in Vermont, jobs will
move from New York to Vermont. He may
be right about that
The official from Connecticut said that
someone had told him that there was a
problem with exploited home workers in
the urban areas of his state. He also wants
home work prohibited nationwide in-
cluding Vermont. He wouldn't answer any
questions so I couldn't ask him if he knew
of any problem in Vermont.
Everybody who testified in favor of
prohibiting Vermonters from knitting hats
in their homes was from somewhere else
citing problems somewhere else. There
probably is a problem in New York City. I
certainly don't know and wouldn't try to
tell anybody from New York how to solve
their problems.
I can't resist pointing out, however, that,
if there ilva oblem in Hartford and New
York City, (hal problem exists despite the
fact thatome Work is already banned by
both federal and state regulation, in both
these places. And I hope I don't sound
bitter when Lsay that the Labor Depart.
ment might better spend its time and in-
vestigative energies protecting the ex-
ploited city dwellers than in its current
attempts to send Vermonters to non-
existant factori. "
Perhaps each state should take
responsibility for proecting its workerL
from exploitation, at least until it is cleaff -
that the state has failed. We shouldn't tell
New York how to solve its problems. And
we certainly don't want to be forced to
implement their solutions to problems we
don't have.
Alcoholism
and You
|
with UNCLE MILTY t ....
| /
Dear Uncle Miity,
Those questions in laQt month's column shook me upa little
bit, and I would like to learn more about alcohol and
alcoholism so that I may make sure where I am on the
drinking ladder.
People say the CRASH Course is excellent for such in-
formation. Can you tell me something about it, and is it
pmsible for people to attend voluntarily?
Full of Questions
Dear Full ofQtiestions:
The 25 questions in last month's column had a lot of people
thinking about what is happening in their lives. We've had
many calls and letters.
The CRAStt School is based upon the belief that if a person
drinks and he can stay below the level of alcohol impairment,
he is in control of his drinking and is entitled to his driver's
license.
However, if after a few (3 or 4), a person doesn't want to
stop drinking or tries to stop and finds out he cannot, then
alcohol is in control. These people must learn to control their
drinking or stop altogether. This sounds easy to a normal
drinker, but is impossible to persons who are problem
drinkers.
The single purpose of CRASH is to provide people with
honest facts about alcohol and how it impairs body and
mental functions. This program gives you the opportunity to
examine your own drinking to determine who is in control --
YOU OR ALCOHOL. If you are in control, fine; but if not,
you'll want to find where you can get help for the problem.
This alcohol education program has been designed to
provide you with information and insight to help you to un-
derstand clearly how alcohol affects your behavior, as well
as your body skills. Through lectures, films, and group
discussions, you will have the opportunity -- along with
others -- to openly and frankly examine the facts and the role
alcohol plays in your life.
Classes are 2tz hours long, starting at 6:30 p.m. for four
consecutive weeks.
Class I covers a) blood alcohol concentration, b) tolerance
to alcohol, c) drunk versus impairment, d) under the in-
fluence, and e) understanding the necessity for each person
to know how much alcohol he or she consumes any time they
drink. (Awareness of what you are doing).
Class II covers a) how alcohol affects the brain, b) safe
drinking and driving levels, c) false statements about
alcohol, and d) how to prevent future trouble.
Class III covers a) definition of problem drining, b) un-.
derstanding alcoholism, and e) your own drinking.
Class IV covers a) learning what safe drinking limits are
and b) if you find you need help, where to get it.
In regard to your second question, anybody who is in-
terested may attend. The only fee for those who don't have to
attend is a small donation to Orange County Mental Health.
I've taken the course for DWI and enjoyed the program,
and I also enjoy instructing the course.
The next classes begin Monday, Jan. 19,1981 at the Chelsea
Court House at 6:30 p.m., and Saturday, Jan. 24, 1981 at the
Woodstock Correctional Center at 6:30 p.m.
If you have any questions, just write Uncle Milty, OCMHS,
Box 278, Bradford, Vt., or call 802-222-4466.
Keep under control,
Uncle Miity
From the office of
Gordo00 J. Humphrey
U.S. Senator
New Ilampshire
Character is destin,
Y
Stonesheds of the North Haverhill Granite Company (where Grossman's is now)
The North Haverhill
Granite Company had a large
stoneshed at the present
location of Grossman's. From
there, the stone was loaded
onto freight cars on a railroad
siding In'hind what is now
Boudreault Plumbing's shop.
In 1896, the general
manager and superintendent
of the North tlaverhill Granite
Company was John B. Benzie
Scotland and had come to
Barre by way of the
stonesheds in Quincy, Mass.
tte worked one year in North
Haverhill, then moved to
Groton and started his own
stoneshed. (from Groton
Times, Groton and Ryegate
special edition, around 1900)
George Batchelder of
Woodsviile used to live in the
house just north of
Boudreault's shop, and says
that when he was a kid, the old
stoneshed was used for storing
machinery and he was for-
bidden to go in there -- but he
used to sneak in there
sometimes. The building was
later moved on rollers and
planks to the neighboring
Dennis Merrill farm (later
Frinks', now Kenistons') and
was used for part of the barn
there. For a long time after
the stoneshed was moved, the
(Charlotte Fadden's grand-
father,. He was born in Granit qua.rrie
Stonesheds in North Haverhill
plow would turn up granite
chips. Mr. Batchelder says
that house sills and fenceposts
had been made there.
Across the road was
another stoneshed, operated
by Rosa Brothers. It was a
semicircular old frame
building with a derrick in front
of it - the usual arrangement
in those days. Sometime,
probably before 1900, it was
moved to South Ryegate,
where it became part of
Rosa's operation there (now
Gandin Brothers). For
moving, this old frame
building with mortice and
tennon construction was
probably unpinned and taken
to South Ryegate in sections.
It is said that the back
section of Laurence Smith's
house was made from one of
,the stonesheds. Also, three
honses,t tho urn, ..... ,-' ,--
village are supposed to have
been f'r mer "company
houses", moved from the
other side of the railroad
tracks. These would be Clyde
Foo{e's now David Lackie's),
Patron's Incorporated, and
Sibyl Enderle's. These three
houses appear to have
was powered by a waterwheel
in the lean-to with a sluice
from the French Pond area.
Later a hot-tube gasoline
engine was used. George
remembers that water from a
stream was used for cooling
the engine, and when the
water got hot, mosquitoes
hatched out in it.
" Jesse's daughter Ellen
had married Cyrus Bat-
chelder, a former printer in
Nashua and Lancaster and in
Sanford, Maine, whose skill
was put to good use in let-
tering gravestones. Cyrus
(George Batchelder's father)
eventually became head of the
company. By that time. they
were no longer quarrying at
Pond Ledge. but brought stone
in from elsewhere from
Barre. or Quincy, Mass.. or
even from Scotland, Finland.
color ordered. When a
previous gravestone had to be
matched, Cyrus knew where
to get granite to match it, and
would make rubbings of the
original gravestone so that he
could match the design and
leltering perfectly. In the
early days, the pink granite
the weather.was bad. E
tually Cyrus gave up hishl
and shop at Center
and carried on his
barn at his home.
(Note: Another
dant of Cyrus
grandson, is Wilbur
of Peacham.)
Two years ago, I arrived in Washington
to take the oath of office and begin my
term as your senator I thought back upon
the moment recently--it is one, obviously,
I shall always remember and
treasure--when I watched the large new
group of senators arriving in town. Like
me. most all of them come to Washington
determined to cut back the growth of
government, restore incentives for
working Americans and rebuild the
strength of our defenses and the credibility
of our foreign policy.
They are an outstanding group of men
and women, and as I watched them being
sworn in, I couldn't help wondering what
was going through their minds. I was
especially struck by one individual whom I
predict will have an impact upon our
country--Jeremiah Denton, now a retired
Rear-Admiral and Senator from Alabama,
but formerly a prisoner of war from 1965
until 1973 in North Vietnam.
Here. pledging to uphold, honor and
defend the Constitution, was the same man
who had re peatedly blinked
T..O...R..T...U..R..E... in Morse Code
during a television interview from Hanoi
in 1966; and who, upon regaining his
freedom in 1973. had stepped off a plane in
the Philippines to announce to the world:
"We are honored to have had the op-
portunity to serve our country under
difficult circumstances. We are
profoundly grateful to our Commander-in-
Chief and to our nation for this day. God
Bless America,"
Molt individuals bring to Congress an
expertise in law, business, education or
some other profession. But Denton offers a
different and perhaps unique perspective
that could well prove invaluable. To put it
bluntly, he has lived inside hell on earth
and not only learned how to survive, but
actually emerged a much stronger person.
For the better part of his seven and a
half years in captivity, Denton endured
torture and lived with vermin for
celimates inside a jail the size of a
refrigerator. Such situations tend to
concentrate a man's mind and enable him
to get his priorities strmght. What Denton
learned about himself was that his sur-
vival hinged upon his strength of
character, which, in turn, could only be
sustained by an unshakeable faith in his
most basic beliefs--God, family and
country.
Now. Denton is no obsessed, moralizing
zealot preaching imminent doom and
eternal damnation. He is a tough but
compassionate man who loves life and who
enjoys, like many other good sailors, in-
dulging in a bit of colorful language from
time to time. Still. when he returned from
Vietnam, he was shocked to find an
America he did not recognize--a country
that was carelessly, even willfully,
discarding the very values upon which he
bad relied to survive.
The widespread outbreak of por-
nography, abortion on demand and in-
creasing social tolerance of adultery were
all new to him. Observing the dramatic
escalation of divorce rates, he asked: "If
we can no longer commit ourselves to a
single person whom we love, then how can
we commit ourselves to more abstract, but
equally important concepts? If the in-
stitution of the family dissolves, then this
country loses its basic building block, its
nmin foundation as a nation."
Then. ton. Denton is convinced our long
neglect of our national security could also
have disastrous consequences. By the mid-
l.t0's, he says, "We will have less national
security than we had proportionately when
George Washington's troops were walking
around barefoot at Valley Forge."
So as I watched the new Senator from
Alabama being sworn in. it occurred to me
that here was a man who would not be
swayed from his beliefs and would also
have an impact upon the nation. And not a
moment ton soon, because as Pulitzer
Prize winning commentator George Will
has written:
'For nations, as for individuals.
character is destiny..."
Madelelne Kunln, (D-Vt.)
Lieutenant Governor's Report
Legislative session opens
Even in good times, the purse is never
plump enough to flU the palm of each
outstretched hand, but this year, the state
purse shows no bulges at all.
Not only dowe begin with deficits in both
the highway and general funds, but we
originally been identical.
inside and out, and with a
quality of design and con-
struction which indicated that
they were built for company
managers, not laborers.
Patten's was moved sometime
between 1893 and 1909, judging
from old deeds (Hubert
Eastman to Oscar Swift, 1893,
and Swift to John and Wilbur
Eastman, 1909).
Another old deed, found
by chance, gives us the names
of other granite companies
working in the Briar Hill area:
WondsviUe Granite Company
and New Hampshire Westerly
Granite Company (Book 487-
page 314).
Jesseman Granite Company
George Batchelder has
told us about the granite
company founded sometime
before 1883 by his grand-
father. Jesse Jesseman, who
operated a quarry and
stoneshed at the foot of Pond
Ledge in Center Haverhill (the
present Maurice Horne place,
where James Morrill has a
rock-crusher now).
In the early days there
were eight men working for
the Jesseman Granite
Company, cutting granite
blocks from the base of the
ledge (while other companies
were cutting from the top of
the ledge). They got gray
granite from the south end of
the ledge, and pink granite
from the north end. (Note:
This was the source of the
name of North Haverhill's
"'Pink Granite Grange.")
There was a huge derrick
close to the base of the ledge
for handling the big blocks of
granite. George Batchelder
remembers one large order of
paving blocks sent to
Massachusetts.
George says that there
were steel pins driven into the
ledge, for climbing when
necessary, making a trail'up
the steep part of the ledge.
When Grandfather Jesseman
was nearly 80, he went up over
the trail -- just to prove that
he could. Nobody knew where
he had gone, and when he
came back he looked like he
had "been through the mill".
Jesse Jesseman had cut
and hand-hewed all the tim-
hers for his stoneshed om
that he used from Pond Ledge
was the hardest granite
anywhere, and dulled his
chisel so fast that he would
have to have it sharpened
before finishing even one
letter.
In later years, Cyrus
moved his family into North
Haverhill to the house north of
Boudreault's shop during the
winters. George and others
remember his father hiking
out to Center Haverhill every
day to the shop, then coming
home soaked and muddy when
At the fall of the gavel, the 180 members
of the 198eneral Assembly took their
seats, marl(tog the opening of another
legislative session.
One of the first and undoubtedly the
most difficult issu which will face this
year's legislature is how to allocate the
state's budget and balance it--both in the
highway fund and in the general fund.
The power of the purse remains the
crucial power of any legislative body.
l
I
Soapstone quarries s
North of Briar
an old soapstone
(Drive .7 mile north
corner by Millers 3
Kenistons; follow the s
wall and fence eastwar
to the left of the ledge.f __l
Errol Nelson re a__t
the quarry from hisdlaan ,ul
and climbing around on
rocks. At that time, t an][hrol
way up there was
open fields, but it basil
ictive hen ---- "Errol used tell "
there, atad was full of waif ,:i,,
about 40 feet deep. Etll
dumped in a pailful of I
hornedpout, but doesn't k
whether the descendants
any of them are still there.
says the soapstone could
sawed with a crosscut
but it dulled the saw
Some of the soapstone
like it had feaLhers in it.
used to be used extensivel
making stoves, sinks,
forth -- some of it is
use. but not from here.
There also used
soapstone quarnes in
and Orfordville.
(Next week:
Ryegate, Groton,
Newbury. By the way,
welcome more
and photos of quarries
mines of this area.)
may face further deficits during this year,
unless cutbacks are made. On top of that,
there is a prospect of a federal tax cut,
which would effect our revenues, as well
(please turn to page 6)
dead white oaks. which had
been killed by some kind of
blight. The building measured
40 by 40, and also had a lean-to
blacksmith shop. The place
Cyrus Batchelder at work on Manning Boulder, on
trail below Lake Tarleton. which commemorated
Manning railroad accident in 1924. Photo from Mr.
Batchelder's granddaughter. Caroline French. *
