Miss Mabel Moore spent Sunday in Haverhill, Mass.

Mrs. Horace Church of Gill, Mass., has been a guest of her Uncle, Ira Lane, the past week.

Ernest L. Fogg, of Bridgeport, Conn., formerly of this town, is expected to spend Christmas with his parents here.

The Rev. E. B. Stiles, State Agent of the Free Baptist churches of New Hampshire, came to Hampton Sunday afternoon and was entertained at the Baptist parsonage. Monday morning he went to Portsmouth and Kittery looking after the interests there. Monday evening by request he gave a lecture or talk at the Methodist church, Hampton entitled, "Individual work among Individuals." Tuesday morning he went to his home in Alton, NH.

The unusually severe draught is felt in Hampton as in other towns. Many wells are dry that ordinarily have abundance of water, and unless there is a thaw and copious rains, the outlook is serious. Curiously enough the shallow wells stand the draught better than the deeper ones, but this is due to the fact that they respond quickly to the light rains, while it takes a long heavy storm to reach the springs that feed the deep wells. The Hampton water works have abundance of water in the springs back of the Willard Gookin place, and a long reserve spring in the north part of the town, which is said to discharge a million gallons of water every twenty four hours.

An excellent union service was held at the Methodist church last Sunday evening. The house was well filled. Pastor W. J. Wilkins took charge of the meeting and conducted the praise service, Rev. James L. MacLaughlin of the Adventist church read the Scripture, and Rev. Inor Partington of the Congregational church offered prayer. Rev. W. Lincoln Phillips, pastor of the Baptist church preached from the theme, "The Loosing and Finding of Life," Matt. 10-39. Rev. Edward B. Stiles, who was present, conducted the after service in his usual pleasing manner. There were many ready and willing testimonies.

J. Austin Johnson is at work on extension ladders for the Boston Lightning Rod Company. George M. Studebaker of South Bend, Indiana, who spends his summers at Little Boar's Head, has seen the ladder and became interested in it, and is negotiating with Mr. Johnson for the right to manufacture it. Mr. Johnson has sent to Mr. Studebaker a model of the ladder, and also a large sized ladder which Mr. Studebaker will use for purposes of demonstration.

At the Free Baptist church next Sunday evening, the pastor, Rev. W. Lincoln Phillips, will preach from the theme, "What think ye of Christ?" The ladies choir will sing a selection entitled, "The Kingdom of the Lord." Sunday school at the close of the morning service. The word for next Sunday is "World." Choir rehearsal directly at the close of the Sunday school. The union evening service will be held at the Christian Advent church at 7 o'clock. Pastor, James L. MacLaughlin, will take charge of the service and Rev. Inor Partington, pastor of the Congregational church will be the preacher. Let the pastors and the people be present at this service. A full house is desired. Please bring the Ideal song book.

Miss Elizabeth Norris, who went to Houston, Texas, several weeks ago, returned home on Tuesday evening.

Miss Elizabeth Philbrick returned home on Wednesday from a three weeks' visit to her brother in Lawrence.

Miss Beatrice Boynton has been the guest of Miss Sadie B. Lane for the past week.

The W. C. T. U. fair was well patronized on Tuesday, and the returns were very satisfactory to the union.

A cottage prayer meeting was held at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Brown on Tuesday evening, under the charge of the Christian Endeavor society.

The Congregational pulpit on Sunday morning will be occupied by Miss Yeoman of Boston, who will speak in the interests of missions.

On Friday the brothers and sisters of Mrs. E. D. Berry will celebrate her 75th birthday by a dinner party at her home.

News of the death of Mr. Frank Lamprey of Somerville, Mass., has been received here.

The adjourned meeting of the Men's League will be held in the league rooms next Saturday night at 8 o'clock.

Rev. Edgar Warren presided with his usual grace as chairman of the exercises at the dedicatory services on Wednesday.

Miss Emma Davis has been confined to her home by illness.

Editorial

The event of the week locally has been the dedication of the Lane Memorial Library, with impressive ceremonies and with addresses intended to set forth the significance of the occasion. The beautiful building has passed from the hands of the donor, Howard G. Lane, into the possession of the town of Hampton.

It must be a matter of gratification to every lover of books and to every citizen who takes a pride in the town of Hampton, that the public library is to have such a noble home.

The first library in Hampton was established in 1804 and continued for half a century; when the books were sold the organization behind the library disbanded. The present library started in 1865. It has been a great help to the town but has always been handicapped by insufficient appropriations and narrow quarters. The library now is to have ample room, and we doubt not that our voters will give it the money necessary for it to carry on its work.

The library is the gift of a son of Hampton to his native town, a memorial to his father. With the money he has invested in the building Mr. Lane might have erected in the town cemetery a towering shaft as a massive mausoleum; but he preferred that the Memorial to his father should be a benediction to the living as well as a tribute to the dead. In this we believe he has made no mistake. The best way we can honor the dead is to allow their memory to incite us to service the living.

Hampton is one of the oldest towns in the state, and yet it has received singularly few benefactions from those who were born on its soil or lived among the people. When we read of the princely gift of a Edward Tuck to Dartmouth in memory of his father, we do not wish to divert a dollar from the college, but we cannot repress the feeling that a tithe of the sum given to Hampton academy would rehabilitate that institution and make it a light to all this region. Howard G. Lane has shown the way; we hope others will follow his example.

Dedication of the Lane Memorial Library

With appropriate ceremonies the beautiful Lane Memorial Library was on Wednesday afternoon dedicated to the purpose for which it was designed; and then the deed was formally passed from the hands of the generous donor, Howard G. Lane, to those of Rev. J. A. Ross, acting for the board of selectmen, and the library became the property of the town.

The dedicatory exercises were held in the Congregational church, which was filled with a large and representative audience. Rev. Edgar Warren presided. Music was furnished by a chorus choir, in charge of Rev. W. Lincoln Phillips, assisted by Richard Burton Brown, and accompanied by the organ, two violins and a cornet. Rev. Inor Partington made the prayer, and Rev. James L. MacLaughlin pronounced the benediction. On the program was printed an original poem, composed by Miss Laura A. Norris, which was a beautiful and touching tribute of friendship.

In his remarks Rev. Warren spoke of the need Hampton had long felt for a suitable library building and told how a son of Hampton had come forward to supply the need. The library which we dedicate today is the noble monument of a loyal son to a venerated father. The country minister and the country doctor have been glorified in literature, and around them have been woven some of the most charming stories in the English language. It remains for some great novelist to picture the country merchant as a man worthy to stand beside the minister and the physician as a type of the highest manhood. Should a novelist desire an original for such a creation he could find him in Joshua A. Lane, in whose memory the library is erected.

The remarks of Lewis Perkins were brief, but they were crowded with thought and full of striking expressions.

Today marks an epoch in the history of Hampton. An appreciative son remembers an honored father.

Without limitations and without conditions this beautiful building is to be turned over to the town of Hampton to become its property forever. Here is located in the very heart of the town a beacon light whose value is beyond all comprehension. We size Howard G. Lane today by the gift he has given. In years to come old Hampton will join with other towns in extending to him the honors he richly merits.

Rev. Nicholas Van der Pyl, pastor of the Centre church, Haverhill, was introduced as the principal speaker of the afternoon, and in his interesting and instructive address he compared and contrasted the new philanthropy, which has for its object to change conditions and create influences with the old philanthropy which was merely palliative.

Nothing is more dangerous in a free republic than ignorance in motive. A public library may be a perpetual benediction to a community. The higher institutions of learning benefit only a small class, while the public library is for all. The speaker advocated a generous support for the library and urged that a wide use be made of its privileges.

After the services at the church the audience repaired to the library where in modest, well chosen words Mr. Lane told how he came to erect the Memorial and then passed over to the Rev. J. A. Ross, representing the selectmen, the deed of land and buildings. Mr. Ross feelingly and fittingly responded. The exercises concluded with prayer and benediction by Rev. I. S. Jones, but many lingered to examine the building and remark upon its beauty.

Our readers are so familiar with the appearance of the library that it hardly needs description. The building itself is 50 X 30 feet, and consists of the library proper and basement.

The building is of grey pressed brick with underpinning of artificial stone; the roof is slated. The Architect was George W. Griffin of Concord, and the builders Kelley Brothers of Haverhill, Mass. In the construction of the library expense has not been considered. Everything is of the best. So far as we know Mr. Lane has told no one how much the building has cost him, but we have heard it estimated at $15,000.

In a communication kindly published by you in a recent issue of the Union, the writer suggested that Hampton needed greatly a new town hall. If you will allow the writer the courtesy of your column again, he will be explicit and state why we need such a building.

In view of the town's increased valuation, the tax rate need be no higher than it is now, and as intimated in the former communication, means could be devised for securing ample funds. It is assumed that many residents will disagree with the writer and actively oppose by voice and vote any attempt to secure such action at the next town meeting. In the meantime, however, he would like to have any such opponent come forward and frankly give his reasons for his opposition, to the public through the medium of your columns. Every man has a right to his own opinion, but that opinion is entitled to weight according to the reasons that sustain it. Rotten posts won't hold up a building as well as sound posts. An opinion that rests upon faulty reasoning is generally termed sophistry, but oftentimes we are misled by it, its resemblance to logic is so close. Therefore we should be always on the alert to detect the difference between them. Then, too, in weighing a question or an opinion, a man should acquire a judicial frame of mind, should forget his own purely personal or selfish interest in the matter and in his deliberations be guided by that law of nature by which all governed bodies of people have come into existence and, by it recognition, been able to exist -- the greatest good of the greatest number. Whenever governments have ignored that law they have lost. Greece faded into oblivion and Rome crumbled in to dust.

Such a catastrophe is not anticipated in Hampton, but the working of that great law is as necessary to the welfare and happiness of the town's people as it is to the existence of a government, only is a smaller way. By ignoring it a town is handicapped oftentimes and prevented from taking her proper place in the march of progress.

For instance, an influential man may feel and know that Hampton needs a new town hall, but he personally desires a lower tax rate because he personally will save a couple dollars on every thousand of his valuation, although that means the loss to the town of a building that would mean a modern improvement. That man consults his own personal interests, not the greatest good of the greatest number, and calls upon all his friends to help him secure a lower tax rate, first, last and always.

You have heard of people who could never get weather to suit them -- something was always the matter. There are others who are always hostile to the tax rate. Are there any in Hampton? The town meeting will tell.

Now in considering the question of a new town hall, the writer appeals to the voters, so put aside prejudice, if they have any, and look at the subject as reasonable men.

If you have been in a rut, or are in one now and still stick to and have faith in the "old ways" of doing things, jump out and put on glasses, so that you can get a glimpse of the present. Rip Van Winkleism is a thing of the past. Be alive to the needs of the day. Look about you and see how you have been improving the Improvement Co., paying their bills and running a bureau of charity for their special benefit. The "old ways" met the conditions of the past but the world has grown so fast that they are no longer adequate to cope with the situation. You might just as well think of hunting sea-fowl with a muzzle loading shotgun. By the "old ways" there has been reared a hardy, courageous and intelligent race and New Hampshire soil has done her part. The influential and successful men of the large cities are oftentimes found to be only the "boys on the farm" grown older. But their ways are the "new" and businesslike ways of doing things. They live in the present, and so should every man. He should keep in touch with the times, and, in so far as his vote and influence will help, should help his native town ahead as much as he can. The history of Hampton is so saturated with Americanism that every man born here should be proud that it's the place of his nativity. There's not another town like it in New Hampshire. Its past record shows that for patriotism and American, fire and courage it hasn't a peer. It's the highest type of an all-American town. If some voter should admit his willingness to concur with the writer as to a resident's duty to his town, but argues that Hampton can't afford a new town hall, to him the writer says-prove it. With her sewer, assessment practically taken care of by the increases in the town assessments upon the buildings benefited by the sewer, with an increase in the valuation of all property upon the beach boulevard between Mr. Jenkins' and the casino, that is benefited by the new breakwater, can there be any proof that she can't afford it? Can't she afford to leave leased land alone for a little while and enjoy a few home improvements?

Space is too limited to deal further with that exact question at this time. It must be assumed, from all outward appearances, that the town is able, without imposing hardship upon her tax payers, to build a new town hall, and that brings us to the important subject of its general detail. Such a building should suggest business not worship. It might be called Memorial Hall, and at its entrance, on a large tablet of marble might be inscribed the names of those who have fought for the preservation of the Union, and have answered their last roll call. It should have installed a modern heating plant and be wired throughout with electricity. The main hall should be large enough to seat five or six hundred people comfortably. The floor should be of polished hardwood, that the young people might have a good dance hall for their social affairs. There should be a roomy stage at one end with ample means of entrance and exit. In the basement there could be a town jail, the lavatories and toilets. There should be a large room on the same floor as the hall, which could be used as a kitchen when suppers were to be given. A committee of ladies should have the privilege of supplying the details of that room. The selectmen and the town clerk should have a large room, where they could hold their meetings comfortably at all times and keep in proper files all town papers and records. A couple of large cloak rooms would be necessary for the convenience of those who attend social gatherings or other meetings, and a couple large rooms that might be used by committees of various kinds. In external appearance it should be a building that will compare favorably with the public library, but built of the less expensive material, wood. As briefly outlined above the arrangement of its interior should be adapted for social as well as business purposes. Doesn't a person enjoy a play or a lecture or a social gathering more when heard or held in an attractive hall than in one that is otherwise? Settees in a town hall! Three legged milking stools are as appropriate for a parlor. The writer may err, but he believes that in Hampton, as elsewhere, the ladies are most active in the social life of the town and that to them the people look for the arrangement of those winter socials that give so much enjoyment. Would not an attractive, up-to-date hall in their opinion encourage and quicken the social life of Hampton? Let the wives and daughters have a hall where they can go and see surroundings that will appeal to them. A town hall isn't built primarily for voting or business purposes as many seem to think but as a place that may be enjoyed by the whole community, and its construction and arrangement and furnishings should so indicate. The social life of a town in a way is as important as its political existence. If we may borrow a little of Abraham Lincoln's philosophy which rested on good common sense, a town hall is not for some of the people all of the time, or all of the people some of the time, but for all of the people all of the time.

Respectfully yours,

M. H. Browne