There the matter stands with the prospect that soon Manchester may be removed from the roster of towns contributing raw sewage to its main streams.

Manchester's unusual interest in telegraphy has often been attributed to the fact that the Rev. J. D. Wickham, headmaster of Burr and Burton Seminary, was a personal friend and correspondent of the inventor, Samuel F. B. Morse. At any rate, Manchester did not lag far behind the first commercial system which was set up in 1844 between Baltimore and Washington.

In 1846 Matthew B. Goodwin, jeweler and watchmaker, became the town's first telegrapher in a dwelling he built for himself and his business ``two doors north of the Equinox House'' or ``one door north of the Bank, Manchester, Vermont.'' Goodwin was telegrapher for the ``American Telegraph Company'' and the ``Troy and Canada Junction Telegraph Company.'' Shares of capital stock at $15 each in the latter company were payable at the Bank of Manchester or at various other Vermont banks. A message of less than fifteen words to Bennington cost twenty-five cents.

By 1871 L. C. Orvis, manager of the ``Western Union Telegraph Company,'' expressed willingness to send emergency telegrams on Sundays from his Village drugstore. Orvis even needed to hire an assistant, Clark J. Wait. The Manchester Journal commented editorially on the surprising amount of local telegraphic business.

In the fall of 1878, the ``Popular Telegraph Line'' was established between Manchester and Factory Point by the owners, Paul W. Orvis, Henry Gray, J. N. Hard, and Clark J. Wait. The line soon lived up to its name, as local messages of moderate length could be sent for a dime and the company was quickly able to declare very liberal dividends on its capital stock.