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HON. OTIS HAYFORD OF CANTON.

THE MEN who built the railroad, up along the brawling stream
That drains the Rangeley waters thru a country that's a dream,
Deserve a place, conspicuous, among the truly great,
Since they hazarded their fortunes, in the service of the state.
Among the men who pushed them up the Androscoggin shore,
Otis Hayford's to be reckoned, when, with half a dozen more,
They brought the Rumford Falls and Buckfield up to Canton's old domain;
And invoked the railroad era in the garden-land of Maine.
Time has sanctioned the good judgment that these men exemplified.
Busy towns and inland cities have sprung up there side by side;
And the rush and roar of progress mark the wisdom of the move,
In the ways that men of business so consistently approve.
In politics, a worker for the party of his choice
A republican is Hayford, with no uncertain voice;--
Twice served Oxford, in the Senate, with a record to his praise,
And in the College of Electors in the Garfield-Arthur days;
Six years a State Assessor-he has done a lot of things
That demand that heavy task of duty that a sense of honor brings.
And 'mid all his other service, he has ever time to spend
To exemplify the virtues of a neighbor and a friend.