After the public hearing concerning the proposed charter extension for the street railroad held in March, 1897, the Board of Aldermen passed a resolution saying, basically, that it did not object to a charter extension so long as a clause was added that a section of the road be opened within two years. Nothing much happened until October when it was learned that a group of New Jersey men, “extensive owners and operators of trolley lines”, were now negotiating for the franchise. The principal negotiator, a Mr. Beers from New York, came to look over the city and then traveled to Coventry, claiming that if “his people” bought the franchise, a line would be built to South Coventry as well. Not surprisingly, Mr. Beers found the people there “anxious for a trolley”. But again, nothing happened for over a year. Then, in October, 1898, a Mr. Jesse Starr, another man whose business was promoting street railroads and who represented a group of capitalists already actively “developing, constructing and operating” street railroads, purchased the franchise. With the purchase, the Street Railway Company was reorganized with new incorporators. Several days after the purchase, Mister Starr told residents that not only was a trolley line a sure thing, but that “construction would be begun in a few days”.  The engineer who would be in charge of the surveying and the line’s layout had come from New York and was ready to begin work. Mister Starr went on to say that his investors had already raised $15,000 and that the work would be “pushed” in the fall and would then be resumed early the following spring. According to Starr, the charter authorized capital of $300,000 which was “ample capital to build the line” and that it had been given the right to “construct a line in Willimantic, the Windhams, Coventry, Mansfield, Franklin and Sprague. It was felt that the line through the center of Willimantic would be the one that “would pay” but that it would be good to extend the line into outlying towns. Starr then became very expansive, saying that he saw “a bright future for Willimantic”. Despite Starr’s optimistic words and predictions, no work was begun. The Chronicle had a great deal to say about this latest disappointment and published a poem:

Twinkle, twinkle Jesse Starr, How we wonder where you are,
Roaming all around the sphere, Always coming, never here.
In our dreams we seem to see, Trolleys run to Coventry,
Thence to Rockville; then way back, How we skim along the track
Clear to Baltic, don’t you see, What an easy thing to be
Building railways by a starter, So’s to save that precious charter?
Surely that’s the very way we’re, Going to catch the Legislature.
Heartless would the people be, To oppose us, just as we
Making all the preparation, By enormous capitalization
Are about to lay the track,      (stock subscriptions all we lack)
Oh, the thing is bound to go, Nothing surer don’t you know,
Than that trolley’s going to flit Up our streets. Believe it? NIT.

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