USA > Rhode Island > Providence County > North Providence > Annals of Centerdale : in the town of North Providence, Rhode Island : its past and present, 1636-1909 > Part 11
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THE YOUNG AMERICAN BAND.
The Young American Band was organized in August, 1884, through the efforts of Frank C. Angell and George A. Cozzens. Less than a dozen members were counted in its membership at the time of organization, but before many weeks it was augmented to twenty-five members, and Frank C. Angell was elected leader. The band differed from most bands in that it used but few brass
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instruments, and was generally known as a flute and drum band; the instrumentation being as follows: 12 flutes (or fifes), 3 clarionets, I saxophone, 3 cornets, 4 snare drums, bass drum, and cymbals. At the time of its organ- ization this style of band was very popular with the public, especially for street music, always attracting much atten- tion and favorable comment. They continued under the leadership of Mr. Angell until September 16th, 1886. when George A. Cozzens was elected leader, Mr. Angell declining a unanimous re-election, but he still remained an active member of the band.
Under the leadership of Mr. Cozzens the band continued to prosper, and enjoyed the public favor to a greater extent than any similar organization for many miles around. They gave many complimentary evening concerts and street parades in the town; the line of march being always illuminated in their honor. Their band room was located in the basement of Armory Hall building, and was com- fortably furnished and well suited to their use. At the height of their prosperity they sustained a serious loss by the destruction of Armory Hall by fire on the night of February 6, 1892; they losing many of their instruments, uniforms, and band equipments. There being no in- surance upon them, the loss was a serious one for the organization. Somewhat disheartened, they engaged an- other band room, and endeavored to revive the interest in the disheartened ones. The organization was kept along with some effort, but finally disbanded in the summer of 1894.
CHAPTER XIX.
VARIOUS INDUSTRIES.
THE VILLAGE PHARMACY .- SPECTACLE MAKER .- PLANE MANUFACTORY .- THE UNDERTAKER.
THE VILLAGE PHARMACY.
TN olden times the drug store (or apothecary shop, as it was then called) was found only in cities or large towns. People living remote from large communities were obliged, when sick, to depend upon home remedies for relief, made from the herbs, roots, and barks that grew in the woods and fields around their homes.
Should you have climbed to the attic of one of those old country homes, you would have found suspended from the beams and rafters large bunches of herbs, and bags con- taining dried flowers, roots, and barks of many kinds, all gathered in their proper season, and carefully dried and stored away for future use in time of need.
To be able to name them all would require a better botanical education than the average person of to-day is likely to possess; but to the country people of those days their names were as familiar as the names of the trees about their door-yard.
The services of a doctor were seldom called for unless the illness assumed a serious stage, and then, perhaps, he would prescribe the use of some of the contents of the attic. But the changed condition of the country incident to the rapid increase of the population, and the advance-
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ment made by science in the treatment of diseases and the compounding of the remedies, called for more con- venient and skillful methods than the home dispensary afforded.
These conditions eventually opened a wider field for the druggist, and ere long, in many of the small country towns, could be found the store of the registered phar- macist. The firs to establish a drug store in Centerdale was Nicholas F. Reiner, in a building near the junction of Woonasquatucket avenue and Smith street, on the thirtieth day of May, 1896. Mr. Reiner was a graduate of the New York College of Pharmacy and had several years of practical experience in some of the leading drug stores of Providence. The store was well appointed, and its con- venience to the community was soon apparent, and the new business became firmly established. In a few years he required more commodious apartments, and July 4, 1901, he moved into a new building he had erected at No. 2030- 2032 Smith street. In September, 1906, he sold the business to John E. McKenna, he having previously purchased a drug store at No. I Westminster street, Providence.
THE SPECTACLE MAKER.
In 1843 George U. Wright and William Gedney entered into a copartnership for the manufacture of gold and silver-bowed spectacles. They leased a building which then stood on what is now Steere street. They made solid gold and silver goods only, and in those days the greater part of the work was done by hand. The gold or silver came in bars, but often coin was melted down in crucibles placed in a furnace built for the purpose, and
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molded into the different forms or drawn into wire for use, as the special work might require.
It called for no little skill on the part of the workman to produce the finished job, when every part, from the little hinges in the bow to the frames for the lenses, had to be fashioned from the crude metal. The lenses also had to be cut and ground to fit the frames.
In 1847 Messrs. Wright and Gedney sold out to William W. Wright, a brother of the senior member of the firm, who secured the services of William N. Allison, of New York, an expert workman in gold and silver, especially in the manufacture of spectacles. William W. Wright continued the business until 1855, when the business was discontinued.
THE PLANE MANUFACTORY.
In 1853 Ezekiel Smith leased a building from Joseph Cunliff, near the site of the old saw-mill, with the privilege of using the water from the pond of the Centerdale mill, for the manufacturer of carpenters' planes of all kinds. The power for running the saw and other machinery was generated by a small turbine water-wheel which was placed under the mill. This wheel was rather a crude affair when compared with the powerful turbines in use to-day. It may not be generally known that this was the first turbine water-wheel operated on the Woonasquatucket river, and attracted considerable attention.
The planes made by Ezekiel Smith, which included nearly all of the different varieties, were considered the standard plane, and much sought for by woodworkers in all departments.
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In 1854 the business was removed to some other locality, where and for what reason is impossible to determine at this time, but it is the opinion of the writer that it was removed to Pawtucket or Central Falls, R. I.
THE UNDERTAKER.
In the early days of the village, when the population was small and the farmers made up the majority of the resident people, deaths were comparatively infrequent and the services of an undertaker not often required; con- sequently a professional undertaker was seldom found in the rural districts.
If a person died, a neighboring carpenter, or the wheel- wright, was called upon to make the box, or coffin; and as no supply was kept on hand, they must be made after the person died; thus the time was necessarily limited, and little time could be given to the making of an elaborate casket like what is now used, although it might be within the skill of the workman to do so.
A plain pine box, or coffin, with a coat of red stain, and. if the time was sufficient, a coat of varnish, was all that could be given or was expected. The clergyman would sometimes act as undertaker at the funeral, but more often some prominent neighbor or personal friend would officiate.
Just who the carpenter was that furnished the coffins when needed previous to the year 1830 is at the present time unknown. In 1830, when William Sweet established the first wheelwright shop in Centerdale, he was occa- sionally called upon to furnish the coffin and officiate as undertaker when a person died in the neighborhood. He
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continued in the business until 1845, when he disposed of the wheelwright shop to Caleb V. Waterman (an account of which is given in another chapter entitled "The Village Wheelwright'').
Caleb V. Waterman, being a man of good business capacity and judgment, saw the necessity of having better accommodations at a time when the service of an under- taker was required. He purchased a hearse and proceeded to make up a sufficient number of coffins of various sizes at a season when sufficient time could be used to give to them a more finished appearance than was possible to do in the limited time previously given.
In those days the burial cases were made in the con- ventional style, totally unlike the burial caskets of to-day. Black walnut was the wood almost universally used, although cypress, neatly stained in imitation of black walnut or cherry, was sometimes used for cheaper grades; however well they may have answered their purpose, they would form a strong contrast with the beautiful and artistic burial caskets in use to-day.
In 1861 Mr. Waterman gave up the wheelwright busi- ness and devoted his entire attention to undertaking, which he continued until his death, March 29, 1865.
After the death of Caleb V. Waterman, the business was continued, under his name, for about one year, by his son-in-law, William W. Wright, when he disposed of it to Israel B. Phillips. Mr. Phillips, too, was a carriage maker by trade, but gave up the business to take up his new calling. He was especially qualified to conduct the business of undertaker. His quiet and sombre manner and the sympathetic expression of his face well qualified him for the melancholy duties of undertaker. In 1871 he
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sold out to Arnold Staples and removed to Woonsocket, R. I., to engage in the same business. Arnold Staples continued the business on Waterman avenue until 1880, when he removed to Esmond, R. I.
After Arnold Staples removed to Enfield, Centerdale was without a resident undertaker until 1892, when Her- bert A. Fenner, a graduate of the United States College of Embalming, of Boston, Mass., re-established the busi- ness at No. 2007 Smith street, where he remained until June, 1907, when he removed into a new building he had erected upon Steere street.
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CHAPTER XX.
THE TOWN HALL, OR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE SEAT OF TOWN GOVERNMENT IN CENTERDALE.
T HE town of North Providence, within whose limits is located the village of Centerdale, was at one time, or until 1765, a part of the territory of the town of Provi- dence, which originally embraced nearly all of Providence county; but as the country became more thickly settled, desire for separate townships were manifest on all sides; the farming districts believing they could more economi- cally manage their local affairs if they were separated from the business section of the town of Providence.
In 1731 the towns of Glocester, Smithfield, and Scituate were set off and incorporated as separate towns. In 1754 Cranston was incorporated, and in 1759 the town of Johnston was established. It was not long before further discontent was manifest. Town meetings were frequently called to appropriate money or transact business bene- fiting only the business section of the town, much to the inconvenience of the farmers. This and other reasons soon engendered considerable political animosity, which resulted in another petition being presented to the General Assembly, at the February session, 1765, praying that a portion of the town of Providence be set off and incor- porated as a separate town to be known as Wenscutt (or Wanskuck). Definite action was not taken upon the petition at that session but was deferred until the next
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session when, June 13, 1765, the petition was granted with the exception of the proposed name, which was changed to North Providence. The town at that time not only included its present area, but included a large part of the territory of the city of Pawtucket, also the tenth ward of the city of Providence.
In due course of time the seat of the town government was established at Pawtucket, and there most of the town meetings were held. From natural causes the eastern part of the town developed more rapidly than the western section or the farming district. This again, after many years, caused the same trouble and dissatisfaction as in former years. The thickly populated sections of the town were frequently calling for large appropriations for various purposes that had little interest to the farmers, and in no way directly benefited them, naturally causing the rural taxpayers to believe they were being unneces- sarily taxed to maintain the alleged extravagances of the richer and more populous sections. These reasons and many political grievances resulted in the presentation of a petition to the General Assembly, in 1874, asking for a division of the town; and without much delay the petition was granted, March 27, 1874, the act to go into effect May first of the same year, annexing a portion (or in other words the village of Pawtucket) to the town of Pawtucket, then located on the east side of the river (this section was afterwards incorporated as the city of Paw- tucket in 1885) and returning to the city of Providence the territory now designated as the tenth ward. How wise or advantageous this act has proven, with the experience of later years, to the rural towns, is a question of diverse opinions.
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THE TOWN HALL.
After the town was divided, in 1874, no permanent headquarters for the town government was established until 1880. The town meetings were generally held in Armory Hall, Centerdale. The town clerk's office was at the residence of George Eddy, on Olney avenue, Fruit Hill. Mr. Eddy was elected the first town clerk of the new town in 1874, and held the office until June 7, 1880, when Thomas Holden Angell was elected his successor, and held the office continuously for over twenty-six years, or until November, 1906, when from failing health he declined a further re-election and was succeeded as town clerk by Louis A. Sweet.
1879
TOWN HALL.
At a town meeting held June 2d, 1879, after an exciting political, or, rather, it might be called, sectional contest, it was decided to build a town hall in the village of Cen-
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terdale, thus making Centerdale the seat of town govern- ment for the town. This was considered a grand triumph by the people of Centerdale, for the contest was strongly fought, by the different sections of the town, to have the town hall located in their vicinity.
An appropriation of $2,000 was made to build a town hall and town clerk's office, and John R. Cozzens, Martin W. Thurber, and Charles E. Hall were appointed as a committee to proceed with the work of purchasing a suitable site and the erection of a building to accommodate the needs of the town. A lot on Mineral Spring avenue was secured, upon which they at once proceeded to erect a building, 28 x 36 feet, two stories in height, from plans drawn by L. M. E. Stone. The contract for building the same was let to Benjamin Sweet, a local carpenter and contractor. In the basement is located the police station. with four cells for the detention of prisoners. The town clerk's office and council chamber are located on the first floor, as also the town sergeant's offices. On the second floor is the hall for holding the town meetings, etc. The exterior of the building is very plain in appearance, as well as the interior, although very conveniently arranged for the transaction of the town's business.
CHAPTER XXI.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
TT is proper and appropriate at this time to give some recognition of a few of the residents of the little New England village who have not already been mentioned in connection with some of the business interests of the town, but who have been life-long residents of Centerdale and prominent in all philanthropic enterprises tending to the moral and social interest of the community.
It may not be easy for the present generation to com- prehend the social condition of a little New England village as it existed in the early days of Centerdale, before the population became as cosmopolitan as it is at the present time. At that time the resident people were com- posed of native-born, or American, people in the general acceptance of the word. In those days the people making up a little town were bound together by some family tie, more or less distant, when each and every one had a friendly interest in the welfare of his neighbor, rejoicing in his success and sympathizing with him in his adver- sities; and it is to like people born and reared under those conditions that we to-day are indebted for the many blessings we receive and enjoy from the glorious govern- ment under which we live, conceived by those who knew and had home interest at heart, making them far better qualified to establish the principles of self-government than a people of a more cosmopolite character, with a disregard of national or local conditions and peculiarities.
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JAMES HALSEY ANGELL.
JAMES HALSEY ANGELL.
James Halsey Angell was the son of James Angell and Selinda (Ray) Angell, and was born May 10th, 1822, and was a resident of Centerdale all of his life, or nearly seventy years. In 1842 he married Sarah Angell Capron, daughter of Edwin and Deborah (Angell) Capron, born June 23, 1824. Two sons were born to them, George F. and Frank C. Angell. Mr. Angell received a good com- mon school education, and early in life entered the employ of Zachariah Allen as accountant in the Allendale mill and clerk in the village store. He subsequently bought out the store and continued in business until 1846, when he sold out, and November, 1847, succeeded his brother
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Nathaniel as landlord of the Centerdale Hotel. At that time the place was conducted as an old-time tavern stand, and it was during his administration that the balls or dances spoken of in Chapter XI were so popular around about the country towns. He conducted the hotel suc- cessfully until April 1, 1858; moved to a farm belonging to his father, which afterwards became his own. This farm is now included in the village of Centerdale.
In 1854 he was appointed postmaster at Centerdale, an office which he held for many years. He took active part in town affairs, and held many offices of trust and respon- sibility. He was often called upon to serve as adminis- trator in the settlement of estates, and his sound and unbiased judgment was often sought by his neighbors upon many questions which arise around a country town.
For thirty-three years, or until a few months before his death, he kept a daily diary of the everyday occurrences about the farm and village, without missing a day. This diary furnishes interesting reading, and was often consulted by his neighbors to settle some question in doubt or dis- pute; his diary always being accepted as authority in deciding such questions. It also lent valuable aid to the writer in preparing the "Annals of Centerdale."
He was made a Mason in Temple Lodge, No. 18, of Greenville, September 5, 1868, and in 1876 became a charter member of Roger Williams Lodge, No. 32, A. F. & A. M., of Centerdale, and took active part in organizing the same. He was elected treasurer at its first meeting, and held the office for fourteen years, or until his death in 1890.
He was public spirited and interested in all work that pertained to the moral and general welfare of the com-
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munity. He took active part in establishing Union Free Library, and served as treasurer for fifteen years, or until his death.
In 1889 he was stricken with paralysis, from which he never fully recovered, and died, July Ist, 1890, in the sixty-ninth year of his age. As a mark of respect, all places of business in the village were closed during the time of the funeral. He was buried with Masonic honors, in the North Burying Ground in Providence.
BENJAMIN SWEET.
Benjamin Sweet was the son of Emor Sweet and Waity (Manton) Sweet, and was born in the town of Johnston. R. I., July 25, 1833. In 1857 he married Olive W. Gardiner, daughter of Nelson and Jane F. (Taylor) Gardiner, and five sons and seven daughters were born to them. When a boy he attended the schools of his native town until he was sixteen years old, when he entered the employ of his father as an apprentice to learn the carpenter's trade; and having a natural aptitude for that branch of industry, he made rapid progress, and in 1855 started in business for himself as contractor and builder. and met with considerable success, completing many large contracts, including the Stillwater woolen mill and other large mills and public buildings. He retired from active business in 1898.
In May, 1863, during the Civil War, he joined Company A, Fifth Regiment, Rhode Island Militia and was ap- pointed first lieutenant, but the regiment was not called upon to do active duty in the field. He took up his resi- dence in Centerdale in April, 1864, where he has since
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resided. His party affiliations were always with the Republican party, and he was honored many times with public office. He represented the town of North Provi- dence in the General Assembly in the years 1874 and 1875, and was a member of the town council for twenty- two years, serving in that office longer than any other man in the town. He was also elected upon the school committee and board of tax assessors for several years, and for many years has served upon the board of directors of the Union Free Library of Centerdale. He was always interested in public improvements and the good and general welfare of the home of his adoption, the village of Centerdale, where he still resides.
CHAPTER XXII.
LYDIA WILCOX.
And with the morn those angel faces smile Which I have loved long since and lost awhile. - - SELECTED.
T THE history of Centerdale would be incomplete with out the story of that remarkable and mysterious person, Miss Lydia Wilcox. Who she was, whence she came, or how she came to be here, will probably never be known, for by her tragic end the key to her life's history was forever lost.
Here Lydia Wilcox lived for nearly fifty years prac- tically alone in the little country village, daily moving among the people, without revealing to any person the secret of her going forth from the home of her girlhood or the equally baffling secret of why she held no communica- tion with her family or former friends.
In the summer or fall of 1828, Mr. James Anthony, then proprietor of the cotton mill in Centerdale, had occasion to make a business trip to Boston; and as was the custom in those days, he drove there with his horse and carriage. This was several years before the advent of the steam rail- road in this country, and to journey to Boston you would be obliged to either walk, go by stage-coach, or by horse and carriage. Upon his return trip he overtook upon the road a comely young woman of erect carriage, good features, and dark complexion. In accordance with the custom of the time, Mr. Anthony offered the young woman
LYDIA WILCOX. 193
a seat in his carriage, or, to use the old-time country phrase, gave her a "lift" as far as Centerdale.
Lydia Wilcox's after life gives reason for the supposition that the conversation between the mill owner and his fair passenger had the result of conveying to Mr. Anthony the information that the young woman was a mill worker, and of securing for her a position in the Centerdale cotton mill. Here she worked for many years, at first boarding with an elderly maiden woman by the name of Rebecca Smith; but afterwards she hired from the same person three small rooms in the basement of a small building now standing and numbered 1999 Smith street, and is the building now used as a fire station by the Centerdale Volunteer Fire Company. June 17, 1843, she purchased the house from her savings, and ever afterwards made her lonely home there until her death, November 1, 1877.
The moral character of Miss Lyddy (as she was always called by the village people, man, woman, and child) always escaped even a hint of lapse of strict rectitude during her half-century of life in a country village, which certainly is high praise indeed. Quite good looking enough to attract sweethearts, and industrious to a degree, such was the personality of Lydia Wilcox that the young men stood aloof from her; and it is agreed by those who knew her that the courage that would enable a man to take undue liberties with "Miss Lyddy" would qualify him for more popular deed of daring.
No better proof can be given of Lydia Wilcox's un- approachableness than the fact that in a rural community, where the one real aim of existence is usually to know as much of everybody's affairs as may be included within the realm of possibility, no person ever succeeded in breaking
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down the barrier of her reserve so far as to gain her confidence; for this remarkable woman always main- tained a state of hostile silence when someone more curious or more foolish than his fellows attempted to invade the secrecy that the Centerdale oddity preserved inviolate for so many more years than cynics allow womankind for the keeping of a secret. As she grew older, Lydia Wilcox's personality became more and more marked. She took up smoking, and it was no uncommon sight to see her with a common clay pipe of the "T. D." variety, which she always used, puffing away as though she thoroughly enjoyed it.
Miss Lyddy's peculiarities of dress were equally well marked, and her calico gowns lasted for a length of time calculated to plunge dressmakers into despair if the custom became common. A hood in the winter and a sun-bonnet in the summer made up this eccentric woman's headgear, and she was seldom seen with uncovered head; carrying this whim so far as sometimes to work all day at house- work, for which she had been hired, with her bonnet or hood upon her head. A shawl tied tightly about the body made up the essentials of "Miss Lyddy's" costume, upon which neither time nor the mutabilities of fashion had the slightest effect, beyond causing a renewal, from time to time, of the materials. When she could, "Miss Lyddy" kept a cow, some pigs and hens, from which she derived some income and a great amount of enjoyment: one of her prominent characteristics being a strong love for dumb animals of all sorts, in which she took an unfailing interest, whether the beasts were her own or her friends; and she would go into ecstacies of praise over a new-born calf or puppy that belonged to anybody she liked, exclaim-
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LYDIA WILCOX.
ing, over and over again, "There's for ye, now! Just look at this mark! Just look at that mark! The likeliest one I ever saw! There's for ye now, there's for ye!" Although her unchecked aversion to those whom she did not like would hardly admit of her praising the live stock of her enemy, however good it might be. At such time she would give vent to her feeling by exclaiming, accompanied with a stamp of her foot, "blast him, he never owned a good horse or cow in his life, blast him!"
"Miss Lyddy" was a good hater, and once her dislike was aroused, nothing served to allay it; and this vindictive spirit, together with her personal appearance, which ex- posure to weather and time affected in the darkening of her complexion to swarthiness, led many to conjecture that she was either a Gypsy or a Canadian; the latter being represented at that time by strolling families of people with a considerable admixture of Indian blood; while others believed her ancestors were of English descent, which, without doubt, was nearest correct.
Lydia Wilcox's end was in keeping with her life, and only a probable cause was ever assumed as causing the tragedy which closed her earthly career.
About seven o'clock on the evening of November Ist, 1877, her home was discovered to be on fire. An alarm was given, and soon the village people gathered and forced open the outside door. Upon entering her room it was seen that the straw bed upon which her unconscious form was lying was on fire. This was quickly removed to the open air, and the flames which enveloped both the bed and the occupant were quickly extinguished. The aged woman, whose life-time custom had been to greet her visitors at her threshold, beyond which none for many years had
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ever passed, was not quite dead when brought out, but the signs of life were confined to low moans which she gave forth at intervals. She died a few minutes later, without showing other indications of consciousness of her terrible fate. An involuntary movement in sleep over- turning a lighted candle upon the straw bed was supposed to have caused the fire. The body was removed to Armory Hall, where the charred remains were prepared for burial, which occurred November 3d, 1877, Rev. Mr. Donovan, officiating, choosing for his text, "I am a stranger and a sojourner with you, give me a possession of a burying place with you." (Gen. xxiii, 4th v.)
As no heirs to her estate were known to the town au- thorities, her small estate was taken in charge by the town treasurer of North Providence, who is required by statute law to hold the same in trust for a term of thirty years, when, if no legal heirs appear and establish a claim to the estate, the town treasurer has authority to sell the same for the benefit of the town. The time limit expired November 1, 1907, but the town, however, still holds possession of the estate, it being now used as the fire station of the Centerdale Volunteer Fire Company.
" All is finished, and at length Has come the bridal day Of beauty and of strength. To-day the vessel shall be launched! With fleecy clouds the sky is blanched, And o'er the bay, Slowly, in all his splendors dight, The great sun rises to behold the sight." -LONGFELLOW.
THE END.
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安心
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