Lancaster gazette. [volume] (Lancaster, Mass.) 1828-1830, 1829-10-06
DOMESTICK NEWS.

| BUTTER. A writer in the Boston Daily
Advertiser after speaking of the great i'm
provement in the breed of neat cattle and o.
swine, since, and in consequence of the es
Enlistment of cattle shows-an improve.
ment, which he says he knows from actua
investigation to exceed ten per cent-goes
on to remark as follows:-
The consumption of Butter in the city Of
Boston is immense amounting probably, to
four millions of pounds in year. Yet but
small part of it is good-one half of it is a
| SLo,O poison. Let there be one or two large
premiums of hundred dollars provided, to
be awarded at the Brighton Show-let the
! field of competition be open to the farmers
throughout New-England-let there be a
! publick sale of the butter on the day of the
show-let this be continued Ave successive
years, and who can doubt that there will
be material change in the quality of all
the butter brought to Boston market. We
now pay Is to IA cents for the most ordina-
ry-from Is to l6 for something little bet
ter-and from 20 to 25 for that which has
no bad taste. 1t would not be extravagant
to say, that a fe,O hundred dollars, in premi-
ums, would enable us to obtain our three or
four millions of pounds of butter of good
quality at two thirds the price now paid for
like quality. The premiums offered for
butter by the Massachusetts Agricultural
Society are necessarily small the funds of
the society do not admit of large ones.
The subscription premium of one hundred
dollars, raised in Boston, last year, and
awarded at Brighton, brought number of
large lots of butter to the competition. And
there can be little doubt that some frkils
have been made and put up this season with
more than usual care, with the expectation
of the same amount of premium being again
offered. Should not this spirit be kept up
And would not the Intervention of year,
without the renewal of the premium, damp
it? If, within week a hundred dollars
should be raised by subscription and publick
notice given, it will be in season. And
whether the liberallty of the contributors
can never be exercised with better pros
pect of doing substantial good, is ques-
ton which may be safely left to their own
good sense, without more words.
MURDER. Ezra Holmes of Dudley was
committed to prison in this town, on Satur-
day, for the murder of his wife. He has,
for several years past, been subject to occa-
sional turns of mental arrangement, one of
which came upon him a few days since
and, under its inflneuce, he committed the
unnatural crime for which he is imprisoned.
We understand that short time previous
to the act, he sent the children out of the
house, under the pretence that he wanted
it to be quiet, so that he could get some re-
pose. Immediately after they left, he took
the andiron from the fire place, and knock
ed his wife on the head and repeated the
blows till he broke the bar and one leg of
the andiron. The children hearing noise,
returned and found her on the floor, weller
ing in her blood, and gave the alarm to the
neighbours. She continued insensble about
half an hour, and then expired. The near
est neighbour, on his way to the house, met
Holmes and inquired what he had done.
He replied that he had killed his wife, and
requested that his neighbour should then
kill him; and laid his head down upon
stone for that purpose. On being inquired
of why he killed his wife he said that :" 1t
was necessary that she should be put to
death, that life might come," or words to
that effect. We understand, that, on
former occasion. Holmes attempted vio-
lence on one of his children, little boy, of
whom, he was going to make burnt offer
ing. A few days since some of the neigh
bours were about taking measures to have
him committed to the House Of Correction,
as a lunatick, and an unsafe person to be at
large, but RETAINED at the urgent request of
his wife, who has now fallen victim to her
well meant, but mistaken, views of humans
ty to her husband, --Worsester Spy.