The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1845-08-18

XII II IuS mo InO eHlplclu oi oloIutg' 10 w" w
tho tributaries of tina; ocean, which, Obedient only to
God shall roll and roar, until the angel, with one
foot on the land and the other the sea, shall lin up
his hand to heaven and swear that time shall be no
longer So with moral influence, II is rill-a riv-
ulet-an OceAn-boundless and faihomless as etorni-
~"
THE New YoRK MERCHANTS; OR AN INCL
DENT OF THE FINE. gentleman of this city,
learning early Saturday that his store in New York
was in danger from the fire, hnstened to the of
destruction On arriving at his store, he found that
the Ere had uready made considerable progress in the
building. He hesitated but moment, and was a.
bout to spring up the burning stairway, when no was
seized by some of the bystanders, and asked It he
was madman thus to meet sudden death so rashly.
s'Hold me not back, gentlemen, " he said; 81 am
not mad, but must and will my iron chest,
though perish in the attempt" Then, with sud
den effort he released himself from those who, in
kindness would have held him back; and, in mo-
men, more, had passed the burning staircase, and
was next seen running from to room, despite Of
tho blaze and smoke Of the burning building. The
key of his safe, it appears, not to be found in
;ls usual place; and disappointed in not being able
90 obtain ita contents, he made effort to remove the
ontreatod some of the bys,anders to aid him. All re-
fused for destruction seemed certain. Again did he
plunge amidst the destructive element He had
iy reached tho spot where stood the safe, when two
men, who had Witnessed hs previous efforts, stood
beside him and vowed they would stick by him TO
the last, The crowd, thinking the had followed
him for the purpose oil rescung him from his danger
Gus purpose, shouted, "Knock him down drag him
out! he'll be killed 90
With the assistance Of the two mon, tho safe was
dragged close the hatchway, and the fall was about
TO be made fast, to lower it down, when, at the
moment, the Of the store fell inward. huge
mass Of smoke and flame asceuded on high. Andsthe
hosting apparatus fell some part OF the woodwork
having been burned away. cry Of. horror broke
from the witnesses ofthe scene, as the three men
were envoloped in smoke aud fire, and hid from their
view. Presently the two stranges emerged from Tho
building, and greeted with cheers by the crowd
the merchant, it thought, Incidentally lost but
not So lie had fallen down in a s;upor; but quick
iy recovering, however, he seen-when the
smoke consequent upon tho falling in Of the rear
wall had cleared somewhat Gway-by the chest,
striving, with all his might, to tumble it down the
hatchway. The people collected around were amaz-
ed, and they though. him crazy and inVuneraele.-
The fire was above, below and all around him, and
how the merchant stood there alive, and seemingly
unhurt, was mystery no one could exPlan.-On
Witnessing his oxertons at the chest, every one held
his breaih-and, save the cracking of the tinbors,
and the distant shouts OF the fremen, not sound
a whisper could be heard. See! the chest moves
and comes tumbIiug down the hachwny, amid
the applause Of the crowd. It rolled out the door.
and fell into the entrance TO the basement The
merchant was lost sight Of for a moment, but he
soon stood the side walk, blackened and scorched
with the smoke and fame and again asked for aid 10
remove the chest from its then position The an
swer was-come from beneaih-the whole front il
falling-you will perish Elo exclaimed-then shall
it cover me- for the safe will rescue, be buried
with it, and then rushed into the burning pile The
feelings of those who witnessed him cannot DO de-
scribed.
He proceeded to place in his office, where he
knew was placed small Ratchet, took it, climbed to
the third story with astonishing agility, and secured
the rope from the burning drum, to which it had
been secured, but not yet burnt off, and down
he sprang again. At times he was hid from tho sight
Of those assembled on the outside. and again he
would be floating about though he were
proof against destruction and cheer would ascend
Soon he was standing the sidewalk with tho sew
cred rope over his shoulder, but an instant one
side Of the store feel in and he hidden by a VOL
ume Of fire and smoke. That cleared away, and he
was seen hard at work on the safe. endeavoring TO
thrust the hook at the end Of the rope through its
handle. He succeeded, and carrying the other end
of the rope in his hand far it would per-
init Of towards the crowd, and was received with the
most vocrerous reclamation 1t is needless to say
that plenty laid hold Of the rope. The chest was
dragged out amidst hurrahs, and placed in safety.
In the name Of heaven, asked several, why risk
your life thus for the wealth that chest may contain
Between dollars and life, who but you would hesi-
tate?
s'Hold," said the merchant 'sOf my own proper
ty l have lost about-dollars by the ire-for that
care not But the chest contains large sum of
money entrusted to my yesterday afternoon too
late 10 be deposited in the bank by Eastern house,
to meet drafts made payable at sight. no, for
the loss Of wealth, but had that money been destroy
ed, / should have lost my credit--for who would
have known it was placed there' And though left