The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1850-05-28

banks of the beautiful river, that passes {
through the village, we were shown by
our friend the place, where some years
since young man was shot aud died
upon the spot. A quarrel had arisen be-
tween two neighbors as to a water prv>
ilcge, and to such length had they car
ried ii, that one of the party took his
loaded rifle, went to the spot and CONS
menced the work of undermining the
dam. The news of his villainy spread
to the village, and early one morning a
young man started to 60 TO the place
When within gun shot, the discharge of
a rifle sent the ball to his heat, and he i
fell corpse, aud threw his last sigh to
the breeze that murmured at that early |
hour through the still forest. 1t was
supposed that the murderer took him to
be his neighbor, with whom he was in
quarrel. A deep gloom spread itselfover
the village, and the excitement was ln>
tense. The murderer was arrested, and
committed TO await his trial. Men took
sides, and by some strange management
he was acquitted in law, but remains a
convict at the bar of conscience aud by
the public at large. The forest alone
Ito the present time) bears witness TO
the bloody Transaction. Yet there. on
the lonely river-bank, stands the irail
memento, to mark the spot where he fell
A simple wooden standard, erected by
his friends, stands forth, awakening sad
emotions in the breast Of the wanderer.
The reader cannot conceive the shock
one feels, in approaching a spot in the
forest, where a murder has been CONS
milted. In the streets of crowded
city, or on the highway, all remembrance
of the deed is soon effaced. Changes
take place, and the mere fact that ten
thousand other things have iranspifed
since lis occurrence, serves to weaken
the associations connected with it, aud
indeed removes it much farther off. But
in the still woods, amid the mute and
impressive workings of nature, the soil,
, tary death-place, and its associations,
crowd the mind with the most solemn re-
, Elections. The motionless trunks seem
to be stern watchers there; anc the muir
muring stream TO chant requiem to his
departed spirit. AS we gazed upon the
spot We inslnctively pitied the murdered
thought how he must feel, in the midst
Of boundless forest, having taken the
life of an innocent young man. lie wa:
here alone, and must have been more
, wretched than If he was in crowd o
men. The suspicious eyes OF his fell
lows could be encountered with lai
more firmness than those of that invisi'
ble presence, which seems there to sur,
round him. There is no way to escape
himself, no alternative but to struggl,
with conscience-to attempt to hush The
= awful voice of Law, which Gods uni
: verse about is whispering in his ear.
4 hopeless task.
The Michigan Central Rail Road
was built by the state as far as Kalama
zou- $50 miles in lcnglh-at an expens,
of about s. 600, 600. 1t proved to be
: source of expense TO the state, and som'
k four years since was offered for sale, |
J was purchased by company, most o
II whom reside in Boston, al less than hal
If lis original cost, which has since extend
= ed the road to New Buffalo, cn the shore
5 of Michigan lake. In their hands, iht
h stock is found u pay well, and the roat
+ does an immense business. In til,
: (reghting season, they employ abou
r 500 hands, and between 80 and 40 en-
c gines, and a string of cars over mil'
G in length. We were told by an agen
J., that the earnings of the road for thu
: month OF October, was Sl50, 900 above
IS all expenses. The amount of travel ovo
c this great thoroughlare, is vast beyont
i conception, aud the value of propert,
;, sent over II amounts to the sum Of S400,
a 900 900 annually Owing to the gene
n raj evenness Of the country, most of the
: western states afford superior advantages
, for the construction of rail roads
: In the construction of this road, cir
1 cumstance occurred which threatened
= serious loss To the company, The road
e was built across a certain marsh, whicl
, could not well be avoided. After some
h thousands of tons of gravel aud dirt had
l been hauled into the spot, and the roaC
i built fully across it, one night, in the alb
a sence of the workmen, il all at once be-
y came possessed Of the idea Of playing
u hide and seek. So it suddenly yielded
: 10 the laws Of gravialion aud took ii;
u position several feet below the surface
= quite out of sight. In the morning the
u sons of Erin met upon the spot aud held
A consultation as TO what had become O.