Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1858-05-07
Correspondence of the Free Press.
LETTER FROM NEW YORK.
New YoRN, April 20. IL;


LETTER FROM NEW YORK.
New YoRN, April 20, 1855
MrssRs. EpIroRs or THE FRrE Pprss What an
instructive field of research must he the physiology
of the human pocket. A mysterious sympathy
seems to exist between that cutclish organ and the
central seat of life, which has been treated Of no.
whore in medical jurisprudence I wonder that
some cntcrprisng anatomst, with microscope to
eye and scalpcl in hand, urged by that daring
spirit of exploration in untroddcd fields which has
won so many realms to surgical science, does not
leave aside for while his inquiries into tho struc
ture and functions Of and cells beneah the hui
man skin, and turn his attention to the phcnome-
ma manifested in this wonderful sccrctory gland of
the outer human integument. Sudden vacuum
and collapse of the pocket How terrible the CON
vulsions that follow 20 critical caving. Cause an
unaccountablo and unlocked for "nary rcd'-ncss
in that organ, and nuttcr, palpitation and panic
seize at once the citadel of lie. | have been a
painful witness to two torturcs of that kind, and
would as accept invitation to preside at
the official tapping of tho jugular of tho ncxt
French conspirator witness the agonics that flow
from inc thppcu pochet'
On n train from Cincinnati to Central Kentucky
ono day last fall, the joliest passenger that ever
paid fare kept his part of the car in roar with
his mcrrimcnt and jokes. Even such fragments of
his stories reached my above the rail clattcr
drew the resstcss laugh in spite of me. He was
a prosperous stock-drovcr, and his cxubcrance
without a doubt had its and supply in a
r = ,r;t ~; ,b bo 30
dccimato tho cattle on thousand hills and en-
bark them for "Cowes and a market" But sud-
denly unaccountably, in the twinklng of an eye
the " tin" became intangible. The skill of pick
pocket in the crowd at the last station had pre-
vailed over affection, gratitude, and all the laws
which bind purses to pockets, and the cash could
no longer be considered " in hand"-at all events
not in his hand But didn't his hand rather a
| pair of them-and such hands too ! powerful
enough to fell an ox-didnt his hands make at the
rate of sixty dives minute into every pocket ir
every garment on his person, in the vain hope the
missing treasure would spirit itself back AGAR
as mystcriously as it went? And then his cheel
blanched, his tongue uttered incohcrent rawlings
and his eye wandered under seats, over seats anc
|
| had gone to that bourne from which no change re
turns. 1 saw him the next day at Lexington an,
the starch of storytelling had gone clear out o
him. The melancholy of Falstaff7s "gibbed cat
was no touch to the sadness that pervaded ever.
feature.
Hurrying up Broadway yesterday. il sinuou
elbowing among the crowd at the rate of two mile
an hour could be called hurrying | saw two womc
demonstrating with another woman in the most ex
cited manner, and apparently holding her in fror
.elf-destruction. Presently her veil came off an
saw the cause of tho trouble at once. l had see
the symptoms before, and diagnosed the case in a
instant. The blanched check, lvd lip and wild
wandering eye, told Enthusiastically of collapse an
asphyxa of the pocket. One of the ladies seein
that observed them, approached me, saying he
mother had just lost large amount of money, an
inquired if had seen any one picking pocket! Poo
woman; she in state of mind to remembe
that those things are seldom seen. She might
we II have inquired if l had seen Signor Blitz put
ting his canaries into egg shells. And so kept O
my way, musing "The Vanity of Riches an
the wings which they take to them and fly away.
The New York East Methodist Conference, afts
a lively and interesting session of eight days. at
journcd last Friday. Much time occupied
discussing the very vexed question of Slavery, nm
the anti-savery resolves finally adopted by
decided majority. Ono of the resolutions, as 70
lows, will serve a specimen of the whole:
| Resolved, That we affirm the language of ou
Church in 1854, namely that the practice of hol,
ing our fellow creatures in Slavery is contrary
the golden rule of God and the inalienable rgh
of mankind, well of the principles of tn
American Revolution; and we therefore deem
our most bounden duty to take some edectui
method to extirpate this abomination from anon
Our great Central Park, the Arcadian grove
our city's future, The mingled Paradise of shaC
and shine, of lake and lawn, Of vale and mour
and glen, is slowly taking shape. The competr
plans for handspring rough, wild nature into tast
full forms are now before the Park Commissioner
and decision and award for the best will be mac
in few days Meantime the rough work of leve
ling, cxcavating and grading is going La
week the official ceremony of breaking ground f
the Lake of Manahatta" was performed with b
coming pomp and crcumstan e. The lake is
cover LOG acres, and will be at the same time
ornament to the Park and an immense reservoir
Croton, holding more than thousand millions
gallons. By the way, it is curous-did you ev'
think of it'-our little Croton River empties I'M
more than the mouths of the Mississippi tt
Danube. Yours truly,
DIGIr.