Baltimore daily commercial. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1865-1867, 1865-10-06
Letter from Boston.
Correspondence of the Daily Commercial.l

Correspondence of the Daily Commercial1
Boston, October 4, 1865
The dominant topic now in the environs of Boston
is the extraordinary drought Boston. herself has
her usual liberal supply Of Cochtuatc water but the
immediate suburbs suffering greatly from the un
eXampled continuance of dry weather. While New
Hampshire. Western Massachusetts and New York
have had sufficient showers, all along the seaboard
from Cape Cod to Cape Ann, there has been hardly
drop of rain for some seven weeks. In many place
the cisterns and wells entirely exhausted and
water as to be bought at high prices.
Boston Is rejoicing at present in her annual fair
and exhibitions which have been renewed with nd
ditiona splendor since the termination of the war
The Horticultural Society have just closed magnif-
cent exhibition of fruits and flowers in their new
granite ediicc. at the of Broomcld and Ire
mont streets; and now the Mechanics Exhibition at
Faneuii and Quincy Halls, although now continued
some ten days is still attractidg crowds of visitors
inspect the new specimens of mechanical ingenuity
which are here presented.
What most attracted me in a promenade throu gh
the suite of halls contrvances for heating rooms
by the use OF fluid extracted from petroleum.
Economy Is the great advantage claimed in their use
Considering that the fires can be eXnguished or re-
lighted insantaneousy, so that when room is unoc-
cupied for hours there need be no waste of fuel the
advantage of cheapness under some circumstances is
not unjustly claimed. With regard to danger from
explosions | cannot speak confidently. The inven-
tors of course claim that with an ordinary degree of
prudence all serious accidents may be prevented.
Another new invention that attracted my notice
was machine for making the slaves of barrels
hogsheads, casks &c The apparatus takes the stave
compresSes and shapes 1t, gives it the proper bevel
and then so performs the process of joining that
slaves so shaped compressed and joined may be set
up in casks ensiiey at random. Threefourths of the
present labor OF making cask is saved by this con-
trivance. W hen you consider that some ninety mil
lions of barrels, casks, &C., required annually in
the United States, you may form some idea of the
probable value of the invention, unless some sharp
Yankee shall contrye something better before it gets
into general use-not an unlikely contingency.
Our theatres are doing good business. Mr.. and
Mrs Charles Kean will conclude successful engage
ment of fortnight at the Boston Theatre next We'd
ncsday. Their audiences have been remarkably
large; the most attractive piece in which they appear
being play entitled Louis the Eleventh, abridged
from the French of Casimr Deavigne The chief
merit of it lies less in the plot which is rather
gre, than in the admirable porraiture of the crafty.
remorseess, subtle and superstitious King. One of
the best pieces of acting witnessed is the scene
in which kean, as Louis, suddenly pauses in commu-
ncating to one of his creatures device for the
der of the Duke de Nemours, reverenty takes off his
hat and mutters prayer. The bell for the oagelus,
or prayer to the Virgin, has just sounded, which is
the occasion for the old monarchs sudden change of
manner. As soon as he has despatched his prayer
the eagerncss with which he resumes his murderous
conference fails to bring down the applause of
the house at the actors nimitable art.
The protracted drought has stopped many of our
principal paper mills, so that the price of paper ha,
gone up higher than it was when gold was at the
highest Many of our publishers consequently find it
impossible to supply their orders for books
One Of the most delightful volumes lately published is
Mrs. John Farrars Recollections of Seventy Years "
published by Messrs Ticknor i Fields. Mrs. Farrar
nearly eighty years old passed much of her early
life in England, where she made the acquaintance of
some Of the most distinguished persons of the day
Her anecdotes of Benjamin West. Mrs. Barbauld
Mrs 0pe, Elizabeth Fry, Lord Nelson. Joanna Bail
lie Miss Edgeworth, Hannah More and many others,
have the charm of freshness, and reveal traits as
amusing as they are interesting.
curious circumstance is related by Mrs. Farrar
of Helen Maria Williams, the lady who wrote the
celebrated hymn, when thee | seek, Protecting
Power" Being imprisoned by the revolutionary
government, she sent for Mrs. Farrars father then
in Paris, and begged him, as an American, to claim
her his wife, and procure her liberty. He per-
mited her to claim him as her husband, his Quaker
scruples preventing his telling the lie himself The
lady not so conscientious. She succeeded by the
trick in getting out of prison and escaping to Eng
land. FREMONT.