The Cairo daily bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1870-1872, 1871-08-08
NEW ENGLAND LETTER.

| To Tie Editor of Hc 'dFo BUHetn.
| Ifit were not for three months cold,
bleak, windy weather in the fall" three
months biting, singing, freezing cold
weather in the "winter," and three months
| of cold, stormy, wet weather in the
"spring,' this would be pleasant place
to live in but with the above objections,
please excuse us. ..'.....
DEN. SHERMAN AND FAMILY
have been rustic ting the past week at St
Adams, a few miles frcm here. II, was
serenaded few nights ago, and on being
called on for a speech, made, as usual, q
few happy remarks and wound up by say
ing: "You have delightful place here
in the summer, how it is in the winter
don't know and don't intend TO-" 1t /.
needless to say that on that poin, Sher.
mans head was "level,' as il is on most
subjects in general. Notwithstanding
the, winters are so severe here, it seems &c
promote longevity. Vermont is one of the
most healthy, if not the healthiest state il
the Union, and Middlebury is said TO be
the healthest town in the state. The peo.
pie hardly ever die Of disease here, they
tdry up and "fall away" The skin
gets as tight on their bones in old age as q
sheep skin on q drum head (forcible if not
eloqucnD and they gradually "fade out"
When person dies here il is the custom 10
announce the fact by
ToLLIYG THE BELL,
at stated intervals for short time, and
then, striking the same in quick
succession for the age of the deceased.
Last season, when we were here, and en-.
sconced in the BARRIERS chair, enjoying the
luxury Of a good shave, the bell com
menced "tolling." A friend, who wa
with us, from the west, not being posted
asked for an explanation, and on our tell
ing him, we also remarked,that we woult
make bet with him that when the cage
of the deceased was raped out it woul
not be less than fifty. You may thin
this was grave thing to bet about, hut {
the wager was only for the cigars,
course it all ended in smoke, anyway. Bl
TO return, the bell soon commenced stril
ing, and we both commenced countin
aloud, and continued On up TO sixty or Sc,
enty, when our friend stopped throug
sheer exhaustion. We struggled on
ntnety-nine, when the bell ceased. We
once repaired TO the church aero
the park to see if the old sexton had n,
made mistake of half o ccntur
!, or so, when we were tol
that no mstsk had been made--an oil
lady, good old soul, who had complete
her ninety-ninth birthday, had "faded
out. Surely, VIC could say in her case Re
nteseat IN pace.
Since our last letter il has raincd, v
believe, every day, excepting one, NJ
then, to US an "Irishism" we had u thu
20 der shower and a hail storm. We are so
ing people in this community One ofo
: citizens, seeing the winrows of hail ston
in front Of his house, thought it shamef
waste of the row material, and gathering I
a lshel or two of them, soon by their al
frozo freezer full of ice cream and |
the time the storm was over and the su
out again, his family and hin
solf were enjoying tho fruits Of his labo
He could well say, "IIail, oh, Hail" w
put this in for the benefit of Rexford, q
the ST. Charles, SO that upon another ha
storm is smashing in the glass to such
pdncfm extent, as 1t did recently, he cal
put Wade to gathering up the hail stone
for his ice cream freezer, us II partial re
compense.
| Everything in this quiet villag
turns on the annual comm ncement exel
ciscs of Middlcbury college. 1t is tn
"hub,' around which everything else re
wolves, so "many weeks before" or
"many weeks after commcnccm mt b
ing the frequent and common expression
We have fallen into the custom of the cou
try, MS is our usual habit, and now i
tend "aiter commencement to change o
base from the mountains to the sea shol
Our commencement exercises common
i next Sabbath evening when the "baccala
rate sermon will be delivered bv X,
DIR. Kitchell formerly Of Chicago and
= lato years president Of the college her
I Rev. DR., Post, SO well known in ST. Louis
), and throughout the entire west, is agraC
), uate Of this college, also John &. Sake tn
poet, and many Others known to fam,
who are scattered broadcast throughou
the Union. The college was founie
0 about sixty years ago and has stood man
' storms of adventures as well rs the plea,
2 ant breezcs of prosperity, and is now in
e hourishing condition. During the war, s
. many OF the students enlisted in the VI
2 rious Vermont regiments, that it com
: near breaking up the institution.
= Many years ago before the fros,s G
T Time had silvered over our hair, or ag
) had dlmmed our eyes, and furrowed GU
checks with care, We remember attend
ing meeting OF the alumni of tho cole
ges, at one of the annual commencement
here, ut which time aud place means wer,
taken 10 raise an endowment fund" O
which the college was then much in need
Senator Foote (sincc dead was called OF