St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1872-03-01

road. although he WAS on foot. lie I've
came ohStrepcrouS on this point. and
commenced heating the head of my
horse with his fist. My driver was pre-
marin" to knock him down with the
butt end of his heavy whip. when two
men seized the imSolvcnt Tcut"n and
dragged him to the waters edge. where
it is to Ice hoped he was ducked. Pres
emily the jam began to move. and we
got on perhaps twenty PAGES and stuck
fast again BN accident We had edged
over to the east side of the street. ana
nothing hut Il hoard fence separated MS
from Lake Park. Il strip of made ground
il little wider than the street Itself. y
benevolent lahorcI. on the park >ldc Oh
tn, fence. pulled Il loose post OUT Oh the
ground. and with this for i cataplllt,
kuockcd off the boards and invited us
to pa,s through 1t WIS hazardous
uudrrtokium. ;!s we had to drive diag"-
uuIIy over ii raised sidewalk. hut we
Thought it WIS best to risk it. our h"rS"
mounted. and gave us IL jerk which near
|, threw us of the seat. and sent the
provision basket and one bundle OF
clothing Nhirlimg into the dirt. The
catahlc> were iIlccoycrahlc. The bun
die WAS rescued. with two or three
pounds of butter pla>tcrcd upon 1t.
IsI getting into the park We succeeded
in advancing two squares without I'M
pcdimcnt. and might have gone further
had we not come upon IN excavation
which the public authorities had recent
" made This drove us back to the
avenue. where another battcIing-lam
made Il gap for us ut the intersection of
Van Burcn street. the north end of
Michigan terrace. Here the gorge
seemed impossible. 1t was like that
which gathers on broadway. bctwecn
Fulton and Chambers streets, except
that nearly all of u> were going III one
and the same direction. The difficulty
proceeded from teams entering MIchl-
Gan avenue from the cross streets. En-
tcmpnrr policemen stationed themselves
at these crossings. and helped as well
aS they could. but we were half an hour
in passing the terrace. From this I'M
posing row ofrc>idcnce> the millionaircS
were dragging their trunks and their
bundles. and Vet there WAS no panic. no
frenzy. no hoi>tcrolSne>S, hut only the
haste which the situation authorized.
There was real danger to life all along
this street. hut nobody realized it. he
cause the park WAS ample to hold all
the people. None of us thought or ask
ed what would hccome of those nearest
the water. if the smoke and cindeIS
should drive the whole crowd down to
-, the shore. or if the vast bazaar of lug
gage should itself take fire. us some of
it afterwards did. Fortunately for those
in the street. there WAS Il limit to the
number of teams available in that quar-
ter Of the city. The contributions from
the cross streets grew less; and soon
we began to move on Il walk, without
interruption. Arriving ut Eldridgc
court. | turned int" Wabash avenue.
where the crowd WAS thinner. Arriving
at the house of il friend. who WAS on the
wimdWard side of the fire. tumhlcd
off my load and started back to get an
other. Half way down Michigan avenue
which Wa> now pcrccptihlN easier To
move in. | discovered my family on the
sidewalk with their aims full Of light
household effects. My wife told me
that the house WIS already burned. that
the flames burst ont ready made in the
rear hall before She knew that the roof
had been Scorchcd. and that one of tn"
servants. who had diSohrycd orders III
her cagcrnc>~ 10 save some article. had
got >imgrd though not burned. in com
inw ont. Ny wife and mother and all
the rest were hcgrimcd with dirt and
smoke. like hlackamoorS every body
WIS. The "hloatrd ari>tocIacy' all
= along the streets. who supposed that
/ the, had lost both home and fortune at
one >W"op. were u >"IIN hut not de
>pIiIin" cnm"rrgati"n. They had saved
their lives at all events. and they knew
that many of their tclloW-crcIture> must
have last theirs. SAW Il great many
) kindly acts done aS We moved along.
:, The poor helped tll, rich and the rich
helped the poor (if amNh"dN could he
called rich ut such timc) t" get on with
their loads heard of caItmcn demand
! ing $50 lin hand. of corlSr) for carry
= in" single load. Very likely it was 81.
l but those c.l~,.> did NOT come under my
own notice. 1t did come under my
= notice that SOM. cartmcn worked fnI
whatever the. sufferers felt able to pay .
and one know worked with alacritN
for nothing. II takes all sorts people
} To make i great fine.
Presently we heard loud dctouatiun>.
I and lumor went around that buildings
/ were being blown mp with gun powder
- The depot of the Hazard Powder Com
% pInN WAS situated at Brighton. seven al
eight miles from the nearest point of the
. iir. Vt " hat time the effort was first
: made +" reach this magazine. and bring
powder into the service. | have not
: learned. hut know that Colonel NJ. G.
- ~tcarI.> made heroic ctl"It> with hi>
= great lime wagons to haul the cNplu>iNc
material To the proper point. This is
! NO time t" blame ANY body. but in truth
, there WIS no directing head on the
| ground. Every body WAS asking every
body else to pail down buildings There
e We're II" hooks. no ropes. II" axes.
. had met General Sheridan on the street
+ ia front of The Post office two hours he
fore. He had been irving to save the
+ army records. including his own invalu-
/ able papers relating to the war of the
: rebellion. He told me that they were
I'LL lost. and then added that the Post
+ office didn't seem Ia make Il good tire
1 This WAS when we Supp"Scd the row al
y, tlrc-pr""t buildings. already spoken of,
l had stopped the flames in oar quarter
| Where was General Sheridan now
- every body asked. Why didn't he d,
: something when every body else had
failed Presently ii IIImor went around
that Sheridan was handling the gun
l powder: then every body felt relieved
The rcNclhcratinnS of the powder. who
ever was handling it. gave lis all heart
again. Think of Il people feeling en-
outraged 10y the fact that somebody was
I blowing up houses in the midst of TIN,
city. and that Il shower of bricks wa.
: likely to come down ON their heads,
The wind continued to blow lierccIy
}. from the southwest. and has not ceased
. tO this hnul. Saturday nct,k.r ~ pu,