Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1873-01-13
LETTER FROM CENTRAL NEW
YORK.


extending the compliments of the sea-
son" but | shall venture to wish you a
prosperous new year, and many of them.
I hope that you may find your way
into an increasing number of families,
and be priced as you deserve by a large
list of readers. Certainly your clearly
printed pages, and bright, newsy con-
tents might well stir the emulation of
certain local papers ''hereoaooy" as the
native dialect with us would express it.
l notice by your report of the weather
Christmas week, that the ''Arctic Wave"
of which "Old Probabilities telegraphs
to the Dailies, surged heavily upon
Northern Vermont.
We have had touch of the same, |
though we can't match your stories.-
The thermometer Sunday morning, Dec
22d, showed from 10 to II degrees be-
low zero in this village. That is the
coolest record for this season, but the
cold continued so many days in success
sion that it drew heavily upon the coal
bins, and the endurance Of the people.
| think that there is difference in the
kind Of cold we have here from that
which is so literally supplied in Ver-
mont There is certain chill, or damp
ness in the air here that searches after
ones ribs more perseveringly than the
same degree of cold with you. Then
further the houses, and barns, and
clothing provided here are not calculated
with such reference to "artic waves
as they are in Vermont
Last winter I realized this more than
the present as | lived IL tenement
house. Now, even though my generous
people have lifted big mortgage from
my house, [ manage to keep it warm and
comfortable throughout by the help of
an excellent Lawson's furnace. ssNellie
Pony too, with whom many of your
readers are acquainted, has very COM
Portable quarters, and has recovered her
wonted .equine-imity'' since having the
'epi- what do-you-call-it %
Staid New Englanders have very lit
tie idea of the way in which 1.-The Hol-
days are observed by us foreigners.
Christmas is almost universally observed
at the homes, as we'll as in the churches,
and by neighborhood gatherings in the
schoolhouses, &c. The days intervening
between New Years are also filled in
with dinner parties, tea-drinkings, and
the whole variety of pleasant So
cial gatherings. This village and town
are noted for their intelligent and ge-
NAL society, and in the course of the
year one meets at these pleasant gather
ings good many very superior men and
women visiting among US, as well as our
own townspeople.
The festivities of the Holiday season
are, however, little trying to the phys.
ical endurance of 1.-The Dominic if he
accepts half the invitations extended tC
him, and particularly so if he tries tc
keep up with The sUyIe hr-r.-- r-.vr..iltug
of New Years Calls. With us [ think
there is very little of the eril Of Intern
peraace connected with this custom, as
in some of the cities. In most house.
where callers are received some simple
refreshments are served, and there un
doubtedly are some who invite the RICH
ones to side board but this is the ex
ception and by no means the rule. A.
whole | think this custom which il
Dutch in its origin, an excellent one t.
promote general acquaintance and gooc
feeling in the community. Under tn,
liberty allowed on that day, feuds anc
past difficulties can be quietly ignored
and from that new starting point socia
courtesies may be renewed. 1t is cap
ital thing to have such loop-hole o
escape from unpleasantnesses whicl
would surely be made worse by forma
review and attempted settlement.
could wish for the sake of some N. Z
villages that they would adopt this par
of this New Years fashion.
Though the early settlers of this tow
were almost all from New England, We
there are a good many representative
here of the old Hudson River Knicke1
. bockers. There are not few who's
names and methods of speech and hal
its of life tell their Dutch origin An
these, as a rule, are excellent citizens
, quiet, industrious, peaceable, frugal an
rich Some of the names of my neigh
bors would doubtless seem odd to
6 stranger. There is Haight and Da
6 rymple, and VauHoeseu, and Signol
and Coup, and Zimneer, and Coats, Sour
wine and Schermerham, and many 9th
a ers equally odd to my ear and tongu
S when | came here. There are also pt
culiar provincialisms in the commo
talk of the people. They don't say .
r guess" quite as mnch as Yankees d.
e but they say Il allow" which answer
a the purpose. For whole" many sa
$ 'hull, for ''home," ''hum." To hurr
t up any body, or to express desire f
e something Immediately, they use til
r phrase fright along" For instance,