The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1873-02-18
From the Sunset Land.
NJ ERiNO RANCH.

EDITOR REGISTER "A press of bust.
ness has prevented our addressing you
before, and giving some account of our
selves, and the young Vermonters we
brought across the continent, to the
land of golden sunsets.
1t is too late now to go into dctails.and
we will only AIDE that they are all well.
and doing well so far as we know.
though, ut first and during continue
Gus rain storm, of two weeks duration.
they were much affected with thoughts
of "Homc Sweet Homeu
To-day is the Chinese New Year. For
weeks past, our celestial brothers have
been preparing for the feast, which all
solvent Cinnamon set before their
friends on every "Shem Mem" New
Years Day. Every man among them
who possibly could do so, has paid his
Indebtedness, and prepared his affairs
for the beginning of the New Year. To
use their own phrase. they have made
a general pulling up of the shoe at the
heel. Houses, stores, and Joss house
have been decorated with unusual
splendor, Little finely gilt strips mark
ed, Chat yap ping own" MAY those
passing in and out, have peace are
tackled over the entrances to dwelling !;
and sometimes red cloth bearing the
words, 'Quong he" Happy New Year.
or " Fa Choy' Much profit, are sus-
pended over doors. Since last night at
twelve o'clock, they have been making
ppllG I'm oil hr,,aae 30,
be found little circular tables, laden
with sweetmeats and delicacies. dried
ducks pressed flat, and brought all the
way from China. Eggs kept fresh by
coating with mud, picked camels feet,
various specimens of the rodentia and
other dainties too numerous to spin out
in this connection.
In the houses of the wealthiest, two
tables are set, one for the whites. and
one for themselves. This class of Chi
nese are aristocratic in their manner.
and very eXacting of Difference from
their interiors. The festivals of spring,
rain and water, follow close upon the
new year, and occupy one day each.
The names of all Cinnamon who fail TO
pay their debts before the first dav of
the new year. are collected and put in
one list and distributed among the mer-
chants, They are all marked with n
black spot in the account books, and
during the whole year refused credit al
though they may be perfectly solvent.
If they pay off their debts during the
year, they are reinstated in favor the
next new year.
During the winter, and up to a recent
date, we have been living in Sarcra-
mento, where it has been for the most
part, quite dull nothing intrudng it d.
self to disturb the serenity of stupid
monotony, which naturally prevails
during the absence of the legislature. A
few evenings since, Mrs. Laura ID, Fair.
the murderess, made her debut rs n
lecturer. Subject, Evolves in the Fold. ;
She had made the attempt in San Fran
cisco short time before, but the citi-
zens of that illustrous city, thought she
was adding insult to injury, and so
turned out 1000 strong, prepared with
several barrels of stale hen fruit. Laura
paused, reconsidcrcd, and Withdrew
rather than be harshly treated to dose
of scrambled canaries. In sacramento
she finally got hearing announced to
lecture again, and we are informed
more shell pebbles are being gathered
for the occasion, which will doubtless
end in Improbable 'unpleasantness.n
Affairs i'll the state at large, are gen
orally in peaceful and prosperous con-
dition, with two exceptions, railroads
and the Madoc Indian difficulty which
little episode has already ended in one
right lively fight, in which the United
States troops got the worst of it.
Some time since Capt. Jake, the In
dian Chief became dissatisfied with the
quality of food and STYLE of blankets
issued to them by the government, and
so Withdrew to fastness in the noun
tains and bid defiance to "Uncle Sam. !"
"Sam" said ''come down. Mr.. Indi-
an laughed. Hence the fight. But
the result was quite different from that
of the boy stealing the old mans ap.
pies, 20 whites were killed, but mary
red The railroad question is at pres
ent agitating the minds of the people
all over the state. The rural districts
are loud in their denunciations of the
great Central Railroad monopoly. Gov
Stanford d Co., sit enthroned upon a
tower of wealth and pay but little at
tention to the complaints of the people
which are assuming alarming proper
lions. The Goat Island Bill" it seems
is likely to be defeated in congress and
may be relif is near at hand If congress
continues its Investigations. Now it
costs more to transport the same
amount of produce 200 miles in this
state. than it does from Chicago to New
York.
The prospects for another bountilul
harvest is very ilattering; already Il
large breadth of ground is sown to
wheat, portions of which are up three
inches high, looking green amp rich in
promise. Ploughing and seeding is
lLtt 4
the middle of March. a steam-plough
is ut work near Sacramento which
ploughs sows and harrows in twenty
five acres per day. Most farmers use
the gang-plough turning two or three
| burrows at time drawn by three and
| four horses. We and company are
somewhat engaged in filling the soil.
Our ranch is located in the San Jose
valley, in the forks of the junction OF
two railroads and nearly % miles from
San Francisco. Having prepared shed
room and other cOnVeniences, we re
Gently moved our sheep to the ranch
which we intend shall become noted
for the fine sheep bred thereon, though
the outlook of the wool and sheep bus
mess is not at present as llattering here
as we could wish. Fall clip is selling
for l. and II cents per pound. 1t is
hoped that the spring clip will bring q
and p cents.
| California produces now about -,
OOO, 900 pounds of wool and as many
bushels of wheat annually. So that
the wheat crop rs yet brings three times
the money, though it costs three times
AS much to produce it.
1t is now near the first of February
which is early spring on the Pacific
| Iipaap fan1 l. s,,,ri tari,,fr "a, In
abundance young lambs are sporting
on the hill sides the feathery song
sters make music in the branches be-
side the ripping waters, and old SOD
shines, and repeats every day with u
glowing warmth that makes us almost
doubt the reports of 80 degrees below
zero in the East We havn't had 4
frost here since the 25th of December
How would you like that Mr.. Editor
Or wovld you rather enjoy good
"square oldfashioned Vermont win