The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1873-04-01

SEES In one place it was widely believed
that ouly male adu.s would be taxed,
because their names only we're recorded
One man refused to let his baby be
numbered because it was too young to
be taxed Many people fancied that the
census was a means Of forcing emigration
to Mauritus aud ASsom In Murshida-
bad it was rumored that the authorities
designed to blow the surplus population
away from guns Eswhere it was given out
that men were wanted to fight the Russi-
ans, or to serve as coolies against the
Loshais. Iu Faridpur the surplus women
were to be carried off to supply the want
of women elsewhere. Others thought
that everybody was to be vacciuatcd for
thwith. In the Tirhut on one would stir
out of doors on the night of the census
for fear Of being crippled by the "ill-
wind" These fears, however, seem to
have been generally removed by the ox-
plantations of the government officers.
WONDERFUL TELEGRApmY.--In lee.
ture, recently delivered by Captain John
N. Hills, in Illinois, he related one or
two Of his experiences in telegraphiog,
which are wonderful, focal interest and
so worthy of general publicity, that we
give the following account of the affair as
published in the Rutland Herald. He
says that on the % day Of March, 1865.
train on the Bennington and Rutland
now Harlem xtension-rairoad was
snow.bouud about three fourths of a mile
from SALISBURY. The weather was in-
tensely cold there were no provisions on
the train fuel was nearly exhausted
night was approaching, and the situation
began to look desperate. Mr.. Hills two
small children were with him, and one oil
them, too young to be fed with arguments
clamorcd for something better. The su.
perintendent of the road, Mr.. Il, G.
White, was on the train, but strange tc
say, the snow would not clear the tracks
for railroad king In his hclplessness
he was entirely at a loss for any means Of
relief, until Captain Hill, without instru.
ments of any kind, except the wire on the
poles, proposed nevertheless to telegraph
to Rutland. The superintendent was in.
credulous, but Captain Hills quickly cut
the wire, and communicated with the of.
fcers Of the road at Rutland, merely
striking the ends Of the wire together
thus making and breaking the telegraph
ic circuit as he would have done with the
key of an ordinary operating instrument
An engine was Immediately sent to tn,
relief of the blockaded train. But tn,
entire operation required the receiving
as well as sending, Of messages. Thi
was the crucial test Of Captain Hills in
genuity, skill and nerve, and until th
was accomplished, the superintendent auC
passengers felt no assurance that the mes
sage sent had been intcligibly communi
Gated to the officers at Rutland. Strik
ing his wires together, he wrote to thu
slowly; am working without an instru
ment; | will receive your answer through
my tongue" He touched the frosty wir
to his tongue, with the same result, a
first, as that enjoyed by the boy who un
dertook to lick the frost from his skate
steel, but found that the skate knew NOR
about licking than he did. The wir
wouldn't let 60 until it was warmed, an,
then kindly took the skin off with it. S
the wire was heightened and carried int
the car After it was warmed, Captain
Hills received the messages by putin
one end Of the wire above and the othe
under his tongue, and letting the electri
current pass through it, when he was abb
to read by the succession of sharp an,
somewhat painful electrical shocks. Hi
success was pericct-and be not onl
sent and received messages for the super
intendent but for several of the passen
gers. The only i'll consequence of the ex
plot was the total loss of taste whic
Captain Hills suffered for several day
afterward.
Another interesting scientific fact stat
ed in the lecture may be used to sustai
the theory that the aurora borealis, O
northern lights, should be referred t
electrical causes. On the occasion of a
unusually brilliant aurora Captain Hill
found great difficulty in receiving di.
patches. He was trying to obtain tn
night reports for the morning papers &
Burlington Attributing the interru,
lions to atmospheric influences he discor
nected his Geographic battery, and r,
quested the New York operator to do tn
same, when he found much more eve
current and worked some time with tn
atmospheric current alone, without an
connection OF assistance from the batter
les. As soon as the auroral display IN;
terially diminished the atmospheric cul
rent also dimished, and he returned t
the use of the regular batteries withou
: further interruption, thus plainly estal
fishing direct relation of cause and e
feet between the aurora and the electr
cal conditions of the atmosphere.