Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1875-12-27
OUR NEW YORK LETTER.
NEw YoRK. Dec. 21 1877!

NEW YORK, Dec. 81. 1875.
Ed Monitor New York, just at
! present, is well supplied with literary
celebrities, a liberal sprinkling of whom
appeared at the unusually brilliant din
ner given by the Arcadian Club, few
evenings since, at their elegant rooms
on Fifth avenue. Among the distin-
guished persons whose presence contrib
uted to the interest of the occasion were
the venerable Peter Cooper, one of the
few remaining landmarks. so to speak,
of old New York M. d. Conway, Prem
tiee d. Mulford, of the Overland
Monthly" Laurence Hutton, author of
"Plays and Players" G. H. Webb, bet
ter known as "John Paul :" and last,
but not least. Joaquin Miller. From
the general drift of newspaper para
graphs / had prepared myself to see in
this illustrious person sort of mixture
of Lord Byron and Buffalo Bill" and
on entering the reception-room looked
over the assemblage of black coats and
white ties, in pleasurable expectancy
that my eye would be caught by long,
coal-black locks, flowing over the shoul-
ders of red hunting shirt, bounded on
the south by leathern belt, filled with
implements of warfare, and supporting
buckskin breeches, which in turn should
disappear in high, big-spurred boots, all
in accordance with the picture my fancy
had painted of the 'Poet of the Sierras
Not seeing anything of the sort, l at
once concluded that the lion had not ar
rived, and turned to speak to an ac-
quaintance by whom l was introduced
to several of the group in which / found
him. Among these was one gentleman
whose name did not catch, but who,
from his general appearance, | judged
to be a business man of some kinda
middle-aged person, with high cheek
bones, reddish brown whiskers, and thin,
short hair of the same color, who ex-
tended his hand in an absent sort of a
way, and after word or two about the
weather, relapsed into silence, leaving
me to resume my search for the pictur-
esque poet at my leisure. A few in
quiries shortly after revealed the some
what staggering fact that I had been
entertaining angels unawares, " or words
: to that effect, and that my business
friend was none other than the romantic
genius himself. On learning this, | of
course regarded him more closely, to
discover. if possible, some outward signs
of the Promethean fire but beyond a
: military twirl to his mustache, and the
|. wearing of an immense cluster diamond
ring on his forefnger, / must confess
that found little to compensate me for
the loss of my -red-shirted ideal.
Seeking for smile to illustrate the
: change which has come over our streets,
during the past few days, | can only
{ think of the city as big eorn-pOpPer,
, which has but just arrived at the tenn
perature necessary to the wonderful
s transformations which accompany the
{ operation indicated. 1t may be home
I ly comparison. admit. but it fits the
case admirably. First one store would
burst into holiday display, then another,
then two. three. ten, fifty at time, till
i now the whole retail portion of the town
c is as plump and tempting as the most
/ successful pOppeF-ful that ever was tax
= en- from the FIRE in the nick of time. For
e these few exhilarating days, the retail
merchants are having rest from grum-
, bling. and are feasting their eyes on
crowded counters and plethoric tills,
. while the thought Of the little folks and
$ big folks which these myriad purchases
8 viii soon make glad, is enough TO warn
. the heart Of cynic- Everybody is do
ing well. and in the case Of the largest
II dealers In the different branches the vol
p ume Of business is exceptionally heavy
u The Mason & Hamlin Organ Co. fol
G example. who are the leading house o
J the kind in the world. report > demand
t which is temporarily beyond their ca
paeity to supply. though their case is
l. Of course. exceptional, they having. il
II addition to this sudden local pressure. ;
r regular trade in nearly every civilize'
x country on the globe For years the,
have enjoyed almost unquestiOned supe