Wilmington daily commercial. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1866-1877, 1875-04-22
FIRST EDITION.
NEW YORK.
ouR m D w EEK LETTER

pErsoNER's FRIEND, MRS. LINDA aILBERT
Special Corresi onden ofthe Commercial.
New YoRR, April 20.
The return of February on the eve of May HI
astonished those who thought they were pr
pared for anything the present eccentric seasc
might bring forth--so long as IL was nothing
the line of vegetation. Deep snow, for instanc
would be quito IN order at any stage of sprin
time in 1875, not improbable in the comm
June. But frozen streams, and pitchers c
water in the morning, seem a little more tina
eccentric, this particular week.
Well, all this will be good for
THE soU UrHERN MARKET GARDENERS
who supply our early spring markets 80 hand
| somely, through the Old Dominion Steamship
line. Norfolk shad were abundant a mont
ago, Quo thanks to the gardeners, of course) a
fresh AZ being caught day before yesterday an,
kept IN ice could make them-and az tasteles
| as Southern waters could make them too. The,
are mockery, delusion and SNARE SooI
after, however, came the Delaware shad, little
better For week past, good month behnd
time, the North River shad has lent its appeti.
zing flavor to our breakfasts, and by the first oil
May we may taste the matchless Connecticut
River
sHAD IN ALL HIS GLORY.
That is tho way they run, rising towards the sn-
perative as they coast Northwards, and oulmi-
mating at the Connecticut river as oysters do
here in the East River, little sooner. Both are
OF no account still farther on, and yield the palm
to CLAIMS and cod, on the shores OF Rhode Island
and Massachusetts.
But was talking of market gardeners, was |
not? Bermuda new potatoes and tomatoes are
little heard of as yet. But Virginia peas, lettuce
and Strawberries have adorned the stands for
some time past, aud are growing abundant.
SOME OF OUR EPIcUREs
go to Florida in the winter, and follow the prime
of the fresh vegetable and strawberry season,
by easy stages up the coast, 30 as to reve four
or five months in luxuries that linger but one
month in any one latitude winding up with our
strawberry season of June. Once
matchless, should have said for you can have
no more Strawberries In New York, or anywhere
that know OF, now, unless you raise strawber-
ries that are strawberries for yourself. The
acrid and hayorless Wilson Seeding, hard as an
apple and sour as lemon, is the only thing in
the form of strawberry to be had for money, OF
late years. 1t is so durable for transportation,
so hardy, and so prolific, that no market garden
er or huckster will touch any other kind, 80 long
as the sapent New Workers will curdle their
milk and grippe their inteBtines witch the virulent
'hings, and think they are enjoying (or ought to
90 enjoying) the strawberry season.
OUR ONLY NATIVE EscULENT,
.s yet, il asparagus which has already been
in market from the salt lands OF old
The production is large and increasing every
'ear but nothing seems able to mitigate the
,rice, which is slow to got below twenty-five
ents for a little bunch three inches in dame
er. The profits must be enormous for there is
Nothing in nature that costs 30 little care or
punishment. There are not less than half a
million of these punches marketed here from
he north shore of Long Island alone, and a
light tram ie run expressly for this kind of
reght.
epFIItNo FRorJCa
re now the national pastime, amongst all
laescs, young and old grave or gay, suppressed
ng base ball, target shooting, croquet, boating,
gymnastics, and the whale system of muscular |
anaticism that so threatened to turn the next
eneration into prutes. Truly it is wonderful |
novement Essentially literary, incidentally
Intellectual, and related in various ways to cul-
ure and science. Wonderful how much DOWN |
lght fun can be got out of, or put into it mat
ers not which, the driest rudiments of educa- |
ion Here is the Board of Brokers for instance, |
lembers Of the Stock Exchange rand of the |
iold Exchange, pitted against each other in |
pelling match in the Governors Room. 1t was
scene more to be enjoyed for wit and uproari-
us hilarity from men of no mean intellectual
rade
THAN ANY OF THE FAMOUS REvELs
I the golden age of Merrie England. The
landing joke like all standing jokes. was poor
nough, viz to cheer the bunders and jeer the
,holarly successes. But the chatting, the pun
ing, the funny definitions, the funnier mis-
likes, and the madcap furore of fun and frolc,
ere such as / believe this would bring forth
owhere in all it's great round except in the New
ork Stock Exchange. At the same time, the
rokers .undeniably learned some things they
over knew before. A large proportion Of them
,und out, for Instance, how to spell moneys and
10 Produce Exchange may nov take its turn
nd practice a little on turkeys for turkies,
hlskeys for whiskes. etc. Even the newsboys
nd bootblacks, run each other in spelling
atches.
Bnt why spelling matches alone2 Why not
geography frolics, ,parsng frolics, and
ABOVE ALL ARITHMETIC FRoLIcs?
Te can furnish some champions in the latter
eld Pit Wall street against Park Row for in
-ance. When Greek meets Greek etc.
'ouldn't the newspaper arithmetic men and the
roker and banking clerks make the fur fly,
gurativelyr propose to offer pair of globes
the successful contestant in every school dis
ict who will stand up longest in the geographi-
u description of States and countries, seas,
kes and navigable rivers. and cities of ten
lousand inhabitants and upwards. That en-
races nearly the sum and substance of all the
geography that it is worth while to try to cram
school. q offer the prize globes to every
'hool district in the United States that will fur
sh the money to pay for them.)
PRISONERS LIBRARIES
id other mercies are the objective point Of a
rand concert to night in the Hippodrome un-
er the auspices of the Governor, Mayor, and
ther representative citizens of all parties and
asses. The mover is Linda Gilbert, fine, be-
evolent Locking lady who has espoused the
.use of those deservedy in bonds to make
lem deserving of freedom. When a little girl,
Ie relates that she used, Oh her way to school, |
pass the county jail in Chicago, her native
ty, then deal smaller than it is now and
hile her companions shrank and skedaddled at
savage face against the iron gratings. she used
stop and return its gaze with curious sympa-
~. And once the face, not so very savage, |
ethinks asked the little girl If she would not
, so good al to bring it 8,
SOMETHING, ANYTHING TO READ.
title girl submitted the prisoners request to
or papa, kind papa who gave her his library to
nd at her pleasure. 30 she carried the books
and from her stranger friend almost remind
g one of the little girl who daily fed pet Ser
ant, out in the fields from her bowl of bread
I'd milk In later years, grown to young wo- !
anhoed, she met the man at liberty, and heard I
IS grateful story of the saving good her books |
I'D more her kindness had done him. That
ado her prison missionary. From loaning
er old books and papers,s she gathered help and
ext elsewhere, in Eastern cities her life and
'rtune devoted to the mission. She has been
are some time, has started library in the /
ombs, wishes to increase it, start others. and
, many things. Whence the present concert,
hereof more anon. DELAWARE.
|
Another Western Idea. .
The first pronouncinp match of the season il