Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1875-04-09
OUR NEW YORK LETTER.
The Triumph Ofthe ExPress COmPa-
nies-Death of q Gambler-Beeeher
What TO Wear-Business.
THE TRIUMPH oF a MONOPOLY.

1
rom the clutches of the express compa-
nles--the most Odious monopoly that
curses the country, except the telegram.
The action of Congress is 1pstitutino the
parcels system was what gave the neo.
pie relief Under that law, package of
anything that could go in mail-bap
weighing not more than four pounds, was
taken anywhere for a rate per ounce
that made il possible TO order books
small articles of dry goods, and many
other things by mail at less than half the
rates of the grasping express compa-
/ nies.
The effect upon the business of the
country was immediate and beneficial.
The people ordered books, small parcels
of dry goods, ETC., three times as fire.
quently as before, and the aystem was
found to work admirably.
OF course the express companies did
not like it, for they were losing the most
profitable part of their business. They
knew exactly how to do it, aud they did
it. They had lobby in Washington, and
at the close of the session a bill was
| smuggled through that doubled the pos
| tage on merchandise parcels, binding the
| people hand and foot, and turning them
/ over to the tender mercies of their natu-
raj enemies. And the post Office depart
ment can now find no authority whatever
for mitigating any portion of the injury,
and so we must make up our minds to
sweat till the next Congress sits.
The merchants and publishers of New
York are suffering intolerably from the
Villainous law aud the rulings that sus-
tain it, for it knocks the parcels business
out of the city altogether. Possibly the
next Congress will give US relief. and
possibly not In the meantime, the peo-
pie ought to make themselves heard in
this matter. 1t is an outrage that so
great boon should be taken from US at
the bidding of two or three bloated cor
| porations. It was infamous in Congress
to purmit such an outrage as the passage
of the bill.
THE DEATH OF A GAMBLER.
The morning papers announce the death
of Johnny Hill, better known in New
York as "Cooley Keys" Cooley was one
of the characters of the great city. Orig
inally a mechanic, he became gambler
early in life and ran the usual race of men
I in that profession. He owned many
gambling houses and made large gains
of money thereby. But of late years he
has taken the wrong side of the table,
and has lost as fast as he formerly made.
| His chief claim to distinction was his
/ dress. He was, probably, the best dress
| ed man in New York. He never wore
pair of boots more than a week, his
shirt fronts were made in Paris at a cost
of 1850 per dozen, and he bought gloves
IN quantities at $500 and $1,000, wear
/ ing never less than four or five pairs
day. Cooley was a picture on Broadway.
But he died poor, as all such men do
Thousands and hundreds OF thousands
poured through his hands, but what
comes over the DEVILS back goes under
his belly. He died in a garrett in abject
misery, with but the barest necessaries of
| life, and was buried as pauper. He had
| his little day of fierce pleasure and then
/ came his night. And whate night AS
Door Cooley lay upon his wretched cot,
! in the pains ofmortal sickness, wonder
| if he did not think it would have been
better for him if he had followed his
/ original business of brass casting and
died decent man. Precious little COM
fort could dying man get out of memo
ries of life made up of cards, prOsti
tutes and fine clothes.
BEECHER.
At last the great Beecher IS on tn
stand to testify in his own behalf His
| friends claim that his testimony will en- d
| the trial, and he will so completely es-
/ tablish his innocence, and so fix the theo-
ry of conspiracy on Tilton and Moulton
| as to drive those persons out of Brooklyn
and into dishonorable obscurity. They
say he has in his testimony so arranged
as 10 make 1t inVulnersble ; and when he
gets through, he will shine in the firma-
ment like the morning star
This may be true, but it so, why, in
the name of all that is decent, didn't he
swear before? Why did he wait till now,
and permit this terrible waste offilth to
ooze in one everlasting food out of that
/ court room and oveTspread the entire
country? There has been nothing in
the nastiness of the past four weeks that
has had the slightest bearing upon the
question and if Beecher has so sure
thing as his friends say, he might have
stopped it all.
So far, his testimony has amounted to
nothing, except the most positive and
emphatic denials of his guilt. He re-
| meats in substance only his former state
4
people wonderfully. His case looks bet
ter than it did week ago.
WHAT TO WEAR.
There is more taste and less extrava-
gance year by year in the eEfolding
STYLES for women's dress. This spring
more than ever it is possible for a lady to
look well with slight expense. Fine, du-
fable, wool goods for early wear, in mod
est, pleasing shades, are seen on the
streets, and for warm weather, equally
durable and finished linens will be worn.
Firm yet soft debeges are staple fabrics,
either in plain brown and iron gray, or
in distinct shaded plaids of the same col
| or. frightened with bar of white, which
marks them from the characterless plaids
worn last fall. French suits of modern
cost are of plaids, the black and white
sbepherd's check being the freshest ia
vorite, overskirts and sleeves of stripped
stuff or silk-a fancy which will hardly
he as popular here as the contrast be-
tween plaid and palmer surfaces. The
Improvement in cotton fabrics in the las
five wears is admirable the soft percaleE
and cambrics haYing next to the beauty
of silk IN finish and all its delightln col
or Bv contrast, careful research, manu-
, facturers are able to fix delicate dyes or
cotton, and the mauve, primrose, apple
green. rose-pink, and skY-blue of per
Gales are as charming as the same shades
in costIier fabrics, to which they have
been confined. The cotton goods viii
he largely worn outside of cities where
more pretentious dress is called for, anC
the Oxford chevoits, in blue-gray with
/ thread of pink, or carnation in the stripe
; / will be worn on the promenade as freell
as they ane in Passy Neuilly, suburbs o
the centre sf fashion, or at the watering
plsce abroad. For charming caprice
9 now that lace is the fayorite trimming
, | for everything, the fine blue, violet, an'
slate-gray percales are figured as Il ~, uotsS' 'o
net were laid over the surface ana tns 1 DOL
4 / der ia printed in Mecelin or thread. lac
= Seeigns a finger wide. To SUIT the Lasn
80 of English embroidery, with which
1S.a,,s and grenadines were covered lasi
= ,iao- other percales are figured to imitat
Sha onenwork wheels, daisies and sprigS
18th border like rich embroidery. BU
Taste must choose that where border
are used at all they shall be on solid col
OTIS -,
t I5aens Of MANILA color, like the papt
of Chas name, will be worn to an unlim
ted extent, tor the pew importations hay
soft, lustrous texture, IS If mixed wit
silk, and are beautifully varied with wo
l ven lace stripes IN white or se)f-colo
y Frightened with sky-blue or brilliaI
= / crimson threads. LINEN grenadines ap
Algerian cloth bave the heavy beauty
oaii o,d Dronniaa In wear as well. Dan