Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1875-12-24
Personal.

ing paper on American hydraulic cement,
read before the fortnix htlv club OF that
city, by Don j Whittemore g. E.. iorner-
ly of Milton. VI. The article is an exceed
| ingly full and atle Que and T. the result oil
a series of experiments by the author. Tor
the purpose of ascartain'oF The tensile
transverse, crushing and adhesive strength
Of samples of stone which have been found
In the immediate vicinity Of Mllwausee.ani
which promises to be one OF the most re-
marKable deposits of this character IN the
world. Mr.. Whittemore. as many Of our
readers may know. commenced his probes
sional life on the Vermont Central Railroad,
twenty-five years ago. lie Is now the Chiei
Engineer of the Chicago. Milwaukee and
| St Paul Railroad and has honorably ac-
CURED the reputation of being one OF the
leading civil engineers OF the country. lie
| il the designer of the new bridge over the
Mississippi, at La Crosse, and is now com
pleting the plans for 0, OF the largest ele-
yators in the West to / erected this Spring,
at Milwaukee
Col joyce has introduced 10 Congress
petition of Mrs. LUCIA Green Brown, OF
Montpelier. and 900 others, praying Tor
the appointment Of a commission to inquire
and report a. to the results OF the traffic IN
alcoholic liquors in connection with crime,
paupefism, and the public health. and to
recommend what add Jnal legislation. it
any, would be beneficial to suppress in the
sphere Of national authority the tralhc III
alcoholic liquors as beverages which was
referred to the committee On the Judiciary
1t ISN'T settled yet who this " dynamite
feni' was Brooklyn repudiates him. de-
clarlng that NJ man OF the name OF William
Ii Thompson ever lived there, and tie latest
dispatches say that the follows name was
Alexander. one account REPRESENTING him
a. New Yorker Of good family and the
other a. an Euglsbman His assertion
that he had affected large assurances On
goods which were TO be shipped from
Southampton proves untounded, and there
really seems good reason to believe that,
whoever he was. he was cTszy-a theory
which for the sake Of human nature the
world will be very glad TO accept
George Alfred Townsend. writing IRON
Washington, tells this story To-day saw
Old Gen. Suffer, on whose iaud gold was
first discovered III California, stepping out
Of a car on the avenue. \ more pItable
Instance Of great old age. unc0mpenslted
and neglected, | never knew. IL was in his
mill-rsce near Sacramento the precious
dust was first seen by the Americans. lie
u native OF Switzerland, but went u the
Sandwich Islands To cultivate oranges, and
iheace TO the Pacific coast of America,
where ne took large tract OF land under
Mexican grant, with the hope that the
United States would some day stretch out
to him. But it came. like Jupiter TO Dams,
in golden shower, and the rush of miners
trampled over bis fields. killed his herds.
and made desolati0n IN place Ot the lair
estate they had found From that discovery
came the most enormous tribute nature
over paid 10 man Tne present year yield
Of gold in California cannot he less than
: 800 600, coo in specie, and while this IN
mense funnel of wealth has been flowing
for more than d quarter Ot "a century anu
great merchants and banker have been
made 10y IT. possession. poor old Hdtter, IN
the brink OF the grave, = unable 10 hud al
ear 10 u hich he can tell has story. lie l.
now more than 30 years Of age. anu lives
in little cottage at Litiz. Penn. where he
is educating his grandchildren at German
school. The whole world has been exercised
by Ralston fate and Flood and Brien'-
fortunes Vet here = the man at the source
OF this mighty romance with scarcely place
10 lay has head lie Is kindly. gentle old
person, bat he ha- passed his age. Some
NJ 4 "A .
an announcement Of hi- death and then
perhaps Congress viii give the tardy STINT
OF 1t, generosity 10 the golden farmer
tie has a ,.um Tor damages here.
We saw Beechsr Thanksgiving Day lie
was not looking &c wan and thin. a. some
correspondents are SO fond Of describing
him lie looked a. blooming as jane rose
and a. rugged As man OF war II the full
possession Of one powers IN The hour OF
disaster tends to prove ones innocence, Nj
Beoch6r Is making good show for himself.
His sermon on Thanksgiving Day was the
most mastery production ~ regard to the
common school question. We have ever
heard or seen IL was fully a. powerful A.
any ui his old anti slavery sermons Mr.
Beecher = close connection with the Moody
and Sankey revival has been Z subject of
remark Not only did be attend nearly all
IF the meetings, taking public part IN one
Of them. but al-1 do We ind him IN council.
together with other clergymen, with Mr.
Moody Ii l. not - generally known that
Mr. Moody spared two hour- Of his valu-
able and much occupied time ia private
conversation With Mr. Beecher. at the lat
ter own house -. cor
joaquin Miller appearance at the Area
dian Club dinner IN New York i thus pen
pictured d" lie looks ike sandy haired
Russian D.llt. with q beard trimmed il
Z5u1ue, and several snowy rngs on hi~
fingers, including 4 big solitaire diamond
ring on the f0refuger Of his lett hand lie
eat- much drinks much. and picks hi-
teeth all through the dinner The mea! was
not half over : be asked fJT his 0VercOai
and wrapped the lower part OF his body IN
Il, saying that he ws- afflicted with a bad
cold in that region
President Smith ct Dartmouth College,
has written letter with regard 10 the al
legged deialcauon Of the late Hon Daniel
Biaisiell tor many years treasurer of that
institution lie siate- that the books and
papers OF tie 0ihce are now undergoing an
examination In the process OF review
and yeridoa,ion some psrplexities have
arisen. " says President smith, and APP
parent discrepancies have been found at
several points bat We have rs vet no proof
and this j. what AIN chiefly concerned to
say Of the appropriation by our late treas
urer Of angle penny OF the College prop
erty to his own use
William Norris. the famous poet, always
Ia LondOn correspondent says writes IN
der the influence of The baneiul weed -
tobacco lie has beautiful house in Lon
don, furnished, carpeted, pspered and
painted tnro ughOut after the designs OF the
great household Art firm, of which be IL
the senior member bat he writes in lit
/ tie, plain room, ia the top story, which
/ contains table, two or three chairs, and
multitude of long clay pipes The walls
/ are hung with leaf tobacco When the
smoke j. thiCkest the poetry j. best. Wag-
ner composed his shriekiug music in apart
ments that may fairly be called by that
much-abused term palatial, and Becktord
wrote "Nsthek' in h palace but Haw-
thorne complained that has tlorentine study
was TOO beautiful 20 allow him to write
well Sir Walter Scott wished nothing but
/ books, paper. pen and ink 10 his working
room, and Mark Twain, after building a
magnificent house with whole suite OF
rooms on top panelled 10 OAK and splendidly
| finished, for study" has since written
in room in his barn, where the only Tres
Goes are executed by spiders the only car
pet supplied by sawdust. and the only ia
/ spirati0n mental, not material
The Pope. 1t appears. has often gwen
proofs Of his good will toward the sock and
| buskin When celebrated local CONNIE
dian, named Domenilone, gave his farewell
at tna Vale Theatre, the Holy Father sent
him fifty crowns for boz. which, however,
he did not occupy, much to the regret of
the actor In May. ii he lives until that
time, the Pope will celebrate the fftleth
anniversary of his conservation as bishop
i'll the church Of which he is now the
! head
The late uoa Joel Parker. LII d.
made a large bequest to Dartmouth Col
lege The property which he bequesthed
is to constitute three funds in support Of a
Law Department. an instruction fund. a
library fund and building fund. Ii G de-