Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1875-12-10
Foreign Correspondence Free Press and Times
Prom Camei's Hump TO the Thames.
BANKS OF THE THAMES, Nov. /

To one accustomed t. the scenery
Vermont, or to that whic, meets tue ey
in any part Of oar country throug
which have ridden by rail, exce;t tn
, pine and swamps of the CAr1linas an
; Georgia, the natural scenery Is tam
enough To large extent the country
level, and just now nearly flooded, in som
places quite, by late heavy rains. In on
place We passed upa diminishing It'll
stream, as we often do in America, but in
stead OF winding over .he water shed w
went through it, by two tunnels, hal
mile or so in length each. Indeed, tunnel'
were frequent, so frequent in the fore par
of the way that the cars were furnished
with lamps till nearly loon.
Manchester and Sheffield were about the
only towns through which We passed whose
names are familiar to all our people, the
one for its manufactures OF cotton, and the
other of cutlery. Until quite recently in
our country every boy was accustomed tc
take about his first lesson in learning, by
spelling out the names Rogers, Sheffield
stamped upon the blad of his pocket knife
have not seen enough to attempt to give
any description of English scenery, or Il
offer any speeulations Of my own But
using my eyes, and receiving the impress
sions given through them, | can, perhaps
best give the common reader an idea Of the
difference between England and our own
count try, if | simply name the objects that
remain most yisibly impressed on my own
mind from that ride through England, after
the lapse of two weeks
The first feature of the country land.caue
that attracts special notice from an Ameri-
can, is the absence of large rivers The
Mersey is hut little stream when once vnu
get above the broader opening at its mouth.
The Thames, Judging by the eve, j. not over
4 quarter of mile wide at London Bridge,
and at Richmond, twelve miles above, il Is
only one hundred and twenty steps. looking
less than the W inooski, north OF Burlinp
ton. Yet Englishmen boast that it bears
more wealth and commerce to the sea than
any other river Of the world. There are no
mountains to be seen now and then a
range OF what We should call low hills
Everywhere the farming lands are cut up by
- hedge rows into little Parcels of from
one to ten acres, largely Of two to i've
Small herds OF cows and young cattle. most
ly Short-horLs, are grazing everywhere. and
small fOcks of mutton sheep. the staple
meat OF the country. The tall chmueys of
the engine and factory appear alone not in
the larger towns, but in the little villages,
and even in what appears to be only cJun-
! try villas, showing that all England j.. a.
We hear 1t said, Il great workshop. Then
the eye catches everywhere, in connection
with the houses and outbuildings of the
farmers, the windmill am told that this
| power Is used for - crushing the corn. ."
| that Is, suppose, in our ycruacular. "a ,ri~t
mill. presume that it is also used f1r
other purposes and it, frequent use here
suggests that it might be used by our pco-
/ pie with equal advantage for the same and
1 other purposes on the farms and Tor various
/ mechanical ends. Here indeed. every pro
/ duct and force Ol nature are utilized 70 the
utmost. Every rod of earth Is highly cui-
| hyatcd, save the numerous and often large
commons, parks, and downs. which are re-
served by royal bounty, or hy the wealth
and privileges of the nobility, for the
| pleasure, comfort and health of the people,
or for the sporting and hunting Of the gen
tlemen. The field and lawns are vet all
! freshly green the leaves are brown, q small
part c'.orel "a din.y yellow. There appear
10 be no haru-. al our sense Of the term
only stables and stacks of hay corn,
/ grain, the latter all built oblongor circular
IN the most careful shape, a. square or
rounded, and As shapely in roof, and care
/ fully covered with thatch. as if they were
built - stand a hali-century. The ear
riageS of all descriptions are hugely clumsy
anu h1mely. have seen nothing ike our
everywhere 10 be seen buggy, either open or
covered, n light vehicle, as We should call
It, any where In the country and town,
| two-wheclei carriages are numerous, and
used for all purpose, for ca-ts, market car
rage- and pleasure, and al look heavy and
clumsy and - hard going" although many
OF them are used for what we might call
/ pleasure riding, anu are gotten ny with
! springs and cushions and paint with no
/ little claim to style. But, after all. they
strike tie eye of an American A. only an
| exaggerated French cart The thl.ls are
larger tina. the pole OF a two horse or even
a four horse stage coach and are drawn mp
/ almost to q level with the horses back The
/ iour-wheel carriages Of the gentlemen. with
two horses, and usually driver in livery,
| often also tootman, do not differ greatly
/ from those in Use among our weil-i0-do peo-
/ pie, except that they are all heavier Ia
J @ I.a
man here, have this mark Of solidity they
are made as if never to wear out.
Nov l0ih, ls15.-This morning was wet
and cold (ult frozen nor have seen any
/ thing more than very slight frost, yet aud
| flowers are seen in all the gardens and
/ house YARDS, but | was fully compensated
/ for the enforced stay indoors when the post
I boy brought in At nine o'clock the WEfKLY
( FREE Pass OF October 10Th What a re
freShing treat to sit down and rest while,
scanning it, pages and cleaning the familiar
/ news There, isn't that an Irish bull But
! yet ! insist that 1t has meaning. and
/ will let ii stand for any one who cares to
/ guess it) of my native State and county
/ Some OF this news is gratifying, some inter
4 estiug and entertaining, and some sad-as
| the accidental shooting of Mr. Carlos llis-
| ley, and the horrible development, of the
/ Slncook tragedy. Then there were the re-
1 ports Of games of base ball, and of the foot
ball annual game at the University, in
some Of which nv own boys. or Others
boys, whom | count among my friends took
1 part. confess to an interest in all this
reading.
This afternoon took stroll through the
/ town and turned into the common 10 see
| games of foot ball tuat were going on. Two
/ clubs were engaged in different parts of the
large common. Ono was composed of boys
| apparently from ten TO fourteen years old,
and the other of boys from fourteen to
twenty both were OF school boys and both
wore uniforms. The older club wore white
wOollen pants on the one side the jackets,
tght-iitting knit w0ollen fabric, were red
striped with black, and on the other side
/ blue. There were fifteen men on side.
/ The game was played quite differently from
our University game. At the opposite ends
OF the gr0una two poles are erected, twenty
| feet npart, and to these poles is fastened,
| ten feet from the ground, a croSs-bar. The
/ bail Is set between these goals, ut equal dis
/ lance om.ethcr, and " warned, a. in the
American game. khe object of either side
! il to kick the ball Orc The bar, or goal, be-
! fore them. In the prosecuting the game,
/ there are also many rules and movements
/ differing from ours, aud quiIe complicated.
/ At least looking on through a couple OF
| games mn unable to fully describe it. Sui-
/ flee to say, the movement which most at
/ tractsd my attention, which called out the
mos; violent and determined efforts, which
took up large part of the time OF the
| players and in which was the greatest ex
citement, both of players and lockers on,
was the catching up Of the ball and run
ming with it. Any one can pick up the
ball when it is in motion he pats it under
his left arm and runs with it, AL his oppo-
nents attacking him. and his friends of
course defending him. lie runs, beating oil
his opponents, till he can bring it to some
desired point in the ground, or failing of
this, toss it to friend, or till thrown.
when all Of both sides who are near pitch in
i 81 ,.,