St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1876-09-01
Our Radix Letter.

THE SMASHED COAL RING-A Thrilling
| ADVENTURE A STATEMENT UNDER
oATH-NEw AQUATIC SPORT - THE
FRENCH -PHILADELPHIA-
NEW JERSEY YOUNG CHINA - THE
SILK WORMS.
NEW YORK. Aug. p. lS76
/ To the Editor Of tie CdieiOnidn
The pleasantest occurrence have to
chronicle this week. not 50 much is to
the parties Immediately concerned per
haps. but certainly welcome to every
body else, is the final breaking down of
the great coal combination which for
four years past has monopolized the
trade in anthracite coal, controlled its
mining and transportation, and regu
lated the prices for the country to suit
its own convenience. The stringrncy
of the times has been squeezing various
of the members of this ring, which Is
mainly composed of railroad corpora
tionS for some months, and at last
brought such Il pressure upon them that
carrying their share of the rings load
becamc too great Il burden. The re
suits were increasingly frequent secret
brccrhcS of agreement in the cuttim" of
prices. and now the whole thing has
fallen to pieces 10y its own weight. 1t
is therefore il ray of sunshine thrown
upon the prospect of the approaching
winter that fuel wIll Ice Within the reach
of more people than for Years past.
The most unpleasant one is about
mosquitoes. Now Is the season when
the New Jersey marshes and Lon" Is
land sand breed tlr>, vampires 81 large
that many of them have To take the
ferry boat to get ACROSS to this city.
This MAY seem Il little strange to par
ties residing at Il distance. but all such
must remember that ii is Il newspaper
mans duty to tell the whole truth I'M
tiinchinglN, even though he thereby
icopardizc> his reputation for strict
vcracity. Still should hc >orry t."
have even one of your readers lose con
tidcncr in me. - will try and neutral
izc any i'll effect which might result
one which WAS told me in confidence
this morning 10y II friend of mine. also
Il journalist. This statement. which
Was made uhdcr oath Chat i accom-
panied 10y considerable profanity runs
a. follows: Ny friend relates that ON
retiring to bed last night after the few
glasses of beer which his phy stefan has
prescribed :lS Il tonic. he sunk at once
minutes had elapsed. however. when Ia.
WAS AROUSED Ia Il >cmi-con>ciouS comdi-
ton 10y feeling something walking over
his chest. Surprising ii Ia he only the
dog he made Il pass at IT, which caused
the Wei ght to he removed. but which
started Il peculiar noise >nmcthug like
Il tug whistle. "nl not 50 steady. But
the been had Il strong >cdativc influence
and 81 my friend just sunk off again
To Il confused dream about Levy : COM
in" down from GilmortS and sailing
around his room on Il cornet which kept
up Il drouing blast of supernatural pow
Ell. The next thing he knew something
took hold of his ear with pair of red
hot pinchrI> and hauled him half out
of bed. \ Wild blow released him. but
started up the cornct again. Then he
realized ~ fully aS the beer would per
NIT. that he WAS dealing with IL New
jersey mesquite. OF the remaining
horrors of that night my poor friend
could not bring himself 1" speak Suf-
lice ii Ia say that when morning came
he found that he had hlIckcd both his
eyes. tiattrned his nose and brought
"ut one cheek To look like the uunp> ::
and being still little dazrd with the
battle and the beer he got up and had
| himself arrested for assault and battery.
But the immigrant from JERSEY only
| laughed carelr>>lN. stretched himself
once OF twice. kicked 4 pane of glass
out of the front window and sailed over
I" Il nrighhoriug tree Ia get Il little rest
and practice the scales awhile lust to
keep his voice in trim
remarked to my friend that thought
his mesquite tale was the >.lddcSt thing
! ! had ever known. but he must have
misunderstood me for he replied that
tor sadness il Wasn't Il circumstance to
the mosquitoes other end
have given the stony Just aS il WIS
told t" me. and submit t" any mnpreiu-
diced reader. if OF the two he wouldn't
rather believe my modest assertion
about the ferry boats
y no.ahlc increase of interest in the
art OF swimming has developed itself
| tins season. and Il more desirable tca-
ture III So called sporting life could
scarcely hr mentioned. All rtvilalS of
athletic exercises can he traced To some
extraordinary feat which call out the
| plandits OF the world. The dal after
Weston scored his first lUO miles in -
| hours, the. stages. the. cars and ,tL.,
public conveNanccS ran over the courses
with passengers few and far between.
while the streets presented the Ippclr-
ancc of chronic procession. So. too.
the remarkable feat of Capt. Webb
who swan the English channel, and the
aquatic performances of cN-champiuu
Johnston may be accepted as the touu-
| tain head from whence Spranu the res
direction of amateur Sw .Inmin" matches
nor is this new awakened interest con
fined to the Stcrncr sen The ladies
themselves. though in Il slightly more
retired manner of course. wager boxes
of the latest style of hairpn. and other
things too mNSterious To mention. that
each will pull her own nose first under
the winning ropes.
Every facility is offered To those de-
string to add this accomplishment To
their list and should more avail them
sol these opportunities there would
he Il marked decrease in the number of
drowning cases, the liability to which
our summer life upon the water 50 free
~ invites.
After dark, following a recent match.
tn" spectators were entertained bI
- n Il