Middletown transcript., 1876-07-01
Our New York Letter.
New York, June 81, 1876

THE BRYANT TESTIMONIAL.
A very graceful act, as well as pop
ular and appropriate one was the formal
acknowledgment of the genius of poet
and the high worth of a man at Chick
ering hall on the evening Of the goth.
Great men must usually be content with
the hope Of posthumous ripening Of
their fame and the uncertainty of even
that is too often the bitterness of souls
to whom fame Of right belongs. The
life Of Mr.. VIM Cullen Bryant presents
beautiful exception to this unjust rule.
Length Of years has been given him to
behold the fruition of his labors and his
hopes, and his sheaf though full and
golden has not been garnered before he
saw the sheaves Of his brethren bow
down to it in voluntary and gladly rem
dered homage.
On the evening above indicated an
elegant silver vase was presented to the
venerable poet with becoming ceremony
and speech The presentation was made
by the club of which Mr. Bryant is
president, but the funds with which it
was purchased were contributed from
all over the country, and the testimonial
is thus a national one. The vase itself
is an exquisite specimen Of the silver
smiths art, richly covered with appro-
pirate subjects drawn from Mr.. Bryant's
works. its crowning establishment being
fine medallion head of the recipient.
This masterpiece Of American silver
smithy was designed and executed in
this city, at cost of $4,000 1t will
be displayed at the Centennial
DEMoRAL1zED DEposIToRs.
Another presentation Of the week,
hardly SO pleasant to the donees. how
ever, was that of bank books at the
counter of the Dry Dock Savings Bank
by depositors who had got panic stricken
over some floating rumor and started a
"run" at once But the bank is one
Of the strongest in the country, and after
paying out stream of cash to the
amount of nearly $400, 900, convinced
the majority of its customers that every
thing is all right.
Although run is usually rather an
unpleasant episode in the life Of a bank.
l presume the officers will bear the
present one with equanimity, inasmuch
as the premature withdrawal of funds
saves them the payment Of interest
thereon to the amount of about $5, 900,
which would have been due July 1st.
The unreasonable action Of depositors
in this instance only shows how the
wretched record of wild cat savings
banks in this city has scared the unfor-
tunate laboring classes among which all
such institutions find their customers.
and the fraudulent ones their dupes.
CORNER STONE RELICS.
An old Methodist Church IN Greene
street has just been torn down to make
way for business structures, and on
breaking open its corner stone pewter
,ox was found, in which were contained
copies Of the prominent newspapers of
the day, the very names of which are
strange to the new generation Beside
the journalistic relics were numerous
others, including the builders estimate,
an account of the corner stone laying,
and about one dollar in small coins
which in their tight resting place had
preserved their brightness through
nearly half a century of imprisonment
FLIGHT OF BUSINESS.
Business has left towu-probably
gone off to get under a tree somewhere
and fan itself And its we'll known
fact that when the cats away the mice
will play. So with us to kill time and
keep cool are the two objects in life
now. People who have to stay in town
feel that its very little use working
Even the hand cart proprietor who sits
doing under the shade Of a wall or
awning, is disposed to be querulous if
walked up on business grounds. The
shining half dollar, which few weeks
ago would have frightened him up like
shower bath now excites at most a
feeble interest. Even the match ped
dlers 60 for me SO languidly as to be
comparatively inofensive, and the
youthful vender of strawberries r'
whore we'll developed lungs were wont
in cooler weather to disturb my morn
ing nap is so much victim of summer
laziness as not to fetch single howl
more than is necessary to quiet very
easy going conscience
GOSPEL TENT.
The present is the second week Of the
Gospel Tent" services, sort of con-
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