St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1877-01-26
Letter from Illinois.

AURORA, ILL, Jan. Is, 1877.
Perhaps, Mr.. Editor, letter from
one of your old subscribers of twenty
years gone by, now residing in this far
off region, may not be interesting to all
your readers, and perhaps not to even
any of them yet having been former
resident, and never having entirely lost
my interest in it and of late having
that interest intensely revived in all
that pertains to St. Johnsbury welfare,
1 propose to drop you line now and
then, subject to your waste basket if it
is not suitable for your columns.
During my residence here l have
never been without a daily reminder of
the place left behind me, in the shape
of the wOrld-renowned scale, either
large or small, bearing on the beam
the well known and universally es-
teemed makers name-"Fairbanks."
One of our largest pork buyers said to
me only a day or two since, ''In hand
ling as | do, thousands of dressed hogs
every winter, l have never had Gus
toner question the accuracy of the
weight, when told that his hogs were
weighed on a Fairbanks scale"
Speaking of the above industrial pro-
duct of st. Johnsbury, leads me to
mention another, not so well known
| refer to the "St. Johnsbury Granite
Works. which through circular OIL
something of that sort, was brought tC
the notice of one of our largest and
most energetic Scotch granite and mar
ble tombstone erectors, in the West, >
j. M. Andrus,-a man who handles Ovel
a hundred thousand dollars worth &
year. Knowing that | formerly resided
in st. Johnsbury he asked me a day oil
two since, if l knew anything about
that institution, and on my replying
that did not, and asking his reason
for the question, he said, 81 was, and
am very anxious to obtain some Yer
mont granite for monuments and wrote
+, to the st. JOhnsbury Granite Works,
making inquiries as to terms, etc.
received after delay, a reply to the
. effect that they had not help enough to
enable them to do anything for me.
: wrote back to them if that is all yOul
trouble, l can furnish you fifty men il
less than a weeks time, but received
: no reply"
Aurora is a right smart little place o
i about l, 800 inhabitants, located thirty
= eight miles west of Chicago, on the line
of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy
S, Railroad, where it's shops are located
employing about four hundred and fifty
or five hundred hands in the repairing
t. of old, and building of new cars anC
engines. Enjoying, as Aurora does, ;
heavy country trade drawn from tn,
v surrounding country towns, a distance
of thirty or forty miles, makes our street.
very lively, especially just at this tim
when farmers are bringing in their porl
and poultry. L bave seen days when
- string of teams quarter of mile long
loaded with dressed pork, were in line
ry waiting their turn to unload, it some
times taking three days to accomplish
> the object, that is, get their load
- weighed off and receive their pay
During the busy season, many buyer
come on here from the east, Boston an
9 '9. Providence being particularly repre-
= sented. The pork and poultry is al
shipped east, New England receivin
- the bulk of it. The prices paid bein
notably two or three cents per pOun
higher here than in Chicago. Prices fo
W. pork now range from $3.50 to SO pc
hundred pounds, according to quality
10 cents for chickens, and 13 cents fO
prime turkeys. The poultry season
nearly closed, while the pork market
>. now brisk. Already about S64 casB
of poultry amounting to over 100 tor
have been shipped from here this wiz
ter. The amount of pork is not a
- tainable just yet.
Never in the memory of the Olde
,st inhabitant have we had such genuiI
old-fashioned, New England winter, ;
the present, thus far. The chilling bias
from the open doors of the North Pc
Is. came down upon us sharp and sevel
about the first of December, the the
ON mometer ranging from Is above to
below zero, ever since and for a wOl
der the sleighing has been good mo
of the time. Last week the sleighiI
ks " =,
zen which was getting pretty well wor
was renewed by heavy fall OF sno'
about foot falling, making the sleig
ing just splendid. AS for ice, that
! now about two feet thick on Fox rive
-. the sporting gentry using it for ra
EN- track.
ent The Presidential fever has had
nee run, the average voter being content
let matters rest until the powers th
be determine the question by coul
The great question now agitating us
and this state, more than anything else,
low TT /,