Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1877-10-31
Notes and Comments.

Washington warmly urging the confrma-
ton of General Harlan-a fact which puts a
quietus upon gossip about quarrel between
these two gentlemen.
An exchange observes: "When the sub
sidy and initiation question drops upon the
harmonious democracy in Congress, the
party will discover cloud or two in the DO
litical heavens, with faint limitations of a
cyclone in 1880"
SAYS Hdrpers Weekly. "If the result of
the elections could be fairly construed as
Republican reputation of the President, so
much the worse for the Republican party I;
not because any President or any man is
greater than a principle, but because TIE
President stands at this time for the ends
that vast mass of patriotic, intelligent
and determined American citizens have at
heart"
COLLECTOR SIMMONS, of Boston, SCOTS at
the suggestion that the state election is i'm
periled by the Presidents order to the Office
holders. "The idea," he says, "that the
great Republican party of Massachusetts, is
in jeopardy, on account of the inactivity of
few hundred federal officials, is to the last
degree nonsensical and absurd. If the party
in our state is reduced to this dependence,
there is little hope for its future"
THE committee on judiciary have been
surprised at the nature of bill presented by
Senator Merrimon, of North Carolina, which
provided for repeal of section of the re-
visei statutes. Under this title the bill at
traoted no attention, and was thus referred
An examination of this section, however,
shows that ii is the one which prohibits
payments of pensions to any confederate
soldier or widow of such soldier, and the re-
peal of this section would open the pension
rolls to all confederate armies and to the
families of all who served in them.
lr is generally agreed that the President
must heed the lesson of Ohio. His convic.
tions of public duty must be changed, it
seems, whenever the state elections 90
wrong. But there is less unanimity than
might be desired, concerning the kind of
lesson he has received. Some authorities
say it is a lesson against resumption, others
against initiation, others against the South.
ern policy, others against the Old Guard"
and so on indefinitely. Perhaps it will be
best to hold convention to ascertain and
inform the President what the election
means.
GEORGE WILLIAM CURTIS, in addition
to his other labors, conducts the services in
the little Unitarian church in his neighbor-
hood The house of worship is small and
ago the pastor resigned, and Mr.. Curtis was
asked to read a sermon and conduct the
general services. He has continued to per-
form that duty ever since, and one of the
society recently remarked that they should
not get a pastor so long as Mr.. Curtis would
fill the place. He selects sermons from all
the leading preachers and reads them with
fine effect.
AFTER giving General Howard high
praise for his conduct of the Indian cam.
paign, the Chicago Tribune says "The mo-
tive for the various small and malignant at
tacks in the newspapers upon General How
ard is not far to seek. He is "a Bible
chief or in other words, Christian; and
it is the fashion among many of the younger
men of the newspaper profession-the class
who try to be smart to presume that no
good can come out of Israel We believe
i'll awarding honor where honor is due, and
that honor is due to General Howard no
candid man who has read the history of the
campaign can doubt"
Mr.. FITcH, Register in Bankruptcy in
New York, has made up report revealing
the rascalty that is continually committed
in bankruptcy proceedings. He says that it
has almost become the universal practice in
that city for persons knowing themselves to
be insolvent to make large purchases of mer-
chandise, make fictitious debts to friends,
and then make general assignment to some
personal friend, who continues the business
at the old stand. The bankrupt continues
to live in style, and at the end of six months
is put through involuntary bankruptcy and
discharged his general creditors getting
nothing, and himself and friends benefting
at their expense.
THE New York EUening Mail is response
BILE for the following " How to foretell the
weather by the moon: Note what the state
of the weather is on the fifth day after new
moon. If it continues unchanged over the
sixth day, it is eleven chances in twelve that
it will remain about the same until the next
new moon, or about that time. If the
weather on the sixth day after new moon
should be the same as on the fourth day, it
is nine chances in twelve that it will be the
same as on the fourth day for the entire
moon. In counting for the fourth or sixth
day, be particular to begin at the exact time
Of the new moon, and add three-quarters
of an hour to each day to make up the diff
ference between solar and lunar day."
ANCIENT TANKs.-At Kanthalai, Ceylon,
there is a magnificent tank on scale so