, 1877-12-29

So0 II 4A41S6 41tit Is
a measure about the wisdom of which
opinions differ very widely. but which is.
beyond all doubt. a very important thing,
marking a decided change 10 the history
OF the colony. With this change some
Others have come of less importance> E. g.
we no longer see 'Kongelig Post Vogn''
driven by a soldier of sad and solemn
mlen, (by the bye, why was a melancho-
ly looking man always chosen to drive
the mail cart?) but by the servant of the
gentleman WHO now has the contract for
our inland maj. service.
The Police Station at Kings Hill, so long
and we'll presided over by Judge Forsberg,
has been abolished, and the criminal iuris-
dlctlons OF the island made co-extensive
with the civil ones. What would our old
planters have said at having to take their
cases from Monbiiou, Bethlehem, Castle,
La Vall6e, &c. to the one town or the
other2 When on this subject, we would
ask what has become of the rural consta.
buIary bill, introduced into the Council
by Mr.. Fleming? Is it dropped, or
shelved, or whatever may be the proper
term, sharing the fate of some other mea-
sures that never burst into life, but are
still only eggs which our Colonial Coun-
Gil have sat upon until they are added?
For instance, what has become of the School
Bill so talked of more than five years ago ?
We wish som honorable member
would "lnterpelIate'' some Que about it.
The Customs Department has also UNI
dergone changes. On Mr.. Anthou's re-
movaI, MIR. KnuthSen was appointed Col
Iector, but he only enjoyed this promo
ton a very short time. At his death Cap
tain BOye succeeded to his place. Mr..
Moore had been meanwhile removed from
the post of Comptroller to be Broker in
Cbrlstiansted, and Mr.. Koefoed IS the new
Broker in FredeukSted. The staff has
been reduced in each town to one Comp
trollpr only.
Passing now to some of " the romance
of lite, We notice the fact that there has
been az unusual number of marriages this
year. Ii 1t had been leap year. when the
ladies' have the right of popping the
question:" one could understand this fact
more easily. In st. Johns English
Church alone there have been SO Maria
ges during the year, ana we believe the
other Churches have also had their full
share.
But mixed with Joyous marriage bells
have been funeral toIlings-Seve:al persons
OF mark have gone from among US. Be-
SIDES the lamented deaths of Mr.. H. Percy
and Mr.. J. Knuthsen, already alluded to,
Mrs Beech has gonp, one of the few re-
NAMING links that united the St. Croix cf
the present to a very different past. Mr..
Jacob Muller, Mr.. H. P. J6rgensen, and
many Others have also passed away from
US during the year.
Last but not least among the notewOr-
thy events of the year, We would allude
to the departure from this island of Rev.
J.. &. WiIlemoes, the Justly esteemed
Pastor of the Lutheran Church in Chris
tlansted, q man who lived in the most
taternal Intercourse with his brother
elergymen Of the other churches, and who
was a faithful and earnest worker among
his W people. The Roman Catholic
Church in West End is also again without
a clergyman, Rev. Van Lopeck having
lett the island after a short residence in it.
During the year this paper has, as is
well known, undergone a change in it's
edltorship. The staff who at present
write. tor it only undertook to do SO
because 1t seemed otherwise probable that
the island Wonld ha without