St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1878-08-16
Our New York Letter.

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THE sOCIALIsTs-REFORMER WHO DON 7
REFoRM-A TERRIBLE ENGINE OF WAR
THE UNHAPPY KINGS THE FIFTH
AVENUE.
NEW YORK, Aug. 10, 1873.
To the Editor of the Cdled0nian
We have been regaled during the past
week with an introduction to the work
ings of the Congressional Labor Com
mittee, of whom the Hon. A. S. Hewitt,
of this city, is the chairman, and Messrs'
Rice of Massachusetts, Boyd of Illinois,
and Thompson of Pennsylvania, the
constituent members. Had Congress
given these gentlemen vacation, and
instructed them to stop in New York
and witness OF take part in farce, the
instruction could not have been more
fully developed and realized than it was
when they issued a general invitation to
all classes to appear before them, and
give their views us to the causes of the
existing depression, and to suggest meas
| uiOo Aoi ito hoSC NuO nave tHus
far aired themselves, have as general
thing been Utopians, in the fullest mean
ing of the word. Communists, Socialists,
WOmen's Rights men and women, Spir-
itualists, long haired reformers of every
kind, all have appeared, and have given
these gentlemen to understand that they
tha of tho oil
that it is only by their sovereign will
that Congress or the Government is per-
mitted to exist. Under their PROPOSE
tons there is to be, or would be, a gen
eral millennium. Property is to be equal
ly divided. The man who works and
saves is to have no more than he who
idles and spends, and Government is to
act the part of a patriaIchal parent, and
see to everything. Government is to
run the railrOands, telegraphs and all
other works now carried ON by compa-
mics. Government is to employ every
body, pay everybody, hold everything
in trust for everybody, but above all
things Government is to be a strictly
honest papa; no more Credit MObiliers /;
no more Substituting railroad, telegraph
or steamboat companies. There is to be
but one general Christian brotherhood.
under which all will act in concert, and
every man will take his brother by the
hand, call him brother, and divide his
substance with him. The most amusing
feature that this cold and unfeeling world
which does not sympathize with these
visionary views encounters, is the ex-
treme pertiDacity with which these same
Utopians hold on to the little worldly
pelf III their possession. Even that ex-
IRENE communist and socialist, Justus
II. Schwab, will not give suffering
brother glass of beer without the nee
essary quid pro quo in the shape of FIVE
cent piece.
| hope that we shall not soon be in
volved in Il war which would enable us TO
use our new style of submarine weapons.
but if we should happen to become in
volved, think we could show a thing
or two to any men-Of-war which might
seek to invade the harbor of New York.
Major General Abbott, of the regular
army, has been busy for a week expert
menting with some new torpedoes
at Wizards Point, and the results of
these have been to prove that the
heaviest vessels may be blown into the
air at a moments warning. A LARGE
number of torpedoes were exploded at
different depths and under various con-
ditiOns, the effect in each case being
carefully noted for future reference. The
final experiment was the blowing up of
a 2OO-tOn schooner in the presence of a
number of spectators. The scene on
this occasion reminded one of the memo
rable blowing up of He'll Gate.
The torpedo, containing a hundred
pounds of powder, was sunk beneath
the vessel and connected by an electric
wire with the station on shore. When all
was in readiness, Gen. Abbott touched
the key, aud Immediately there was a
violent cOmmOtiOn of the water under
the schooner. She snapped asunder as
if made of pasteboard, with a loud, deep
report; her timbers were torn as if thew
were straws, and confused mass of
water, planks, fragments of wood, black
dust, and volume of smoke, through
wnlcn darted large, red globe of fire,
was hurled up to a height of at least
l30 feet. For moment the whole mass
balanced in the air and then fell. All
that remained of the schooner was the
top of the cabin deck Of the remainder
of the vessel no two planks were left to-
gether. Photography was called in to
record the experiment, several instanta-
neous views of the explosion being OBJ
tanned in its different stages.
That was an odd robbery that startled
the few jewellers in Wesley street last
week, and which still remains an i'm
penetrable mystery. A family named
King had slowly and painfully accumu-
lated small fortune of $780, 900, and be-
ing more than suspicious of Savings
Banks, real estate, stocks and all other
investments, thought to get the "dead
wood" on financial casualties by putting
the amount into gold and government
bonds and hiding it in an old valise in
the attic. This plan worked to charm
for some months the little dark closet
that held all this treasure kept its own
counsel, and the family chuckled over
their wisdom and prudence every time
| they read of faithless cashier or a