St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1878-08-30

GREAT SWINDLE NEW 1Ohh AM
THE YELLOW FEVER A LUNATIC
WITNESS.
New YORK, Aug. "a, 1873.
| To the Editor of the Caledomiam:
A spirited war is again in progress
over the future of the big East River
bridge, which has already swallowed
up, including interest, over 2,OOO,OOO,
and which is probably not more than
half completed. Being out of money
to 60 ahead with, the Bridge Commits
sioners have made the usual requisition
upon the Comptroller for fresh issue
of bonds as provided by law for the
raising of New York's third of the ex-
pense. The Comptroller has fatty re-
refused to comply, on the ground that
there has been gross extravaganza, mis-
management and fraud in the conduct
of the work thus far that the legal
limit of expenditure will be passed long
before the structure is finished that
the bridge when built will be nuisance
W anu III NdoO VI Nv ftu
vantage except to Brooklyn. The Cor
poration Counsel of New York city be-
ing applied to for an opinion, wrote an
elaborate one to the effect that Comp
troller Kelley had no option in the mat
ter, but was bound to issue the bonds.
Still the Comptroller holds out and re-
70, EEforly nunrb I1nfil in1ioiol do
cision shall have been obtained. The
newspapers have taken it up, the ma
jority supporting the Comptroller in his
action and thus the matter stands. The
force of wOrkmen have been dismissed,
and everything is ut a deadlock.
There is doubtless cOlOred gentle
man somewhere in this wOOdpIle as
witness the growth of the estimates. A
prominent merchant who knows the
whole story, recently expressed himself
as follows: "The BRIDGE he said, sis
more gigantic swindle than the court
house, or the Capitol at Albany. 1t be-
gan in the same way, with il demand
for small appropriation, and year af-
ter year the grasping Ring have cried
for more, more. In 1860 j. A. ROebling
estimated the cost at S3,000,0 900; in
, 1866 he increased his estimate to 81, >
000, 900; in 1867 to 81 600, 900; all this
) for height of 200 feet. In 1872 his son,
2 Col w. A. ROebling, made the esti-
mate Sc, 800, 900, although the proposed
height of the bridge had been reduced
. from 200 to 1876 feet. In 1873 the esti-
mate SI3, AS, 005, and believe it will
go on increasing until it reaches S25,
DOC, 900. There seems to be no limit tO
g the grasping capacity of the Bridge
3 Ring, and unless the financial officers oil
New York shut down on them they viii
: continue to, demand money, until they
Y have saddled the city with an enormOu:
2 debt in addition to her already toe
f great responsibilities"
S More than this it is said to be seri
S our question whether the bridge will
. its enormous weight would be safe after
| it was done. So We are in rather I'M
= enviable quandary. If the bridge goes
f on to completion we have got to stand
S a drain of money for years with the
= possibility of having after all only al
r unsafe and practically useless structur,
IA to show for it. If the work is abandon
e ed the two cities of New York ant
s Brooklyn not only are out of poke
It money, many millions of dollars, bu
j" have exposed themselves to the ridicul'
is of the world for having reared two sucl
l. costly monuments of reckless jObbery
as the piers of the Brooklyn Bridg,
would then have proved to be.
:. AS the dispatches come hurrying il
y from the plague-stricken south, eacl
u bearing mOIe dismal tidings than it
predecessor, some uneaSiness has beel
). felt for the safety of New York
g from which town it is, of course, impos
!, sible to entirely exclude fugitives from
! the yellow fever districts. One or tw,
v cases of the disease have indeed BEEF
" discovered here, but so great vigilanc
: is exercised at quarantine and through
q out the Health Department that / pre-
sumo we really have little foundation
for our fears. The appeals for help
which New York is always the first cit.
" to receive in cases of local distress any
= where in the country, have begun t,
y pour in, and, as usual, are promptly re
!" sponded to. Several thousands of dol
=. lars have already been contributed ant
~ forwarded, and more is being done il
y the same direction. The violence an
rapid spread of the scOurge has had
- serious effect on our southern trade fo
n this season, amounting i'll some lines t
- its almost complete ruin.
. Among the measures introduced t
" check the spread of the disease is tn
-, novel one of disinfecting the mails be
Ne 'S fore forwarding from the yellow feve
u towns.
~ The most salient feature, thus far, {
= the session of the Butler-Potter Inves
20 tigating Committee in New York, ha
~ been the extraordinary testimony of th
-, New Orleans witness, Leet. During til
70 days of his examination much interes
- was displayed in the proceedings, ov
70 ing to the witness strange manner an
iS startling statements. 1t now seems thu
&c Leet was at least aItially insane viii
- he was giving this testimony. After bt
~ ing released from attendance on til
y" committee he went to the Astor Hous
nc where, after displaying his mental al
- CREATION by contiding to the hotel pc,
10 pie the fact that he was constantly pu
~ sued by kidnappers and assassins,
n, locked himself in his room and fire
- several shots through the door at tt
- clerk and a policeman who endeavort
va to gain entrance. He was quickly s
10 cured, however, and is now in Il
ne BloOmingdale Insane Asylum.
RADIX.
he Vermont News.