St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1878-07-12
Our New York Letter.

NJ
sHOOTER-A WONDERFUL EXHIBITION.
NEW YORK, July 5, 1873.
To the Editor of the CaIedOniam:
Since my last letter the American
eagle has for the 102d time tapped
those tireless wings of his, and given
Ohio all pervading screech over the
dOings of 1776. Some one has suggested
and it's not such bad suggestion,
either-that 100 years is about long
enough for grown-up nation to crow
boisterously over its getting out of lead
ing strings. 1t is a fair question, at
least, whether it is entirely dignified
for a country which has attained an I'M
questioned place among the great pow
ers of the world to keep on year after
year yelling, banging and throwing up
its hat, as crazy with bOyish enthusiasm
as when it was eighty or ninety years
younger, and all because we are not
somebody else's colony. don't want
to be thought scOffer at proper and
established order of things, and don't
want to he put out of the synagogue
for want of patriotism but must say
that our present Fourth of July hula
balOO reminds me more and more of
the performance of some old gentleman
who should set apart a day each year
for standing on his head, shooting off
finger or so, and getting blind drunk,
to commemorate his having been fished
out of the river when youngster, or
to celebrate the day when he got his
first pair of boots.
But, happily for the fire. cracker men
and the rising generation, | am in a
hopeless minority on this question, and
Thursday was devoted to the usual
noisy demonstrations not so noisy as
usual in the city proper however. for
the authorities very sensibly refused
this year to suspend the ordinance
agalntt the various preparations of gun
powder. There were, of course, numer-
Gus violations of the ordinance, but OH
the whole the city was more quiet than
in previous years. But outside the
jurisdiction of our worthy Aldermen the
din was undiminished, and the suburbs
were largely resorted to by those whose
patriotic frenzy refused to be curbed by
the rules of the municipality.
The terrific weather of the past week
drove hundreds of thousands to the
oceans edge, and Coney Island, Man
haitian Beach, Rockaway and the other
tavOrite resorts were crowded with
pleasure seekers, who reveled in the
bit of cool air there vOuchsafed them.
There seemed to be considerable enjoy
ment of the day despite the heat, and
the reported casualties were unusually
few in number.
The afternoon was dOubly enlivened
by cooling rain and the bulletin from
London which told how nobly the
American oarsmen were working to
sustain the national reputation for
muscle and skill. The wonderful Mich
iganders, with the jaw breaking name,
were the subject of many admiring
encOniums from lovers of the sport.
The dispatches of the next day, how
ever, were even more welcome to New
Workers, us they chronicled the victory
of ON Columbia College boys over the
Hartford crew. American rowing will
he regarded with increased respect in
England as the result of this regatta.
Bulletins from Paris give us numerous
additional descriptions of the promi-
nent displays made by American man
ufacturers; and it is curious to note
how evidently the reports carried back
to Europe by visitors to our Centennial,
where practically for the first time the
world took astOnished cOgnizance of the
extent of American ingenuity and skill,
have stimulated European curiosity to
examine American wares. Correspond
ents write that the leading exhibits from
the United States are constantly sur
rounded by eager crowds who, as a rule,
take no pains to conceal their admira-
ton and surprise. France for instance,
is the home of the harmonium or reed
organ manufacture, and the French have
supposed themselves to lead the world
in this industry, but they are now forced
to admit that the American Organs, as
represented by the magnificent cOllec-
ton of instruments from the factory of
Estey & Co., which are there shown are
superior in variety, tone and noticeably
in richness of appearance to anything
their home factories can produce. The
Estey establishment has for years had
Il very heavy foreign business to which
the impression they are now making
upon the cosmopolitan throng that daily
surges through the Champs de Mars
will give new and considerable i'm
petus.
The hot weather having closed most
of the theatres, except the half dozen
| littla 1iuaS w haro thn ambition q,
hat, drinks beer and watches the per-
Torrance in constant dread of raid by
the police, that large fraction of New
York, which may be called its ''amuse-
ment population" has to look elsewhere
for entertainment. And so there comes
along just in the nick of time a wonder
full marksman who draws crowds to
watch him perform impossibilities with
powder and lead. The name of this
new wonder is Carver-Dr. Carver of
San Francisco though why he is called
''Dr." is more than / can tell, unless it
is on account of the facility with which
he could kill people if he wished to.
There is certainly nothing of the M. D.
in his appearance. Dressed i'm ultra
western costume, with flannel shirt and
leather belt, his hair flowing down over
his shoulders from beneath his big SOM
brerO, a la Buffalo Bill and Texas Jack,
(by the latter of which bl0odthirsty
worthless he is accompanied) the great
rif1eman looks much more like the con-
ventiOnal dime novel hero than like the
peaceful professor of healing that his
title would indicate.
On the fourth Carver gave a grand
exhibition of his powers at the Brooklyn
driving park. l am almost afraid to