St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1879-02-21

plebeian heart. Just think what an ar
raw ! And besides all these gayeties, this
little understood month still holds in re-
serve for us Washington's Birthday,
and the inevitable Martha Washington
Reception, which comes in to crown this
career of dissipation, and prepare us,
through sheer exhaustion, to welcome
the austerities of Lent.
For many years, and especially for
the last three years, the exporting OF
live cattle and meat to Great Britain
has been one of the heaviest and most
rapidly growing items of our foreign
business. Considerable CONSERVATION
was therefore the natural consequence
of recent cablegram to the effect that
strong pressure was being brought on
the British Government to compel it to
forbid the importation of American cat
tie. The reason given for this action
was the alleged existence of plague
among our animals. This report was at
first secuted on this side of the water f;
but still an investigation of the subject
was vigorously undertaken, and sure
enough, serious amount of disease has
been discovered in this city, and on
both sides of Long Island Sound. Strin-
gent measures have been adopted to
prevent the spread of the pest, which
has been decided to be pleurO-pneumo-
mia. On Long Island, where the trouble
is. most severe, all diseased cattle are to
be slaughtered, all infected ones quar-
antined, and all stables inspected and
disinfected. $4,000 has been appro-
priated by the State Legislature to
prosecute the war upon the plague, and
there is little cause for alarm that it
will spread from this point.
In some respects, the most deplOrable
of the many fires which have recently
afflicted this island, was that which, on
Thursday night last, destroyed the
"New York Tattersalls," large up
town boarding stable called after the
famous London establishment of that
name. Nearly ninety horses were dOmi-
ciled in the building, less than twenty
of which were rescued. Seventy of the
noble animals, most of them blOOded
stock and very valuable, were burned
or suffucated. The loss which is per-
hapS the most to be regretted, is that of
il pair of Norwegian ponies, owned and
recently imported by Mr.. Theodore
Havemeyer. They were the only speci-
mems OF this beautiful breed in the
country, and were valued ut $4,000.
A number of firemen were more or
less injured in the work of extinguish-
ing this confagiation, one or two of
whom will probably die. The mortality
among these brave fellows during the
performance of their duty has been so
heavy this winter, that one would think
there would be difficulty in keeping the
ranks full, especially in view of the late
discussions in our noble city govern
ment, some members of which are so
Jealous i'll the cause of retrenchment,
that, while they do not think it would
be expedient to ''cripple the public SER
vice" by reducing their own salaries,
are inclined to believe that the pay of
the policemen and firemen ought to be
cut down. Per contra, it ought to be
some consolation to the surviving fire
laddies to see the results of Il grand
benefit performance which is being got
up for the widows of two of their num-
Der who persisted at the Broadway fires
last month. 1t is said that the bcIeaved
women will receive from this benefit at
least $4,000 apiece.
The bright, the energetic, andy
courtesy fair Miss Anna Dickinson
has reappeaIed, and is now delivering
from time to time her new lecture on
1.-The Stage" She admits herself an en-
thusiastic lover of the Stage, and at the
outset that she is not before her audi
ence to defend Il bad cause, but to mag
nifty good one whereupon she gives
her hearers an hours impassioned eulo-
gy of the theatre, which she boldly
claims is more effective as Il moral pow
Ell than the pulpit of the present day.
As usual, Miss Dickinson has stirred
things up good deal, and, as might be
has elected various replies
from the divineS. Most of the latter
combat her position, as in duty bound,
bnt one candid parson told his cougre-
CATION i'll the course of his sermon, a
couple of Sundays since, that he thought
the fearless Anna was about right that
the stage, in many cases, was ably add
while the average pulpit
was so much more feehly conducted as
to render a comparison of the two dis
advantageous to the latter. Miss Dick
Inson promises us the pleasure of seeing
her in Il new play of her own, before
very long. RADIX.