Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1879-05-23
Our New York Letter.

DOLLAR CERTIFICATES ODDITIES OF THE
sALE-A CRISIS IN DIVISION STREET SILL
ING BoNSErs BY MAIN STRENGTH rERIIs OF
THE SITUATION.
New YoRK, May 18th, 1879.
New York, MS the real center of the nation
al financial operations, has lately witnessed
some extraordinary transactions. The enor-
nous subscriptions to the new -four per cent.
loans made by our bankers, who, contrary to
all precedent, nstonishod the Treasury by
taking the bonds by the hundred millions,
were events as memorable as they were graf
flying and the present rush for the new ten
dollar certificates is no less noteworthy This
load is hoattd entirely without pushing, or
the Intervention of the banks, and even I'M
der restrictions intended to rotard its absorb
ton but the rush for them here is tremen-
dous. The sub.treasury on Wall street and
the post office are the points of supply, and
every day, long before the opening of the
doors for selling, the waiting crowd of appli-
cauts would give stranger the idea that each
Of the great stone buildings was some pOpu-
lar place Of amusement at which the supply
of tickets was limited. OF the two the post
Office sells by far the larger proportion. At
twelve o'clock to-day there were probably
about three hundred women, men. girls and
boys in line at the post Office, waiting their
turn to buy. Perhaps one hundred were
women. The line cXtcnded from near the
northeast corner Of the building way around
past the cashiers window, and thence to the
Broadway side. One male aud one female
are alternately allowed to visit the cashiers
window. The sales do not begin until ten
o'clock and yet the line begins to form at
about seven O'Clock, so eager is the rush for
good place. The supply of certificates is
frequently exhausted 10y one o'clock, and
then there is a long line of the disappointed
ones.
Each applicant is allowed only 500 worth
In order to obtain larger quantities repeat
ing is very frequent. Nearly hundred
people have been turned out of the post Of
flee for this ohense in one day. Some sharp
boys are making quite respectable living by
| taking places in the line, and when they get
near the window selling out their positions to
! imIatientand bona hde purchasers. The clerks
have to work like beavers during the hours
of sale, and sell on an average $3.50 worth of
| certificates per minute. All sorts of people
are the customers of the government III this
transaction, though the lower and middle
classes Of course preponderate. Some of the
| investors are professional beggars. For sew
! erul days the number of blind men in the line
| was noticea able and afterwards there seemed
| 10 be- special visitation of cripples so nu-
meruus were the oue-legged, one-armed and
| deformed persons in the waiting throng.
| Thus far, the sales of these certificates in
! New York have amounted to nearly three mill.
| ions Of dollars of which amount the post
Office has probably disposed of three-fourths,
and the sub-treasury of the remainder 1t is
reported that the printing facilities of the
! government are to be increased at once to
meet this unexpected demand. Who says we
are "A poor people,
The mayor Of this city has this week been
the recipient Of petition the like Of which,
am firmly convinced no mayor ever receiv-
ed befoIc-heing nothing more or less than
the prayer of twenty.si milliners 10 have
their trade protected from the competitive
violence Of their neighbors. For meny years
Division street. between Catharine and Mar
ket has been a centre for the millinery trade
of the cheaper sort On the west side of this
street there were, not long ago, no fewer
than ftty-one miliners' shops all in a row.
As may be imagined competition is the life
| of trade" in this neighborhood. Firmly
convinced that the world owed her living,
| the proprietress Of each Of the ffty-one es-
adjustments racked her brains and her re-
sources 10 keep commercially ahead of the
other fifty. OF course, it WAS quite impossi-
| Bile for every one of them to succeed in this
| laudable ambition. Natural selection and the
survival of the fttest did as usual their re-
morselcss work, and eventually formidable
minority of the 81 found themselves slowly
but surely approaching the wall. Up to this
! point, We may suppose, history being silent
on the ject, that the contestants confined
! themselves within the bounds Of tolerablc
| business fair play That is, number /, for
instance, would doubtless tell customer that
numbers to II inclusive were artful hussies
| who never paid their bills and kept nothing
! but last years stock, but would perhaps hes
itate to 20 farther than that But ut last for
! bearance ceased TO be virtue with the aforc-
said minority and heroic measures were re-
sorted to, to prop up their lettering fortunes.
! Each hired one or more stalwart damsels to
stand in front of her establishment aud gath
or in unwary passers Of the feminine demon
| nation. Their instructions were positive to
bring in customers peacoably if possible,
| but in any case to bring them in.
The practical working of this new system
may be inferred from brief but pathetic quo
uition from the petition to which | have al
ready referred The millinery business on
| Division street has been lately and is still
carried on in most disgraceful manner-so
much so that respectable lady is unable to
| walk through the street without being insult
I'd 10y some of the girls who are hired for the
purpose of pulling ladies in TO purchase
against their will II was but lately that
shawl was torn off a woman's shoulder by try
| ing to pull her into the store. The other
day lady passed through the street with a
baby in her arms, and one of the girls of the
store, trying to pull her in, almost dragged
| the baby out of her arms and hundreds of
| similar cases we cannot describe to you
His Honor has not yet sufficiently recovered
from the shock produced upon him by this
startling document to decide whether he will
appeal to the President for troops or trust
entirely in this emergency to the local mill
tia Surely something ought to be done, and
| that quickly not so much on account of the
| fair complainants rs for the sake of the hap
less males resident in the neighborhOod of
| the riotOus milliners. The prOneness of fem
| mime humanity to bonnets and their concom-
liant ribbons, has been recognized as a great
| problem to be dealt with ever since the first
| fig leaf. Fathers, husbands and brothers
have suffered and 'bled" under it, while sis
tiers and cousins and aunts have throughout
recorded generations passed more and more
| hopelessly under its thrall. 1t has often been
proposed to station sentries about the miin-
ers' shops to gently but firmly dissuade
women from entering therein, and thus to
aid them in resisting their natural tendencies
| and now, to have the order of things reversed
| to have physical force called in to aid, in
stead of REFRESHING this already well-nigh re-
sistless temptation, is something terrible to
| contemplate The mayor ought to act prompt
! ly and sternly in this matter, or the male
| population in the region of Division street
win be amply justified if they arise in their
manhood and sweep the whole 81 from the
face of the earth. RADIx.
The Negroes In Kansas---VVhy they
| leave the south.
tFrom a wyAndotte, Kan, letter.
AS in wheat, so in refugees, Kansas takes
the lead and at this writing carries MS large