Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1879-12-26


covering nearly the amount. An arrearage of
$50 in running expenses was wiped out be
fore the meeting adjourned The society
voted to continue for the coming year the
system of weekly pledges, but sell the choice
Of seats, and the sale will take place next
Tuesday evening. The officers elected for
the coming year arc President o. Il. Post
vice president, }. Estey secretary, H. b.
Chamberlin; treasurer, L. H. Van Doom
collector, s. II. Sherman; auditor, T.. W.
Stoddard; trustees, J. J. Estcy, II. D. IIol.
ton, b. N Chambcrlin
Mr.. Geo. j. Brooks reached Brattlcboro
last Saturday evening in response to his sum
mons to return on account of the Brooks House
fre-having travelled no less than 5000 miles
lfrom New York TO Omaha aud return to
Brattleboro) in five days and / . hours. or at
the rate of 500 miles per day. Mr.. Good
hue's despatch, announcing the fire and the
necessity for Mr.. Brooks return, was sent to
the Union Pacific railroad general Office at
Omaha, aud when Mr.. Brooks stepped from
the train at Council Bluffs. this side the riy-
or, he was handed despatch from this gen
oral Office, telling him, in mysterious man
ner, of the necessity of his return, not to
check his baggage further, aud to come i'm
medately TO the Office No iutimaton was
given Of the cause Of this summons, and dur
ing the two hours occupied in getting to the
railroad Office Mr. Brooks was left TO imag-
inc all sorts Of the most horrible things as
having happened.
A cold wave, very much after tho style of
-l.,t =. "a md y
We imagine struck New England during last
Saturday night without Il word of warning,
even from "Old Probabilities" Al sunrise
on Sunday morning the mercury marked two
degrees below zero, and at about that point it
held during the day, in spite of the bright
sun, while a sharp northwest wind caused the
cold to pierce to the very marrow of those
who were obliged to face it. Nobody thought
of snow with such temperature, but a snow
storm nevertheless set in before daylight on
Monday, and continued all day, the mercury
still standing at zero. The snow was of a
peculiarly dry mealy character causing it to
pack closely under the flanges of engine and
car wheels, and the result was that hereaOouts
trains were badly delayed all day. The morn
ing down freight over the Valley road with
two engines, became stalled between East
Putney and Westminster, and kept back the
10 O. clock passenger train SO that it did not
reach here until 1 O'Clock ?. NJ. The up
morning mail was an hour late into So. Yer
non, and another hour was lost in getting in
to Bratteboro; while leaving here at o.
clock p. NJ, it did not reach Bellows Falls till
six o'clock. The 1870 down train was two
and half hours late and the jij p. ". up
mail did not reach here till 800 The troub- |
le was due, as we have said, TO the ugly pack
ing character Of the snow, which was aggra-
waited by the intense cold Elsewhere in New
England travel docs not seem to have been
so badly impeded At points north and cast,
however, the mercury was reported as mark
ing all the way from l57 to 30 below zero.
Monday night the weather moderated, and |
Tuesday WINS us delightful winters day as
one could wish to see.
On. HoLToSs LECTURE IN THE CITIZENS |
COURSE.
DR. Holtons lecture at Crosby hall, last |
Thursday night, the third in the citizens
course, was attended by an audience which |
filled nearly every available seat. His theme,
The Old and the New pertained at the |
o,,~.. -:--., ~. Il ~~;-.,
tifc medicine i'll the ancient times, and espe- |
cially in the early days of the Roman empire, |
with the condition Of the science in the early |
days Of this country, and from this naturally |
followed some comparisons of the medical |
practice of the present day with that Of fifty |
years ago. In due course of his subject the |
doctor took up the consideration of the mat
ter Of sanitary or preventive medicine, the |
importance of which was urged at length by |
convincing argument and illustration. From
sanitary medicine in general the doctor passed |
TO speak Of its importance to the State and ma
ton, and to show what has been done by leg |
islative enactment in this country, and, more |
specifically, in Massachusetts,, where a State |
board of health, the first in this country, was |
established in 1863, and since which time IL |
other States have established boards of health |
with marked results for good. Next in or |
der came a brief history of the efforts, origin
atiug in 1873, which have been made to Sc
cure the establishment of State board of |
health in Vermont, though thus far without |
favorable result An interesting estimate |
was given, based, presumably, on the result |
of the work of boards of health in other |
States, by which it was shown that, if, by the |
adoption of suitable sanitary or preventive |
measures on the part of the State, one in |
twenty of the deaths occurring yearly could |
be prevented, the saving in burial expenses |
would be 1920 and if one in twenty of the |
cases of serious sickness could be prevented, |
the saving for medical attendance, medicine, |
e a.
Os0-a total for the two items of S2ls, 400 in |
money value saved, to say nothing of the |
benefits which such measures of prevention |
would confer in purely humanitarian point |
of view. Although measures looking toward |
the establishment Of a State board of health |
have failed of success for one reason or an |
other in three successive legislatures, the sit |
uation, the doctor said, is not without hope, |
and, sooner or later the cause of the right |
and of humanity is bound to prevail, and the |
people will have the benefit of such wise leg |
islation as shall enable them to dicover the |
cause of, and ward OF, epidemic and other |
deadly diseases. In this portion of his lee |
ture, relating as it does to a subject to which |
DR.. Holton has devoted no little time and |
study, his words were especially earnest, and |
his logic sound and convincing, and of a char |
acter which cannot fail to arouse an intelli- |
gent and sustained interest in n matter of |
vital importance to every community. We |
should add that. in passing the doctor took |
occasion to pay very high compliment to
the high character, efficiency, and excellent |
management of the Vermont Asylum for the
Insane saying that after having personally |
examined the character and working of the |
best asylums in England, Ireland, Scotland,
France and Germany, he could say with in
telligent assurance that none of them sur
passed and few equalled our Brattleboro in