St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1879-02-21
Our Boston Letter.
Feb. II, 1879.

Although the month of February il
the shortest in the calendar, yet we
find there seems to be a great deal o
public interest crowded into this month
f Of all the wonderful inventions of the
10Th Century, we have failed to hear O
any for manufacturing time; but we
noticed recent instrument for its meas
urement, which can be utilized wheI
F placed in the sunlight. We refer to Sui
livan's Solargraph, which was awarded
a medal at the late fair. 1t seems to be
very simple and it is claimed accurate
instrument, and does not get out of re-
pair like watch; yet it is so delicate
that a nail concealed in the wall will
effect it. 1t is a combination of the sun
dial and of the magnet; it ranges in
price according to size, from twenty
five cents to many dollars. We incline
to the opinion that the Pedometer will
find favor with ladies for they often fee
American ladies fail to receive credit
for distances ac0lked;, but this little in
strument, not much larger than watch,
worn over the heart, will readily de-
termine any distances walked, and the
time in which accomplished, after you
have ascertained the average length of
your steps.
The Legislature is having a very
active session. AT the Inauguration of
the new administration, retrenchment
and short sessions were declared the
policy for the order of affairs. Hear
ings are granted to petitioners on i'm
pOrtant questions in the ''Green Room"
in the morning, but the regular ses-
sions convene at two O'Clock in the af-
ternoon.
The present topic of interest is the
elevated railway and temperance ques-
ton. The latter subject is now being
agitated in many circles, and the ladies
are a strong motive power in the work.
They are indefatigable in their labors
and pray ers, i'll public and private. In
visiting attics, cellars, families in high
and low life, trying to create higher
moral sentiment in favor of temperance.
They have formed many Temperance
Unions in the towns and cities through
out the State, and hold weekly meetings
and oftentimes prayer meetings in con-
nection with many of their societies.
At their fourth annual meeting in
Worcester, last October, Mrs. L. B.
Barrett reported 125 local Unions and
a membership of 10000.
AT the hearing given the ladies of the
WOman's Christian Temperance Union
at the State House last Monday, Feb.
10, she stated she came to present a
petition to the Committee in the name
of nearly u 900 ladies and of 1873 Unions
an increase of % Unions. Three
ladies', Miss Baker, Mrs. Start and Mrs.
Hunt, made most eloquent addresses,
urging the repeal of the license law. 1t
is rumored of the Is who compose the
Committee, more than one is in SYM
pathy with, if not actively engaged in,
the traffic of the article in question;
but time will soon make known the
truth of the matter. They cannot plead
ignorance in the future, after hearing
the touching appeals, cogent reassur-
ing, grounded on facts and verified by
many well-known statistics, that in
temperance was and is the direct or in
direct cause of nineteen-twentieths of
crime committed. Miss Baker compar-
ed 1t to a second Shylock in its in
fiuence; bleeding our treasury, paralyz-
ing and SCATTERING the brain-power of
the youth of our country.
1t was once said that public opin-
ION should not go faster than private
thought; we should strive to educate
the mass of the people, using as an
argument that the license law is the
main source of evil, for it has been tried
and proved to be legalized source of
temptation.
Mrs. Start of Cambridge, after citing
many statistics to prove her arguments.
SAID these statements have not been
corrected by temperance people, and if
as II has been proved, that this law is
not wise in political economy, what can
be said of it as moral law. 1t was
said that lao is not reformatory, but
that it will enact legal fences and let
the good angels in to occupy the ground.
Mrs. Hunt of Cambridge, who spoke
1or the mothers, asked if they thought
1t strange that it had become an almost
second nature for them to plead for
their sons, when they saw them ex-
posed to such dangers, knowing that
20 per cent. of the crimes committed in
THIS city are attributed to intemperance
ana from our smaller towns and cities,
there is repetition of the same COM
plant. 1t was said in 1S47, that the
loss OF revenue in the United States