Connecticut western news., 1879-01-29
NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Life on the canal is study of itself. In all the States, about 28,000 men find employment in this way. A large num- Der live on their boats not only in sum- mer when the boats are in service, but in winter when the boats are tied up. They generally begin on the tow-path, and get promoted by degrees until they are captains. Then, as soon as they can, they buy boat of their own. Some of them go on shore for the winter, but they don't like it, and are generally glad to get back to their boats. First, 8 good boat is worth about $5,000. It takes most of the captains some time to get their boat. A boat will hold more than dozen freight cars. It's true that twenty five miles day is good run for us, said an old canal boatman, who gives us our information, but if we go ten times as slow, we carry ten times as much. You can keep your horses some time on what it costs to run locomotive during one day.
 Prices at hotels in our large cities are now generally, considering their &C., commodations, such as few reasonable men should object to, although the many have to pay at houses on the American plan for 8 good deal which the few get and they do not want. One charge, how ever, made at all the hotels the charge of fires-is undeniably disproportioned to other rates, and may, indeed, be called exorbitant. The usual price, to transient customers, is one dollar day. A ton of coal sells ordinarily in the city for about five dollars, and bushel-there are about 100 bushels to ton-com- monly sufices for an average daily fire, making the material for the fire cost but five cents. Then the manner of man. aging, or mismanaging, fires at most hotels is as peculiar as it is unsatisfac- tory. The occupant of a room, having neither poker nor coal at hand, is forced ! to ring the bell more than once when he wants the fire replenished or improved. Generally, it taxes time and taxes pa tience to get the fireman again and, If
 
 ordinarily irritable, he grows disgusted, and goes off. When he returns the fire is out, and he is not apt to make any effort toward the rekindling. But he pays his dollar precisely as though he had had good fire all day and far into the night.
 There are great many men in this world who really believe that if they could draw a prize in a lottery they would be made. It is this feeling which 1 enables so many sharpers to live sump-
 tuously each month feeding the confding lottery ticket buyers with hope, and draw 1 ing from them dollar after dollar. Ocs
 casional1y, not very often, however,
 somebody gets prize from these lot
 tery-ticket vendors. Here is story in
 an Indianapolis paper of young man
 who did we'll enough until he drew g
 prize of $5, 1000 in Louisville lottery.
 The money was wasted in riotous living,
 and when it was gone gambling and
 drinking had become passions with him.
 His debts have been settled by his father
 again and again, and his embezzlements
 have been kept out Of sight, but he is
 now lying in county jail in Illinois
 Another young Hoosier, who drew {
 prize of $7,000, squandered it in few
 years, and is now as worthless vaga
 bond as can be found in the west.
 The story of the recovery of th'
 body of A. T. Stewart is thus told
 The thieves were five in number. Al soon as they put the body in safe place they left for Canada, leaving middle man to look after their interests. Judge Hilton refused to agree not to prosecut' them, and it is now understood tha Judge Hilton has two special detectives in his employ who are at work to fint out their whereabouts. The parties ar represented to be men of responsibility
 well-known in New York city, and ol whom no suspicion rested. The amour of money which changed hands was be tween $35, 900 and $45, ,oOO, butno agree ment was entered into to protect tn thieves. The body is now in Greenwoo Cemetery, safely confined in vault where it will remain until the crypt a 5 Garden City is finished. Permissio was with difficulty obtained to place tn remains in Greenwood temporarily witE . out a certificate. Directly after the rot ' bery the body was taken to house nc r many blocks away from St. Mark 7 churchyard. The cofin-plate alone ws ; produced as evidence of the identity . '- the body. Mrs. Stewart did not kno B that the body was recovered until te '- days after it was removed to it's prese1 IS resting place. The reward was increase ;, to $50, 900 shortly after, as blind u to destroy the rumors which were the !, in circulation.
 v The venerable Peter Cooper of Ne n York city, was on the witness star d lately and testified in clear and distin y tones that he was eighty-eight years it age. Before he was twenty-one years h age he learned the trades of natter, ir brewer, and carriage-nlaker. It VI ffty-one years since he was first arouse ,n to aid the laboriug classes, and the id st of founding the Cooper Institute W ,y suggested to him by the Polytechn re Institute of Paris. The witness e of pressed his views at length on fnanci of subjects, and was especially severe ot banks. During sixty years of busine IT, life, he said, he could not remember of week or month when all the peor ne who worked for him could not get the ts. money if they wanted it. This.