St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1879-04-25
Our New York Letter.

l.
There are always plenty of idle men
standing on the brink of possible finan-
cial success, ready to tumble in when
ever the opportunity occurs. When
sporting men made the important dis
covery that New York was able and
willing to pay $4,000 for the blessed
privilege of gazing at four hobblers
around a saw-dust track, these enter
prising gentlemen laid their heads to-
gether, and with the remnants of dog
cared sidewalk education, went into d
com mittee of calculation and figured tC
the effect that, as four was to $4,000 sc
was an unlimited number of hObblers
to an unlimited number of dollars. One
sportsman made out the notice for the
printer, while the rest rubbed theil
hands in anticipatory glee, and the
world walked last Monday morning to
find forty men upon the track at Gil
more's Garden, all breathlessly going
for nowhere. By Thursday, fifty pei
cent. of the legs had given out, and as
we write Il majority of the noble army
has gone home to look up the shortest
road to health again, via plasters and
! iniment, with the notice over the door
to the effect that no saw-dust need
apply.
1t looks as though one or two of the
walkers will come out with Il pretty
fair record. They seem to have the
ability to supply their legs with pluck
as fast as the strength Oozes out. But
the poor fellows who have fallen by the
way with paltry records of miles must
feel that, in the long run, pickaxe is
better than a long walk.
Men who know nothing about the
wear and tear of a six days walk, i'm
agine that they set themselves an easy
task when they enter for such con-
test; but those who expect to shirk
work by so doing will find themselves
a good deal worse off than the Irishman
who wrote to friend in the old country
that America was fine easy place for
man, for all he had to do was to take
bricks up to the top of a five-story
did all the work.
But | must confess that we are some
what in excitement over sporting in
cident in England. While Rowell is
receiving the congratulations of the
crowned heads for walking America out
of her boots, plucky little American
horse, "Parole," is beating John Bull at
his own special game. My memory
isn't especially charged with turf mat
tiers, but | believe the victory won
Wednesday 10y "Parole" was the first
instance OH record of an American bred
horse defeating an Englishman on his
native heath.
A bill has just passed the Senate, in
which the great grand children of the
present generation may feel an interest.
The statute gives permission to cut
tunnel under the Hudson river between
the point ut which the principal rail
roads terminate mt Jersey City, and Il
suitable place on the opposite New
York shore.
New Jersey feels that something must
be done to offset the elevated railroad
attractions in favor of upper New York,
and the one great thing is to abolish
The project seems TO have started more
i'll the freight than the passenger inter
est, but if men find that they can take
seats in the cars ut New York without
the tedious transfer made necessary by
the ferry, they will not wink long over
the danger of sub-river passage.
Barnum has come up smiling and
happy again.
forget the count of the years through
which that broad smile has beamed.
Lions have demolished the human frame
of too cOnfding trainers and are no
more tigers are lying in unforgotten
graves, giraffes have persisted through
many feet of sore throat, and confiding
Ostriches have succumbed to too many
parasOl handles and spectacles, but
Barnum still moves on. He did it last
Saturday, and the small boy of domes-
tic and imported parentage beheld and
worshipped. There were the carts and
chariots blazing in the brightest paint
by the shiniest of varnish
there the animals in all the glory of
holiday ferociOusness, while the far
away backs of the elephants and the
low down backs of the ponies were Oc-
cupied by the Mons. and the Nine Ito
say nothing of the Mlle.,) who come so
near breaking their necks that twenty
five cents admission is nothing to Il boy
who thinks of the delightful possibility
of their doing so. In the excitement
of writing about it forgot to mention
the steam musical instrument with Il |
very long name, which occupied one of
the wagons. It's desperately unkind
thing for me to do to mention one
feature of this steam blower shades of
Orpheus forgive me for calling it that y |
as this letter may come under the eye
of some one unable to leave all and
start at once for this city, but duty to
my correspondents compels me to give
publicity to the fact that this new
feature of the procession is capable of
turning out a noise equal to that made |
by one hundred brass bands No one
need question these figures, for | have
them straight from Barnum's own
posters.
A season or two ago, Messrs. Jarrett |
an excellent idea to run their boat
plymouth Rock" direct to the beach |
at Long Branch. There being no pier
in the surf, eXcursiOnists have al !
ways been obliged to make the latter
end of the journey by rail- The pro-
prietOrs of plymouth Rock" made
preparations to build a wharf at the
principal spot, speaking from hotel
point of view, and had the structure
pretty well under way, when big
wave or two quietly rolled in and took
the-whole thing with them when they
went back to sea. This year the at