St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1879-05-23
Our New York Letter.


NEW YORK, May l6, 1879.
To the Editor of the CaledOnian:
New YorS, as the real centre of thu
national financial operations, has lately
witnessed some extraordinary transac
lions. The enormous subscriptions t.
the new four per cent. loans made by
our bankers, who, contrary to all pre-
cedent, astonished the Treasury by tax
ing the bonds by the hundred millions
were events as memorable as they were
gratifying; and the present rush for The
new ten dollar certificates is no less
noteworthy. This loan is tiOated ell
| tirely without pushing, OF the interven-
ton of the banks, and even under re-
strictions intended to retard its absorb
| ton but the rush for them here is ire
mendous. 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 applicants would give
stranger the idea that each of the
great stone buildings was some popular
place of amusement at which the sup
ply 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 hun
dred women, men, girls and boys in line
at the Post Office, waiting their turn to
buy. Perhaps one hundred were wo-
men. The line extended from near the
northeast corner of the building way
around past the cashiers window, and
thence to the Broadway side. One male
and 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 by one o'clock,
and then there is long line of the dis
appointed ones.
Each applicant is allowed only 800
worth. In order to obtain larger guam
titles repeating" is very frequent.
Nearly a hundred people have been
turned out of the Post Office for this of
Tense 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 impatient and bona fide
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 govern |
ment in this transaction, though the |
lower and middle classes of course pre-
pOnderate. Some of the investors are
professional beggars. For several days
the number of blind men in the line was
and afterwards there seemed
to be a special visitation of cripples, so
numerous were the one-legged, one
armed and deformed persons in the
waiting thrOng. Thus far, the sales of
;hese certificates in New York have
to nearly three millions of
dollars, of which amount the Post office
las probably disposed of three fourths,
md the Sub-TreasuIy of the remainder.
t is reported that the printing facilities
# the government are to be increased
t once to meet this unexpected de- !
land. Who says we are poor people ? .
The mayor of this city has this week
cen the recipient of petition the like
f which, / am firmly convinced, no
mayor ever received before-being
Othing more or less than the prayer of
wenty-siX milliners to have their trade
from the competitive violence
their neighbOrs. For many years
division street, between Catharine and I
larket, has been center for the mill
merry trade of the cheaper sort. On /;
he west side of this street there were,
OF long ago, no fewer than fifty-One
lilliners' shops all in a row. AS may
re imagined, competition is the life of
rade" in this neighborhOOd. Firmly
Onvinced that the world owed her a
living, the prOprietress of each of the
ifty-One establishments racked her
,rains and her resources to keep COM
nercially ahead of the other fifty. OF
course, it was quite impossible for every |
me of them to succeed in this laudable |
ambition. Natural selection and the |
of the fittest did as usual their |
work, and eventually a |
formidable minority of the 81 found |
slowly but surely approach
ng the wall. Up to this point, we may
subject, that the contestants confined |
within the bounds of tolera-
Die business fair play. That is, lumber
for instance would doubtless tell a
customer that numbers to 81 inclusive
we're artful hussies who never paid |
heir bills and kept nothing but last |
7ear's stock, but would perhaps hesitate
20 go further than that. But at last |
orbearance ceased to be virtue with |
he aforesaid minority and heroic |
measures were resorted to, to prop up
heir tottering fortunes. Each hired
me or more stalwart damsels to stand |
n front of her establishment and gath
# in unwary passers of the feminine
Their instructions were
positive to bring in customers; peacea-
by if possible, but in any case to bring
hem in.
ystem may be inferred from a brief
out pathetic quotation from the petit
ion to which l have already referred
''The millinery business on Division
street has been lately and is still carried
IN in most disgraceful manner-se
much so that respectable lady is un-
lble to walk through the street without
being insulted by some of the girls who
ire hired for the purpose of pulling la
lies in to purchase hats against their
will. 1t was but lately that shawl
was torn off woman's shoulder by try
ng to pull her into the store. The
other day lady passed through the
street with baby in her arms, and one
of the girls of the store. trying to mil |