St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1879-01-24

+ fully extinguish the flames III tne 1urn-
inc debris. during which time Broadway
was almost impossible at that point, anu
the tide of its travel checked the adJa-
cent streets. -
Mr.. VIM. H. Vanderbilt would douoC-
less endorse, if requested, the old say
ing. to the effect that II never rams out
it Dours. No sooner do the snow drlIts
bury the New York Central Railroad
out of sight, aud briug upon it loss OF
something like million-most OF winch
of course comes out of his pocket-than
that will contest breaks out afresh I'D
more threatening shape than ever, ana
then, when the unhappy millionaire
seeks to forget his woes by taking the
road with his spanking chesnuts, after
the manner of his illustriOus parent,
those spirited animals run away with
him and into a sleighful of people, scat
tering them like a wlirlwind, and bring
ing upon him excavations galore and
large bill for damages.
Poor William might feel inclined to
succumb under this complication of mis-
fortunes, were it not that their depress-
ing influence is partially counter bal
anced by the success of his latest trans
portati0n scheme, which is the estab-
lishment of Il new steamship freight
line to Europe, to run under his control
i'm connection with the New York Cen
trail road. The announcement of this
new line is received here with great
satisfaction, as tending to decrease the
talk abont the declining commercial su-
premacy of New York.
Speaking of the Oft-Tepeated stories
about the coming eclipse of New York
us the metropolis, L happened across
some figures the other day which have
been compiled by the Building Depart
ment, showing the material increase of
this city for ten years past. During this
period nearly 10000 new buildings have
been erected in New York at cost OF
about $500, 900. The heaviest year
for this business was 1871, when S42,-
100000 were expended on $500 struc-
lures. Last year the number was about
700 at Il cost of SIS, 900, 900. [ have no
general figures of the doings in this line
of other cities which claim the dignity
of rivalship with New York, but learn
that in 1873 the cost of new buildings
erected in Boston was less than S3,5OO,-
900. This may be taken, | suppose, us
some indication OF the comparative
growth of New York and other cities. |
trust the figures furnish satisfactory en-
cOuragement to such of the provincial
cities as yearn TO wrest the crown of su- |
premacy from Manhattan Island.
The Brooklyn Bridge Company have
won the odd trick in the legal game |
which has been playing for months be- |
tween them and Comptroller Kelly, of
this city. The latter, as is well known,
srht tn ST. lStI
awhile ago by refusing to issue bonds |
to provide for meeting New York's share |
of the further cost of the structure, on |
the ground that the limitation on the |
total cost of the bridge fixed by law had |
been already overpasSed, and that this
city had the right to refuse to bleed fur |
ther for what he intimated is nothing |
more than corrupt job. In the lower
court Mr. KelIy's position was sustain |
ed: but the Bridge Company went to
the supreme court, and have this week !
obtained Il reversal of the previous de
cisiOn, and Il mdRddmuS ordering the
Comptroller to issue Il 100000 worth
of bonds, and pay over their proceeds
to the Bridge Trustees without delay.
Secretary of State Evarts argued the
case for the latter.
Mdudhe AnuelSon, tHe pluckN llttle
English pedestrian finished her long
tramp in Brooklyn, this week, with
great ecidf, after 300 consecutive quar-
ter hours of work. The Scene ut the
close of her task is described rs being
one of the widest enthusiasm. The
building became so packed with people
that the police had to stop the sale of
tickets, and as the fair walllist made
her closing tours of the circle, wrapped
in the STATS and Stripes, the popular
found vent in frantic cheers.
1000 gate money was taken during
the four weeks, and the muscular lady
has since been given Il banquet and a
silver service worth 5000.
am now seriously considering the
plan ofquitting the newspaper business
and hanging out my shingie as "walk-
iSt" RADIx.