St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1880-12-17
Our New York Letter.

WAR WITH MODERN IMPROVEMENTS
SHADOWS CAST BEFORE BY COMING
CHRISTMAS -HAPPINEss IN STORE FOR
THE SMALL FRY.
NEW YORK, Dec. 10, 1880.
To the Editor of the CaledOnian:
Coffee ought to be cheap but 1 sup
ever the grocers may profit by the turn
of events, for there has been another
tremendous failure by a house who
were trying to engineer a corner in that
necessity of modern American life Ar
mold g. Co. were among our older mer-
chants, very wealthy, and known all
over the world. They enjoy a great
reputation for shrewdness and prompt
initiative. At one time largely en-
gagged in the China trade, and close ri
walls of Lows, they drifted into more
general importing business, and adopt
ing something of the Vanderbilt tactics,
sought control of many lines when they
piOSPOAihS thU CiO"uCu
out weaker firms remOrselessly. If an
enterprising house struck lead, in
say tinfoil from Madagascar (of course
l only use this by way of illustration),
they would find out who bought it and
then offer to import it cheaper. This
procedure in a long course of years
M nh ms M Inf
for the men they ruined could not for
give this cruel and apparently unneces-
sary interference, but it helped to make
them rich. Finally they dived heavily
into coffee and the depression that has
overtaken that interest, and caused
several failures lately has been widely
ascribed to their astute manipulations.
Something went wrong, however, and
they have fallen into the pit them
selves. At least a dozen banks are
among their creditors and their coffee
Overruns many storage warehouses all
over every important port of entry and
many inland cities of the United States.
Crops at the scene of production have
been forestalled by them, and cargoes
consigned to them are being hurried
over the ocean from all directions. 1t
is colossal failure and it speaks well
for the healthiness of business that its
effect is so small.
The locking up of 6.000,000 bushels
of grain by the early freeze in the canal
regions, is another disaster for certain
produce spectators, and is lesson to
over greedy people not to daily till the
last minute before ordering goods for
ward in the hope of squeezing other
folks. The shoe is on the other foot
this time with several of our smart OPP
orators.
When our Poke Your Highly Respcc-
table Nose-Into-Oth eople's-Busin-I
ss-Society, gets to pOking fun Mt Il
kindred association, the unregenerate
world NAV smile An unfortunate Nea-
politan bandit was arraigned the other
day for ferocity to his monkey and the
complaint was made on blank of the
Anti Cruelty to children concern, then
counsel being notified. This gave occa-
sion to some mild chaff of Mr.. Bergh to
whom an amended paper was sent.
The rest of the community seem to
think it is a case of six of one and half
a dozen of the other, and that the one
crowd would do the Simian or the chill
dren as much good as the other. Lit
tie creatures who earn GodSeuds for
poor families as incidents of the spec
tacular drama are taken off the stage
and their employers hauled over the
Goals for engaging them, while the
streets are filled with poor little ur-
chins, in scanty attire and with very
hollow little frames, whom it does not
seem necessary to take any very spec
ial trouble about. On the whole, hob
by-riding is not quite the practical
thing it is cracked up to be by the hob
byhOrsical.
All the incoming steamers continue
to be very much overdue and report
terrible weather at sea. The treatment
OF the steerage passengers on some of
the lines, notably the French, seems to
be more terrible still. The subject
must interest every one, for the waste
places of this land are built up by our
immigrants, and anything tending to
discourage their advent should he
shown up. There appears to be ground
for improvement in the matter of coarse
and brutal treatment, poor food and
not enough of it, eXtOrtiOnate stewards,
and the gross immortality which is Il
necessary consequence of the non-sepa-
ration of the sexes. The majority of
the newcomers may not be the most
refined persons in the world, but with
even the least cultured there is no need
to herd them together like beasts. and
poverty sometimes makes the tenderly
nurtured inmates of the floating bells
some of the steamers provide in their
steerage.
The Roman Catholic Sisters of Chair
ty have been famous the world over
for their deeds of gentle mercy to all
sufferers, irrespective of creed or color,
and it is pleasant to find that recogni-
ton of this fact is becoming common
among even the strictcst sectaIiaus of
other denominations. The Braoklvn
branch Of he -:st.Tiroud ale now en-
gagged In raising funds tor building on
large scale new st. Mays hospital to
replace the present restricted aceommo-
dations now at their disposal aud the
Rev. Hyatt Smith Congressman elect
for the district now represented by that
bumptious little windbag :. h. Chitteu-
dcu, who is so loved by dry goods men.
because, after he had retired from nu5
ness with an enormous fortune, he welI
out OF MS way in au excess " prriv
crammed and unassimiated iniurma-
ton about political economy to per
suade employers to reduce salaries az
round-a Baptist of renown made u