Ashtabula weekly telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1880-1886, 1880-12-17
ouR RocHEsrER LErTERL

1t is two weeks since have written a
letter for the TELEGRAPH, and when do
not do IL It'll because local matters pre-
vent Your valuable paper comes to me
each week full of excellent reading mat
ter, particularly in its local columns, and
very often my scissors find their way into
the sheet, and 'clippingsn find their way
into the Democrat g Chroaicle.
Rochester has been busyng herself
in various ways during the past two
weeks, and in such way as to make most
people happy and content But, Of course,
there are grumblers in Rochester as we'll
as elsewhere, and nothing can please
them. 5i.r @ Il
Church fairs have been the order of the
dey for some time and are becoming very
popular, if the rapidity with which they
are put forward is an Indication of pOpu-
larty Certainly they are successful
financially aud socially The old saying,
"many hands make light work" =" can well
be applied to the worthy objects for whose
benefit these pleasant entertainments are
gotten up. The dimes and quarters
| dropped into missionary boxes by the
many. makes the financial wheels Of the
church roll along smoothly and easily.
| The healthful exercise OF skating Is be.
ing very largely INDUCED in this winter.
No less than five different skating rinks
are in successful operation while thou
sands skim over the frozen surface of the
river every pleasant afternoon and even
ing. i.'0t .h
The attendance at the various places Of
amusement increases nightly. The finest
audience seen in Rochester for years greet
ed Joe jefferson, last week, int"The Ri
walls" The opinion expressed by many
was, that Joe had better stick to Rip.
Tom Thumb. wife and troupe spends
Christmas in Rochester, much TO the de-
light Of the children, who chase the tiny
little coach, drawn by two diminutive
ponies, through the streets
The show windows on the business
thoroughfares are elaborately and elegant
ly trimmed with all manner Of attractive
holidays. Santa Claus promises to be very
good TO most people this season, and in
fact everybody is generously inclined, as
is demonstrated by the liberality with
which donations for the benefit of the diff
lerent charities are patronized There
has never been a season when more good
feeling and real happiness existed than
during the present season. And yet with
all this enjoyment and content dark clouds
of sorrow come and 60
Within Two or three days two old and
well known citizens of Rochester have
, laid down their life work and gone to the
undiscovered country DIR. John f. Whit.
beck died on Saturday, after brief i'll.
ness. DR. Whitbeck was welcome visi-
tor in thousands Of homes in Rochester,
and his Kindly face will be missed
Everybody who travels knew genial Lion
Whitcomb" of the Whitcome House, one
Of the most pleasant, genial hotel hosts in
! the State. He died on Monday, and thus
they go, one by one.
II was my pleasure TO attend the ED
, annual reunion and banquet of Alert Hose
Q Company of this city, an evening or two
! since. This company is the crack organ.
iznl ion Of western New York, and un.
doubtedly of the State, and does efficient,
noble fire duty, and Is credit to the city
+ which takes SO much pride in II, want
to tell you, that from close observation, |
, find IL pays a town or city TO look alter its
firembn, and Ashtabua has made during
the past two years great advancement In
, that direction Such companies as Pro.
4 tectiOn Engine and Hose, and Neptune
companies, doing the splendid work they
: have done for your town, are entitled Ia
/ many lavors and much thanks.
Q The attention of the Board of Public
Instruction Of this city has been called to
the fact that nine-tenths of the pupils in
tie higher grades Of the schools are sui.
fering from weak eyes A meeting of the
| board was held last evening to consider
the causes and suggest remedies. Several
physicians who were present attributed
the difficulty to too close confinement
I To books, and stated the Germans were
I far ahead of American people in this re
gard, they having adopted general sys
tenn OF object teaching. They had alsc
. come ~ the conclusion that large English
- type was highly preferable in meeting the
= requirements OF the eyesight, in text
books to the German alphabet hence
they had already adopted the former to q
large extent. W. II. NJ.
Rochester, N. Y, Dec 10Th, $780,