St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1880-05-14
Our New York Letter.
A GALLOws-BIRD LECTURER-A GREAT
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES OF sHoPLIFT-
SOME COSTLY OIL,

| SOME COSTLY OIL.
NEW YORK, May Z, 1880.
| To the Editor of the CaledOnian:
"COVe" Bennett and Mrs. Jennie
Smith, the unsavory pair who occupied
so much of the public eye last year dur
ing their two trials for the murder OF
the latter's husband, refuse to sink into
their appropriate Obscurity, even after
a second weary jury has pronounced
them not guilty, and thus dropped the
curtain upon their CHASTITY drama. Last
week Mrs. Smiths name reappeared in
all the papers in connection with an &C
count of the death of her mother, who
at that time joined the innumerable
caravan who have endeavored to kindle
the kitchen fire with kerosene, and
whose success has so far exceeded their
widest hopes that they have suddenly
found themselves in the bright beyond.
That was bad enough, but now we are
threatened with a lecture by Bennett
on the subject of how a man feels under
the shadow of the gallows, or words to
that effect. This powerful effort has al
ready been launched upon an audience
10 Jersey City, the scene of the murder
and trials, and now it is feared that
Bennett will go on STARRING" tour
with it. 1t is bad enough to commit a
crime but then for man to commit a
lecture about it into the bargain, ought
to assure him the punishment previ-
ously escaped.
With all the newspapers published
in the United States, nearly 5000 now,
l believe, one would suppose that ev-
cry possible field of journalism must
have long ago been covered. This,
however, is not quite true. Occasional
ly, though of course at constantly in
creasing intervals, paper will come
to the light and secure immediate rec
Ognition as something needed and pre-
viously lacked. Of this nature is the
new "Bradstreet's," a semi weekly Jour-
nal founded last year by the well-known
Bradstreet Co. of this city. This paper
covers a high, broad, and yet well-de-
fined ground which no other American
publication occupies. In a word, it
aims to be, and is coming to be, author
ity on the commercial and economic
state of the country. 1t gives no price
lists but deals with the fundamental
conditions of which prices are only the
symptoms. With an army of cores
pOndents covering every important
point in the land, "Bradstreet'sn COL
lects and twice each week presents, in
a well-digested form, the condition of
every market and every leading COM
modify or industry, with such editorial
comment as enables the average bust
ness man to follow the course of things
generally and in particular, intelligent
ly, and in the least possible time. Be-
side this, every industrial and financial
problem that presents itself receives
able treatment in its columns, which
also contain a list of all the business
changes of any consequence which oc-
cur throughout the Union. Whether a
man be practically or only theoretically
concerned with business matters, he
needs to read "Bradstreet's." If his case
be the former he obtains from it infor-
nation important to the success of his
own movements, in complete condens-
ed shape; while if he regard the fluctu-
atiOns of national commerce with the
eye of the economist, its pages will
both broaden and correct his basis of
thought, and in the aggregate will form
a work of reference second in value to
few sources of similar information.
The way of the transgressor is not
only hard but ingenious. Shoplifting,
for instance, has developed into a fine
art in large cities like New York. Pro-
fessiOnal shsplifters very often wear
great cloaks, and they can put away a
great deal under them. By raising
their folded arms under these cloaks
they conceal the added size the stolen
articles give them. They often have a
pocket made in the front of dresses, big
enough to hold number of large pack
ages. One of the proprietors of one of
the large dry goods houses in this city
says that they estimate the losses of his
house from shoplifting at SIC, 900 a year.
Customers and clerks alike must be
watched. The hands Of an experienced
shoplifter work faster than the eyes of
an observer. A detective, connected
with the Central Police office in this
city, stood one day in the store of the
flrm referred to above, and saw a wo-
man putting away silk handkerchiefs.
she would hold up one as if to examine
1t, and then she would suddenly pass it
into her other hand, and then into a
big front pocket, with such lightning