St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1881-05-27
Our New York Letter.

LAUNDERING BUTTERCUP AT BLACK
WELLS ISLAND-A CHEERFUL ALTER
NATION OF SUNsTROKEs, THUNDER
BOLTS, MUD PUDDLES AND MILITARY
IDIOCY-THE LAST FEAT OF A BRAVE
CIRCUS GIRL-LEXICULTURE OR,
TIE TOO ABUNDANT SPAWNING OF
COURT PLASTERERS LOVE AND
SUDDEN DEATH-THE TENDEREsT TAP
OF A THROUGH TRAIN.
New YORK, May 30, 1881.
To the Editor of the CdledOnidn
The Blackwell's Island smallpox
pest house was few years ago, to the
personal knowledge of your RADIX,
the most disgracefully managed insti
tuition in this city of low-politician
misgoverned institutions. Every now
and again incidents cropup which would
lead one to suppose that the lapse of
time has brought no Improvement. In
deed, there seems to he no reason why
it should. The appointments and
everything connected with it seem to
run in the same old groove, under the
control of machine pothouse and cor
ner gin-mill hcelers. 1t is by no mehns
uncommon for people to be called on
to furnish clothing for a patient to he
discharged, and after waiting all day,
travelling in the boat which takes pau
per corpses 'high" condition
from the morgue to Pottcr's Field, and
in dingy shanties on the island, to find
that the patient has already been sent
away. The last published exploit is
the way the officers of the establish
mcnt played Buttercup with two Polish
women. Their names being rather
hard to pronounce, they put tags on
them. One died. The tags got mixed
and one husband was called on to bury
the sealed up caskct with the supposed
remains of his wife. He grieved, paid
his money, dropped the necessary tears,
and proceeded, after the fashion of his
kind, to hunt up another woman. The
other fellow expected his cOnvalesccnt
wife. When the woman appeared it
turned out that she belonged to the
man who had paid for her funeral.
The supposed widOwer and active lover
of her successor wasn't widower by
n large majority, and the other man
who had got his wife buried without
expense found his anticipated joy
turned to mourning.
don't often IiSrnSs the NVnath pr
leave that to the farmers; but the out
come i'll these parts of some of what
we have enjoyed, or otherwise, has
been remarkable i'll some cases. 1t
was rather warm when | last penned
my weekly contribution, and as the
ink flowed from my pen, perspiratiOn
flowed from the skeleton brigade of
four veteran militia regiments who
manGuvred at Prospect Park in heavy
marching order. The officers took it
lazy, swilling champagne in cottage,
while the men, with knapsacks and
rolled OvercOats, were kept out i'll the
full blaze of a tOrrid sun, and when
lunch was over and the eXhilarated
officers turned out to drill them, they
were played out. Seventy fell sun
struck, as if shot, within few min
utes, and the scene resembled a battle
field in some respects. Several are
not yet out of danger.
If our militia officers were all so de
void of military discresion or ordinary
common sense, this country would
have poor lookout next time we get
into Il squabble with, say, Santo Domin-
go or Guatemala. But higher authori-
ties than these bedizened pOpinjays
are to blame in some respects. OF
course the asses of Albany were not
responsible for the idiOcy of sending
out men whose lives are mostly spent
indoors at desk and counter, welding
pens and yardsticks, with weight TO
stagger a packmule, on a day that
would broil a beefsteak in the sun in
ten minutes, but they are responsible
for retaining the antiquated dress and
rig generally. Our volunteers in the
war solved the question about the APP
propriate rig for the soldier, and our
hunters in the Adirondacks and all
over follow their system, never to carry
an ounce of anything they can do
without With a decent, but not gaudy
uniform, which can be kept in good