The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1885-08-12

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1t is estimated that three thousand people
enjoyed the treat.
THE new silver dollars, coined for the pur-
| pose of preventing counterfeiting, are out.
The coins are struck from the same die as
the regular dollar of 1885, but the edge, in
stead of being milled or "reeded," is in
scribed e pluribus unum " in raised let
tiers. This change was made by Colonel
Snowden, the recent superintendent of the
| Philadelphia mint and the advantage
claimed for 1t Is that it will be more diff
| fcult to counterfeit. There is nothing new
or original in the change. Most European
countries have used this lettered edge for
| the past two centuries.
A BIO ship was launched Tuesday from
the yard of John Pascal at Rockport, Maine.
She was built for Carleton, Forwood q
Company, and is the second largest ship
ever built in the United States and the
only four-masted ship. Her name is
" Frederick Billings" in honor of one of her
owners. Her tonnage is two thousand six
hundred twenty eight and she is only
trife smaller than the Great Republic"
Her length is three hundred ninety-one feet,
and from the deck to the main truck it is
one hundred eighty-one feet. She will
spread one thousand two hundred yards Of
canvass.
VERY peculiar looking fish, supposed to
be tile fish, and thought to have been ex-
tinct, and for specimen of which the gov
| eminent has been spending so much money,
has been found in the Indian river in Della
ware. 1t is nearly five inches long, two and
half or three inches through at the head
and tapering off quite small ct the tail. The
eyes are of a pearly blue, and two very
small horns project from the top of the head.
At each side of the fish, just back of its
head is wing, which, when stretched,
| measures about an inch across. Under these,
on each side, are three small legs, the outer
ems of which are hard, and under the legs
are the front fins.
TUESDAY evening of last week thrilling
incident occurred on the Pope's Creek
branch of the Potomac railroad. After
| passing Marlborough as the train rounded
a sharp curve, the engineer discovered a
woman, with an infant in her arms and lead
ing another little child crossing a trestle,
| Steam was shut off and the engineer ran to
the pilot, hoping to save them, as the train
could not be checked in time. When nearly
upon them the mother seized the child she
was leading and, holding both children with
one arm, swung off with the other and held
fast to one of the ties. The train was stopped
as soon as possible and the hands ran back
| in time to rescue the mother and both chill
dren. The mother was nearly exhausted,
but all escaped injury.
MANY of the young Canadians who took
part in the Riel campaign were, as body,
of splendid physique, averaging between
five feet ten and six feet two, who used to
wear in Montreal and Toronto pointed boots
counters of a bank or business house, with
no prospect of becoming partners in the
business which enslaved them. Since they
got their lungs filed with the prairie air
they have closed their ledgers and taken to
building log houses for themselves, striding
over the sweet grass galloping after half
wild cattle, cooking their own dinners,
measuring monthly more around the chest,
and feeling that it will be their own fault if
they do not take their place among men
who are mastering new land.
THERE have been some interesting ex-
periments in London with the Harden star
grenade A screen was saturated with tar
and petroleum, and, when ignted, a position
within twenty or thirty yards of it was
rather unpleasant. The breaking of two
grenades, however, upon the flames quickly
reduced them, and two others served to
completely extinguish them. Another ex-
pertinent was with chimney constructed
of timber, about fifteen feet high One gre
made was found enough to extinguish the
flames, which We're roaring higher than the
top of the chimney. Subsequently a shed
twelve feet square was fired, and threw out
an intense heat. Two bottles were thrown
from distance, quickly followed by two
others, and then it was possible to approach
the fire, when three grenades, used at close
quarters, completed the work.
A DISASTROUS fire, attended by loss of
life, occurred in Webster's block, Manches
ter, n. H., last Saturday night The fire
burned rapidly and the entire structure was
soon a mass of flame. There were some
five hundred persons in the tenement apart
ments of the building at the time, and all
were rescued except seven, the remains of
that number being eXhumed from the de-
bris by the tiremen. The tiremen made a
heroic fight and several of them received
serious injuries The origin of the fire is
unknown. The loss is about $4,000 and
the insurance $4,000 Mary Ann O'Bren,
aged thirty-tive years, who was among the
first of those rescued, and whose child was
found dead by her side, died in the hospital
at eleven o'clock Sunday morning, thus
making eight deaths so far Lizzie Burns
remains in critical condition.
CALIFORNIA is now third in the list of
petroleum-producing states of the United
States. Pennsylvania leads, and New York
is second. After California come West Vir-
, ginia, Ohio and Kentucky. A little oil is
found in Colorado, Wyoming and New
Mexico, although not much has been OBJ
tanned in the latter places. California is
: gradually increasing her production as new
wells are opened in Southern California, and
: the industry is now prosperous one there.
t AS far back as 1878, IL, 227 barrels were pro-
duced. In 1879 this increased to 1883
: barrels; 1880 showed returns of AZ ,399 bar
} rels 10000 barrels in 1881, and 10000 bar
rels in 1882. The year 1883 showed an in
| crease, and in 1884 the production was over
100000 barrels. \ barrel is uniformly forty
WV SdllohS' SdlilOInld tpuSuIueS al lHt
I oil produced, and about 100000 gallons per
annum from the East as well.
THERE is a little industry at the village OF
Port Kent, n. Y, which few people are ia
l miliar WITH and which nets a man and his
two young sons no little revenue during the
1 course of the summer season. 1t consists
of gathering from the shores of Lake Cham
plain, in the vicinity of the port, the black
i sand washed up by the action of the waves
2 which is gathered and carried to the village
t in scow-boat, where it is dried, sifted, put
e up in barrels and shipped to the New York
a market. The sand is used in the manufac
/ ture of black emery paper, on the sides OF
. match boxes TO ignite the matches upon
: and also in sanding painted sign-boards. The
Y sand brings in market seven dollars per ton
e and in the course of the summer many tons
$ are shipped. When ready for shipment the
= sand resembles very fine powder. Two car
loads have been shipped this season, and
l. several tons of sand are now in preparation
a for shipment.-Free Press.