News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1889-09-19
Letter from Missouri.
ST. LOUIS, Mo-, Aug. 8, 'S9.

A Letter from Missouri.
ST. LOUIS, Mo-, Aug. 8, 'S9.
Editors NeaUs &c Citizen
St. Louis is agitating the question
whether it is possible to obtain the
worlds fair, which it is presumed will
be held in some pant of the United
States in 1892 to commemorate the
discovery of America. If this expo
sition is not held in New York or in
Washington, st. Louis processes to be
able to capture the prize. Money is
being pledged freely ID aid tie enter
prise. There are certainly some points
in favor of this city. 1t is the center
of the United States, geographically,
and nearly the center of population.
All railroads lead here. The climate
is not so bad as it has been described,
by any means. There is plenty of
room, the hotel accommodations are
good, aud the city has successfully
handled large crowds. Contrary TO
general belief, the city is as healthy as
any in the country, as shown by the
table of mortality.
Onething ST. Louis will not toler-
ate, and that is that the fair be held
in Chicago. To mention Chicago as
the proper place is to set the average
St. Louisan wild. The city is fairly
prosperous in quiet way. There is
not such a noise made in the world
about St. Louis as about Chicago, or
Kansas City, or Denver, but if the
truth was known there is greater
degree of prosperity existing here than
at any of those places. st. Louis is
owned by st. Louis people; there is
little or no outside capital invested, so
it is to nobody's interest outside the
city to take it up.
Itis curious to note the character of
the office holding class in this city and
in every other large town in the United
States. Ninety per cent. are either
foreigners or the children of foreign
ers. Americans are not found in
office. Irish and German prevail.
The police are all Irish, and the city
officers nearly all. The Mayors name
is Noonan, and the dog catcher's is
Kelley.
We have had lately some interest
ing exhibitions of the incompetency of
insanity experts. A reporter of the
Republic, wishing to investigate the
con, ton of the insane asylum, had no
difficulty in getting himself declared
insane, but had good deal of trouble
in getting out of the asylum. The
physicians declared him a dangerous
lunatic and pronounced him incurable.
They did not then know he was a
reporter; his friends were trying to
get him out on the plea of being able
to take care of him. They succeeded
after good deal of trouble. He was
not more insane or dangerous than
newspaper men generally are. An
other case was that of a woman, an
Italian, at the Union depot. She
began to act strangely after sitting in
the waiting-room a few hours. A
policeman came to the conclusion she
was insane, and took her to Jail. She
could not speak a word of English.
The doctor at the dispensary exam
ined her and pronounced her danger
ously insane. She had a baby in her
arms, which was sent to foundlings'
home, and the mother was bundled off
to the insane asylum. In few hours
an Italian came raging around to
know where his wife was to be found.
He had left her at the depot while he
went to transact some business. On
MS return she was gone, and he was
old his wife had gone crazy. He
hunted her up and found her hand
;uffed as dangerous lunatic at the |
asylum. 1t seems, when matters were
explained, that he was gone longer |
han she expected, and becoming
alarmed, she began to make frantic
and the intelligent police
man and physician mistook her anxi-
ETY. for insanity, not being able to
her language.
The local exhibition which is held
here every year will make one of the
finest displays of electrical apparatus
ever seen. One feature will be the
hearing by telephone in one hall the
playing of Gilmore's band performing
in another. Maxwell, who was hung
a year ago for the murder of Preller,
was supposed to have been buried
here; but it was found by friend of
his father in England, commissioned
to erect a monument over his grave,
that he was distributed around among
the leading physicians of the city.
One, it is said, had his larnyx, another
his brain, and so on until there was
left of him to erect a tomb
stone over. The friend left, discour-
aged at trying to get enough of the
murderer together to make a decent
burial.