St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1891-09-10
IS THIS CIVILIZATION?

~jective enough under the circum-
stances, but the accident, while
horrible enough at first, became
degrading and extensively vulgar.
What was a public calamity was
made a public show. Where the
dead and those who were nearest to
them should have been alone adj
mitted, politicians, amateur pho
tographers, and lemonade sellers
crowded close to see, and gratifed
their love for what was awful
and unusual. The police were not
alone to blame for this. 1t was the
spirit of the crowd, and the crowd
was the spirit of the people of this
city, where no man knows his next
door neighbor or the ledger over his
head on the floor above, or cares to
know him. For any display of local
or real feeling shown in this disaster,
it might have occurred in Chicago or
San Francisco or St. Petersburg.
Anything more ~unfeeling, undigni-
fed, and degrading than the scenes
that followed the sudden burial OF
the Park Place victims has not been
known in New York for many days.
liz WuOlC IIliS, HOiu LIN
apathy of the police towards the
mourners to their equally callous
treatment of the dead, was shame
full and barbarous. The men in
charge of the ruins and their removal
we're intoxicated a great part of the
time, so were the mourners, some OF
whom, it is said, identified any body
as the one belonging to them in
order that they might reap the in
surance-this was the spirit of the
place. There was no sacreduess for
the dead nor regret for the living.
The Mayor telegraphed his regret
three days after the disaster oc-
Cured, and Commissioner Gilroy
visited the scene on the fourth day.
In the meanwhile an unorganized
the bricks. fearful lest they might
come upon a dead body, and the
mass of ruined buildings, wrecked
machinery, and mangled human
beings remained four days ION exhi-
bition" to thousands of callous
sensation-lovers. The heads of the
city departments, who might or
should have been in charge, did not
appear until the 1eisurely removal of
the dead and the wreck about them
was accomplished. And the manage
men Of this perhaps the greatest of
disasters that has come to this city
for a quarter Of a century, vas left
in the hands OF a police captain, a
foreman of an engine-house, and the
unsympathetic interest of the ever
decreasing audience Of morbid specta-
tors. The sum that is being raised
for the survivors, no matter how
large it may become, will not wipe
out the memory of the four days in
which the disaster was treated as a
public show.-[Harper's Weekly.
THE HANOVER MURDERER.
After his capture Almy was driven
quickly to the Wheelock House.
where his wounds were dressed.
The crowd followed and demanded a
look at the assassin, which was
granted, some 1900 having passed
through his room n single file when
A1my tainted and the doors were
closed. On the Friday following he
pleaded not guilty to the charge of
murder before Justice Cobb, waived
examination and was committed to
questions were guarded and it is
plain that he is looking forward to a
fight for life in his coming trial. AS
was suspected all along Amy is not
his rightname, but it has been proved
beyond doubt that he is George H.
Abbott, once a resident of Thetford.
This Abbott was sentenced to four
years in the Concord pe~nitentiary
for robbing a store at Oxford, N. H,
in 1875. After being released he re-
turned to Thetford and behaved
himself until 1880, when he was
again caught in numerous burglar
Gus acts and sentenced to Is years
in the Windsor state prison. About
six a ago, after serving seven
years of his sentence. he escaped and
so completely covered his tracks
that he was never heard of again.
Warden Cakes and two superinten-
dents from Windsor visited Almy at
the Wheelock House and positively
identified him as George H. Abbott.
An uncle and aunt Of Abbott's, who
live at Olcott Falls, also visited
Almy and recognized him a their
nephew. AS soon as it was found
that Almv and Abbott were identical.
an extra guard was placed around
the hotel for fear that some Of his
old friends might attempt to help
him escape. The people of Hanover
and the proprietor of the hotel were
so eager to be rid of the presence Of
so foul a murderer that on last week
Tuesday he was driven early in the
morning to West Lebanon and
taken to Manchester jail, where he
now lies awaitingh his triala Woods
vile this fall. Whether or not he is
George H. Abbott, heis heconfessed
murderer of Christie Warden and as
such should receive the full penalty
of thelaw.