Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1891-04-10
THE NEWS IN BRIEF.


The snow storm of last week Thursday
night and Friday confined its fury TO New
England. Nowhere does there seem to
have been a greater depth of snow than in
southern Vermont. but in Massachusetts,
particularly in the western part of the
state, greater damage resulted through the
destruction of telegraph, telephone and
electric light wires and poles. The Spring
field Republican thus describes the cond-
ton of affairs in that city The snow came
down like blanket of lead, and the huge
telegraph masts that bore the brunt of the
1888 blizzard in safety were crushed by the
weight, and snapped before the wind like
reeds. Not since electrical improvements
have added TO the comforts of modern civ
ilization, has there been such demoraliza-
ton in the net work of wires that dstrib-
ute the useful current here. This not only
closed communication in our midst, but
Springfield was cut off from electric touch
with the outside world, and We were car
ried back 30 years, for only by railroad
trains could the New York and Boston cen
tres he reached. Then the wind rose,
breaking off big branches of trees that
came crashing down in menacing way.
The poles began to weaken under the load
ed wires, and down they came until the
avenues of commerce looked as if a cyclone
had rode by. Cross beams were broken,
twisted, distributing boxes crushed, poles
cracked and splintered like pipe stems, and
wires tangled as if they had passed through
fire.
The experience of other places was the
same as that Of Springfield The fire alarm
systems were completely demoralized and
in many cases false alarms were given
. ba r.,f -
wires threatened human life and at AL
bany, y. Y, several people received pow
erful shocks, but no fatalities from this
cause are recorded. Springfield telephone
circuit has $50 subscribers, but only half
a dozen lines were in working order. At
HolyOke only lS out of 400 subscribers
could be reached.
The mammoth summer hotel, Oak Grove,
Heads Hill, Bradford. Mass, three miles
from Haverhll, which was nearing com
pletion, was struck by the high wind and
entirely demolished. Its size wss $50 by
40 feet, with l., and contained 100 rooms
all Of which had been engaged for occu-
pancy during the coming summer. The
loss on the building, which was entire
amounted To $5O,O The storm along the
coast was very severe, in some places ex-
ceeding anything of the kind in 20 years,
and shipping interests suffered largely al
though no single bad wrecks are reported
Charles q. jefferson of Clifton, Mass.
recently lifted l51lt pounds of solid iron
with his hands
A late census gives Montreal population
Of 2ll ,302. OF this number l5j, ,5ll are
Catholics and 53, S35 Protestants.
There were PA deaths in New York last
week from pneumonia, the death rate for
that disease being 80 per cent above the
average
Gold-hearing quartz has been discovered
near Birmingham, Conn, at the quarry
now being operated by the Housatonic Wa
ter company for the rebuilding of the dam.
The park commissioners of New York
are considering the advisability of building
over the old Castle Garden into an aqua
rum, which will belong TO the public, like
the Central Park menagerie,
The United States official postal guide
states that the whole number of post-offices
in the United States on Dec l3, 1890, was
63, 131, of which 90, 1928 are fourth class
Offices. Pennsylvania has the largest num-
her of post-offices, 46l7.
/ One is reminded of the days of Boss
/ Tweed by the announcement that the ma.
| varro water meters, which, as commits
/ soner of public works, Tweed contracted
/ for, and which cost the city of New York
/ 81 ,25O, 900, are to be sold as old junk. They
were absolutely worthless.
The bank of the st. Mary's, O., reservoir
has been partly washed away, and the re
! gion for miles around is flooded. The res
ervoir is nine miles long and three mile,
wide, and in the neighbOrhoOd it is pOpu
lar boast that it is the largest body Of wa
ter in the world artlfcially enclosed.
Few objects at the worlds fair at Chicag,
will be likely TO catch the eye of curiosit,
more quickly than the unique leaning tower
This engineering novelty is 10 be massiv,
tower with an elevation of 225 feet, abOu
20 feet square. and boldly leaning 100 fee
from the perpendicular. The entire struc
ture is TO he of metal. principally steel
weighing about 800 tons above the founda
tion. 1t will he built 10 safely sustain
load Of l6O, 900 pounds on the floor of tn
top story.
According to statistics given by the En-
gineering News railroad companies tina
practically own half the track in the coun
try, aud that operate 700, 600 cars, are nov
putting the automatic coupler on all thei
new cars. On the lst Of January, 1891
90, 600 cars, or about one tenth Of the Who'll
number in the United States, were equippe,
with the safety coupler Twice as man
roads used the system in 1890 as in 1885
and at the present rate Of progress il vii
not he very long before all the leading road
will bs using this life saving device