Bennington semi-weekly banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 1894-1902, 1894-12-18


cox, secretary; Mrs Geo. H. Harwood,
financial secretary; Mrs. NJ. W. Stewart,
treasurer.
THE express companies are very busy
just now. The cars are packed from
floor to ceiling with small packages and
additional help has been engaged.
There also has been a great increase in
the number of mail bags. 1t should be
borne in mind that packages insufficient
ly stamped will not be delivered, and in
the rush of parcels just before Christ.
mas there is great liability of mscar-
riage.
IT is now hoped that school in Old
District No. IL, will commence with the
new year. 1t was recently closed be-
cause of scarletina, and this week one
family, that of Trenor Ewell, has been
released from quarantine. The cases in
the family of Robert Rice are doing well.
There has been no spread of the disease
in the District, so far as is known, and
with the school house disinfected, and
new books, going to that school will
probably be safe.
THE Bennington Medical Society of
which Dr. F. w. Goodall is the president,
| has resumed its semi monthly meetings
for the winter and spring The society.
which was formed in 1888, has discussed
wide range of diseases. therapeutic
agents, public hygiene and such other
| matters as has appeared proper and i'm
portant. The last meeting was held
! December 18th at the Office of DR.. Good.
all, with the following members present:
| Drs. Goodall, Rogers, Bennett Racette,
! Rogan and Day. Interesting papers on
diseases of the liver were read by DR..
| Racette of Bennington and DR.. ROgan of
| SALISBURY. The next meeting will be
held at the office of DR.. Bennett, Deem
| Der 26th at 1880 clock p. IN. A paper
on "Suppuratine Disease of the Liver
will be read by DR.. Bennett, and another
on Cancer of the LIVER by DR.. Wood
hull of North Bennington.
RECENTLY there came into a neighbor-
ing village man, apparently a stranger.
He was unknown and spent several days
! passing up and down the streets. 1t
was not until after he went away that il
was learned the supposed stranger for.
merly resided in the village, but now So
thoroughly disguised that recognition
by those with whom he cOnversed was
impossible. Many years before the war
he resided in the village just visited, and
as a young man was respected and liked,
although eccentric. lie became interest
ed in the mechanism of safe locks, and
soon became an expert. He finally en-
tered the employ of Lille, the safe
maker, and was soon in great demand to
open safes whose owners had lost their
combination, or through some accident
the safe could not be opened. 1t was
said that he never failed to open a safe.
Once he remarked to friend, who stood
| by him as lie opened one: There is one
thing that | am afraid of. l can open
any safe ever made, and | am poor
man. There is a temptation comes to
me at times that l can hardly resist" In
the COS he went to California, where lie
pursued his profession as safe expert.
One morning the officials of one of the
largest banks in San Francisco, when
they opened their safe door, found that
during the night it had been opened and
S2O,O 600 taken out. The door was found
locked as usual. The easterner was at
once suspected, because he was an ex-
pert Detectives Swallowed him, and
proofs of his guilt were soon found. lie
was arrested, tried and sentenced for a
long term in State prison. Through the
influence of leading people in this sec
ton he was pardoned out before his
term expired. and, desiring to renew his
youth in memory and Imagination, has
recently visited his old home, but to no
one did he reveal his identity.-D. G.
Burt, in Boston Sunday Herald.
WE are in receipt of the annual ad-
dress of Hon. Alpha Messer, Master of
the Vermont State Grange. We are
| sorry, however, W sec JndJ ne attacks
Graded schools, for we know he is mis-
informed. He says: ut is said, and
apprehend with more than shadow of
truth, that the standard of our Graded
and High schools is not equal to that of
the same grade of schools in some of our
sister New England States, but that our
district schools are fully equal to, if not
ahead of, those in any other State. The
reason for the comparative lower stand
ard in the first-named schools l will leave
others to give. The reason for the high
er standard of our district schools is not
owing to any distinctive feature of our
school system, because, in reality, we
had no system until two years ago, but
it is owing to the fact that Vermont has
the smartest children of any State in the
Union. The Town System, which was
adopted by act of the Legislature two
years ago, has, in the main, given salts
factory results; but in some instances
more or less friction has been caused by
acts of the Legislature which granted
special school privileges to portions OF
given towns Mr.. Messer is mistaken