Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1896-05-15
General Vermont News.

[ ciously than was hoped. Few large trout
have yet been taken, though a large num-
Der Of medium sized ones have been cap
tured in all the waters of the state. Mud
pond in Eden, has yielded up two that were
almost five Founders, sufficient size Of
brook trout TO make sport. At Caspian lake,
unquestionably the best trout water ia Yer
mont, none over four pounds in weight have
yet been caught. The brooks are not fur
nishing their usual quantity OF large ones:
Many ponds and brooks have been bought
/ up lately and turned into private preserves,
fact which has much to do with the
number OF fish caught. Law suits over the
| question OF whether it is constitutional to
do that are impending, and the prospect Is
that there will be plenty of interest in the
/ fish and game question before the season is
over.
The Fletcher Granite company Of st. Al
bans, has begun operations on its immense
/ quarries at Woodbury.. The cOmpanys new
foreman at the quarry is man of wide ex-
perience and knows all the great granite
producing centers of the world and he told
a representative OF this paper last week that
ne never saw quarry that equalled it. The
size of the sheets can not be imagined.
/ Ihey must be seen and then there is little
means OF comparison. A dozen of the aver
age quarries Of the country could be sunk in
1t and never be, seen, while large quarries
like those at Barre would look like insignifi-
cant heaps Of rock beside it. The company
will load fifty carloads of stone before June
l, and haul it seven miles to the cars.
If rain doesn't fall within a few days there
will be great danger of drOuth. Already
the grass shows signs Of heat. and some
mOwings are almost as bare and brown as
they ought to be in August. Early planted
crops are also suffering and the outlook for
large yield Is not especially promising.
| The state is pretty well assured of a good
! fruit crop, unless the late frOsts cut the
buds Vegetation is very forward for the
season and danger from frost follows as a
natural consequence for forcing by SO much
heat.
There is general dullness in all lines OF
| business incompatible with the season and
| unexpected at this time of year. There is
so much uncertainty in the political world,
so much fear that the elements now in con
trol will do sOmethig to make matters even
worse than they are. that investors have no
courage to 90 ahead with projects they have
been formulating. Vermont is less affected
by such conditions than almost any other
state, but long continued stringency affects
Vermont injuriOusly. And three years OF
dullncss has closed very many of
the manufactures that formerly ex-
isted in the small towns and have driven
former consumers into producing. The re-
suit is that production mas, in degree out
run consumption and prices are the lowest
ever known since the war Good dairy
butter is selling at ID cents pound and the
best OF potatoes bring only to ID cents per
bushel. according to the conditions govern
ing local markets. No dealer would buy tC
ship. Ii would be a costly experiment.
Every class is feeling this and and there is
no possibility of a change Immediately,
This is the worst feature Of the situation.
There is going to be a determined effort
( on the part of those interested to have better
roads in the state. The first step will prob
ably be a demand for the abolition Of the
present ornamental state highway cOmmis-
/ sion which knows nothing about construc-
tion and almost as little about maintenance.
There Is some doubt. too about the commfs-
sion knowing anything about the possibili-
ties Tor Improvement which are ready at
/ hand in most parts OF the state. The COM
/ mission drives about. interviews few town
/ commissioners, finds occasional strips of
/ good road and straightway decides that a
/ general scheme for improvement has been
/ adopted and that it will ultimately end in
! roads as good as macadam. It needs prac-
f tical builder at the head of the commission
/ to make the Investigations and let the other
| two do the ornamental act. When some
/ governor discovers this and makes his ap-
| pointments accordingly there will be i'm
provement but not before.
Hardwick has organized board of trade
and will begin a systematic scheme of ad-
/ vertising and promotion at once.
Work on the Hardwick and Woodbury.
railroad is progressing as rapidly as $50
men can make it. More men will be added
from time to time and trains will be running
by July /.
The listers of many towns in the state
have included bicycles in the lists of vehicles
as made out. This is a sensible move, but if
the owners pay taxes on their wheels they
will be demanding that the money be used
in the construction of proper highways
that will be sensible too.
pulp manufacturing firm in Berlin. n.
! H., has purchased $500 acres of timber land
iu Morgan. The contract to cut the soft
| wood has been let and provides for cutting
| peeling and piling this summer, giving en-
ployment to about 200 men all summer. 1t
will be hauled to the Grand Trunk railway
next winter.
The agony over possible railroad combi-
nations is partially over so far as the Rut-
land road is concerned. 1t passed from the
control of the Central Vermont back into the
hands of its owners at midnight May 7. 1t
will be operated as an independent road for
the present. What will finally be done with
it of course it is impossible to determine. but
that it will be leased by some other system
seems certain. 1t can hardly hope to meet
current expenses alone.
Good judges who have studied the situa-
tion seem to think that the return of the
| Rutland road to its owner means the final
disntegration of the Central system. If one
leased line can get away it is considered
probable that others will adopt the same
tactics. Whether the parts will be secured
by different corporations or whether one
will again unite the whole remains to be
seen. There is an excellent opportunity for
some great corporation like the Boston 4
Maine to get some valuable property at
practically its own figures.
The trial of the Woodbury-Herald libel
case was about the tamest thing ever under
taken in this state. The first days the
room was crowded, but 50 much of the evil
dence was by deposition and so much was
uninteresting that the last days the lawyers,
witnesses and judges had the room practic-
ally to themselves. The changes made in
the prohibitory law at the last session of the
legislature in degree removed the prohibit
tory features, except in certain specified
cases. There is possibility of the evidence
turning on some of those clauses and that
the Herald will prove nothing. The fact is,
the trial was much less interesting than was
expected and people who anticipated a guam
tity of spice were sorely disappointed.
Seven Years for Foster.
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