Bellows Falls times. [volume] (Bellows Falls, Vt.) 1856-1965, 1897-12-01
Springfield Letter from Occasional.

The deer season closed without any of
our citizens suffering death at the hands of
hunter. No deer were killed in this town
so far as known, but F. Hoisington of this
town killed buck on Hawks mountain.
Before another legislature convenes the
second open season will be we'll advanced
and no one can do more than guess what
the next act will be.
A venerable Boston lawyer on being
asked to predict the verdict of case just
given to the jury answered: "My son,
when you are as old as am you will know
that if there is anything beyond the fore
knowledge of God it is the finding of a
petit jury" to this should be addict the do
ings of Vermont legislature.
| The Solons of the last assembly repealed
the act giving bounties for the destruction
of noxious animals, leaving Barnard to her
panthers, Stratton to her bears and SPRING.
field to rattlesnakes, and in the same
breath opened the whole state to a class of
predaceous fellows who have proved more
destructive to human life and domestic ami
mails than the whole category of noxious
animals ever were in the same length Of
time. The law suits and prosecutions
arising out of this destruction are likely to
cost the state far more than the economical
savings from the bounties. Now if the
next general assembly does not establish a
close season for rattlesnakes allowing full
grown bucks with ten rattles to be killed
every week day in the month of February,
only one snake allowed to each family of
six persons, some OF us will have some
70 otya ,baxy
relishable.
Winter has appeared in three install
ments. The depth Of snow varies in differ
ent parts OF the town. The fall of Novem-
Der II was reported in Spencer Hollow
and on the Connecticut river at two to four
inches, in Eureka six, while the south part
of the town admits from eight to 10 inches
The later SHOWS have been less in quantity
| and more evenly distributed, but there is
little hope Of sleighing when each fall melts
before its successor comes.
The last crop Of the season, the turkey
crop, has been nearly all harvested, few
remain for the Christmas market; the birds
were fewer and lighter than usual. The
exceeding wetness Of the early season was
destruf tive to young fowls of all kinds.
| An old lady Of my acquaintance mourns
the decadence Of Thanksgiving. ''Its
glory was pas sed even in my day" she says
''but in my grandmother's time food
enough was cooked for Thanksgiving to
last fortnight and the mince pies would
last all winter. The neighbors borrowed
and lent pie plates to each other, then they
baked one oven full of pies, cooled them a
bit and slipped them off the plates and put
on others. They roasted turkey, piece
OF beef and perhaps chine of pork, and
boiled a fine kettle full of garden sauce
with corned beef and pork, beside this
there was always chicken pie, one or two
My grandmother always laid out to cook a
piece of everything they had raised that
year, that would keep till then, for Thanks
giving, but folks don't do so now. Yet
there are ingrates who cannot see any
thing to be thankful tor this year.
A woman in this state is said to be on
trial for her life and it is gratifying to see
that she is to be tried by the courts and be
Judged by men sworn to do their duty with
out fear or favor and not by the newspa-
pers, or worse still by a self-appointed jury
of women starting up all over the state.
This is in agreeable contrast to the state OF
things in Massachusetts, during the Lizzie
Borden trial. Not only were all the luxu-
ries of the season demanded for Miss Bor-
den, including pickles, newspapers and
feather beds, but long before the evidence
was made public, this volunteer jury decid-
ed upon her innocence aud frantically de-
manded her release. May the day be
very far distant when the judiciary of Yer
mont cannot be trusted to give every &C
cused person a fair trial, unaided by So
called public opinion.
OCCASIONAL.