The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1901-11-06
GRANITE REVIEW.
By a Granite Cutter.

A stone man who has evidently
been studying Browning Invoke.
the muse to bemoan results Wher
stone men become students of Brown.
ing they must expect to feel a certain
amount of dizziness. What will some
of the top loftical writers who write
for the poor workingman" do if
knowledge is becoming thus widely
scattered?
- | STUDYING BROWNING.
Mr.. Robert Browning,
When you took the saddle down.
Put it on Pegasus,
And gallOped out of town,
Couldn't you have chosen
\ less labyrinthian way
Stunned the murky lowlands,
Where the verbal jungles lay?
l search the rayless line
With a care that never flags:
| stumble III rage
DER phonetic stumps and snags,
Hunting out your meaning
Is labor far from fun
Blest if | can catch it
Were | to pursue it with gun.
l am bewildered quite
Full of doubtings and mistrust
Perplexities assail
| am mystified, nonplussed.
Why couldn't you be clearer
That your meaning we might
know
And polish up your lines
Like poor Edgar Allen Poe.
H. H.
Recently at the Rockport, Mass
70 -,
the granite history of New England
was fired. Sixteen holes, forty one
feet deep were drilled releasing a
mass of stone 30 fit. ZOO it, x50 IT, Six
hundred twenty-five pounds of pow
der was used to charge the holes. The
weight of the mass by measurement
was 112, 500 tons.
Considerable trouble is had by gran
lite men in getting cars to ship their
finished work. The volume of ship
ping on all lines Of business is very
large at the present time.
George Gleason has assumed charge
of the American Granite Company's
polishing department. John Donnel-
ly, who recently vacated the position
has commenced work III similar ca
pacity for Patrick Kane.
The Mechanics drawing class held
its first real meeting for work on
Monday evening Three new mem
bers We're enrolled making a total of
thirty now in the class. Mnay of the
mechanics who are pupils expressed
satisfaction at the practical way i'll
which Miss Forest, the instructor,
began work with them. If the class
continues to grow at the present rate
an assistant will be procured to meet
that need.
William Fisher is cutting for Sween-
ely Bros, -, =
STREET LOAFERS
The writer tries to confine himself
TO stone cutting interests in putting
together this column, but would like
for this once to use space in speaking
of an abuse which exists on our
streets by night and day, especially
on Sunday, in the shape of-well it
is hard to give the abuse name
There are several kinds of it, which
can be classed according to the
amount of nuisance they are respon-
sible for.
What this paragraph refers to is the
Street Loafer. First there is the COM
mon "rubberer. He is harmless
individual, who does his days work,
gets his supper, takes walk down
street. and gets a prying hold with
his strongest shoulder or else the
small of his back, against one of the
various blocks along the business
street He prefers to hold up a
block, but if all such positions are
occupied he tackles telegraph pole
or United States mail box, and Ell
ther squirts Tobacco juice or blows
NTNan HI Doc
to dictate for the benefit of the la
dies who are obliged to pass that
way. He means no harm and per-
haps thinks he is doing right. Leave
it to the passers-by and see what their
version of the matter is.
Then there is the man who seems
to have preference for the middle
of the sidewalk at or near street
crossing He gathers about him half
"a dozen of his kind and they cut
stone, do carpenter work, talk poll
tics and many other things, in fact,
anything, so long as the female popu-
lation are obliged to go into the street
in order to get past them.
Last, but not least as nuisance,
comes the rubber tough. He is gener-
ally young man and smokes a
cigarette Any place will do for him
"a WINDOW Sill, door way, mail DO&,
or cigar sign This species generally
gets in his work in villages, but is
seldom allowed to follow his vocation
in a bright little city like Montpelier,
He makes it his especial charge to
insult passers- by--ladies preferred-by
using coarse language, making lewd
comments and grimaces, doing in
short anything to exhibit what he
considers his intellectuality This
snivelling, dwelling idiot has not
an ape No woman is safe from his
coarse comments. He makes no effort
to keep from their ears his vile Ian
guage The fact that he has sisters
of his own, does not i'll the least