Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1903-09-17

and as "a food supply, as n serious mat
ter.1Ie had three suggestions to make:
Never destroy fish or game for the fun
of it, as the early settlers Of the country
have DONE Stop the destruction of fish
by the pouring of poisonous drugs from
the mills into our streams and lakes.
This Is duty we owe to ourselves and
future generations We all owe some
thing to each other and In these mat
ters we have no right to do that which
destroys the rights OF another. We
should cultivate and replenish our stock
OF fish. An acre of water Is worth as
| much as an acre of land for production,
but II needs cultivation the same as
land. He was glad to see what the gov
eminent was doing in this mater and
hoped it would do even more.
OLD HOME WEEK.
(From the Bristol News)
And now the papers are making fun Of
Old Home Week. The government didn't
even issue proclamation in its behalf
When the idea first found its way west
ward across the Connecticut, we al
grasped at in the belief that it was one
of the BETTING of all betting things
We had been told that here were more
Nermonters out OF Vermont than there
were in the State, and Old Home Week
was hailed as an institution that should
re-connect the tie that binds, bring back
the wandering sons and perhaps con-
vice some of the strayed that the old
state, after all, was best commonwealth
in the whole bunch.
But viewed from the surface Old Home
Week has been a faiulre. 1t didn't do
what was expected of it and it is now
ticketed among the antiquities with the
dust of neglect fast gathering on the
label. One of the reasons for the failure
was the Incompatible lines along which
the celebrations were attempted.
A Vermonter who has passed his active
life away from the hillside farm does
not care to make the long journey back
to a Midway Plaisance,a military parade
or to hear the village lawyer tell him
how Vermont saved the Union at Get
tysburg, which it did all right enough
Instead of allowing the home-comer to
return to the things he used to have we
tried to give him the things he has been
having every day.
There Is at least one corner in Yer
mont where he old home spirit has a
lasting grasp on the people and that is
in the section just east of Bristol. The
family reunions that have been held in
the towns of Lincoln and Starksboro, the
Hill, the Moody and Waldeigh, the Whit
tier and the Purinton gatherings certain
up typify the old home idea in its pur
est sense. At the Purinton reunion this
year. and they have been held annually
since the early '70's memorial to the
founder of the family, constructed of
of the old, handmade granite grind
stones with which he used to grind the
grain of the early settlers. was dedcat-
ed. The exercises were simple and
wholesome The honest pride of those
whose names were enrolled in the family
history, and who were in attendance, rs
strong, was refreshing. 1t was an Old
Home Week celebration worthy of the
name.
ONE PROVISION ENFORCED.
(F'rom the st. Johnsbury Republican,
The ant-treating clause of the license
law is not dead letter to one Burling-
ton rumseller, who has just been fined
500 for violating it.
LABOR ORGANIZATIONS AND THE
MILITIA.
(From the Randolph Herald.)
The animosity of labor organiza tions
to the militia and their effort to cripple
it by requiring union men to keep out
of the guard somehow remind one of the
couplet:-
NO rogue e'er felt the halter draw
With good opinion of the law"
Il is impossible that the guard should
he used against the unions unless the
latter are doing violence to persons or
property.
POLITICS ON THE SIDE.
(From the Randolph Herald)
Various exchanges note that at the
summer outing of the Vermont Fish and
Game League last week there was a wee
bit of politics on the side. 1t is said that
of the prospective candidates for the
governorship next year the friends of
Lieut.-Gov. S. Stanton were rather
| the most numerous. though the Hon. j.
a. DeBoer of Montpelier, the Hon. w. +.
Johnson of Woodstock, the Hon. r. G.
Fletcher of st. Johnsbury and others
were favorably considered by many.
| There seemed no disposition evinced TO
abolish the mountain rule and elect an
other westside man. Several alleged can
didates for the lieutenancy were dis:
covered in that quarter We understand
| that no candidates. for either place were
formally announced. and we opinc that
| the talk was mostly desultory-of time
| killing sort. 1t was evident that Sena-
| or Proctor's love of true sport makes
| him persona grata with the league mem
| bershp. Congressman Foster and Has
kins, too, were warmly received