The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1910-06-16
INTERESTING RELICS.
Valuable Additions Made to the Col
lection OF the Montpelier Historical

| torical Society is an old fashioned
foot stove, once used in the Brick
church which was the predecessor of
Bethany church. These stoves were
originally used in the early days when
no fires were allowed and continued
| in use because the old-fashioned meth
DDS of heating did not furnish suffi-
cieut warmth for comfort.
This stove is a perforated tin box
six by seven inches and four and a
half inches high. encased in wooden
frame. There is a door az one side
through which a sheet iron box con-
tanning hot Goals could be inserted. A
number of people now living in Mont
pelier can remember when such
stoves were used in the old Brick
church, but the stoves themselves are
becoming scarce. because, not being
J of very substantial construction they
were easily destroyed by little hard
usage. These stoves used to be kept
in the church and the sexton receiv
ed a small fee for filling them with
Goals whenever the owners attended
service.
Another interesting relic is a cup
and saucer used at the Caldwell house
when Lafayette was entertained there
in 1925 There is some question
I l.. hn let icI aaA
friend of America passed the night in
that house on his visit to Montpelier
but it is agreed that any rate he
| lunched there. The father of the late
Major Dwight H. Kelton settled the
Caldwell estate and this cup and sau-
Ger were given him by the heirs. They
are of English manufacture-what is
known as Lowestoft ware. The prin-
cipal designer of the Lowestoft works
was a Frenchman named Rose, and
the prevailing figure in his designs
was a rose. This was usually print
ed in red or pink, tipped with gilt,
but at the time this set was made, the
story runs. the British court was in
mourning, so while the design was
retained the figure vas printed in
black and tipped with gilt The cup
| is small. without handle, and the
saucer deeper than those in use to-
day, or it was customary in those
days to drink tea and coffee from the
saucer, not from the cup.
An old light stand that belonged to
the Knapp family has an interesting
history 1t was in a house just be-
lyond the Middlesex line when the
great flood of 1880 began rising. The
great flood of 1890 began ris-
ling The family feared the
house would be swept away and
carried the lighter furniture to the
barn. But the freakish flood changed
its course, swept around the house
and left it standing but carried away
1.-THE barn and its contents. The build
ing was knocked to pieces in its trip
down the river, but the stand and a
bureau were found the next week in
the branches of a tree below Bolton
The bureau was of solid mahogany
but it was stored in lumber room
for years and became so dusty anc
disfigured that it was split up foI
kindling wood last year. the owner
not recognizing its value
relic Of Indian occupancy is al
old iron spear head. found in the
woods of Moretown, somewhere be
tween 1870 and 1880. The blade /.
, fourand half inches long. taperine
, from an inch in width to the point
: and double edging. 1t has been fitted
with buckhorn handle by some late
owner.
A copy of Ethan Aliens Narrative
of his Captivity has been rescued. l
, | is not the first edition. which is yer!
rare, but is careful reprint. Othe
, early imprints received by the societ,
J are a work on elocution printed II
r Montpelier in 1918 by Il. p. and G
S. Walton; Walkers Dictionary, Bel
lows Falls. 1924; A voyage to the In
dian Ocean and to Bengal, Brattle
borough, 1914.
An old "broadside, printed a
Windsor for the Flying Bookseller
in 1916, contains an account of tn
battles of Pittsburgh and of New Or
leans. There is a prose account o
the Battle of New Orleans, made II
of extracts from letters; three poem
e ION the Battle of Pittsburgh, "a WOO
/ Icuts, accompanied with sarcastic rel
e erences to British commanders an
: men and praising the Americans, as
Irecially the Vermonters. Thes
- broadsides' were common enough i
a those days. but a copy is seldom t
il be found now. as they could not read
e lily be preserved unless they wer
h framed and kept under glass. Thi
e copy has been broken on the fold
a IRON frequent handling. but the cut
y AID type are clean and clear.
ia Paper made at one of the old Mon
o reiier paper mills is great curiosit
J. There were at different times thrC
A paper mills in Montpelier and it cal
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