SPECULATIONS AN&  CONCLUSIONS.	fiSS
lingering death for subsequent ones; and this, no doabfc, would p*».
sently give us a rest.    At the same time, the amendment and the
resulting act and penalties might easily be made to cover vavrioos
cognate abuses, such as the Azmual-Yeteran-who-has-Vote^
President-torn-Washington^
day-with-as-Bright-an-Eye-and-a^Mrm-a-Step-as-Ever, and ten «•
eleven other weary yearly marvels of thatsort» and of the Oldest-Free-
mason, and Oldest-Printer, and Oldest-Baptist-Preacher, and Oldest*
Alumnus sort, and Three-Children-Born-atra-Birth sort, and so on, and
so on. And then England would take it up and pass a law prohibiting
the further use of Sidney Smith's jokes, and appointing a commis-
sioner to construct some new ones. Then life would be & sweat
dream of rest and peace, and the nations would cease to long for
heaven.
But I wander from my thema St. Paul is a wonderful town.
It is put together in solid blocks of honest brick and stone, and has
the air of intending to stay. Its post-office was established thirty-ape
years ago; and by and by, when the postmaster received a tetter, he
carried it to Washington, horseback, to inquire what waa to be dooe
with it. Such is the legend. Two frame houses wore built ih*t je*r,
and several persons were added to the population, A recent number
of the leading St. Paul paper, the * Pioneer Prees,* gives some
statistics which furnish a vivid contrast to that old state of things, to
wit: Population, autumn of the present year (1882), 71,000;
number of letters handled, first half of the year, 1,309,387; number
of houses built during three-quarters of the year, 989 ; their cost,
$3,186,000. The increase of letters over the corresponding srr moaUaa
of last year was fifty per cent. Last year the new buildings added to
the city cost above $4,500,000. St. Paul's strength lies in her com-
merce—I mean his commerce. He is a manufacturing city, of course
—all the cities of that region are—bat he is peculiarly stroog in the
matter of commerce* Last year his jobbing trade amounted to tq>-
wards of $52,000,000.
He has a custom-house, and is building a costly capital to g^laa*
the one recently burned—for he is the capital of the Staia. H* W
churches without aid; and not the cheap poorknal, fast tfee kiad
that the rich Protestant puts up, tfee kimd *b«* ifee poor Irisk *