The Carmen of Paris Cabmen War on the Streets
A Paris cabman drives with a warlike stance on wet days and festivals, despising the bourgeois while enforcing his own rules. The piece likens cabbies to dictators and artists, detailing their harsh behavior, clashes with the public, and a local sympathy for their defiant freedom. It ends with a Harlem era aside contrasting parade culture and a Tuskegee tone.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Bois
Calais
Paris
Rue Blomet
Vaugirard
Beau Brummel
P Aris Cabman
J’ai Vecu
Harper’s
Following the Band Pageantry Appeals to the Negro's Tropical Imagination
A Philadelphia lawyer and a southern companion arrive near a courthouse as a colorful parade blocks the street. The crowd includes diverse groups in regalia and tabards, reflecting a vivid early 20th century pageant scene.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Philadelphia
Harris Dickson
Success Magazine
Dancing Roland cured diseases with dance in Stockmuick
A Highland shepherd Donald McAlpin reputedly treated a mistress with a reel and gained a large practice. Patients paid with dances and simple remedies such as medicated aqua and gruel mixtures ending wrapped in blankets. The tale, cited by the British Medical Journal, portrays a whimsical early believe in dance as therapy.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Donald McAlpin
Stockmuick
Strathspey
Donald
British Medical Journal
The Lost Umbrella on a Wisconsin Train
A Chicago News item recounts a humorous scene aboard a southern Wisconsin train. A quarrelsome couple search the car for a missing umbrella, the wife accusing her husband as passengers watch. A girl with a blue feather asks about the instrument under the seats, and the wife finally admits the umbrella belongs to her.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Wisconsin
Chicago News
A Great Orator Elevates Philadelphia Slum Appeal
A West Philadelphia gathering heard a noted speaker rally funds for cleaning slums and improving urban life. The crowd cheered as he painted vivid images with passion, but many left unsure of the words, impressed by the power of the holler over the message.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Philadelphia
A Strange Method of Salutation in Dahomey Court
A Dahomey practice astonishes visitors with a dance of ceremony performed by visiting chiefs and officials of rank. The custom signals high respect and serves as a formal greeting in royal or ceremonial encounters.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Dahomey
Strange Dahoman court dances and rapid rise to favor
A report notes an interview opener filled with suggestive contortions likened to boiling water over knees. It mentions a native minister of King Gezu who rose quickly at Dahoman court due to skill in performing these capers, gaining both literal and figurative jump to preferment.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Gezu
Discontent and longing echo in a witty exchange
The Washington Star quotes a ready made philosopher and a practical man on happiness. A boy desires more mince pie to eat as a man longs for youth to digest it, capturing perpetual wishful thinking in a brief, ironic exchange.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Washington Star
No Argument. Patronizer and Waiter in Quick Lunch Café
A dated London exchange frames a quick lunch café scene where a polite intelligent waiter retorts to a patron about hot coffee. The brief dialogue hints at brisk service and casual social satire.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
London
The Preference Dialogs from The Baltimore American
A weary maiden comments on a young man's potential, noting he may be coming but should have more vigor. The farseeing parent praises the suitor's promise, calling him a future figure to watch.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Baltimore American
New York Sun Clipped Phrenology Bumps Tale
Newly married couple boast of two head bumps and their book claims of good memory. The host checks the chart and reads that such bumps are most often found on cats and monkeys. The guests exchange amused disbelief as the visit ends.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
New York Sun
The Cabinet Leak Revealed by Webster's Demonstration
A cabinet secrets leak prompted Daniel Webster to explain how sound carried through the door. He showed that stepping off a precise carpet spot allowed listeners outside to hear every word plainly.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Daniel Webster
Mr. Webster
Mortal sickness seals fate in a snowy deathbed scene
A somber scene depicts a dying woman in a frostbound room. She endures mortal illness as a lamp flickers and kin pass by, with a door sealed by snow and a cold tomb awaiting her final moment. The text from Harper's Bazar frames death as solitary and inexorable.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Uarper
Paying For the Spots Scheme Sparks Household Savings
A young married woman explains a plan to save coins every time her husband Jack stains the tablecloth. She accepts larger coins for bigger spots and uses the cleared money to accumulate funds for kitchen utensils. The idea, cited from the New York Press, turns tablecloth stains into savings.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Jack
Norah
New York Press
Think It Over Fuddy-What a happy world this would be
The Boston Transcript quips about desires and deserved outcomes in a witty exchange. The dialogue contrasts getting what one wants with others getting what they deserve, reflecting social irony in a lighthearted tone.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Dudy
Boston Transcript
Comforting the Sick and a Message to Tom
The note centers on Louise Jebb advising Tom not to worry about the writer as Mary says she did. Tom reassures and a biting remark from Life quotes a harsh reaction.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Louise Jebb
Tom
Mary
Irishman Whalen Launders Fortunes by Clever Plot
An Irishman named Whalen builds a cabin and bar near Ballarat from mud bricks. A nearby Chinaman community visits nightly while others steal walls and chimney. Whalen and wife drain dirt from his own chimney and wash away the house, turning the pool area into a gold dust fortune.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Whalen
Cape Town
Ballarat
Venus Night and Day Bound by Tidal Friction Concept
Dr Percival Lowell explains in Popular Science that Venus could be locked with one hemisphere forever sunlit and the other in eternal darkness. He suggests tidal friction would halt rotation, creating an extreme climate contrast and a perpetual, deadly stillness on the planet.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Earth
Accoas
Venus
Pole
Percival Lowell
Ole Bull a Picturesque Virtuoso and the American Mood
James Linneker recalls Ole Bull not as a strict classical pianist but as a rubato loving performer who bridged to American tastes with jigs old tunes and patriotic airs. He praises Bull’s bewitching presence and vivid appearance while noting a blend of charm and showman flair. Whitman and Gaertner’s quartet scenes frame the portrait.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Ole Bull
America
Dan Tucker
Merlin
Lisz
Walt Whitman
Carl Gaertner
Philadelphia
Walt
James Linneker
Everybody's Magazine
My Father a Politician Outshines Neighbors
A New York Herald reprints a tale of a boy who moves to a new ward and faces two local children. When asked about his father’s stature the boy claims his father is a politician and the biggest trimmer in the ward, impressing the kids.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
New York Herald
Going Going at 104 Pulse Auctioneer dies
A dying auctioneer, ill and bedridden, hears his pulse at 104 and bids passes after forty seven years of steady selling. His wife and doctor witness the moment as he expires shortly after the bid attempt. The story ends with the auctioneer going going gone.
How Eskimo Women Die
Eskimo woman enters a hut of snow hopeful for a son. the article hints at life and death in Arctic conditions, suggesting peril surrounding childbirth and survival in extreme cold environments. It presents a stark, poetic glimpse into indigenous life and mortality.
Wood That Would Not Burn From A Deep Sea Whaling Boat
A Swedish white deal plank from a whaler’s boat, dragged to over half a mile depth by a harpooned whale, proved unusually heavy and fire resistant. The submerged wood, later brought to the surface, could not burn in a gas jet, its water pressure apparently compressing it into a hard, almost unburnable state.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Sweden
Nellie Custis Dresses for Dinner Like President Washington
Mrs Washington enforces strict dress for dinner at 3 pm in the household. Nellie Custis and Martha Dandridge appear in morning gowns when French officers and Charles Carroll, Jr. arrive. Nellie and guests are urged to remain in gowns, deeming Washington’s standard fit for any guest. The incident ends with Nellie never again missing proper garb at dinner.
Bagpiper’s Poor Tune Earns Tip at Scottish Inn
A tour group in Scotland stops at an old inn to hear a bagpiper whose disordered and squeaky instrument elicits laughter. When urged to repair, the piper explains in broad brogue that with in tune pipes he would not earn the two shillings needed to move on.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Sandy
Scotland
Jericho
Stanley as a Fighter
Sir Henry M Stanley recalls an attack by native canoes on his party in Africa. He describes the assault with racing canoes, water jets, and the clash of rifles as the pursuers retreat after facing deadly fire. The narrative conveys a brutal, violent encounter and a strong emotional reaction.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Henry M. Stanley
Poetic pursuit of enemies and their retreat
A vivid archaic passage describes pursuing foes upstream to villages, skirmishing in streets, driving them into woods, destroying symbols, and dragging their canoes into the river to set them adrift. The speaker claims swift action and decisive disruption of the opposition.
Ravenous Eaters and Ancient Feasting Tales
The article recounts ancient anecdotes of extreme appetites from Soliman the Caliph and Louis XIV. It cites Gibbon and the London Saturday Review noting Soliman’s meals near Chalcis and Mecca and Louis XIV’s feasts including multiple soups, game, and desserts.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Gibbon
Soliman
Chalcis
Syria
Constantinople
Mecca
Tayef
Louis XIV
London Saturday Review
Victorian Gods Meet the Giants of English Verse
The London Standard notes Thackeray’s immense head size and ranks Tennyson and Henry Taylor as the era’s finest. It recalls Cambridge praise for Tennyson’s Shakespearean features as a tall, broad, strong figure, then cites Taylor’s aging, Jupiter-like majesty observed by Grant Duff and contemporaries.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Thackeray
Tennyson
Henry Taylor
Cambridge
Trinity
Grant Duff
Taylor
Jupiter
London Standard
No Chance In History
Mazzini argues chance does not govern history. He cites that great leaders like Alexander Caesar and Napoleon are products of their times and nations, not accidents. Caesar did not destroy the Roman republic. the republic was already dead before him.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Mazzini
Alexander
Caesar
Napoleon
Roman Republic
Republic
Sulla
Marius
Catiline
Manchester and Liverpool taunts echo old Lancashire class lines
The reader is reminded of a longtime Lancashire quip about social grades between Manchester and Liverpool. The tale notes shifting lines as modern times soften rigid labels once reinforced by stagecoach era guards and travel.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Manchester
England
Liverpool
Lancashire
Billy
Owdham
Wigan
Words of Different Size Exchange in Uneven Talk
A New York Press line notes a stalled conversation as one speaker used English and the other Russian, leading to an unequal exchange of words. The remark highlights language barriers in a dialog.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
New York Press
Wind Velocity and Tree Response Guide
The piece explains wind speeds via chimney smoke and tree movement. It notes a breeze of one to two miles per hour moves smoke vertically, three miles per hour stirs leaves, twenty-five mph sways trunks, forty mph breaks small branches, and a mile per minute gale snaps large trunks, per London Answers.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
London
Advice Echoed by The Cleveland Leader Line
A witty exchange from the Cleveland Leader notes that advice is often ignored while the speaker of the advice tends to follow it. The quip turns on the idea that the adviser may be the only listener.
No Difference in Tempers Between Blonds and Brunettes
A humorous exchange contrasts blondes and brunettes with a punchline about a wife and a husband. The cartoon caption features Jinks and Binks debating tempers and includes a joke about a "bureau of information" in Ostend, implying a light domestic pun.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
New York Times
Also Mentioned on This Page
Jedge
Roland
Tommy
Father
Man
Dad
Phrenology
Night Eternal
Nellie
Stanley
Advice
Cleveland Leader
Ostend
Bureau of Information