The Flash of Genius Behind the Steel Age
The article recounts William Kelly's idea that air alone could forge malleable iron, predating Bessemer's converter. It notes Kelly's obscurity and later gains by Bessemer, plus Robert Mushet's improvements and setbacks. It details Captain William R. Jones's leadership at Carnegie Steel and his scrap heap policy, ending with Jones's death and Carnegie's reflective mercy.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
William Kelly
Pittsburg
Kelly
Bessemer
United States
Patent Office
Robert F. Mushet
Carnegie
William R. Jones
Bill Jones
England
Jones
Romance of Steel
Herbert N. Casson
Secrets of Tobacco Curing Across Regions
The article explains how tobaccos are doctored to suit diverse tastes. It notes that manufacturers in Havana and elsewhere use secret methods passed down through families. Additives like saltpeter licorice honey molasses maple sugar and rum are used to control burn and sweetness and preservation.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Havana
Submerged Presbyterian at Revival Service Joke
A Philadelphia revival ends with a minister meeting a visitor who explains he is submerged Presbyterian. He was raised Presbyterian, wife Methodist, children in Baptist, Unitarian, Episcopal, and Congregational churches, and he contributes to all. The punchline: his multiple ties submerge his denomination.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Philadelphia
Crow Strategy Keeps Crows Out of Field
A New York Press remark recounts a farmer who strings his field with a zigzag line between poles to create angles. Crows avoid the angles, while crops at the ends are eaten, illustrating a clever but paradoxical method.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
New York Press
Sign Language on the Curb by Broad Street Brokers
New York correspondent describes Broad Street brokers using sign language to convey quotations and sales to office boys in windows. Some use the deaf and dumb alphabet while others rely on unique signals for their firm, with rivals quickly learning neighboring codes.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Broad Street
New York Cor
Pittsburg Dispatch
The Safest Way Drawn in Duel
Report from Kansas City Newsbook recounts two duelists and their seconds preparing with pistols. Each man protests innocence and fears an accidental or stray shot, urging careful aim to avoid injury or death.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Kansas City
Selwyn’s Curious Taste For Seeing Bodies
George Selwyn possessed a rare craving to view dead bodies, even those of friends. Lord Holland, ill at Holland House before death, invited him to visit if alive, and quipped that if dead he would still be pleased to see Selwyn.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Selwyn
George Selwyn
Lord Holland
Holland House
George
Went a Shade Better
A sharp exchange ends with two men trading lines about temperament and impossibility. The Philadelphia Ledger records a heated moment as one accuses the other of being temperamentally inconceivable.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Philadelphia Ledger
No Favorite Flower Gift Says It All
A Kansas City Journal quote notes a gift preference for any item that is out of season, implying practical humor in selecting a present. The line contrasts expectations of a favorite flower with a broad, adaptable gifting attitude.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Kansas City Journal
Censuring Third Party Brings Confidence Among Two
Two individuals exchange sharp praise and critique of a shared third party, Jean Paul Richter, in a cordial yet pointed exchange. The dialogue centers on trust, propriety, and judgment within a private quarrel.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Jean Paul Richter
Enthusiast Towne Oh a Real Sportsman Voice
A Philadelphia Press snippet notes Towne is a genuine enthusiast who pursues interests in earnest and Browne jokes that being sent on a wild goose chase would still leave him self viewing as a sportsman.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Towne
Browne
Philadelphia Press
Fairy Tale Playful Dialogue From Kansas City Star
A playful exchange from the Kansas City Star features a fairy tale talk between Mother Pike and Little Piker. They suggest titles like Hither Little Red Herring Hood and Octo Puss In Boots in a whimsical column.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Fairies of the Deep
Mother Pike
Little Piker
Kansas City Star
A Modern Macaulay Billy Campbell Missouri Lawyer
The Missouri lawyer Billy Campbell from Virginia arrived in 1829 and set up in St. Charles. A Whig and noted orator with a fine memory he slept through a caucus but later reported its resolutions from memory triggering a bribery accusation against the secretary.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Missouri
Billy Campbell
Virginia
St. Charles
Campbell
State Senate
Senate
St. Louis
Republican
Kansas City Star
Muff Bed Described as Inner Muff Component
A reader mistaken sign reading muff beds learns the muff bed is the inner body of a muff, a double walled bag stuffed with down. Producers craft muff beds in various shapes for furriers, sometimes with silk inner linings, with New York firms turning out thousands yearly.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
New York
New York Sun
Man’s hair and beard cut after forty year vow
In a rural midwestern community a man vowed in 1856 to wear hair and beard until Fremont was elected president. After Fremont’s death he cut and shaved, paying a barber half a dollar. He asked if any payment for the hair was possible.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Middle States
John C. Fremont
United States
Fremont
The Actor and the Critic Clash in Park Meeting
A famous near comedian dismissed a blunt critic from his circle after a park conversation. In the exchange the actor was misidentified by the critic who noted the discrepancy about his appearance on and off the stage.
If I married again the kind of woman I would marry
A humorous exchange centers on a brutal husband who refuses to name the type of woman he would wed if he married again. The wife presses for a definite answer, but the judge notes the paradox and delivers the final quip about a woman who would not ask such a question.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
George
Singing Pigeons In China By Whistled Birds
A description of pigeons taught to sing by attaching whistles to their chests. The wind in flight produces music heard in Pekin and Canton, with Belgians noted for their skilled pigeon flying and use of whistles attached beneath the birds.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Pekin
Canton
Pigeons in War Use Bird Noise To Deter Predators
The article notes that wings of valuable racing carriers are fitted with shrill noise to deter hawks and other birds of prey. It also mentions reeds that emit a wailing sound attached to the tails of dispatch pigeons used by the German army.
What He Was Looking For
The lady urges Edward not to stare at other women. He replies he seeks a prettier face than hers and admits he cannot find one. This dialog reflects a witty exchange from a New York Press feature.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Edward
Benedict
Yrours
New York Press
Eating Before Sleep
A humorous Path finder quip about safety of eating before bed. Sibyl asks if it is safe and the response says it is safer than eating after sleep, noting difficulty seeing food while asleep.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Sibyl
Pathfinder
Vinegar Urged as Snake Bite Remedy in Madras Report
London Standard notes Dr. Lauder Brunton advocates permanganate of potash for immediate snake bite care, while Mr. Greendrass of North Arcot favors diluted acetic acid vinegar. He cites 29 cobra bite recoveries with vinegar after incisions to drain poison and ligature above the bite, warning failure without incision. Similar vinegar treatment for scorpion stings is advised.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Lauder Brunton
Greengrass
North Arcot
Madras
London Standard
Downing Street Yorks The World’s Small Great Street
Downing Street in London is famed as the premier’s official residence at 10 Downing Street. The street’s founder Sir George Downing had American ancestry from Massachusetts Bay and Harvard ties, linking this tiny alley to British imperial history.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Downing Street
London
Robert Walpole
George Downing
Massachusetts Bay Colony
Harvard College
England
Oliver Cromwell
The
Hague
Exchange
Feeding the Stock from a Scottish Parsonage An Anecdote
In Mrs. Henry W. Cole’s A Lady's Tour Around Monte Rosa an early-career anecdote about Rev. Robert Montgomery the poet is recounted. While a curate in rural Scotland he lodges with a tenant farmer family and overhears the maid asking whether to feed the pigs first or feed the man, a moment that amused and revealed the family’s view of their guest.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Henry W. Cole
Monte Rosa
Echo returns Sir John Long’s paper name in Spain
While visiting Spain, Sir John Long tested a claimed echo and spoke “Dun-dee Ad-ver-ti-ser” the Dundee Courier and Argus, only to hear the rival paper’s name return. The prank mocked his own newspaper ownership.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Sir John Long
Globe
Spain
Sir John
Dundee Courier and Argus
Echo
Tea drinking as a female vice in historical view
The Female Spectator, a century ago, warned that tea tables burden households and finances far more than two children, deeming tea drinking ruinous to economy, housewifery, and productivity per the London Mail.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
London Mail
Vanishing France: Old Customs Fading Into Memory
An excerpt notes that old France and its provincial costumes and language are disappearing, soon to exist only as memories or in traditions for future generations. The Petit Parisien laments cultural erasure and the loss of local identity.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
France
Petit Parisien
A Slight Difference A Jeweler and a Jailer Difference
A joke about a jeweler who sells watches and a jailer who watches cells. It plays on the homophone pair watch and waits.
Two to Make a Quarrel Quote Sparks Debate
Puck quip about quarrels prompts readers to reflect on domestic disputes and dialogue, highlighting a witty view on conflict. No concrete event or named entities are provided in the readable text.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Puck
Ebony Wood History and Varieties
Ebony is a luxury wood valued by ancients for scepters cups and images. It is very dense dark and heavy, with Gaboon Madagascar and Macassar as three well known varieties. Imitations are lighter and scratch tests reveal cheaper imitations.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
India
Gaboon
Africa
Madagascar
Spectral warnings and chilling tales from a Victorian era
A column recounts spectral warnings cited by historical figures. John Palmer died on stage in Liverpool while a London shopkeeper reported Palmer’s shade entering the shop. Cardan saw a bloody sword mark and heard a warning voice. A Milan scribe noted a doomed heir, and Dr Blombey’s father is linked to an eerie Banquo figure observed by officers 300 miles away.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
John Palmer
Liverpool
London
Palmer
Cardan
Milan
Blombey
America
Rudge
St. James
The Wooing of the Woodcock Sighting at Twilight
A nature loving observer recalls a twilight woodcock display amid willow and alder, as the bird rises from damp ground, circles above the thicket, and sings a repetitive love song until night falls. The scene captures spring’s first green and the swampy habitat from which the bird performs its courtship.
Origins of Life Saving Service in U S Shores
The Massachusetts Humane Society established the first life saving stations at Lovell Island and Cohasset. The 1837 act allowed the president to deploy ships for rescue. 1848 Congress created stations from Sandy Hook to Little Egg Harbor, forming today’s nationwide system.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Life Saving Service
Massachusetts Humane Society
Lovell Island
Cohasset
United States
Congress
Sandy Hook
Little Egg Harbor
New Jersey
New York American
Watch Handling Tip From Lecoq
A detective lectures on safe watch carrying, advising the right hand vest pocket with the chain running into the right and left pockets. He chides a man for losing a costly watch in a crowd, noting the thief’s likely grab.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Lecoq
Quotation Reflects System's Limitations on Keys
A fragment from the New Orleans Times-Democrat mentions a system that grants only a key or a cheap compass to an individual. The remark underscores constraints and control amid a probing discussion of tools and access.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
New Orleans Times-Democrat
Quite Unexpected Mistress-What Suzanne Plans Marriage
A playful exchange from Harper's Bazaar notes a surprising proposal scene where a French maid confesses it was not her fault, claiming the son proposed last night and hints at an impending marriage.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Suzanne
Harper’s Bazar
Doubted by Readers in Town and Country Business Talk
Hewitt and Jewett discuss skepticism toward figures of trust in business. Jewett states he is a gas company collector and explains his role to local residents while defending credibility. The exchange highlights trust challenges in small town commerce.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Hewitt
Jewett
Landlord Raises Rent Beyond Tenant Means
A landlord can always increase rent, a power that exceeds what many of his tenants can afford to pay, highlighting the imbalance between owner leverage and tenant budgets.
Humorous Sailor Story From a New York Savannah Trade Schooner
A Philadelphia Ledger noted the ship captain known for quick wit aboard a schooner trading between New York and Savannah. During a two day voyage he teased deckwashers, prompting a large Irish sailor to joke back about steering the mainmast, leaving the crew amused and chagrined.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
New York
Savannah
Philadelphia Ledger
Rough on the Doctor
A Canadian doctor in eastern Ontario observes a man named Sandy entertaining spectators with a trick dog. The doctor asks how the dog is trained and Sandy replies that the trainer must know more than the dog to teach him anything.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Ontario
Sandy
Doc
Also Mentioned on This Page
Robert Masher
Andrew Carnegie
Macaulay
C. G. Tilden, M. D
Mutual
AMES
Iowa
Margaret M. Jones
Baker’s Jewelry Store
MewWitlle
Jane
Ames, Iowa
Adams
Calla
Mutual Phone
Crary’s
Story
Boone
Daniel McCartary
Luke
McCarthy & Luke
Attorneys At Law
Story County Bank
Lee
Stanfield
Taylor’s
Canier Bros
Herman
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