Divorce Counsel and a Weeping Client Mischief
Bill Nye recalls a long exhausting day in the Merkins divorce suit with Eliza Jane Merkins as client. He humorously chronicles her endless sobbing and theatrics at various locations and the toll on his office and birthday. He condemns theatrical tears but notes the verdict sided with the husband and admits the case was peculiar and costly in time and emotion.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Eliza
Permisson
Merkins
Mr. Merkins
Not a Success Aims Real Estate Amidst Hard Times
Algernon Brinks deserts invention and opens a real estate office after two failed ventures. He pawns possessions, troubles his patient wife and hungry son, and naively accepts a counterfeit hundred from a "victim" claiming a farm sale. The episode ends with a bitter lesson on trust and misadventure.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Blinks
Algernon Blinks
Patent Office
Brinks
Bjinks
Bucky
Jess
Bijinks
Wind
America
Italia
Gay
Mich’gan
New York
Michigan
H. 5. KeLier
His Sympathies Aroused Tid Bits
A heated exchange centers on a buyer accusing seller Bangs of selling a horse with faults. The man calls Bangs a scoundrel and demands remedy after alleging the horse is spasmed blind and has the heaves. A veteranary remedy suggestion follows after a prayer meeting.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Bangs
Y Bangs
Courting vs Bridge Building in Norristown Herald
A reflective note from the Norristown Herald compares time spent courting a future spouse with the vast labor invested in railways bridges tunnels and public works, suggesting the effort parallels grand construction projects.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Norristown Herald
Young man resists night hours for railroad work
The speaker questions the value of spending spare hours on dangerous night labor. He notes genuine enjoyment lies in occupation and argues that from eight in the evening to two in the morning is too dark for building bridges and tunnels and factories, implying better uses of time.
A Fine Gentleman Arkansas Traveller
In a murder case an old negro refuses to testify, pleading illness and fear of hardship. The judge urges perseverance, arguing truth is essential for justice. The exchange reveals strain between legal duty and personal constraints as the constable prepares to transport the defendant.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Arkansas
Jedge
Birgien
A Trick of the Trade in Wheeling Grocer Scene
A humorous exchange in the Wheeling Intelligencer shows a grocer instructing a new boy to claim heavy trade to please customers. The scene features a quick, bustling response about being busy and a breakfast run around the corner for Mrs Bapcony who needs mackerel and brown sugar.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Grocer
James
Janitor Threatens Arrest Over Hallway Standoff
An intoxicated man defies orders in a hallway, claiming to follow directions but failing to move as the janitor warns of arrest. The exchange shows confusion over instructions and the duration of the stalemate.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Thash Watcher
Shing
Discouraging to Virtue TVd Bite
Mamma admonishes Clara for not helping the rag-pedlar and urges daily kindness. The exchange references the rhyme about counting the day lost for inaction. Clara replies that today was cloudy and there was no sunshine.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Mamma
Clara
The Slaves and the War Attitude of the Colored Race During Rebellion
A Washington Republican piece argues slaves largely supported their masters during the Civil War. It cites slave loyalty in border counties, patterns of servitude, and instances of teamsters and domestics aiding Confederate efforts, while noting divisions and the rare involvement of black regiments and the emotional toll of war.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Murray
Washington Republican
John Brown
Harper's Ferry
South
Border Counties
North
Fairfax
Tom
United States Navy
Charleston
Virginis
Jeresay
Potomac River
Quartermaster’s Department
Lee
Bull Run
Rappahannock
Longstreet
Pope
General Burnside
Battle of the Crater
Petersburg
Northern
Virginia
Louisiana
Massachusetts
Confederate Congress
Wedding ring and lies in a Pittsburg jeweler's tale
A Pittsburg Chronicle Telegraph piece recounts a jeweler’s observations on customers fabricating engagements and weddings. He jokes about a shy suitor and a vain widow who repeatedly rewrites her story to alter diamond settings, noting many habitual lies in the shop.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Fall River
Catholia Lodge
Woman Faints Over Hidden Bread Postcard Telegram
A Cincinnati housewife sets out for a visit leaving plenty of cold food for her husband. He cannot find bread at home and telegraphs for it. She faints thinking bad news, as the telegram arrives unread. Upon reading, the message reveals bread was hidden in the bread box under the piano.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Lee
Gettysburg
Kilpatrick
Potomac
Stuart
Virginia
North Carolina
Frazier’s Farm
Malvern Hill
Cincinnati
Hamilton
Giant Lobster Attacks Diver Beneath Halifax Coast
An Halifax diver reports a chilling encounter with a colossal deep sea lobster aboard a sunken ship near Chance Cove. The monster, ten feet long with seven foot arms, clamped Harley in its jaws as he fought with a crowbar and a knife. A rescue later freed him as another diver severed the crustacean's claws.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Edmund Collins
New York Sun
Halifax
Gulf
Newfoundland
Chance Cove
Harley
Harry
Runaway couple wed in frontier style at Hocks Springs
In Hock s Springs a runaway couple Ben Lother and Ida Grimes sought a license and were married by a hesitant preacher. The mock ceremony featured comic banter, test swearing, and a later plea to end the act as the crowd watched a playful mock trial unfold. Mr. Astor is noted in a separate New York item.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Hock’s Springs
Ben Lother
Ida Grimes
Wilkinson
Bill Fellers
Bill
Parson
Omapie
Tam
Beamet
Bil
SOME STREET CAR NUISANCES IN NEW YORK GRAPHIC
A catalog of social annoyances on street cars as observed by a New York Graphic writer. Items include loud talkers, public behavior like gnawing nails and chewing, owners of odors, window watchers, and crowding on platforms. Also notes on mischievous youths and flirtatious or intrusive riders.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
New York Graphic
Brer Rabbit Outwits King Polecat In Ginger Cakes
Uncle Remus narrates Brer Rabbit and Brer Coon outsmarting Ole King Polecat who claims kingship of the creatures. Brer Rabbit secretly guards ginger cakes, uses a feigned display to expose the king, and seizes control by showing he can match the polecat in wit and appetite.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Brer Coon
Joel Chandler Harris
Uncle Remus
Remus
Polecat
Tight Lacing a Hundred Years Ago from Atheneum
Miss Frampton recalls 1780 fashion trends that pressured women to modify their waists and wear elaborate hairstyles. The era featured massive hair pyramids, powder and pomatum, dozens of pins, and tiny waists mimicking duchess silhouettes. Lacques and gauze handkerchiefs completed the look.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Atheneum
Miss Frampton
Phillis Wollaston
Duchess of Rutland
King of Bavaria’s Sledges Express Lavish Night Travel
A continental paper describes three royal Bavarian sledges used by the King for winter night journeys in the Bavarian Highlands. One is a colossal closed carriage in blue velvet with gilding and a canopy of golden crowns. The others are Louis XVI style sleighs with rich ornamentation. All are drawn by four nurses with postilions and require summer repairs in Munich due to harsh mountain roads.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
London Times
Bavaria
Munich
Louis Quatorze
von Pechmann
Bavarian Phantoms on Winter Nights Stir Peasant Awe
The text describes remarkable vehicles fitted with electric lights that cannot be shown to ordinary eyes. These machines are said to dazzle Bavarian peasants in the Alps as they flash by in late winter nights like phantoms from German legends.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Bavarian Alps
Brics of Fashion and Bachelor Charm in Detroit
The piece depicts a gallant bachelor with delicate hands and gold bands admired by belles in a Sweet Sixteen era setting. A parson discusses Johns and Jims as the scene hints at romance, fashion, and vanity, ending with a humorous note on a near sighted bachelor attempting needlework.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
SW. E
Detroit Free Press
Miss
Beauty
Parson
Johns
Jims
Hims
Maj orie the Fair Maid in a Philly Record Verse
A fragmentary collage of verse and wry wit from Philadelphia Record and other papers. It repeats flirtatious portraits of Maid Marjorie, a humorous quip about church supper fritters, a lyric about a dancer with jealous thoughts, and verse parodies. The collection includes playful lines on art, poverty, and clever wordplay, ending with a Christmas gift joke.
That Other Fellow in Pottsville Miner Verse
A fragment from a poem notes a moral prodigy and contrasts wild acts with a boy urged toward restraint. It recalls judging a wayward youth by others words and actions, with imagery of cleanliness and mischief, ending with a chiding moment and a penny request.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Pottsville
Jack
Also Mentioned on This Page
Bill Nye
Adams
Lachry
Confederacy
Maryland
District of, A
Pittsburg
Smithfield Street
Pepiceut
Washington
Cranks
Siine
Oress
Port Jervis
Jersey City
Mary
Turner
Aung
Eck
Bronway
Aea
Arkansaw
William B. Astor
Fifth Avenue
Broadway
Arkansaw Traveller
Hugh Conway
Brer
Ole King Polecat
Diggins
King
King Polecat
Iinicage Ledger
Marjorie
Philadelphia
Darling
Hartford Sunday Journal
Anon
Nanki Poo
George
Hunter
Crusoe
Gerry
Debonaire
Philadelphia News
Andrew Lang
Wanderig
Pretze
National Weekly
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