30 Dec 1879
Page 1
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This newspaper page contains 28 articles. Subscribers can read the full text of each article.
Newspaper
Boston Weekly Globe
Location
Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
Date
Dec 30, 1879
Page
1
A massive night fire in Boston leveled a prime block along Franklin and Devonshire streets, damaging two dozen firms including Rand Avery Co and Rice Kendall. Firefighting crews fought through the night amid falling beams, with rain arriving at dawn and total losses estimated near $2 million.
A Sunday night blaze on the second floor of 91 Federal Street, occupied by D Faulkner, spreads rapidly as Officer French raises the alarm. Firemen battle dense smoke, high heat, and extending flames, with ladders and multiple engines deployed to save the structure and surrounding property. Sergeant Munroe and a squad assist.
Fierce blaze sweeps Rice Kendall and Co warehouse on Sullivan Place rear of the firm, with firemen on adjacent roofs valiantly directing streams from a dozen engines. Elevators and corbels collapse as one and a half hours after alarm the Devonshire Street side and Bank Building on Franklin Street succumb to flames.
The Cathedral building, on the site of Boston’s first Roman Catholic cathedral, was the most historic structure swept away by Sunday night’s rapid fire. The fire destroyed the Franklin and Miller blocks, a handsome one story edifice once adjacent to the North National Bank, with basement tenants Claflin & Brown, paper and twine, and John Dillingham, paper.
Value of stock held by Rice Kendall Company estimated at $200,000 with about $175,000 of insurance across twenty five companies. Loss cannot yet be properly estimated. Two policies totaling $6,000 expired yesterday.
A House leader expects Secretary Sherman to refrain from issuing the remaining 108 million dollars in four per cent bonds, deferring to Congress as refunding legislation is pending. Banks warn bonds at par would require four percent or more, while the government faces large five and six percent maturing debt in 1881. Sherman supports four per cent bonds to ease funding and redeem maturing debt.
Hartford correspondent reports Rev. A. W. Paige of Glastonbury Connecticut was found guilty of fornication and admitted repeated criminal acts with a longtime female parishioner. He received a fine of 87 dollars plus costs and thirty days in jail, then transported to Haddam jail. Paige had served since 1805 in the Providence Methodist Episcopal conference with prior stations in Edgartown Massachusetts and Stoughton Massachusetts. The scandal wounds his family and church, affecting his two sons and many friends.
Bernard Pecker a respected German resident was awakened by loud knocking and shot by three masked men who then bound gagged and tormented his wife Mrs Picker to force reveal of a hidden $1500. The robbers fled with the money after the deadly assault.
In New York at the Academy of Music P S Gilmore premiered the national anthem "Columbia" with the final verse sung by Miss Thursby and the chorus. The audience rose in applause as the orchestra played and cheered the composer after the last notes.
A special from Denison reports a Missouri Kansas and Texas freight train derailed on a burning bridge near Durant Station. The locomotive cleared the bridge, but the tender and twenty-two cars burned. Fireman Mike Shelly died in the fire. Brakeman Ly was injured.
A massive storm toppled a two mile Tay bridge near Dundee last night. A Edinburgh bound train plunged into the river with about 300 people, all presumed dead. Wreckage and clothing floated ashore as divers secure the scene and investigators weigh whether wind, waves, or train shock caused the collapse.
The New York press reports Edison’s electric light tested at Menlo Park New Jersey with four outdoor lamps and twenty eight burners in use. Observers note the light matches gas in brightness and the system promises greater power with more generators. A lab invention resembling a telegraphy facsimile works on a short circuit demonstration and may travel 1000 miles.
Philadelphia report describes George Shepherd and George Wood in a confrontation on December evening near 131 Shakawaxon street Kensington. Wood, a newcomer in ship building, approached Shepherd on the residence steps, triggering a notable incident in local nautical trades.
A Marlborough Street incident describes a man who threw carbolic acid or oil of vitriol into Shepherd’s face, burning him severely about the head and body and destroying the sight of one eye. Both men are well known in the city area.
New York reports a brutal burglary at 144 West Forty-eighth Street in which a cook Mary Redford was beaten into insensibility while defending silverware. Kate Brady, a 23 year old chambermaid, chased the attacker, aiding the victim and surviving blows. Police arrested the suspect, Charles Franks alias John Robertson, for examination.
The Nihilist executive committee claims responsibility for the failed November 1 attempt on Alexander II on the Moscow and Kursk railway. They denounce the czar, accuse his reign of oppression, and call for universal suffrage and a freely elected assembly to restore the people’s rights. They urge Russian citizens to support the struggle and warn that only the end of despotism will bring peace. The proclamation, dated November 22, 1879, from St. Petersburg, outlines the party’s aims and the need for broad backing.
The United States plans a frigate cruise in Venezuelan waters after American officials faced insults in Lagranje. Venezuela seeks to overturn the 1868 awards, with $1,250,000 claimed, while Evarts weighs the case amid diplomatic tensions and pending funds.
In Braddocks Field the roof of the Edgar Thompson steel works Converting mills collapsed trapping about twelve to fifteen workers. Several men, including John Goal J.J. Cassidy Gus Williams and William Robinson, were injured but none killed. Other dispatches report a Canadian independence society in Montreal and a plot to steal General Grant's horses, plus four alleged murderers lynched in Amite.
A long London dispatch details the wreck of the steamer Borussia with loss of 225 lives. Survivors describe a panic and lack of orders during abandon ship. The aged vessel, 24 years old, drifted and foundered in a gale near the Azores, while emigrants bound for Havana and Valencia remain unaccounted.
The schooner T. J. Trafton from Hoboken bound for this city with 360 tons of coal foundered off Highland Light in a gale. Captain Eaton and five crew survived after abandoning ship into a small yawl, enduring a snow storm before reaching Ellisville. The vessel sank in about twenty fathoms. no cargo or valuables recovered.
Two sailors aboard the Italian barque Francisco Donavaro mutinied at midnight on December 5 aimed to seize the ship. They killed cook Sebastian Aquariome and boatswain Antonio Marchisia and wounded the mate and another seaman. With crew aid the captain quelled the mutiny and killed the mutineers, their bodies cast overboard.
The schooner Harvey C Mackey sailing for a salt trip to the Banks left Gloucester August 28 and is now declared lost after a four month voyage. Last seen October 20 during a gale, the crew of ten including Frank Nolan master and mates Watson Mills Doyle Doyle and Mills presumed to have perished or deserted at Canso. The vessel, 64 77-100 tons burden, had waited in the Bay of St Lawrence for bait and stopped at Canso before continuing, with the crew seemingly short-handed and scattered among Argyle and Rockport.
A special Denver Rio Grande train was blown from the track by wind and down a ten foot embankment. Colonel L C Ellsworth the railroad receiver his wife and Mrs R L Fisher were the only passengers and all suffered severe injuries.
The New York pedestrian contest drew a large crowd as Hart pushed to a world record, finishing with 540 miles and the American belt amid cheering after intense evening competition. Krohne, Faber, and Pegram vied for top spots as final laps and retirements narrowed the field.
Denver reports from Los Pinos say Hatch plans to depart for Alamosa tonight after a stay at Cline's ranch. With snowbound roads and small white settlements nearby, authorities fear a swift attack by White River Utes if Hatch leaves without Indian containment. Troops from Fort Garland may rush to Los Pinos, but defense depends on delaying Indian action.
The Daly News publishes an interview with Clara Agnes Hess wife of Dr Fless describing her marriage to William F McCarty on December 1 1874 in Chicago and his alleged prior marriage in Hernando Mississippi she plans to sue for divorce claiming brutal treatment and neglect she says McCarty fled to Paris then London with Miss Sickles after leaving her in Paris last spring and returning to Chicago two years later
A brutal two week North American storm devastates the northwest with Fargo minus 40 and Bismarck minus 24. Northern Pacific trains face constant delays amid drifts. At 150 miles out, Walker Bellows & Co. labors with 500 men on a 1000 mile extension while frost victims include a man named O Connor his wife and two children. In Colorado a mob hangs two murderers from a jail with 150 masked men. Denver debates Leadville railway routes as Judge McCrary reopens the Grand Canton case delaying a decision due to Jo Halletts illness.
Papucan Kentucky December 27 two farmers Irwin Vickers and Ephraim Sisk from Massa county Illinois were traveling near the ferry landing when a quarrel led to a pistol shot. Vickers received two wounds and died yesterday while Sisk is detained for questioning.
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