Confederate Vessel Marblehead Narrowly Escapes Capture in 1868
An account from Charleston describes the Confederate attack on the Federal gunboat Marblehead at Stove River near Tygreeville, South Carolina. Despite a 100-strong force and heavy battery, the Union ship fought back, suffered casualties, and escaped as the Confederates withdrew under spirited defense and advancing Federal support. The tale links broader 1864–65 privateer crackdowns, neutral-port tensions, and alleged betrayals for gold involving Havana officials and the Cumberland’s fate in a separate but related narrative.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Detroit Free Press
Marblehead
Stove River
South Carolina
Charleston
Tygreeville
York
Williams
Egreevillé
Cadiz
Florida
St. Louis
Jamis
Poly Cut
Federal
Yeary
Confederacy
Cumberland
Liverpool
England
Havana
Pomey
Uncle Sam
Bailey
Mobile
de Soto
Wilminton
Breach of promise case taunts lawyer with diary proof
In Wayne County Michigan a mother and daughter bring a breach of promise suit for 10,000 dollars. They count scores of affectionate references to the fiancé in a diary and letters, claiming 214 talks, 11,000 terms of endearment, and 417000 kisses. They demand an eighty acre farm as settlement.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Detroit
Wayne
State of Michigan
Mary Ann
Charles Henry
Perils of Pearl Diving Revealed by Spanish Sailor Tale
A Spanish brig captain recounts pearl diving off Mexico and Panama, detailing methods, dangers, and a frightening encounter with a giant starfish and a vast coral basin. He describes ground rules, air limits, baskets, synergies, and the brutal strain of underwater work.
The Electric Light and Health at Hamburg Meeting
Dr Kruss addressed the Hygienic Society of Hamburg on electric light and health. He said it harms eyesight little, appears violet, and notes overestimated sea visibility yet lighthouse use improves safety. He argued electric light reduces oxygen use and carbonic acid, making it a hygienic advance.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Hygienic Society of
Hamburg
Kruss
Our Wines in New York Times Critique of Imports
The article denounces thousands of tons of wine marketed as French but largely Spanish and Italian, doctored to deceive in France and the U.S. It cites France taking 850 million dollars of Spanish wine last year and suggests a plentiful red wine mix could yield table claret at three dollars per dozen quarts. It laments consumer gullibility and limited availability in fashionable venues.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
New York Times
France
Spain
New York
Stray Pin Incident Leads to Broker Partnership Tale
In Chicago a plain looking youth sought work with a broker who deemed him dull. After wandering away, the broker found the youth had been pickpocketed and the safe robbed, then invited him back into partnership, turning the tables with a surprising twist.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Philadelphia
Chicago
Showmen’s Secrets on Circassian Ladies and Other Curiosities
A York-era report diverts into showman claims about Circassian ladies fake origins, living skeletons, giants, albinos, and other curiosities. It details conversion tricks, weights, heights, earnings, and the shady line between authentic display and fabrication.
Pa Skates Himself Into a Comedy of Woes at Roller Rink
A boy narrates in a dated Peck’s Sun style how his father, a once famed skater, tries roller skating and disastrously falls, collides with a post, injures his pride, and ends up smelling like furniture polish. The episode ends with holidays being a nuisance and the family nursing the comic wreck.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Peck
North America
Albany
New York
Leggo
Heegan
soErybeau
Chun
Woner
Linament
Sparrow and Mouse Fight at 94 East Fourth Street
An English sparrow attacked a mouse found scavenging scraps on the grass near 94 East Fourth street. The bird swooped from a sickly elm and repeatedly pecked the mouse’s head, finally killing it after weakening the rodent. The witness said sparrows will fight when provoked.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Cincinnati
Society of Natural History
East Fourth Street
Bet on Weather Confounds Philadelphia pair in 54 calls
Two young men left the Social Art Club with roses on New Year’s Day to test a weather bet. They planned 54 calls by 7 pm but reported 106 women seen and every one mentioned the weather before speaking more than half a minute.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Philadelphia
Wen
Social Art Club
Melon Patch Tale Turns To Squash Joke At Society Meet
A Saturday horticultural society gathering on melons devolved into laughter as members recalled youthful melon patch adventures. The mood shifted when anticipation met reality, ending with a humorous twist as the ripe fruit proved to be a squash, much to the group’s amusement.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Horticultural Society
Italian girl from cradle praised for expressiveness
A letter from Italy extols the Italian girl as cultured in expression and gesture. It praises her soft words, vivacious lip-service, sweet intonation, and graceful poses. She is described as perfectly unaffected, not French, not American, and as a passionate, pretty figure with expressive movements.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Italy
Juno
Venus
Spain
Austin society bachelor Frederick Papson faces Eureka Springs trip
Frederick Papson, a delicate health Austin society young man, is ordered to Eureka Springs for his liver condition. He is engaged to Miss Fannie Longcaffin, who jokes she cannot write to him if he goes far, saying she can make B’s but not E’s in his letters, suggesting Sulphur Springs instead.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Texas Siftings
Frederick Papson
Eureka Springs
Fannie Longcaffin
Frederick
Sulphur Springs
Oysters and the Oyster Fleet of Canton Maryland
A vivid, grim account of Maryland oystering from Canton on the Chesapeake Bay. It describes the Canton shipyards, license rules, the dangerous dredging process, brutal work aboard the Ariel, the cook’s toil, daily toils from dawn to dusk, injuries, hospital taxes, and the harsh life feeding a global market for oysters.
A Western Man Returns to His Old Home in Disappointment
A narrator recounts a Western man who visits his Massachusetts homeland after years westward. He finds familiar places altered, old friends vanished or changed, and the town grown practical and sober. The visit ends quickly as he leaves after three days, disillusioned by grown-up realities.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Toledo Blade
New West
Massachusetts
New York
Sloan’s
Tnother
Jim
Wisconsin
Eagle
Union Hotel
Peck
Sloan
Tom
Sam
Congress
Power and Press Democracy in Newspaper Publishing
The author argues that newspaper control resembles near absolute power in society yet praises the democracy of the business. He notes editors may lose their temper and misinterpret others praise as influence, but emphasizes honest assertion and industrious work as the true paths to influence within a free press.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Jesse James
Tom
Harry
Life in a Southern Town from Sumter Republican
A vivid snapshot of life in a neighboring town featuring mosquitoes at night a daytime comet fear the street dunning of delinquents cotton in the city street corner politics storm shattered trees visiting library afternoons debt paying citizens travel and fine carriages as life moves with the tide in a bustling progress driven scene.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Sumter
Tit for Tat at the Theatre Hat Gaffe
The Fliegende Blatter recounts a theatre scene where a gentleman asks a lady to remove a large hat blocking his view. After two warnings and the man donning a hat himself, the audience shouts for the hat to come off. The lady ultimately removes her hat, and the man thanks her.
Puck Argues Myth of Insanity Through Everyday Examples
Puck lists various commonplace behaviors as proofs of insanity including a girl who is pretty yet not flirtatious a neighbor's sidewalk cleaned man who returned a borrowed umbrella a father at home with family every evening a person who pays bills and a wife who smiles at her drunken husband. It argues that continued effort will make medical experts unable to err.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Hannah Battersby
Frankfort
Penn
Barnum
France
Germany
John Greenwood
Henden
Madagascar
Lucasie
Charles Feehter
Newark
N. J
Puck
January Bric-a-Brac Horoscope and Photo Tale
In January remarks from Puck discuss the birth month rule of Garneta guarding constancy fidelity and friendship. A humorous note claims a man with many photographs is chased through a building to collect cuts while acquaintances rarely save his life, yet will seek his picture for the family album.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Puck
The Ballet Girl in Nippincott's Magazine
A verse piece contrasts a dancer's rosy appearance with aging and decline. It traces the path from poised stage to garret life, ending in death and questioning fate. The poem uses imagery of powder, spangles, pirouettes, and eventual repose.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Nippincott
Too True to Be Heard Jefferson and the Press
Jefferson critics note his love of newspapers over government and humor a rural paper praise for his honesty. The piece hints at public life, a daughter praised as a waltzer at the Branch, and debates over political virtue amid a reflective poem on a man of ideals.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Jefferson
Puck
The Irrepressible Machine Man
A sewing machine agent bursts into a home where a dying woman lies. He demands the lady of the house, mutters about selling her goods to benefit her children, and heads toward the upstairs advisers. The scene mixes comic bravado with morbid humor as he presses his pitch amid a crisis.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Utica Observer
Sean
Memoried visions in a December chamber
The speaker recalls boyhood friends and school adventures as smoky incense lifts in a warm, dim room. Vivid childhood scenes return, poetry and summer eyes reappear, and the speaker finds those memories companionship within the current glow and quiet night. The verse blends past joys with present warmth.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Tom
The Lurid Allure of Shopping on State Street
A vivid, humorous critique of a young wife with a $50 note wandering State Street seeking bargains. The piece portrays her buying frenzies, prices, and outfits as a modern vice, ending with anxiety over real quality and a changing relationship dynamic.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
State Street
Jones
The College Maiden's Lament in Kansas Review
A light verse from Kansas Review satirizes a college maiden seeking a lover for lectures, plays, and sleigh rides. She longs for a tall, strong freshman or sophomore, preferably a Normal student, with lively talk and reliable charm. The poem humorously laments lonely holiday seasons and eager, restless hearts awaiting companionship.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Kansas
Dolly
Only a Breeze Cheyenne’s Windy Fame From a Slight Breeze
A Cheyenne breezy item notes the town as the windiest spot on the footstool with locals joking about windmills. A morning breeze lifts sand bars, swinging signs, and blows cats and dogs down the street, prompting playful exaggeration in a local paper.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Laramie
Cheyenne
Union Pacific Railway
Also Mentioned on This Page
Stone River
Hin
Atlantic
Iust
Kep
Ma Ceira
Oll
Lestruid
Peril
Oodbine Cottage
Ties 3
Pacific
California Times
Mexican
Panama
Tatterward
Broadway
Pennsylvania
Jessie Waldron
Greenpoint
Long Island
Emilie Hill
Calvin Edson
Isaac W. Sprague
Martin P. Avery
Hayes
Petersburg
Avery
Captain Bates
Exas
Bunnell
Marina
London
Europe
Amazulu
Scranton
Providence
R. I
Rajah Hajah
Trish
Madison Square Garden
Alah Hajah
George C. Starr
Captain Costentenus
Harry de Courcey
Brooklyn
Martin Hildebrant
de Courcey
Woodward
Amd
Placin
Sir Walter Stuart
Milwaukee
Chesapeake Bay
Baltimore
Canton
Marine Bar
Stanley
Livingstone
Yorkes
Zululand
Collins
Ariel
Seeman
Tyro
Annapolis
Maryland
Marine Hospital
Eyo
Job
Bach
CW. McIntosh
Alphomore Lad
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