RAM ARKANSAS The Confederate Ram’s doomed Yazoo and Mississippi voyage
The Arkansas was built to strike at Vicksburg but struggled with slow engines and weak armor. She fought through heavy Federal fire in the Yazoo and Mississippi, disabled several ships, and battered battleships before being driven aground and finally destroyed by the Essex and other Union craft near Baton Rouge.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Arkansas
Memphis
Mississippi
Vicksburg
Fort Pillow
Great River
Yazoo
Yazoo River
Yazoo City
Confederacy
Charleston
New Orleans
Merrimac
Tennessee
Lynch
Brown
Carondelet
Tyler
Bluffs
Wicks
Ellet
Ewillow
Will
Ehne
Porter
Heould
Dion
Baton Rouge
eBay
From The Pulpit Sleeper and Watcher In The Congregation
Hawkeye Burdette sketches churchgoers by habit from a pulpit mocking satire. The sleeper the lounger the fidget the watcher the timekeeper and the squeaker populate the pews with comic flaws, revealing awkward rituals and self conscious zeal.
Ways of the Wizard Fire King Faraday Conjuring Show Exposé
A Cincinnati tale exposes a traveling wizard, the Fire King, and his manager describing feats like melting steel in candle flame with brimstone, burning water, and a molten lead bath. It details stage tricks, audience tricks, and a //shock// industry of advertising a captivating young woman to lure villagers.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Pika AY
Av. Erty
Cincinnati
Paraday
Fire King
Grauous
Satan
Faraday
The Open Letter to Ezra on New Baby Worries
An older relative warns Ezra about the coming baby, detailing how the father becomes a quiet spectator while the mother, relatives, nurse, and doctor steer childrearing. He cautions about clothing, gifts, rocking, scheduling, and the back seat role in the nursery, promising a follow up in six months.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Ezra
Boston
Staff of
Life
A Bald Sea Story
A crew recounts a perilous whaling expedition where a 100-barrel whale burst into flame after a burning matches accident. The narrator dives under hot oil to escape, squeezes through a snout, and emerges unharmed, while the captain fears a fatal burn as the ship looms nearby. The punchline hinges on the captain’s baldness, prompting a wry joke.
The Model Husband Says Women First Shaping Gentlemen
A living writer praises a family where the mother’s rule of girls first shapes sons into true gentlemen generous, courteous, and protective. He argues protection and honest pride define manhood, contrasting with mean manipulation, and extols mutual respect between men and women.
The Sarcastic Girl: A Sour Old Maid in the Making
A critic laments a sarcastic young woman whose satire has devolved into impudence. He notes the school influence, family praise, and social rejection as she increasingly lampoons friends and acquaintances, shaping a notorious character.
John Ruskin On Courtship From a Miserable Presentation
A vivid critique depicts courtship as a chaotic mêlée of candlelight and moonlight, where youths pursue costly fashions and secret impulses, risking the loss of life’s honor and joy through folly and missteps.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
John Ruskin
The King of Dahomey and the Elephant Cannon Plan
The King of Dahomey received a Krupp cannon invoice and proposed mounting the guns on elephants for field use. Despite gun mounting challenges, the project moved forward as reported in the San Francisco Post.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Dahomey
San Francisco
Beautiful Hands and Proportions Across from a New York Artist
A New York artist explains hand proportions and facial division, detailing rules such as the hand height matching the body and the face length mirroring the hand. The piece contrasts soldier and clerical hands and critiques long nails, warns against powder use, and cites remedies like Indian meal with glycerine.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
New York
A Chinese Theatre Visit in San Francisco and a Chinese Drama
Miss Alice Stone Blackwell describes two nights at Chinese theatres in San Francisco. She details narrow galleries, opium dens, backstage scenes, and a six to eight musician orchestra, with clashing cymbals syncing to dialogue. The article notes gendered casting, with male actors playing female roles, and contrasts moral aims of plays about virtuous sons and tyrannical mandarins with comic dialogue and vivid onstage action.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Alice Stone Blackwell
Woman's Journal
San Francisco
Xestare
Raymond
Palace Hotel
China
Medias Res
Red
Beyore
MYSTERIES OF MATCHES Uncertain dangers in a common tool
A satirical essay from Harper's Bazaar argues matches are useful yet risky and mysterious. It compares modern matches with flint and steel, notes fires set by children and rats, and questions mass smoking driven by readily available matches. It humorously explores the inexplicable disappearance of matches from homes and safes, suggesting a lighthearted mystery surrounding the everyday object.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Harper's Bazar
Savage
United States
Pps
Asy
Matcres
Forbidden Flirtation Props In Stage Tricks Revealed
A New York correspondent notes that fans and parasols forego foremost use in stage bewitchment. Actresses once drew letters from the bosom to charm audiences, now handkerchiefs and lacy batistes follow the same sly principle for flirtation on stage.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
New York
Fragmented Theater Goers Describe Audience Class Ties
The writer notes a resignation and delays for vegetables, observing a sparse female audience dressed coarsely and clustering at one gallery end. The piece compares Chinese theatre unfavorably to American venues on costumes, finding Chinese performances more decent on two observed nights.
The Lower Berth and the Kindness of Giving Up
A humorous travel anecdote by George W. Peck about rail journeys, the urge to claim a lower berth, and swapping with a sick passenger. The tale turns on pretended sacrifice, cheeky generosity, and a vow never to telegraph for a lower berth again after a chaotic misadventure aboard a sleeper train.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
George W. Peck
Milwaukee Sun
Missouri River
Iowa
Nebraska
Elijah
Aphorisms of Holmes on minds hearts and ethics
A compact reflection on human nature and virtue. The notes praise women and warn against greed while contrasting intellect versus heart. It threads about memory as a fish net and life’s three wicks brain blood breath. It hints that moving direction matters more than position.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Oliver Wendell Holmes
Rainy Verses and a Threat in Cleveland Leader
A fragmentary poem Bric-A-Brac Before the Rain contrasts rain imagery with mist drenched landscapes and ambers. The Cleveland Leader prints a satirical editorial threat against an elderly contributor, warning that fifteen pages of original poetry will be published with his full name if he persists.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Cleveland
Midsummer Reverie by Oliver Wendell Holmes
Rain fills the air with sweet odors as the speaker longs for rest amid nature's embrace. An Indian chair, books warmed by sunlight, and a pine curtain frame a dreamlike scene where fatigue fades into music and tranquil sleep.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Oliver Wendell Holmes
Being Charitable and Being Swindled
A humorous anecdote from the St. Joseph Gazette features Gillyflower arguing that giving to charity justifies generosity. He asserts a $50 donation appears noble, while a $5 swindle is perceived as foolish, prompting shopkeepers and passersby to mock the misguided thief.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
St. Joseph
Gillyflower
Charity
Sam
Old Foo
Dry ancient history mockingly outshone by spring
In a playful aside Edgar Fawcett laments the dull ancient history text. He yearns for nature, blossoms, birds, and a sunny day better spent outdoors with botany rather than dull lessons. The speaker imagines a happier alternative to study while marveling at springtime scenery.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Edgar Fawcett
Ima
Bob Odinks
Ron
This Year's Style of Widow in St Louis
The article mocks a new widow archetype for 1885 describing a dramatic, fearsome image. It lampoons social expectations with vivid, satirical phrases about gowns, demeanor, and public perception.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
St. Louis
Snoopy
Ophelia
When Lovers Fight Time And Late Night Passion
A fragmentary verse scene shows a couple arguing over a clock that runs late. The speaker pleads for ten more minutes, hoping for warmth by the fire as affection clashes with irritation at the clock. The cadence hints at romance despite discord.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Ana
The Mirthful Ruse of a Blue Eyed Baby Lover
A quirky column mix about a tall six foot two man nicknamed Papa by numerous babies. He muses on why infants stare, his bashfulness with women, and a lighthearted look at romance and courtships. The piece blends humorous self reflection with stray anecdotes from everyday life.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Pepeonale
Eush
Lixenange
Also Mentioned on This Page
RAM
Federal
Detroit Free Press
Hawkeye Burdette
Sleepy Hollow
Elder Skinner
Deacon Slowboy
Brother Badman
the Wizard
Royal
Aldrich
Anon
Peck
Sun
Janny
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