Fort Henry: Eighty Men Hold Off Union Gunboats Two Hours
The 1862 Fort Henry defense saw Tilghman’s garrison halt Grant and Foote near the Tennessee River. Despite eleven guns and scarce artillerymen, Confederate forces stalled the Union assault for two hours, while ironclads Essex and Cincinnati suffered heavy damage. The siege underscored weak fort defenses and influenced armor improvements.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Henry
Donaldson
Grant
Foote
Fort Henry
Poote
Tennessee
Grant O Foote
Tilghman
Qne
Harrison
Cumberland
Malidson
Fort Donaldson
Essex
Cincinnati
Porter
Fort cAllister
The First Circus Memories of Youth on the Road
A nostalgic reminiscence recalling boyhood nights before a circus arrival. Two friends describe meeting wagons, watering horses, and guarding the site at dawn, with vivid details of barefoot treks, canvas tents, and the thrill of seeing the elephant for the first time.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Bill
Peck
Europe
O. Bill
In Behalf of Frogs Frogs and human mimicry in a playful note
The piece extols frogs as a culinary and cultural fixture marking the oyster season’s end. It riffs on frog likeness to humans, frogs in poetry and scripture, and jokes about celebrity behavior, ending with a nod to respect for frogs in religious stories.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Cincinnati Enquirer
France
Aristophanes
Moses
Egypt
Abraham
Mohammed
The Pullman Thermometer Debate
A passenger rails against Pullman sleeping car comfort while criticizing the use of a colored thermometer. He alleges a New Orleans raised worker inflates car heat to lash riders, keeping him by the stove as others complain of ventilation.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Pullman
New Orleans
Fire Discovery Across Ancient Nations
Pliny notes Egyptians lacked fire until Exodus showed it. Persians Greeks and others similarly lacked fire in ancient times. Modern nations test the same fact. Marian Islands discovered in 1561 had no fire idea, mistaking it for a wood feeding animal. Philippine and Canary islands also described as ignorant. Africa shown in a similar depictions.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Pliny
Exodus
Pompanion
Mola
Plutarch
Marian Islands
Desert
Magellan
Philipine
Canary Islands
Africa
Diving Tales From The Gulf Of Mexico
A veteran diver recounts perilous underwater work during wartime to overhaul a sunken vessel near New Orleans. He describes firing up kegs to float a wreck, a black diver teammate, and a near fatal encounter with sharks and a fire covered steer in a sunken hold. He explains underwater visibility, depth limits, equipment costs, and the shift from bells to electric lighting in diving.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
New Orleans
Gulf
Petit Ruse
Grampus
The Forest as a City of Nature
A passage from An Inland Voyage praises forests as living, quiet cities of nature where trees are citizens and houses. It contrasts forest smells with the sea, noting resin, bees, and the delicate scent of sweetbrier in a showery afternoon, evoking the forest as vivid and variable.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Society of the Forest
R. L. Stevenson
Master Peter on a Horse
A fragment from the Atlanta Constitution extols the horse as the most useful animal. The writer notes boys praise the horse, its strength, and abilities to pull wagons and plow fields, while comparing its might to elephants in a circus context.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Peter
Atlanta Constitution
Bill
Best for Boys and Arab Love for Horses
The narrator mocks Arab affection for horses and laments life on the Empire State. He recalls Uncle Bill’s disdain for city horses and describes horses that bite, kick, or react to fingers. A sister plays piano while family mishaps unfold around a 9 o clock streetcar ride.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Bill
Mr. Lys
George
Papa Jammin
The Value of Idlers in Society and Arts
The piece argues that idlers, not just busy businessmen, sustain culture and civility. It traces a life of leisure as beneficial, describing a man with time to admire nature, support artists, read, vote, and engage in society, claiming society depends on idlers to nurture art, science, and refinement.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
San Francisco News Letters
How They Print in a Brooklyn Newspaper Office
Young women visit a Brooklyn Eagle newsroom to view operations as editors and staff guide them through desks and departments. The piece playfully portrays the editors showing off their roles from news gathering to weddings and death lists, with comic interruptions.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Gacnaney
Exchange
Society
Heights
Brooklyn
Silk hat as corner stone of civilization says wasp
The San Francisco Wasp argues the silk hat underpins civilization, linking art science literature and learning to organized charity and public order. It claims nations without silk hats are barbaric and ignorant, while communities opposing it are profane and violent, lacking steam telegraphy ships and large newspapers.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
San Francisco
Treatment of Women from Persian Poet
A Persian poet advises husbands to seek to please their wives while not heeding every word. He notes the rib used to form woman was never straight and warns that trying to straighten her temper is futile. Forgive faults, avoid anger, and shun coercion as it cannot fix what is inherently curved.
Stage supers and stars in Rossi era theater gossip
A veteran backstage observer recalls how supers called stage hands affect productions at the Grand Opera House. He praises McCullough Barrett Jefferson and Keene for discipline and humor, recounts improvised army scenes, and notes supers’ loyalties and limits behind the scenes.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Rossi
McCullough
Barrett
Jefferson
Goodwin
Keene
Janauschek
Captain Bowers
Grand Opera House
Cincinnati
Clara Morris
Miss Morris
Emilia
Harriott
Evin
John McCullough
A French Barber Foretells American Hair Fashion
A discussion contrasts Parisian barbering with American practice. The French perspective praises the curling iron as a civilizing tool, while criticizing American barbers for ignorance and reliance on cosmetics. The barber is hailed as a craftsman shaping culture.
Babylon harem tour reveals ornate rooms and thirty wives
A visitor recalls entering the Abode of Bliss in Babylon. She describes a long corridor leading to a main room with tapestry hangings, satin furniture, and open garden views. About a score of women are present, including thirteen wives of the pasha, in various poses.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Babylon
Putting Things Away and Out of the Way in Domestic Life
A humorous critique of how women and men differ in organizing and concealing belongings. The article contrasts feminine “putting away” with masculine “putting out of the way,” noting how wives hide items from sight and men track them, often provoking marital tension and comic misunderstandings.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Harper’s Bazar
Lis
A Ghastly Floating Funeral In Italian Night
In an Italy bound night near Florence the narrator describes a moonlit Arno scene and a narrow street. A spectral funeral procession advances in white shrouds with torches, marching through the alley at high speed and leaving him alarmed as he hides in a doorway.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
T. B. Aldrich
Italy
Arno
Ponte Vecchio
Taddeo
Agin
Coizu An
How to Detect Classical Music
A humorous guide explains a rule to judge music’s merit. It likens certain sounds to fugues, nocturnes, symphonies, and rhapsodies, using playful comparisons of note patterns to determine if a piece is high or low order.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Musical Herald
BRIC A BRAC And Modern Life In A Chicago News Note
The item blends verses on youth with a light anecdote about a boy using a picket as a bat and a brief, dated Chicago note on progressive improvements. It follows with a Seattle divorce story where a wife reorganizes a husband’s assets and advertises them for sale, framed as a social probe of reform.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Chicago
Times
Seattle
W.T
The Fool and the World’s Pageant of Wit and Woe
A meditation on the human condition contrasts sorrow and joy as life moves between solemn dirge and roaring farce. It speculates on cleverness versus genuine feeling, noting laughter can mask deeper woe while beauty and mirth satisfy briefly.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Seeibag
The Champion Compliment From an Old Bird Fancier
Mrs Langtry recalls a graceful compliment from a New York bird fancier who admired a dove and noted that the Lily’s wings alone would suffice, offering the whole bird but preferring the wings as the needed beauty.
Midsummer Verse and Nature’s Opulence
A lyrical meditation on midsummer’s splendor and the lure of nature over human offerings. The speaker contrasts attention to a royal audience with the wild abundance of birds, trees, and flowers, depicting a lush, unconstrained landscape and fragrant, mead like air.
On a Wedding Tour Alone
A humorous European press tale tells of an American traveler who explains his lack of funds during a wedding tour. He confesses to being “a very poor man” and “steeped to the lips” in simpecuniosity while away from home, seeking understanding from fellow travelers.
Be a Bug to Win Her Grace in a Curious Rhyme
A verse describes a garden scene with a woman’s face framed by a wreath of poppies and wheat. A green beetle sits among the buds, challenging the idea that beauty lies in the insect. The speaker muses on earning her favor by trimming the wreath.
Coquets and Coquetry: A Candid Modern Take
The piece treats coquets as elusive figures in romance. It argues that coquettish behavior can charm, complicate relationships, and requires wary timing. The narrator compares romance to lightning that rarely reoccurs, ending with a playful note on labels and flirtation.
Washington
Portrait of James Russell Lowell praising Washington as a soldier statesman. The verse lauds his duty above personal gain, honoring his influence on barefoot soldiers and his broad minded, high minded character.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Washington
James Russell Lowell
Murder Column Shortfall Causes Editor's Frustration
Arkansas journalism scene is mocked as the managing editor berates a reporter for only a column and a half on a murder, insisting five columns were needed and accusing the writer of negligence for a failed coverage.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Arkansas Journalism
Arkansas Traveller
Arkansaw
Biglesby
The Rustle of the Petticoat Poem Snippet
A nostalgic verse recalls intimate sighs and distant natural sounds. The speaker contrasts wind and ship rigging with the rustle of a petticoat described as sweeter music. The passage blends romantic imagery with sensory detail to emphasize memory and longing.
Portable electric device for clerks sparks guest distraction
A historical note describes Edson’s invention of a pocket sized electrical apparatus for stored electricity. A clerk would connect a circuit at the waistband to illuminate a diamond when a guest signs the register, allegedly paralyzing the guest with financial appeal. The setup supposedly hides wires under clothing to power the spark.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Edson
The Bicycle Versus The Ballet and Mother's Love
A San Francisco column quotes Lillian Whiting praising women's rights and life’s comforts while noting a preference for bicycling over voting. The piece contrasts nostalgic verse about motherhood with a playful critique of political enfranchisement and the bicycle as a symbol of freedom.
Also Mentioned on This Page
Detroit
Federal
Tan
Ft $ Gub
Fort Henry Worth
Fighman
Ocean's
Sand Key
Florida
Gulf Stream
Scotland
India
Cape Horn
Hooper
Mediterranean
Brooklyn Eagle
Tean
Heinrich Hudson
Old Hutson
Uruceh
Antony
Alexander Fitzgerald
O@car
Tom Keene
Richmond
William Bowers
McGullough Company
America
Jong
Pasha
General Grant
Paris
Ife
Longfellow
Summer Bine
Poe
Baby
iLife
Rhis
John E. McCann
Lillian Whiting
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