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This newspaper page contains 22 articles. Subscribers can read the full text of each article.
Newspaper
Boston Weekly Globe
Location
Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
Date
Sep 23, 1884
Page
5
The Washingtonian Home hosts a prominent Chicago lawyer who, after a brutal winter night in 1881, sought help for drink and recovered. Dr. Albert Day, the superintendent, describes how intellectuals fall to dipsomania, the home’s moral and medical approach, and the claim that alcoholism is a disease treatable by dedicated care.
Old General Harney, six feet three and eighty four, remains in fair health at eighty four with slight vision issues. He tours with his adopted daughter Mrs St Cyr, staying at the Ebbitt House in Washington. He recalls saving Lincoln’s life during the Black Hawk era and shares tales of his military career across Seminole, Black Hawk, Sioux, Mexican, and Civil War fronts.
Long Island Railroad president Austin Corbin offers New York and Brooklyn control of the bridge for 450000 annually, proposing to lower tolls, guarantee rent paid in advance, and improve service while limiting tariffs to the current rate. He cites the bridge cost around 15000000 and says the rent equals 8 percent interest.
A New York Herald item recalls a Bunco steerer at the Astor House guiding a Chicago lawyer with a $10 note. The con man reveals hat style signals origin, noting silk hats mark Americans from the West Indies, Detroit, Canada, Philadelphia, and Boston. The hat, he says, is the surest tell-tale.
A Hampshire county pregnant woman injured by a highway defect gave birth soon after to a child who lived fifteen minutes. She won damages against the town, and her husband, as administrator, sued for injuries to the child. Medical testimony linked the fall to both birth and death, raising whether an action by the child is maintainable.
The Treasury Department completes a large silver vault beneath the cash room. Beginning Monday, transfer of silver to the vault will start, with about 60,000,000 standard silver dollars stored in the vault.
A Globe report profiles Silva Duprie known as Fatty Duprie of Webster Massachusetts born June 20 1876 at 23 Pleasant Street. Now eight years old he has gained to 201 pounds and measures 4 feet 2 inches tall with a 56 inch waist and 47 inch chest. He loves candy and cold foods and attends ABCs lessons with Miss Bartlett. His French parents and his remarkable size attract crowds as he tours Worcester Haverhill Boston and other cities while defying Boston prejudice and enjoying simple meals and play.
A dealer explains that fruit baskets, including grape and peach baskets, now cost little. Four cent grape baskets and ten cent peach baskets capable of holding a busket are produced by new mills. A Northampton plant employing 200 people makes 8000 baskets daily, switching from willow to oak and elm. Fancy French baskets remain popular and cheaper than in the past.
Sailors and regular makers craft baskets in many forms with hundreds of varieties. Marketed picnic hampers number in the hundreds, suitable for transporting oysters, ice cream and more. Yankee ingenuity daily uncovers new basket uses including baby carriages table mats and toy rattles.
A Utica Observer report describes a 24 year old man known as John Ward held in Ostego County house who remains motionless, never speaks, and can be moved yet always returns to his original position. He was previously jailed for larceny and sent through Elmira reform school to Auburn then Ostego. Doctors call it a peculiar insanity with unclear origins and unknown parents, leaving him seemingly educated and well dressed but unable to swallow at times and unable to walk or move on his own.
Two letters penned at Castle Garden seek wives. One from J L Thomas of Detroit describes his age, looks, and wishes for an Eastern or Southern wife with clear terms, vows, and property care. The second from George William Murdoch of Lancaster County Pennsylvania seeks a stout medium woman with blue eyes and stylish dress, planning to marry and provide a good home.
Governor Hendricks survived a derailment on the Indiana Bloomington and Western line near Farmington Illinois after a broken rail sent the 4 oclock passenger train into wreckage. About fifteen people were injured including Mrs Sceva of Texas and several others. no fatalities reported. A fellow former governor Hendricks ally sustained severe injuries.
A tall 60 year old Southern man arrives in Columbus on the Bee line, seeks Mrs Garfield at her residence, and asks for Miss Piper. After hours of waiting he is arrested with a 32 caliber revolver. He refuses to identify himself, and is believed to be a crank from the South.
Portland dispatch says customs officials in Ultsalaay Washington Territory recently noted forty Chinese men and women smuggled across the border from British Columbia. A Victoria organized effort is alleged to run the crossings with steamer masters paid to land Chinese on American soil. Separately Mrs Astor reportedly distributed dollar gifts to line workers at a New York construction site. Five city firemen were badly burned in a St Louis varnish works explosion.
Washington reporters describe the Blaine residence at Dupont Circle as the city’s largest private palace aside from the British embassy. The article details the mansion’s 30 rooms, oak stairways, mahogany panels, electric burglar alarms, baths, and servants’ quarters, noting its cost and current rental to James Leiter’s family. It also compares other ex-senators' lavish Washington homes along Massachusetts and K streets, with costs cited for Windom Robeson and Cameron properties.
Visitors marvel at a large circular 50 to 60 foot framework showing a single rail elevated transit concept. The car runs beneath the wheel with a grooved track and motive power from below. Speed depends on wheel size and the machine cannot derail. A pedal mockup is shown with a future electric or steam powered car planned for rides.
A barber jokes about old fashioned signs while recounting the origin of barber poles. He explains how barbers once were surgeons who bled patients and wrapped wounds with red stripes around a pole to signal trade. The blue stripe is implied as a modern addition. The customer leaves before the discussion ends.
The week closes with a featureless money market as banks offer discounts to preferred customers at 5 ½ to 6 ½ percent. Foreign exchange slight up. New York funds quoted around 10.20 premium per $1000. Clearing house totals show $8,807,640 in the morning and $56,476,057 for the week. deposits, reserves, and excess over legal requirements noted. Prices for bonds and stocks steady with minor gains on some issues. agricultural and commodity markets show limited activity with various bids and asks across wheat, corn, oats, flour, meat, and produce.
Commercial matters show improved activity in Boston markets with higher sales and aim for fair trade. Apples and beans price ranges given. creamery and dairy products vary by grade and region. coal and coffee markets glower with modest shifts. Chemicals, dyes, drugs and drying goods list prices. corn and fish markets display limited demand. overall market tone cautiously buoyant.
Saturday reports show firm flour and meal activity at 18 000 barrels with an active grain market. Wheat futures edged up then slipped. No 2 red October 57 1/2. oats and corn weaker after early gains. provisions rose with lard and pork active, while butter and cheese firmed. spot demand steady for prime meats and fats.
At Gloucester the week ending today shows higher rail and steamer shipments and large business. Mackerel receipts fall to half last week while total fish imports reach over 1,311,000 pounds including Georges Bank codfish and halibut with prices steady near last week. Cured fish and herring sales remain active with varied price marks across species and regions.
Weekly livestock totals for Brighton and Watertown ending September 19, 1884 show Western cattle 1455 Eastern cattle 230 Northern 1170 total 2905. Sheep and lambs 2590 Eastern 485 Northern 667 total swine 17950 veals 724 horses 275 beef cattle prices per hundred pounds dressed weight from 450 to 575 dollars.
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