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Newspaper
Brainerd Dispatch
Location
Brainerd, Minnesota, United States of America
Date
Dec 30, 1887
Page
2
The Brainerd Dispatch reports that Congress was very light for the best month with neither chamber in session for most days. An adjournment was taken until after the New Year, when it is presumed work will begin in earnest.
The New York Financial Chronicle reports November earnings across 108 roads far above November 1886. The total increase amounts to 4,000,760 dollars, a result that is especially encouraging for the rail industry and investors observing the period.
Dr. Charles F. McDonald of the Postal Money Order branch asserts he is the first Irish American graduate of Harvard. He has served longer in the Post Office Department than any other man and is credited as the father of the United States postal money order system.
Within four to five weeks Lee Massachusetts has reported forty five cases of starlet fever with many fatalities. Public schools are closed as residents investigate the epidemic. Evidence points to multiple families using water from a well near a contaminated facility as the likely source.
The bill introduced in the Senate by Mr. Cullom of Illinois proposes an elaborate electrical communication system linking principal U S cities east west north and south by trunk lines with branch wires as directed by congress. The plan intends to establish complete service at all points in time.
The tribunal investigating charges against M. Wilson finds him innocent. The public clamor that ousted M Grevy is called idiotic if Wilson is truly innocent. The text frames a tempest in a teapot and questions if a wrong was done to the accused or if whitewash was used.
The French dramatist Sardou criticizes Shakespeare’s Hamlet as lacking merit and absurd, declaring it not creditable for anyone to write. He asserts a line should be drawn when men of high intellect attack the Bard of Avon and defend his memory.
Observers note that many lawmakers introduce bills without regard to chances of passage. Senate has 500 plus bills. House openings may total 5 000. Last congress saw over 15 000 bills introduced, with more than 12 000 failing. Many failed measures are likely to be reintroduced in the Fiftieth congress.
Lawmakers must swear to support the constitution and further declare they have not paid or promised money or valuables to influence votes at their election. Many officials may find reconciling this oath with their past electoral practices difficult.
After years of discussion New York will build a four track underground tunnel from City Hall to Forty second Street enabling seven minute travel to Grand Central. The route runs along Elm street and Fourth Avenue not disturbing Broadway with stations every four to five blocks. The system includes a central tunnel for pipes and wires and both local and express trains with electric lighting and fireless or electric propulsion.
The piece argues cholera arrived in the country via New Orleans with 600 Italian immigrants on the steamer Alesia. It notes health claims about their condition and disinfection, questions why they were directed to New Orleans instead of New York, and suggests the ship sought to bypass New York quarantine rules amid strict city precautions.
Congressman Mason to introduce a resolution to probe charges against coal and sugar trusts. Navy yard reports praise 6000 ton armored ships plans, while Morcy Hale Bartow is found dead in Washington. Postmaster general drafts bills on wrappers for class two to four mail. Pension grants list recipients in Wisconsin Minnesota South Dakota and more.
Jay Gould famed for a single cigar fell ill after it. John M. Barclay longtime House clerk dies in Washington. Rev. S. G. Smith resigns as pastor to head an independent church. German tenor Schett dedicates earnings to Lutheran church in Abenbeg. P H Kelly improves and may sit up soon. W W Corcoran exhausted after service, returns home. Hon Knute Nelson M D declines reelection and any post, seeks to resume law practice.
A gang of Kentucky toughs attempted a saloon robbery near Covington resulting in multiple bullet injuries. A gunfight at a Wausau saloon left a bartender fatally wounded during an arrest attempt. In Boulder Isadore Pierce killed his wife and himself, four children present but wife wounded. Nashville editor John J. Littleton was shot near home by real estate agent Joseph R. Banks amid GOP factionalism. Baltimore cashier Percy N. Hatch, missing after shorting 7000 to 10000, once of St Paul. mother still there.
The Manitoba scene sees Premier Norquay and Provincial Treasurer La Riviere resign their portfolios and Dr. Harrison chosen to succeed Norquay. Winnipeg caucus signals a Conservative government calm, while CP rail setbacks and international notices from Constantinople and San Remo fill the rest of the dispatches.
A blaze consumed St. Aloysius Academy in Yonkers New York with total loss reported. Separately a Wisconsin Central train derailed between Fifield and Phillips leaving one death and about fifteen injured. George Bessey resided five miles east of the incident site.
In Merrill Wisconsin a logger died when a limb fell on him while felling trees on Pine River. In Fargo a large fire on Northern Pacific avenue destroyed many buildings including Hintoon’s restaurant and Doyle’s stable, with total losses around 46 50000 and 22100 insurance. Wakefield Michigan a sweeping blaze consumed over half the town center starting at a Vaudeville theater, burning the theater post office bank jewelry store saloons clothing store general store and other small businesses.
A compilation of scattered items reports a man named Thomas Hanson from Black River Falls died by suicide by hanging. Other notes include Minneapolis building operations totaling 9 311 372 dollars for 1887 and various disparate events across the country.
Ex Secretary of the Treasury Daniel Manning dies in Albany after 1 PM amid family gathering. The city honors him with half mast flags and President Cleveland sends a sympathy telegram noting Manning as a trusted friend and associate in public duty.
A traveling salesman F H Parker joined a Methodist church in Omaha and wooed widow Mrs Laclede from Chicago. He promised to deed A J Poppleton’s Spruce street home but the deed proved worthless. Parker collected about $1000 in church pledges then disappeared, leaving his wife and the church to face the fallout.
White Beaver of La Crosse cautions residents about a traveling con artist in the Northwest claiming kinship. He has no sons and the pretender is a drunken confidence man whose proper home is the Penitentiary.
The Senate debated the holiday recess with party splits and moved adoption. Amendments to railroad land grant tax forfeiture rules were proposed. A Milwaukee public building bill was advanced with site costs up to 1.2 million. The Senate considered credentials for elections and fish commission permanence. The House adopted rule changes, trimmed printing, and created new committees including merchant marine and fisheries. The Senate discussed marriage reform, Indian land bills, and depredation claims alongside procedural rule shifts. The House adjourned to Jan 4 with expected Ways and Means members Cox Turner and Gay.
Bessie Hillyer Buckley, daughter of Judge Hillyer, filed in Baltimore court a bill seeking to declare her marriage to G G Buckley void from inception. She states she was 18 and he 21, consent obtained by fraud and threats, license by false swearing, and that the marriage was never consummated. She has since lived with her parents and never seen Buckley.
President Cleveland gifted a copy of the U S constitution to Pope Leo XIII on the golden jubilee after an indirect nudge from the pope. Cardinal Gibbons delivered the pope’s cordial message last summer and noted interest in the constitution’s operation. The fly leaf bears the inscription in Cleveland’s handwriting.
Dover New Hampshire Dr W W Weber proclaims his late father William Weber a confirmed heir to a sixty acre pilot land claim south of Canal Street New York City valued at 20 000 000 A meeting of heirs will be held in New York on January 20 to finalize possession arrangements. A Christmas church event in Fairbury Illinois saw a cotton cabin set on the platform use as a pulpit filled with gifts, bursting into flames causing a stampede injuring many and demolishing windows. Fremont arrives in Los Angeles with his wife’s daughter plans to winter there and finish a second memoir volume. Rand Co’s mill near Rochester blown at breakfast with heavy losses. Pennsylvania Railroad official says Wyoming can meet anthracite demand if Schuylkill and Lehigh go idle, easing coal famine fears. Boston school board supports permanent kindergarten system.
Community carnival plans a grand third festa from January 25 to February 4 with daily events. Highlights include Ice King arrival, royal ceremonies, tobogganing, skating, snow shoe racing, international races, fireworks, industrial parade, sham battle, and a grand jubilee with children’s day activities.
Long account of two rail accidents on Friday the 23rd. Wisconsin Central train jumped a broken rail between Fifield and Phillips near Ashland. all cars left track, many injuries and one death, conductor seriously injured. Minnesota and Northwestern excursion train, 13 miles from Freeport, plunged down a twelve-foot embankment. 150 passengers, no deaths, many bruises. several named injured. Estimated damage around 150000 dollars. investigation points to a spread rail on a down grade curve near a creek.
The U S Geological Survey reports a total mineral product value around 465 million dollars in 1886, the highest for any country. Pig iron surpasses silver and gold, natural gas use soars, and coal displaced by gas valued over 9.8 million, with petroleum nearly twice that amount.
Boston clerical circles report a Rome sourced rumor tied to the pope’s jubilee that Archbishop Williams may become a cardinal and Bishop McMahon of Hartford could become Boston’s coadjutor. It further suggests Vicar General Byrne could be raised to the episcopate with Hartford as his see.
A proposed Mexican international monetary arrangement aims to ease trade and reduce loss for Mexican people exchanging with the United States. Cable reports indicate European interest and diplomats are seeking details of the proposition. Lee Hamline, long mourned, reappears in New Orleans asking about his location.
A unique case at Winona district court concerns B. H. Lee and his wife seeking to adopt an infant amid a prior bastardy charge against Lee. The mother, Annie Bee, had alleged the child was Lee's, but a settlement led to adoption as Lee's heir. Judge Starr granted the petition, noting the mother's willingness and the couple's readiness to treat the child as their own.
M Rochefort was assaulted on a Paris street by M Garnier, a member of Sarah Bernhardt’s company during her last American Tour. The attack stemmed from Rochefort’s adverse article about Garnier’s conduct amid Bernhardt’s quarrel with Mme Noirmont, a company member, in South America.
An ex-dispatcher recounts a near disaster caused by faulty signaling and a scheming operator. A brave father saves two trains by placing his son with a red flag at a siding, stopping a high speed freight and a special passenger train. The director board later rewards the family, the boy becomes a telegraph operator, and the father is reinstated.
Frederick Schwatka recalls a sledge journey near Hudson's Bay during a bitter Arctic winter from late 1879 to January 1880. The cold peaked at 71 degrees below zero with a slight south wind that cut to the bone, yet calm moments and shelter in snow houses helped the party endure. The account emphasizes wind impact over thermometer readings, noting how even milder readings with strong wind feel harsher, and compares conditions to Esquimaux snow houses and scarce reindeer feed along the river.
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