A Coward Turned Hero In The Cape Sea Tale
A narrator recalls a memory of Ducie who defends his lover Helen after a quarrel over a cowardly act. Ducie recounts a past incident where he failed to save a servant in Brazil, revealing concealed courage. Helen rejects him then, but years later faces his heroic death at sea as Ducie perishes to prove true bravery.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Helen
Duce of
Enderbeau
de Plus
Ducie
Apollo
Tom Jackson
Cis Devereux
Duce
Devereux
Jackson
Mary Jackson
Capt. Devereux
Miss Curtis
Miss Jackson
Mr. Ducie
Mary
Academy
Mary of Scotland
Ruthven
Helen Curtis
Lucknow
Fred
South America
Brazil
Plaza Bamirez
Atlantic
John Barton
Barton
Ind
Tom
Cape
Royal Mail
Tamar
Azores
Southampton
H. P. Ducie
Paying for the Wake
An Irish traveler at a hotel remarks that the devil is dead and learns the custom of giving coppers to a chap who loses his daddy to help pay for the wake. The land lord notes the money laid on the bar as Pat explains the practice.
Reflection on Tomorrow and Virtuous Living
A miscellany piece quotes Matthew Henry and H. W. Beecher urging focus on daily duty over indulgence, with thoughts on tomorrow’s uncertainty, nature’s repairs after ruin, and the growth of right deeds into spiritual fruit. It urges reviewing the day to guide future conduct.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Matthew Henry
Profound Understanding Between Two Virtuous Men
Emerson notes a deep happiness in lasting mutual understanding between two virtuous individuals. Such harmony frees politics, commerce, and churches from excess, as each meets the other as a benefactor, inspiring grand thoughts and deeds. The envisioned meeting would feel like nature’s festival.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
R. W. Emerson
Society as master and man as servant, a quote from Sala
A quotation by George Augustus Sala argues that individuals belong to their families and society, not to themselves. He declares that people work for others—wives, children, relatives, creditors, and society—retaining only a portion of gains to satisfy personal needs, with society ultimately shaping the individual’s character.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
George Augustus Sala
Prejudice Blocks Truth Like Silk Across a Telescope
The note recalls David Rittenhouse showing a silk thread across a telescope can hide a star for seconds, illustrating that even small prejudice or worldly aims can obstruct the light of divine truth and hide heavenly glories. It urges keeping earthly passions from the soul to perceive the spiritual world.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
David Rittenhouse
Table Etiquette Rules From A Historic Guide
A dated list of dining manners offers practical advice on etiquette at table. It covers serving others, handling utensils, drinking, chewing with lips closed, speaking with food in mouth, avoiding distractions, and discreetly assisting neighbors without shoving. It emphasizes gradual, respectful behavior during meals.
Lightning on the Mountain Top at Gray's Peak
The article warns of the dangers atop Gray's Peak in the Sierra as daily clouds unleash fierce lightning. Guides and tourists react with fear, some taking cover or fleeing. A long snow storm on the summit could be fatal, but experienced guides monitor storms to lead groups to safety.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Gray’s Peak
Sierra
Moses
Agassiz's freewheeling method of scientific work
Cambridge correspondent recalls Agassiz as a brilliant, unconstrained thinker who pursued ideas in bursts, funding his museum from friends and the public, finishing few tasks but achieving eminence through intuition and observation. He rejected strict routines yet valued meticulous detail when needed. The Lavelline Plant note adds a curious Arabian species whose seeds induce brief, boisterous laughter before sleep.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Agassiz
Cambridge
New York Tribune
Story or A Grave Stone in East Hartford Cemetery
An aged gravestone in East Hartford's cemetery bears an inscription describing a tale of memory and reflection. The marker's words evoke history and the passage of time for visitors.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Story
East Hartford
Secrets Behind a Hartford Tombstone Story
The Hartford Times recounts a 18th century East Hartford tale where Deacon Moses’s widow Mrs Hannats had funeral costs disputed by his executors. A local feud over inheritance led to a carved stone’s unreadable message until friends cleared a front trench. Eyewitnesses recall the feud and a will giving half the estate to the son-in-law executor.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Hannats
Deacon Mose
Moses
Sexton
East Hartford
Hartford Times
Rapidity of Muscular Contractions in Dragonflies
A dragonfly on a speeding car drives home how insect muscles beat thousands of times per second to sustain wing motion at forty miles an hour. The rapid contractions outpace eye and retina, challenging entomologists to explain how such tiny nerves supply power for hours without fatigue.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Scientific American
Ohio teacher license rule demands moral proof
In an Ohio county an applicant for a teaching license must show the County Superintendent proof of good moral character before examination. A recent applicant carried an endorsement from the township trustee claiming good morals but noting the applicant lacks “snapen off to teach school.”
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Ohio
Phrase history clarifies "tinker’s dam" origin
The Newburyport Herald explains that the term refers to a bread stuffed enclosure around a solder hole during repair. The bread is burned after, spoiling it, and the phrase becomes a vivid image of worthlessness rather than profanity.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Newburyport Herald
Mintzer's Nose Glows After Phosphorus Prank
Max Adeler recalls Mintzer before joining a temperance group. Drunk at the club, companions rubbed his nose with phosphorus, creating a glowing sight. He clashed with a mirror, bungled to extinguish a candle, and Mrs. Mintzer, noticing the glow, guides him upstairs where the glow fades and she stays up for him.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Mintzer
Max Adeler
Temperance Society
Giant South American iguana arrives at army museum
The largest iguana specimen seen in the United States arrived at the army medical museum in Washington. The 50 inch reptile is nearly black with a round head protuberance, bright eyes, and armorlike scaly joints. It has not yet been identified to a known species.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
South America
Army Medical Museum
Washington
Tie
Mustard Plaster Incident Reveals Hidden Drinking Issue
A married man returns home intoxicated after drinking to excess. His wife, unaware of his condition, applies a mustard poultice to his stomach. He sleeps poorly, dreams of death, and later keeps his hands in pockets to prevent contact with the sore area, reacting with a demonic glare at the mustard.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Market Street
How Land Is Made in Holland
A historical view contrasts 300 years of Dutch land gain from marshy origins to a productive, canalized nation. It notes plans to drain the Zuyder Zee at an estimated cost over 50 million dollars, twelve years of prep, and future use of sixty three steam engines to pump water from 50 000 acres of shallow depths.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Holland
North Holland
North Sea
Zuyder Zee
How Rich Men Begin
A parade of famed fortunes traces beginnings from humble roots to great wealth. Names such as Roberts, Law, Stewart, Drew, the Stuarts, Claflin, Vanderbilt appear as self-made magnates whose early lives showed little cash yet culminated in vast riches.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Marshall O. Roberts
George Law
Alexander T. Stewart
Broadway
Daniel Drew
Robert L
Alexander Stuart
Horace B. Claflin
Cornelius Vanderbilt
Staten Island
New York
Yankee teacher thwarts Canada luggage search on train
A Kansas to Vermont schoolteacher, traveling through Canada, refused to surrender a trunk key after an officer insisted on opening the bag. He emptied the trunk but found the luggage contained only clothes and books. The woman demanded the trunk be delivered safely and held Grand Trunk Railway responsible. The official grew weary and profane as the packing continued.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Canada
Kansas
Vermont
Dominion
Grand Trunk Railway
Boots That Won't Fit A Country Customer
A Northern State general storekeeper Bruce and a tall countryman with moccasins visit. Bruce tests boot sizes 11 12 13 with no luck. He empties the box and jokes the customer to try on the empty case with thin socks.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Bruce
Temperature of Children and Disease Effects
Experiments by M. Roger show newborn infants register 40 degrees centigrade, then fall to 35, later varying 36 to 38. Typhoid fever yields highest temps from 43 to 41, pneumonia averages 39, eruptive fevers track disease phases, and only tissue hardening shows a large temperature drop.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
M. Roger
Sir Fletcher Norton Cites Own Manors Before Mansfield
The dialogue records Sir Fletcher Norton inflaming a moral rights debate by stating he has two little manors. Lord Mansfield interrupts with a courteous quip, “We all know it, Sir Fletcher,” highlighting the judge’s poise amid the remark.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Fletcher Norton
Lord Mansfield
Sir Fletcher
Also Mentioned on This Page
Bristol Bheniz
Phenix
Hope Street
A. Greene
Rucket
A& Square
H. W. Beecher
Palgrave
Central
Arabia
Kaseen
Oman
Materia Medica
Lebanon
This is just the beginning! Our collection holds over 300 years of history, including rare newspapers, obituaries, marriage records, birth records, and so much more—most of which you won’t find anywhere else!