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This newspaper page contains 35 articles. Subscribers can read the full text of each article.
Newspaper
Cranbury Press
Location
Cranbury, New Jersey, United States of America
Date
Jan 01, 1909
Page
1
A survey of New Year customs cites ancient ideas of renewal. The piece notes Greek Roman practices and French family dues, plus Bulgarian Albanian and Russian rites, including St Basil day songs, protective burning, and omens drawn from first visitors.
A Philadelphia Record item notes fish reptiles and insects with no sleep across life, including pike and goldfish, plus snakes. It then traces the orange origin to the Burmese peninsula and Southern China with Arab traders spreading cultivation to Arabia Africa and Spain by early medieval times.
An amused audience watches a pupil recite "Lend me your cars" while Burah Jane Doran’s son faces taunts from his mother’s ally. Separately, a Maring Hospital Service official in Honolulu plans to breed cats with strong rat catching ability to aid pest control.
In New Haven a class committee visited a local jeweler to commission a badge. They proposed a design featuring a youthful graduate surveying the universe, asking that the figure occupy about three quarters of the badge with the universe filling the rest.
In 1032 the Bishop of Aquitaine claimed a divine message ordering cessation of fighting. This gave rise to the Truce of God. The first accord lasted seven years and then extended to cover church festivals and from Thursday evening to Monday morning. The rule spread across Christendom, was confirmed by several Popes, and enforced by excommunication.
A New York Telegram note claims Alan finds humor in a girl attempting to manage a four acre cold using a four inch Ince handkerchief, a curious anecdote reflecting Social era wit.
Fragmentary note states it is unlawful to drill a hole into a penny or mutilate it for ornament. Contains a curious quoted line from Edith 3h Thomie about a “Wondrous year” and a blessing for those with the gift to hear and see.
A description of New Year practices across Russia England Scotland and America. It notes empress hand kissing under Alexander II, New Year toasts at meals, Hogmanay in Scotland with songs costumes and gifts, bells tolling at midnight and a modern parlor rendition of Moneymonk with old verses about ringing out old shapes and heralding peace.
A reflective poem contrasts the worn old year with the hopeful new. It portrays the old year’s greed and fatigue giving way to the new year’s generosity and renewal. The verses invoke sleep, confession, and a fresh morning as each night yields to dawn.
Urban traffic safety gains noted as crossings are elevated above road level in a Chicago suburb. Businessmen average a mile in eighteen and a half minutes while casual walkers take about twenty nine minutes. The note mentions cigarette machines boosting daily output near Smyrna, in the Mediterranean, forty three miles southwest.
The text imagines future rapid rail travel across South America with seamless carriage changes. It also notes a medieval winter in Italy with all rivers frozen and a harsh Danish cold that trapped wolves on ice. It mentions New York City population growth and Britain’s yearly imports of goods totaling 26 million dollars.
An earthquake devastates Messina and eastern Sicily with tidal waves and fires. Calabrian towns Palmi Reggio Scilla and Bagnara reported destroyed. Up to tens of thousands killed and hundreds of thousands homeless as relief efforts begin and transport networks collapse.
In Springfield Ohio the Rev Wilbur L Y Davis of High Street Methodist Church was stricken blind by a burst blood vessel while delivering a sermon. To avoid alarming the congregation he finished the sermon. It is believed he will be blind for life.
Miss Ethel Roosevelt's debutante ball at the White House drew a large audience. The gala event featured prominent attendees and marked a notable social milestone for the Roosevelt family.
Ex Judge Gary, head of the Steel Trust, visited Bowery Mission and donated funds. J Pierpont Morgan bought a Chinese rug from the Governor Winthrop Ames estate for nearly 75000. Rockefeller prepared by lawyers to testify in Standard Oil case. Ambassador Reid at London society dinner forecast four years of prosperity for capital and labor. Lilley of Connecticut named Theodore Noonavett Jr. as aide de camp with rank of major. Metcalf urged vice admiral rank in Navy in annual report. Taft promised Barrett to promote Latin American harmony while Roosevelt to lecture in Paris. Lafayette era Paris to host future lectures in 1909.
In a massive cave-in at the Ensley blast furnace site near Birmingham two laborers were killed and eight others presumed buried as gas from furnaces hindered rescue efforts. Two foremen overseeing the work were injured and the accident occurred without warning. John Hoffman’s body was found along the New York Central tracks in Syracuse after suspected being struck by a fast night train.
Richard W. Johnston vice president of the American National Bank of Macon died after a lingering illness. He was regarded as one of the wealthiest men in Georgia.
The House passed the bill to take the thirteenth census. Reports note experiments at Lieven France show explosion prevention methods. Holland revokes the 1894 Venezuela treaty, turning Curacao into a base for revolutionary activity.
Nyack residents ridiculed as followers of Leo J. Spangler known as The Prophet expected the end of Earth on December 27. The preacher fled town before dawn amid crowd jeers and a cemetery procession, leaving followers and townsfolk unsettled by the failed prediction.
In Lafayette Tennessee Thomas Deckmar, a farmer, shot and killed Thomas Andrews after mistaking him for a bear. Andrews, paroled for Christmas, had spent time in saloons and slept in a doorway before Deckmar fired. A coroner's jury ruled the homicide justifiable.
Mainz reports a young astronomy student killed his father Dr. Racke, a former Reichstag member, and his three sisters. One sister was engaged on Christmas Eve as the family refused his demands for money.
Prices for potatoes have sagged but market conditions show no clear weakness. European imports influence sentiment though are unlikely to rise significantly unless prices edge higher.
Seven years ago only forty acres grew pineapples in Hawaii now more than six thousand five hundred acres are planted. Six years ago Hawaii shipped 3000 cases of sliced pineapples to big country now over four hundred thousand cases are shipped indicating rapid expansion. In Ontario Kinmount postmaster John Henry Anderson storekeeper and Crown Lands Agent died in a house fire at Tory Hill his body found among the ruins.
Charles E. Phelps a former judge of the Supreme Court of Baltimore died at his Walbrook residence at age seventy five. He was a noted jurist soldier and author with a long public career.
Denver voters elected Judge Lindsay of the Juvenile Court. Ida Hawley, comic opera star, died in New York after appendicitis surgery. Mary Anderson once a famed stage figure celebrated her fiftieth birthday on a Worcester shire farm. Hattle Mory Roch, once The Belle of the Switchboard, sued Brooklyn for divorce. Beatrice Ogden Mills engagement to the Earl of Granard announced in London. Madeline Edison, daughter of Thomas A Edison, pursues invention. Florence Haywood of Indianapolis leads in Paris as a new prominent American woman explorer of Louvre guidance.
A compact table lists multiple calendar systems for 1909 including the Independence Year 183d, Mohammedan AM 8018, Greek Church AM 8018, Chinese era 4606, Jewish era 5669 70 starting Sept 16, Japanese era 2569, Masonic 6909, Roman 2662, Usher 6918, and Septuagint 7417. It ties dates to January 22 23 and September 15 16 anchors.
A dated liturgical calendar enumerates movable feasts and fixed saints days across the year. It includes New Year conversions, Lent timing, Easter sequence, Pentecost, Trinity, Corpus Christi, and major saints from January to December, with Advent, Thanksgiving, and Christmas observances noted.
Astronomy note lists morning and evening visibility for Mercury Venus Mars Jupiter Saturn and Uranus with dates across the year. It notes Mercury as morning star in March to May and October. Venus bright in December. Mars near in September. Jupiter February 28. Saturn October 13. Uranus July 11, with additional morning and evening star ranges.
Mercury will be brightest as an evening star east of the sun from February 20 to 28 and as a morning star west of the sun from August 18 to 28. It rises about 1 hour before sunrise in August and sets about 1 hour 20 minutes after sunset in February. Rarely visible due to proximity to the sun, Mercury appears redder and brighter near the horizon at those times.
Astronomical notice lists four eclipses for the year. A total lunar eclipse on June 3 rises with the Moon. A June 12 partial solar eclipse will be visible across the U S, except the far southwest, with times for major cities. A total lunar eclipse occurs near November 26–27 in the western United States. A partial solar eclipse on December 12 will be invisible.
Halley's Comet, likened to the Star of Bethlehem, is predicted to be visible to the naked eye in October. It will lie between the Pleiades and Hyades to the west and Castor and Pollux to the east, about seven degrees from Athena in Gemini. The 75 year period traces back to the fifteenth century with earlier records, last seen in 1836. Mars will also near Earth in 1910, drawing global attention as it comes closer than in 1907.
The text lists old farmer weather lore about signs of storms. It covers temperature shifts, wind directions, cloud movement of cirrus and cumulus types, and how cloud direction predicts rain or snow within 24 hours or 1000 miles, plus mood and color cues for upcoming weather. It preserves historical beliefs with various scenarios and mnemonic hints.
Miss Louise Radie and Charles Irwin skated apart during a party on Wood's Lake. A near drowning occurred when Radie disappeared in thin ice. Irwin plunged in, reaching the rail and hauling both to land. They reconciled, though Radie suffered chill and shock.
Sophia Ball Leach of Cape May dies at ninety one mother of Frank Walling Leach former Pennsylvania Republican State Chairman and Colonel J Granville Leach. She descends from a Mayflower passenger.
In a sweeping Kentucky Supreme Court opinion, a loser can recover money from the winner regardless of fairness. The Park Roberts suit against J. B. Respress of Cincinnati seeks $3600 he lost in a two power game in Covington. The case names turfman Dick Wella and others, including James Nolan and Andrew Hannagar of Covington.
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