Origin of anthracite coal in Philadelphia era
Washington letter recalls a long struggle to bring coal to Philadelphia from the mountains. It covers early explorers like Whetstone and Potts, the roles of Morris, Bastrus, Verlin, Shoemaker, and Allen, and the repeated opposition that delayed adoption of coal over stone. The narrative notes misgivings about coal’s value and showcases the eventual import of nine wagon loads to Philadelphia amid continued skepticism.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Washington
Philadelphia
Vetran
Watson
Mount Carbon
Whetstone
Cooper
Messrs. Potts
Sunbury Road
William Morris
Potts
Peter Bastrus
Valley Forge
David Verlin
George Shoemaker
Pottsville
Nicholas Allen
Centreville
Allen
Shoemaker
Lehigh Coal Company Opens New Era in U S Industry
The piece traces early coal trials by Delaware county men and the Phoenix works, noting experiments that boosted use of coal as a valuable fuel. It describes the 1773 start of the Lehigh Coal Company, its initial land purchase near Summit Hill, and slow growth due to transportation costs before coal regions expanded.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Messrs. Mellon
Bishop
Delaware County
Philadelphia
Falls of Schuylkill
Wernway
Phoenix Works
French Creek
Lehigh Coal Company
Orig
Jacob Weiss
Summit Hill
Mauch Chunk
Waat
Beaver Meadows
Coal Company
Lehigh
Summit Mine
Coal industry growth and political discord in the Lehigh region
Smith D Fry chronicles the Lehigh coal company's early leases and markets from 1807 to 1839, tracing output growth to 1901 when eight counties shipped over 45 million tons. He notes vast production and living standards, then blasts a claim of political agents sowing discord in the region.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Lehigh
Philadelphia
White
Hazard
George Kauts
Coal Company
Watson
Hstorian
Pennsylvania
Carbon
Columbia
Dauphin
Lackawanna
Luzerne
Northumberland
Schuylkill
Susquehanna
Wyoming
Arizona
Tidewater
Smith D. Fry
Prosperity and High Prices Debate in Press and Public
An Albany Journal commentary quotes a New York Sun reader voting Republican yet unhappy about beef prices and Thanksgiving turkey costs. The piece argues prices reflect under protection and high demand, not Republican policy, and predicts no disaster from underproduction while prices rise from limited supply.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Albany Journal
New York Sun
United States
Benjamin Harrison
New York Evening Post
Congress
Evening Post
Rabbi Hirsch Urges Jews to Mind Their Own Business
The New York Ghetto Jewish community should resist slumming society and avoid criticizing others. Rabbi Emil G. Hirsch, speaking on The New York East Side Problem, argues Jews prefer crowded city life but cautions against assuming the West offers a better world. He urges West siders to respect themselves and mind their own business.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Ghetto
New York
Emil G. Hirsch
Chicago University
New York East Side
Educational Alliance
Euad
Plea Guilty In Yonkers Case Cited In Court Record
A Yonkers man pleaded guilty in a court filing that references a wedding anecdote and a question about counting a lottery. The exchange includes a response about being best man at a brother’s wedding and a confirmation of involvement.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Yonkers Statesman
Dialogue Fragment From A Domestic Dispute
A brief exchange between wife and husband mirrors a domestic dispute. The New York Herald quotes the quarrel with the wife complaining she was talked to death and the husband denying the accusation in curt dialogue.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
N. Y. Herald
Tariff Revisionists as Democratic Claim to Free Trade
The San Francisco Chronicle labels tariff revisionists as free traders allied with selfish manufacturers. It argues no real Republicans seek tariff changes since 1897, noting Republican votes in Mississippi reinforce protectionism and warning that calls for revision amount to a wholesale dismantling of the system.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
The
San Francisco Chronicle
United States
West
Iowa
Middle West
Mississippi
Republicans Sweep West Of Mississippi In 1904 Elections
The Boston Herald notes that four years after a split among parties, Republicans captured all 15 western states west of the Mississippi except Nevada. They won about 278000 more votes overall, electing 49 of 58 congressmen with Democrats taking nine, a shift attributed to regional prosperity and Roosevelt’s appeal in the Rocky Mountain and Cowboy regions.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Mississippi River
Nevada
Trans- Mississippi
Roosevelt
Rocky Mountain
Boston Herald
Ind
Prodigious Home Commerce Growth Under U S Policy
The article reports O P Austin, head of the U S Treasury statistics, describing explosive growth in both internal and foreign commerce. It notes U S exports rise from 32 million in 1880 to 1.46 billion in 1900 and domestic wealth climbing from 7 billion in 1850 to 100 billion in 1902, with per capita wealth increasing to 1265.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
O. P. Austin
Bureau of Statistics
United States Treasury Department
Washington
Troy Times
Austin
Columbian University
United States
American man's party vision shapes Alabama federal appointments
The Birmingham Age-Herald cites three Alabama men as Roosevelt era advisers on federal jobs opposing the lily white movement. The piece argues Roosevelt uses informal networks to vet applicants, framing the GOP as an American man's party free of race and class discrimination.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Birmingham Age-Herald
Alabama
Age-Herald
Theodore Roosevelt
Chicago
Republican Party
South
Political voices stir as party lines clash in era echoes
A collection of 1896 and 1904 era notes shows conservative, populist, socialist, and anti imperialist strands shaping parties. References to the Pittsburgh Gazette and St. Louis Globe Democrat reflect ongoing political contention and the press as a sounding board for public sentiment.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Pittsburg Gazette
Democratic Party
St. Louis Globe-Democratic Congress
Troy Times
Boston
Anti-Imperialist League
Republican Party
League
St. Louis Globe-Democrat
Venezuelan Fleet Seized by German and British Forces
In Guaira and Puerto Cabello Venezuela a German and British operation captured the Venezuelan fleet without firing a shot. Vessels like General Crespo Tutumo and Margarita were sunk or seized as Charybdis Vineta bombarded forts. The episode sparked diplomatic dispatches and arousal over possible arbitration and blockades.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Guaira
Venezuela
England
Panther
General Crespo
Tutumo
Margarita
Washington
Bowen
Caracas
State Department
Great Britain
Germany
Hay
United States
Puerto Cabello
Charybdis
Vineta
Castro
la Guaira
Italy
Marietta
W. W. Russell
Berlin
London
Willemstad
Curacao
Daily Mail
Maryland Town Swept by Fire in Centreville
Centreville Maryland December 15 fire destroyed the business district of the city. Loss estimated at 150000 with 30000 insured. High winds hampered local volunteers until two Wilmington Delaware engines arrived to control the blaze.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Maryland
Centreville
Wilmington del
Tobacco Warehouse Fire Destroys Grundy Plant
A large blaze at Joseph Grundy’s tobacco warehouse in Janesville Wisconsin burned Sunday causing an estimated loss near sixty thousand dollars. Firefighters fought flames through the day with efforts hampered by smoke and strong winds. Authorities have not yet established a cause.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Janesville
Wis
Joseph Grundy
Wrecked by a Landslide at Whitcomb West Virginia
The east bound Chesapeake and Ohio express derailed near Whitcomb due to a rock slide from heavy rains. The engine postal car and baggage car left the rails, and both the engineer and fireman were killed.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Washington
Chesapeake & Ohio Railway
Whitcomb
W. Va
Fire at Leadville lodging house destroys property
A fire started Sunday in a Leadville lodging house spread to neighboring buildings causing about 150000 dollars in losses. The Pay Wyman house was among the structures burned.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Leadville
Col
Immigration bill hearings closed as Sargent urges frontier guard
Immigration hearings closed with Sargent urging strict controls on Mexican and Japanese immigration. He supports a $3 head tax and warns the frontier must be guarded against cheap labor and smuggling, noting Mexican peons working in mines and dangerous Japanese influx. Healy cites northwest frontier risks.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Sargeant
Washington
Senate Committee On Immigration
Frank Sargent
Sargent
Mexico
Colorado
New Mexico
Healy
Victoria
B. C
Holiday Goods Demand Surges in Trade Review
R G Dun and Co Weekly Review of Trade reports lower temperatures and holiday demand boosting retail sales well above prior years. Wholesale trade stays quiet while shipping departments are busy. railroad earnings up 7 percent in November and 20.5 percent for 1900. Pig iron stocks rise to 94295 tons due to transport delays amid urgent needs and imports by eastern steel works. Failures in the U S count 269 this week versus 273 last year, Canada 30 versus 17.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
New York
R. G. Dun & Co’s Weekly Review of
Eastern Steel Works
United States
Canada
Bank Robbery Nets $3000 In Broad Daylight
New Mexican bandits reportedly held up the private Hillsboro Bank in Sierra county on Wednesday afternoon and fled with a substantial sum. Bank owned by Pennsylvania capitalists, large local business. Hillsboro lacks rail service and telegraph. Lake Valley is the nearest rail point.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Santa Fe
N. M
Hillsboro
Sierra County
Lake Valley
Treaty of reciprocity signed between Cuba and United States
Havana reports a definite commercial reciprocity treaty signed by Gen Bliss and Secretaries Zaldo and Montes. It awaits Secretary Hay and Senor Quesada signatures and senates' approval. The pact provides a uniform 20 percent tariff cut on Cuban goods entering the United States with a parallel itemized list of cuts by each country.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Havana
Cuba
United States
Gen
Bliss
Zaldo
Montes
Hay
Senor Quesada
Schooner Molly Burns Off Newfoundlander Coast
The schooner Molly struck by a Saturday gale near Bonavista Bay leaks fire through cabin stove and becomes a blaze. Seven crewmen abandon to reach Outer Gooseberry Island and are rescued after the Dundee mail boat is dispatched from the mainland.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
St. Jonas
N. F
Molly
Gooseberry Island
Bonivista Bay
Dundee
Pennsylvania Society Dinner Highlights Liberty Theory of Government
Four hundred sixty members of the Pennsylvania Society of New York attended the Waldorf Astoria annual dinner. Souvenirs were miniature coal buckets filled with anthracite coal. President Baer of the Reading railroad argued that Pennsylvania’s government centers on liberty for individuals to work unhampered by others.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
New York
Pennsylvania Society of New York
Waldorf-Astoria
Baer
Reading Railroad
Pennsylvania
American wrecking steamer reports Kitty a total wreck
Kingston Jamaica December 13 The American wrecking steamer Premier, sent to aid the steamer Kitty ashore on Roncador reef about 300 miles from Jamaica, has returned and reports the Kitty is a total wreck.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Kingston
Jamaica
Premier
Kitty
Roncador Reef
Cadets Dismissed From Virginia Military Institute
Lexington Virginia, Dec 13. Thirteen third class cadets at the Virginia Military Institute were dismissed for disorderly conduct on Thursday night and ordered to return home.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Lexington
Virginia Military Institute
Water supply cut off plagues Nebraska City
Nebraska City faces a renewed water outage as the river bed dries into a sandbar. The city is without fire protection with only a distant pumping plant at a factory upstream offering relief for residents and businesses.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Nebraska City
Neb
Two Children Cremated in House Fire
Edward and Olive Tompkins two young siblings colored aged four and three were burned to death in a Hillsdale house fire Friday that destroyed a small dwelling.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Washington
Edward
Olive Tompkins
Hillsdale
Pacific Cable christened by Lucille Gage at landing
In San Francisco on December 15 the Pacific cable was christened by 11 year old Lucille Gage daughter of California Governor H L Gage. The shore end was landed and spliced with Honolulu linking the mainland. 40 000 spectators witnessed the ceremony and cheers rang for the project. President Roosevelt received a telegram from Mr Mackay noting success. The Newsboy carried six miles of cable and tests showed the line in perfect condition.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
San Francisco
John W. Mackay
Lucille Gage
H. L. Gage
California
Pacific Coast
Honolulu
Newsboy
Clarence H. Mackay
Schmitz
Mackay
Gov. Gage
State of
Roosevelt
Beenest
Silvertown
Mrs Grant Dies Widow of General and President
Washington dispatch reports Mrs Ulysses S Grant died at 11 17 pm in Washington age 60 born Julia Dent in St Louis 1826 married 1848 to Gen Grant She accompanied him on campaigns and world tour and remained devoted to him four children survive with Nellie Sartoris present at death Remains to be laid in Riverside Park New York beside her husband
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Washington
Ulysses S. Grant
Grant
Nellie Sartoris
Freight Wreck Near Bucklin Kills Five Men
A Hannibal and St. Joseph freight train plunged through a bridge near Bucklin Missouri on December 15 leaving five dead and several injured all railway workers. The wrecking crane struck a steel bridge causing a catastrophic collapse into the water below. The dead include J Murphy roadmaster Arthur Hight Thomas Ainsworth A Green and J E Votan. Engineer H Good was severely hurt.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Bucklin
Hannibal & St. Joseph
Yellow Creek
J. Murphy
Arthur Hight
Thomas Ainsworth
A. Green
J. E. Votan
H. Good
Brookfield
Maj Alexander Shaw dies suddenly in Baltimore
Baltimore notes the death of Maj Alexander Shaw financier coal operator and philanthropist born 1837 in Long Branch New Jersey. He moved to Maryland about 20 years ago and rose to lead major coal companies and early West Virginia Central & Pittsburg Railway involvement before selling his holdings to Senator Henry C. Davis who later sold the road to the Wabash.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Baltimore
Maj
Alexander Shaw
Long Branch
N. J
Maryland
Maj. Shaw
West Virginia Central & Pittsburg Railway Co
Henry C. Davis
Wabash
Princeton Wins in Debate at Princeton Harvard
Princeton wins the ninth Princeton Harvard debate held in Princeton New Jersey last night Harvard delivered strong first speeches but could not rebut the Princeton arguments The question debated held that the president should have power to provide protection without state federal aid if domestic violence endangers lives and property The Princeton affirmative prevailed
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Princeton
Bate
N. J
World’s Fair souvenir gold dollars on the way
Applications for the world’s fair souvenir gold dollars arrive daily in St. Louis. The coins are expected to ship from Washington by next Monday and be ready for delivery next week.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
St. Louis
Dec
Washington
Two Men Drowned After Ice Break Through on Lake Chetek
Eau Claire Wis Dec 12 A party driving across Lake Chetek last night broke through the ice and William Flynn and Joseph Hucksley of Chetek were drowned Reed Carroll Joseph Nolte and Matt Leinenkugel all of Chippewa Falls escaped.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Eau Claire
Wis
Lake Chetek
William Flynn
Joseph Hucksley
Chetek
Reed Carroll
Joseph Nolte
Matt Leinenkugel
Openair exercise urged for dairy cows in winter
An article from the N. Y. Tribune-Farmer argues against constant barn confinement. It advocates a sunlit open barnyard and periodic outdoor exposure in all but extreme weather, claiming fresh air, sunlight, and movement boost circulation, digestion, milk production, and overall vigor. It warns against excessive close stabling and stresses sheltered, sunward yards with occasional outdoor access for cows year round.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
N. Y
Irrigation's Role in Plant Growth and Soil Absorption
The article discusses irrigation's importance to plant health noting water supply directly influences growth. It explains that baked soil must be soaked deeply so roots absorb moisture, emphasizing the need for thorough watering to benefit the shrub.
Space and Irrigator Puts Water at Plant Roots
A portable irrigator designed to treat shrub roots directly with a hollow-tined fork-like implement. The device uses a pump in the handle to draw liquid from a reservoir and inject it into the soil near the roots. Inventor John F. Chase of St. Petersburg, Florida.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
John F. Chase
St. Petersburg
Fla
Chicago Daily News
Asparagus Bed Care in Early Spring and Fall
Prairie Farmer notes thorough steps for asparagus beds. Plant in light soil with trenches six inches deep and 12 inches apart, cover with three inches of soil, fill trenches as plants grow, and weed thoroughly before September. Apply coarse manure to enrich soil, fork gently in spring, and finish with a half inch salt layer to promote larger shoots.
Also Mentioned on This Page
Blan
Sta
Republic
Reichstag
William C. Evans
Foreign Department of Armour & Co
House
Liberty
Pacific Cable
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