Enduring Coolness and Common Sense of the Late Ameer
Anecdotes recount the Afghan ruler’s practical wit in crises. He refused risky sedatives in court, saved a war by stressing a tiny border fringe, and dismissed a potential large conflict as not worth it. Dorothy Drew’s celebrity circle and Gladstone memories follow with tales of autographs and wit. The Compton quote scene with Cromwell’s era ends as a humorous commission remark.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Ameer
Afghanistan
England
Russia
India
Card Shuffling Machine Invented for Fair Play
R F Bellows of Cleveland has devised a metal box shuffling device that splits a deck into five irregular bunches via five steel blades and a timed drop mechanism. Cards fall into a bottom receptacle with no predictable order, ensuring the same card rarely appears in the same place after each shuffle.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
R. F. Bellows
Cleveland
Chicago
Inter Ocean
Sulphuric Acid Touted Against Snake Bites
Dr. John H. Henry of Montgomery asserts sulphuric acid is a cure for snake bite venom. He states the poison is alkaline and that internal or hypodermic dilution of sulphuric acid at fang punctures immediately neutralizes it. A tester who swears by the method recounts a rattlesnake bite without swelling after use.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
John H. Henry
Montgomery
Henry
New York Times
Fiddles Without Hands Sparks Fame for Blind Illini Fiddler
In Atlanta Illinois a fiddler named Frank Clawson, who lost both hands in a blizzard years ago, plays by a wire contrivance that lets him bow with stump arms. He finger-shifts by trained movements, holding the fiddle with chin and knees as he performs old time airs with notable skill.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Atlanta
Illinois
Frank Clawson
Clawson
Roosevelt Interruption Over Local Office Holder
Shortly after entering the White House a politician sought a Roosevelt audience to discuss a district office holder. Roosevelt burst out with scorn, exclaiming at the mention of Mr. Blank, an incessant civil service-era concern. The exchange ends as the politician shifts topic.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Roosevelt
White House
Blank
Mr. Blank
Two Quarrelsome Women Fence Silence Turned
In Wilkesbarre Pennsylvania a novel method to curb two quarrelsome women was adopted after daily back fence quarrels angered neighbors. A sixteen foot fence was erected by masked men with a posted warning not to tear it down. The women could not see each other yet spoke through a hole. A committee warned that further quarreling would force them to leave town.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Wilkesbarre
Sullivan reacts playfully with Irish baggage man at North station
Boston Journal notes John L. Sullivan encountered a small Irish baggage man at the North station. Sullivan squared off with humor, the diminutive porter pausing to lean his bicycle against the rail. Sullivan roared with laughter at the brief exchange.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
John L. Sullivan
John I
Boston Journal
Punctual Insurance Man Traps Yielded Policy
A life insurance agent in Anita pursued a reluctant client with remarkable punctuality. After being told to come Friday at 3, he arrived at 2:55, rang the bell in a nightshirt and secured Mr. Jones’s surrender and an application for a policy. The tale, from Punxsutawney Spirit, highlights diligence and craft in sales.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Anita
Mr. Jones
A Caustic Comment From a New England Lawyer
A distinguished lawyer recounts his first deed work and a $2 bill. He explains education costs totaling $1,700 from Lancaster academy to Harvard Law. The neighbor quips that the lawyer was a darned fool before they began on him.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
New England
Lancaster Academy
Dartmouth College
Harvard Law School
His Mother's Pride
A Liverpool Post piece recounts a clergyman baptizing nine children. The first eight proceed normally, but the ninth boy resists, and the mother exclaims loudly that her son is “a nice little lump,” amid the ceremony.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Liverpool Post
Gallant Lover Sir Harry Hayes Sentenced in 1801
The Irish baronet condemned to death for running away with Miss Pike was commuted to transportation for life. On Sept 24, three weeks after conviction, the London Times published his defiant note to bid farewell to his beloved, claiming others seek fleeting rapture while he faces life in exile.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Harry Hayes
Thunder Turns Buckwheat Black
A puzzling field phenomenon follows thunderstorms turning buckwheat blossoms black. German electrician Lemstroem suggests water rise in plants via capillary action may reverse under electrified air conditions when an electrical influence machine operates remotely.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Lemstroem
Woman in the Klondike and a Pearl Finding Tale
Emma L. Kelly recalls camping on the Yukon near Dawson in a tented night, celebrating with whisky at ten dollars a quart, guitar in hand and songs of home. Morgan H. Morgan, a clerk, found a large pearl in his fried oyster meal, sold it for fourteen dollars to a lapidary after reporting the object.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Yukon
Dawson
Emma L. Kelly
Lippincott’s Magazine
Morgan H. Morgan
Circuit Court
Clark
Randolph
Morgan
Champlain Building
Chicago
Excess of Men in 1900 Census Sparks Curiosity
The census bureau reports the 1900 census shows more men and boys than women and girls in the United States with a 1,800,000 difference in a population of 76,303,387. It notes 512 males per 488 females per thousand people, prompting astonishment at gender ratios.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
United States
Chicago Tribune
Sixty Dollar Overcoats For Soldiers
The Minneapolis Journal reports that buffalo overcoats, once standard gear, remain scarce yet available to soldiers upon requisition. The coat, issued by the government, stays government property and a soldier must pay $60 for loss or damage. Worn but fair condition coats are annually issued by the War Department to those requesting them.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Uncle Sam
War Department
Northwest
Minneapolis Journal
He Walked Into Morgan Office Says Insurance Officer
An insurance officer recalls meeting J Pierpont Morgan and claims to have entered his office to discuss business. Morgan reportedly challenged entry and told him to leave, a tale the officer recounts as proof of his unique persistence in the trade.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
J. Pierpont Morgan
San Francisco
Morgan
Leap Year Pattern in This Century Described
The twentieth century will have twenty five leap years with 1904 the first and 2000 the last. February will have five Sundays in 1920 1948 and 1976, three times.
Uncle Sam’s Usual Whopper and Village Gossip
The fragment mentions Mr Gallot traveling with Mlle O Jeck the elephant praising hosts in the United States and a Rutland punchbowl christening that features a boat with a boy ladling liquor. A comment from the company recalls a grand bowl, then an exchange about a formal wedding. The text ends with a sale cue for candy and nuts at Keiper’s.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Sam
Mr. Gallot
United States
Mlle. O’jeck
Rutland
Marquis
Also Mentioned on This Page
Freeland Tribune
The
Tribune Printing Company, Limited
Corrice
Main Street
Freeland
Freeland, PA
Dorothy Drew
Gladstone
Dorothy
Li Hung Chang
Rudyard Kipling
Mrs. Drew
Armenia
Grandpa
Joyce
Cromwell
Holmby
Charles I
Charles
Castoria
Infans
New York
Bears
Laxakola
Lasant
Gives Ola
Eso Oter
Ern Fen LA
Tigers Fair
Krell Opera House
Love
New York Sun
Keiper’s