28 Dec 1881
Page 1
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This newspaper page contains 22 articles. Subscribers can read the full text of each article.
Newspaper
Freeport Journal
Location
Freeport, Illinois, United States of America
Date
Dec 28, 1881
Page
1
A wandering narrator seeks water in a desert but finds only a mirage. He recalls distant summits and palms that vanish as dusk descends, realizing a tiny rent in the gourd let all hope slip away. He laments wasted strength and questions his craving for the unattainable oasis.
A woman recalls a fateful autumn day when Harry Farnesworth planned a woods excursion with her. A rival, George Seamore, enticed her away and provoked a deadly confrontation that left Harry dead and Seamore imprisoned before escaping. The narrator reflects on guilt, memory, and a life marred by tragedy.
A young Fond du Lac lawyer, hiding behind a lounge to surprise visitors, endures a chaotic scene as a terrier growls from under the furniture. The party scatters, the dog bites the lawyer’s suspendered hold, and the father intervenes to stop the struggle. The lawyer plans to sue for damages in what Pecas Sun calls a cautionary tale about being overwhelmed by conversation and a dog.
A Toronto Mail essay argues headlines control emphasis and interpretation, noting they can create doubt or imply conclusions with a single word. It warns that headlines may magnify small matters and lend unwarranted dignity to conjecture, shaping reader perception before full articles are read.
A He inous Crime Lord Kenyon sternly rebukes a convicted butler for stealing large quantities of wine from his master's cellar. He condemns the crime as an attack on domestic trust and a betrayal of natural affection, noting the servant's long deception and theft.
Near Occum Connecticut a man watched an osprey seize a pickerel from a mill pond. The bird dropped the fish during a failed land return, then caught it again and soared high. After another fall the fish died and was carried off by the eagle.
A writer recounts an outing to a vapor bath at 0 West Twenty fourth Street in New York. He details the procedure from entry to the bath, noting the strict privacy, the heat, the thorough washing, and the soothing effect on his headache. He inquires aloud if baths are offered to men.
A Baltimore American piece recounts Moses, an elderly colored man, who visits a lawyer to claim a pension. The scene centers on a misunderstanding over signing a cheque and learning to spell his name, with racist humor and a punchline about teaching African Americans to speak American language.
A historic note discusses electric current risks, contrasting alternating and continuous current machines. It urges engineers to lay leads so no one can touch both at once, reducing shocks. It argues electrification of homes and factories lowers danger versus gas and boilers and notes wiring faults would mostly fuse rather than fuel fires.
A compact remark notes that there is no prominent fashion surge in New York at present, suggesting a subdued cultural moment. The phrase implies limited trendsetting and implies a steady, unremarkable social mood without notable flair or spectacle.
A description of James de Rothschild and his family tracing origins from Frankfort to European prominence. Notes their wealth, culture, charity, and influence in art while mocking class pretensions. Mentions luck, family marriages, and comparisons to aristocracy and other financiers.
The Cyprian wreck near the Welsh coast tests courage as Captain John A. Strachan of Liverpool saves a stowaway with his own life belt. He gives the belt to the boy and sinks with the boatswain, both lost, while the survivor reaches the shore battered but alive to recount the deed.
The piece notes famines arise in thinly settled lands or where most people produce food. It cites Asia Minor, Northern Sweden, Ireland, and India, recalling 1874 famines where children were sold into slavery to survive and villages were depopulated. It argues Malthusian theory imperfectly predicts prosperity.
A physician with a large practice speaks of a lonely ride after a long consultation. He revels in the power that rules the world in perfect love, finding tokens of affection in the darkness as he travels ten miles to let life crowd forward.
A Boston Herald note recalls a man who calls himself a pie eater protesting 15 cent pie portions at swell hotels. He argues the cost for pie and cheese is excessive while guests consume table space, with hotels defending prices as necessary. The piece remarks the practice of cutting pies into five or six pieces to justify the price.
A book-agent strolling Biddle Avenue encounters a woman weeping beside a mound under a maple. He offers platitudes about mourning and mortality, only to be met with a sharp retort asking him to show genuine emotion. The anecdote ends with the agent continuing his journey. Wyandotte Courier.
A traveler riding with a Virginia stage driver, famed for hunting, asks about stream fish. The driver boasts catching trout about twelve inches, cleaning them without washing, rolling in cornmeal, baking in ashes, and declares they beat ham as fine eating. The tale, told in regional color, emphasizes mountain hospitality and simple fare.
Edmund Yates critiques American social classes describing second rate Americans and their families as stylish yet lacking European polish. He contrasts wives and daughters with upper class ideals, notes ostentatious dress and diamonds, and criticizes the western man’s limited leisure for European culture while praising business acumen and wealth.
A Lockport Union item critiques a proposed scheme to prank husbands by placing glycerine in door key-holes to detonate on entry. It warns wives against such violence, noting it risks harm to landladies and innocent occupants and urges restraint from any nightly “surprise party” tied to unpaid boards.
In Virginia between Petersburg and Norfolk a reporter notes cotton stowage and a large peanut harvest. Fields show hundreds of acres of peanuts drying with roots pulled, nuts hanging, stacked three feet high. Virginians are unsure how the crop will be used, eyes on potential oil or candy. yields exceed corn and peanut prices rise, with ongoing hoeing and manuring improving the crop.
A Deadwood claim jumper is shot twenty six times by the vigilance committee after refusing to leave town. He hides behind a sugar hogshead as the crowd shoves the corpse, and the widow laughs at the scene. In a separate gag, Mr Slowboy asks if he can be driven, and a liveryman jokes that a railroad train keeps pace with him.
An advertisement touts Dr Fraziers Magic Ointment as a cure for skin diseases including pimples blotches eruptions and itching conditions. It cites F Drake of Cleveland Ohio suffering severe symptoms and claims a cure after use. Also promotes William's Indian Pile Ointment as a remedy for piles priced at 1.00 and available via druggists.
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