Woes of a Burglar and Odd Ball Anecdotes
A retired thief recounts stopping a water leak to prevent damage and reflects on burglary as a miserable trade with limited profit. The piece weaves in other vignettes including jokes about coffee, a New York Sun voice, and anecdotes about General Wheeler, Dean Liddell and Scott, and Bishop Wilmer.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
New York Sun
Sessions
New York
Stephen Girard
Girard College
Philadelphia
Joe” Wheeler
Lewis Carroll
Alice Dean Liddell
Dean Liddell
Dr. Scott
Jowett
Balliol
Liddell
Scott
Sophocles
Richard Hooker Wilmer
Alabama
Anecdotes and quips from court and colonial life
A series of short anecdotes recounts Norbury and Parsons near Naas jail with a gallows quip, a Chamberlain childhood prank of gluing soldiers to a door, a Calcutta criminal’s last words about heirs, and a hangman’s farewell noted in a colonial setting.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Lord Norbury
Councillor Parsons
Naas
Norbury
Parsons
Ridley
Calcutta
Eng Ushman
Veroinutes
Practical Cleverness Overcomes Heavy Bell Challenge
A London audience heard how Burmese people solved a logistics puzzle from the Second Burmese War. British engineers failed to haul a forty ton bell onto a ship after it fell into the Kawadi river. The locals encased the bell in wood to form a cylinder and rolled it up the riverbank to dry land using simple ropes.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
United Service Institute
London
Calcutta
Kawadi
Not a Virtue in Being Punctual
This excerpt argues punctuality as merely arriving early and questions why a busy person should waste minutes at each appointment. It notes that ten or twenty appointments daily make small premeet delays accumulate into a significant life cost.
Dorothey and Julius Describe a Fashionable Gown Vision
In a dialogue Dorothy and Julius discuss a striking gown seen in a shop window. The dress features zigzag patterned cloth, braided accents, and stylish pointed details along the bodice and back, prompting a wish to purchase a replica.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Dorothy
Julius
America's Grand Old Man Richard W Thompson
An obituary style profile of Richard W. Thompson of Indiana detailing his long public life from 1840 in Congress to roles including Secretary of the Navy under Hayes. It notes his era of birth June 9 1809 and his position as a leading figure in multiple presidential campaigns and national conventions. It also includes unrelated trivia about a ball dropping in cups and a storage battery.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Richard W. Thompson
Indiana
Lincoln
Hamlin
Darwin
Tennyson
Oliver Wendell Holmes
Robert C. Winthrop
Gladstone
Harrison
United States
Washington
Adams
Congress
Navy
Hayes
Panama Canal Company
Panama Railroad Company
Dick” Thompson
Remarkable Clock Invention From Cabery Illinois
Peter M. Ravenskilde of Cabery Illinois claims a clock near perpetual motion. It is an accurate timekeeper and will run for a year without attention. The clock uses a wheel sixty inches in circumference with 120 suspended components from its outer surface.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Peter M. Ravenskilde
Cabery, Til
Wheel of Cups and Balls Powers a Telegraph Circuit
A description details a wheel with cups half an inch wide and a third inch deep holding steel balls three eighths inch in diameter. Every ninety seconds a ball exits a cup, rolls twenty inches along an incline, completes a broken circuit, and is lifted back to the wheel by a small car on a steeper incline for repeated operation.
Woman bandit Pearl Hart aids stage holdup in Arizona
Pearl Hart, described as the woman bandit, planned and carried out a stage robbery between Globe and Florence, Arizona, with a male accomplice. The 65 mile wild frontier route saw two masked figures emerge from bushes to order the stage drivers to surrender.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Pearl Hart
Arizona
Globe
Florence
Ariz
Bandits Rob Driver and Passengers in Highway Hold Up
A Western stagerun encountered armed bandits who robbed the driver and three passengers of 450 in cash jewelry and revolvers before being ordered to move on. A sheriff's posse formed soon after pursued the criminals who were captured and jailed.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Pearl
Jal
A Woman, Marriage, and Social Truths from a Frank View
A fragmentary cultural reflection argues that girls seek marriage for various reasons. It suggests tom boy appeal over matrimony, fear as motive in love, and the loud bully’s hidden fear. It notes women preserve photos of past heartbreaks and men propose to test both the beloved and other suitors.
Patching the Sofa at a Virginia Country Seat
A postwar Virginia country house, worn by time, hosts a famed arranger staying for a brief visit. The mistress frets at her husband for not socializing with the guest, while he explains he was patching a hole in the wall to fix the sofa.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Virginia
Harper's Magazine
Comic Snippets From The Age Of Laughs
A collage of humorous exchanges and witticisms from 19th century papers. Jests range from courtroom quips and sailor banter to domestic quirks and clever wordplay, featuring voices like Punch and Chicago humor, highlighting social mores and theatrical banter of the era.
Also Mentioned on This Page
Bavedj
Messrs. Chicory, Chewem & Checker
America
Ravenskilde’s
Peael Hart
Puck
Chicago
Browne
Rochester Union and Advertiser
Charley
Registry Department
Pittsburg
Mr. Wedd
Mrs. Wedd
Chicago Post
Tommy
Chicago News
Harlem
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!