A Curious Washington Letter on Cabinet Appointments
Special correspondence from Was nin gton describes the inner workings of the appointment clerks across departments led by the interior and treasury. It notes photos of applicants, confidential files, and the vast postmaster system while recounting odd letters and a 1849 plea for office from Martin Scott.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Interior Department
Postoffice Department
Wasnixcron
Cleveland
Washington
Donkin
Rude yet genuine hospitality and western courage clash
A tale of rough frontier hospitality ends with a shotgun at a back door as climbers Clare and Ned insist on foraging in a cabin. The backwoods matron orders them out, exposing stark western manners and the peril of overfamiliarity in a harsh landscape.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Clate
Clare
Ned
Zenas Dane
Detroit Free Press
Soft snaps and a blue ribbon in winter lore
Steve Rowan recalls a long ice breaking job on a water main laid under Sixteenth Street and the river. He describes bitter cold, staying next to the pipe through spring and summer, never missing pay, and joking about a blue ribbon snap as cited by the Chicago Herald.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Steve Rowan
Madison Street
Sixteenth Street
Chicago Herald
Monkeys and Animals Suffer Alcohol Effects, Authors Note
Henry Howard cites Houzeau and observations across species to argue intoxication mirrors human drunkenness. Monkeys readily drink, become sots despite punishment, and some animals like donkeys and horses are seen dead drunk or intoxicated, while dogs vary in response to wine.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Houzeau
Henry Howard
The
Cosmopolitan
Eccentric Sylvester Bonnaffon Timed Life With Clocks and Shoes
A Philadelphia News reminiscence recalls the late Sylvester Bonnaffon a precise horseman who kept a fixed daily route from Madden's saloon through Walnut Ninth Ridge and Broad streets. He carried a clock to time himself and returned to his stable at five every day. After his death 125 pairs of shoes and 39 clocks were found.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Sylvester Bonnaffon
Madden
Walnut Street
Ninth
Ridge Avenue
Broad
Tims
Philadelphia News
Long John Wentworth One of Chicago's Strangest Men
Special Correspondence from Chicago notes Long John Wentworth a towering, influential figure in Chicago's first fifty years. The piece recalls his arrival in 1830s Chicago, his mayoral terms, feats like pioneering fire engines named Long John Liberty and Economy, political stunts, feuds with Senator Farwell, and a reputation as a genial yet controversial demagogue. It highlights his heroics during the Sol Smith bank run and his enduring presence at the Sherman House bar, where he remains a larger-than-life character despite age.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Edwin Fowler
Marr
Fowler
Secretary of the Interior
Hops
Hops Althow I di In Despaie
Interior Department
Missouri
Thomas Ewing
Tam
Washington City
John F. Ryland
Supreme Court
Pleasant Hill Post Office
Cassalias van Buren
County
Col. Benton
Martin Scott
Long John” Wentworth
Long John
Chicago
Connecticut
John
Sauganash
Congress
Union
Wentworth
Market Square
Leslie
Dene
Farwell
Charley
Lord John
Sol Smith
Sol
Sherman House
Pearce
Warten Wellman
Baton Rouge as A South Louisiana Capital And Trade Center
Baton Rouge sits on highlands above the Mississippi delta with a 10,000 population and river frontage. The old capitol was rebuilt in 1881-82 and the city shares rail and river routes to New Orleans, Texas, and California. Farmers rely on white labor in cotton and on wages in sugar districts while a 100+ parish agricultural convention urged state agriculture departments and stations. The Morganza levee near Pointe Coupee, built by convicts, completed after historic floods, provides security and prompts renewed farming.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Baton Rover
Baton Rouge
Louisiana
Great
Mississippi
Gayarre
Virginia
Rhine
New Orleans
East Baton Rouge
Mississippi River
Texas and Pacific Railway
Mississippi Valley Railway
Texas
California
Memphis
Pacific
Mississippi Valley
Lakes
Amite River
Hope Villa
South
State of
Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College
Farmers’ Association
East
West Baton Rouge
Sugar Planters’ Association
Colored State Fair Association
The
State Grange
T. T. Allani
Therville
Department of Agriculture
M’enery
D Mennery
Morganza Levee
Pointe Coupee
Peter Trevevant
Shreveport
St. Mary
Verrebonne
St. Landry
Avoyelles
Theria
St. Martin
New South
Frances Bythel Oris
Current Topics on National Finances and Population Shifts
The author argues the nation faces unusual treasury surplus with excess cash idle, while Congress risks wasteful spending on coast defenses and pensions. He traces migration trends from New England and Europe to the Midwest and South, noting the rise of northern style industry in the new South and the decline of the old southern cotton economy.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Congress
Europe
Minnesota
Maine
Missouri
Kansas
Brazil
New York Bay
Holland
Pennsylvania
Georgia
Alabama
Mississippi
Tennessee
North Carolina
Virginia
New England
Middle States
Dropped From a Balloon in San Francisco
Baldwin executed a record drop from a balloon with a parachute, leaping from about 1,000 feet, arresting the fall briefly, then crashing among trees. The stunt drew 2,000 witnesses and elicited a dramatic recovery and boast of attempting 1,500 feet next time. Ernest Amient of Indianapolis plans selling snails as a culinary delicacy.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
San Francisco
Baldwin
Chicago Times
Ernest Amient
Indianapolis
Also Mentioned on This Page
Treasury Department
Eugene Higgins
Higgins
Esk
Fnally
Hunter
Treasury
Post Office Department
Interior
State Department
Bayard
Bryan
Civil Service
Indian Service
Bureau of Education
Agricultural Department
Geological Survey
Harely
Secretary of the Treasury
Treasy Department
Customs
Internal Revenue
Coast Survey
Lighthouse Service
Fire Department
Civil Service Reform
Nash
John Ayr
Italy
Villacidro
Sardinia
MR. Nash
Rocky Mountain
America
Stewarts
Graves
New York News
Long John Wentworth
Old Capitol
New Capitol
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