Illusions and curiosities across oceans and cities
The article surveys varied topics from Lake Aaron’s lowering water levels and shallow canals to the White Sultan of Sarawak in Borneo. It notes a bee keeper’s court victory, a Washington fisherman’s struggles, Liberian timekeeping, Henry M. Stanley’s Congo Governorship moment, and an optimistic Chicago brick making experiment.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Chicago Tribune
Lake Aaron
It Canal
It River
Borneo
Sarawak
Charles Brooke
United States
Boston ‘Transcript
Henry M. Stanley
Congo Free State
Africa
Brenley
Australis
Belgium
Free State
Dee
Mr. Stanley
Baron Wissmann
Chicago
New Orlleans Times-Democrat
Saucy Sally and the Loyalist Governor Rescue Tale
A long excerpt follows Saucy Sally a brave young Tory girl at Harbormouth during the American Revolution. Captain Coffing shelters Governor Wentworth as rebels search the fort Sally aids him with news and candlelight, outwits the attackers and cheers the governor with daring, while a later tale notes a driver’s sharp eyesight and a courtroom of trigger events.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Sally
England
Harbormouth
Lexington
Coffing
John Wentworth
Boston
New Hampshire
Selly
Miles Estrange
Weuthworth
Mide
Fat Dan
Madam Coffing
Greene
Mrs. Coffing
Lilly
Hal Bobby Greene
Bell Four Hundred Years Old At Haleyville Church
The African Methodist Episcopal Church at Haleyville New Jersey preserves a purported 400-year-old bell claimed as the oldest in the Western Hemisphere. Procured by Captain Elias Newell from a Bahama Island, the bell traces to Ferdinand and Isabella and Columbus voyages. Guarded at Trustee Alfred Green’s home due to church debt fears, it is slated for exhibition at the Columbian Exposition next year.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
African Methodist Episcopal Church
Haleyville
N. J
Elias Newell
Bahama Islands
Ferdinand and Isabella
Alhambra
Isabella
Christopher Columbus
America
Carthagena
New Granada
la Rochelle
San Andreas
Bahamas
Newell
Ezra H. Fisk
Alfred Green
New York Mail and Express
Kaffirs Smoke Cigar Oddity Noted By Colonel Knollys
Colonel Knollys reports a Kaffir habit of smoking cigars by placing the hot end in the mouth and drawing smoke with the tongue tucked, a method deemed warm and delicious by the South African natives. The note follows an earlier iron paper example explaining that 1,800 sheets of 1-1800 inch iron equal one inch in thickness.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Colonel Knollys
Kimberley
South Africa
Blackwood
Knollys
London
Transplanting Trees and Leghorn Size Debate
Transplanting trees requires lifting with soil to keep roots erect and moisture present. The Leghorn standard lacks a weight specification, so breeders favor plumage and form over relying on size, avoiding excessive breed expansion.
Late Tomatoes And Orchard Care For Winter Gardens
Late tomatoes can be ripened by mulching vines on ground with straw and frost protection, a method shown profitable on Long Island. An orchard should be cultivated, manured yearly, and pastured wisely with hogs when ground is rough. horses and cattle may harm young trees. Lettuce can be grown in winter in a window box with manure bed, loam, vented sash, and careful warming. later, field-plants like cucumbers may be sown in the same bed. Farm and Garden Notes cover hens, turkeys, fodder, and the value of silos and root crops for winter stock.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Long Island
Canada
Ensilage
Thomasesa
Dairyman
New Hampshire
New York World
Nedle
Electric Fly Catcher Uses Spark to Kill Flies
A New York Record item describes an inventor building an electric fly catcher. It uses a quarter inch spark from a small induction coil and battery cells with wires strung on a heart shaped frame. When a fly lands on a wire the spark strikes and the insect is killed, allowing the next to take its place.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
New York Record
Smallest Railway in the World
The smallest railway is the Ravenglass to Boot line in Cumberland England. It features a three foot gauge with minuscule carriages and stations like double bathing boxes. The engine driver also serves as stoker guard ticket collector and stationmaster, making delays less critical as any person can overtake and pick up passengers along the route.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Ravenglass
Boot
Cumberland
England
Chicago Times
Royalty’s Odd Hobbies Unearthed in Dignitaries Portraits
A survey of royal interests reveals Emperor William as a book binder, King Humbert with a pompadour, Belgium’s queen as a sleight of hand performer, the Bavarian Prince Regent with a beetle collection, King Oscar of Sweden a book and poem collector with autographs, and the ex Empress of Brazil with a butterfly archive.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
William
Humbert
Belgium
Bavaria
Oscar
Sweden
Brazil
A New Kind of Alchemist
A fragmentary exchange defines an alchemist as a man who changes an inferior metal into a more valuable one. Dialogue between Gilhooley and Gus De Smith signals a playful or instructional framing of alchemy concepts.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Gilhooley
Gus
Gus de Smith
Queer Birds of New Zealand and Other Oddities
A compilation of curiosities about New Zealand avifauna including flightless species like the apteryx and weka, the crooked-billed plover, and the kea, with notes on native parrot relatives, honey eaters such as the parson, and bell birds tied to aboriginal land claims, plus remarks on human impact and conservation concerns.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
New Zealand
F. A. Lucas
Smithsonian Institution
Europe
Washington Star
Also Mentioned on This Page
Jiana Progress
Checaskonieh Lake
Amatewonooie River
Kattecaminabago Falls
United States Patent Office
Paget
Washington
Battikoffer
Liberia
Iowa
Leo
Morgan
Bourne
Jimson
Carl Smith
New York Weekly
Saucy Sally
Dan
Miss Pert
Sampter
Hornbook
Wentworth
Capt. Coffing
Garrison
Nyther
Mistress Coffing
Admiral Coffing
R. N
Robi. Greene
Waa
Gammon
Guineas
Queer Birds
Beliwe
New York Herald i
Wiley
Township
Penn
James Schlegie
Stony Point
Sak Hervein
Pylvania
John BE
Boyertown
Ritter
John
Fifth Avenue
Madive
Erea Ting
Yael Byrnes
Williams
Conf
Byrnes
Bow
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!