Readers note on Othello obsession and stage versus real life
A narrator recalls a woman’s fascination with Desdemona’s handkerchief in Shakespeare’s Othello, noting how stage figures read as real people to women. The scene prompts reflection on gendered perception, emotion, and the allure of theatrical detail.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Othello
Emelia
Jago
Desdemona
Iago
Cyprus
Cassie
Presidio
Angel Island
Shakespeare
Scott
Gould's Double: Illinois Man Cracks Nuts on Train Car
A quiet Chicago Tribune reader on a Wabash Line clashes with a brakeman over nut cracking on a car seat. The diminutive man insists he is hammering cast iron, refusing to stop, and offers to pay for damages as the exchange escalates.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Chicago Tribune
Jay Gould Impersonator Sparks Trainyard Encounter
An Alabama lookalike posing as Jay Gould causes a stir on a Wabash line. A brakeman recalls the magnate’s courtesy tale and notes the impostor’s pocketful of cards bearing Gould’s name. The real Gould departs after an eventful ride.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Jay Gould
Smith Henry
Bushnell, al
Mr. Smith Henry
Bushnell
DOG JACKS CAPERS AT THE LIVERY STABLE
R. 8. Johnson operates a Stockton livery where a three year old Scotch terrier named Jack lives in the upper stable. Jack refuses to descend beyond ten feet, taunts passing dogs from a front window, and has leaped twenty feet to the sidewalk on two occasions. He watches activity below while many try to provoke him.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Johnson
Stockton
Jack
Quirky Gypsy Dogs Fish Stream Feast in Hartford
Edgar L Wakeman recalls a summer camp near Hartford Connecticut where a pack of nine lean hungry dogs hunted fish in a stream. The scene shows them diving and flinging fish onto the bank while gypsies nearby casually acknowledge the practice as common and even lazy theft by some.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Edgar L Wakeman
Chicago News
Hartford
Conn
Walton
A Diplomat's Plaint: Age and Wealth Gate Foreign Service
Indiana's Rufus Magee, minister to Sweden and Norway, criticizes diplomacy as unsuitable for practical life. He argues advancement relies on wealth, not merit, noting high living costs abroad and perceived America as money kings. He urges Congress to raise foreign service standards and funding.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Rufus Magee
Indiana
Sweden
Norway
Washington
Belgium
Phelps
Foreign Service
Congress
Diverse anecdotes from the Davenport family and others
The notice catalogues varied 19th century vignettes including a Davenport clan family on stage, Jennie June praising American women, a Harvard student burning his hand as temper control, a South Carolina woman with seventeen children and eight twins, a Middletown inmate’s delusion of presidency, Fanny Rasche’s death after savings, Mrs. S. H. Porter suing a Cincinnati professor, Meissonier’s fan painting anecdote, Rob Roy Smith charged with reckless driving, Rouen to honor LaSalle with a statue, Agassiz anecdote by Edward E Hale, and two marriages in Suffolk County, New York, one to a 28-year-old and the other a 54-year-old to a 13-year-old.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Davenport
Jennie June
Cambridge
Harvard
South Carolina
Middletown
N. Y
United States
Fanny Rasche
New Orleans
S. H. Porter
Columbus
Cincinnati
Chicago Herald
Meissonier
Rob Roy Smith
Memphis
James Carr
Rouen
LaSalle
Mississippi
Jeanne d’ Arc
Jeanne d’ Arc Was Burned.—N
Edward E. Hale
Agassiz
America
Boston Transcript
Suffolk County
Justice Lewis
Babylon
Charles
Nonsense Snippets and Vignette Jokes Across Papers
A collage of humorous lines and witticisms from various papers. Bits range from boatyard banter about a ship carpenter to a bee memory quip, a squabble about a pie tossed over a fence, dog poisoning accusations, stage philosophy, and a roach in soup. Local humor, character sketches, and playful dialogue dominate.
Curious pastimes and oddities from old papers
A round of curiosities from 1880s journalism covers a contract myth about a wife sale, shad limits at a New York bridge, time zones in Norway, snow drift quirks, a Mexican flower changing color, a Baltimore club ring, and notes on Holmes Gladstone and Tennyson born in 1809. Also tales of hidden treasure in Indiana, a Los Angeles newsboy coin recovery, a New Orleans rat nest rescue, chimney lightning risk, Monte Carlo profits, California snow shoes for horses, and a Lord’s Prayer manuscript in 1883.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Poughkeepsie
Norway
Greenwich Observatory
England
Chicago Times
Tehuantepec
Frank James Morrison
Crescent Club of
Baltimore
Oliver Wendell Holmes
Gladstone
Tennyson
Lord Houghton
Holmes
Boston Herald
Leander Smith
Milan
Ind
Los Angeles
Cal
Chicago Herald
New Orleans
Monte Carlo
Principality of Monaco
Ross
Court Journal
Nevada City Transcript
Orse
J. W. Holton
New Haven
Conn
Buffalo
Mary 3. Holton
Ellington
Boston Globe
Henry Lake
Ole Bull
Pittsburgh
Cremona
Colton
New York
West
Paris Anarchists Gather in Boisterous Meetings
A Pall Mall Gazette correspondent describes Paris anarchists as divided into small groups with vivid names like Explosion and Black Hand. They meet in cafes or well known halls, with disorderly proceedings, constant interruptions, and deputized “delegates of order” struggling to maintain control. Police stay outside, gas is sometimes cut, and the crowd’s disorder highlights their claimed liberty of speech amid the raucous, urban spectacle.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Paris
Pall Mall Gazette
Panthers
Salle Flavie
Belleville
Pere-la-Chaise
Gobelins
Citoyens and
Citoyennes
Madame
Blanqui
God
Proudhon
London
Jules Valles
Citoyens
Nio
F.milierea
Cabman
Moore
la Solidarite
Bis
France
Large German Bible Supposed to Be 15th Century Treasure
John Conrad of Prestine Illinois owns a German Bible printed in the fifteenth century, claimed as the largest issue. The volume measures fourteen by ten by six and a half inches, weighs fourteen to sixteen pounds, and includes a two hundred year Conrad family register. Binding is sable leather, lined with hardwood, bolted together, and the Bible remains in remarkably good preservation.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
John Conrad
Prestine
Conrad
Quaker Boarding House Refuses Maryland Guests
A Baltimore party of about twelve arrived seeking lodging and were offered only beds in a neighboring house by a charitable Quaker boarding house owner. She stated she could provide meals but guests must stay at Cottin's, prompting an angry response and departure.
Also Mentioned on This Page
Gould
Np Iilinoia Man
Jay
Dog Jack
Smith
Brown
Rey
Boston
Arthur
New Haven News
Sontag’s
Detroit Free Press
Maria
Aliey
Jim Sharkey
Brooklyn Eagle
Darling
de Baggs
de Kaggs
Philadelphia
Times-Democras
Reas
Talia
A. J. Griffin
Ontat
Partien Sre
P.O. Vickery
Augusta
Maine
Philadelphia Trusss Co
Hampion
SOL Berher Bros
George Leis
Carl Newman, Co
W. Straffon
R.W. Woodward Manufactory
Massachusetts
Warner Bros
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!