A Cyclist's Race for Love
A bachelor cyclist narrates a comical chase to win the hand of Bessie Boole. After receiving a contradictory love note, he sets out by bike in a whimsical, obstacle-laden pursuit across villages, dogs, rain, and misdirected streets to reach Feeder Station and Bessie.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Bessie Boole
Bessie
Feeder Station
Mr. Oversmith
Sagittarings Moon
Hathaway
Ardency
Oie Kt
Feeder
Tean
Mischievous Bicycles Cause Farce and Mayhem on Roads
In an amusement suitable for Blackwood’s June issue a narrator recalls several bicycle mishaps. A husband’s first public ride ends with him upside down in a ditch as his temperamental machine shies, bucks, and blocks the road. A second rider returns with a scratched face after his cycle causes a startled dinner table appearance. The machine is blamed for antics, including hedge leaps and reckless middle-road behavior, and even ends up sold to a German, who cures it by homeopathy and it becomes a “reformed character.”
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Feeder Station
Flight-street
Flight Street
Bessie
Blackwood
What Did Lulu Mean
Dialogue fragment from Boston Traveler shows a couple discussing marriage and temperance. One urges getting him to sign a pledge before marriage to stop drinking. the other suspects temptation may arise later. The item captures social attitudes toward pledges and abstinence.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Lulu
Luale
Boston
The Spanish Peasants and their Plight in Spain
A Westminster Review excerpt condemns Spanish governance and social neglect. It describes the peasant class as sufrida, patient under injury yet capable of education, noting high illiteracy, unemployment, and misery. The piece critiques extortion, debt, and ineffective institutions shaping a Europe nation.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Spain
Europe
Westminster Review
Reverence Redefined: Every Ground a Holy Place
The piece argues the old idea of sacred sites is outdated and cannot be restored. God is omnipresent in all nature, from autumn trees to birds and storms, making every day and place holy, equating America with Palestine and mountains with Sinai in a universal divine immanence.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Palestine
God
Sinai
Mount of Beatitudes
Christ
America
White Mountains
Rocky Mountains
Sinaitic Mountains
Lyman Abbott
Small Maxims From The Chap Book Literary Snippets
A collection of wry moral quips contrasts generosity with stinginess and jokes on social views. It features lines about philanthropy, class, sincerity, and the clash between poetical and scientific senses, reflecting humorous observations from The Chap Book.
Nicknames in the Far West Spark Colorful Monikers
A Western note on how trailwise men earn nicknames such as Three-lingred Jones or Skin and Bones while others avoid such tags. A Lethbridge reader recounts voices naming men Fog Horn and Paper Collar, contrasting rough nicknames with gentlemanly reputation in the Western habit of nom de guerre.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Fog Horn
Roottie
John D. Higinbotham
Lethbridge
Alberta
Looking for a stylish, witty, wealthy bride
A poem about a man seeking a partner who combines style wit beauty pedigree with wealth. He argues beauty, wit, and pedigree alone are bor e and seeks a stylish witty and wealthy girl who has cash. The piece contrasts superficial charms with substantive traits.
Humorous Housemaid Misunderstanding Sparks Conversation
Several women share anecdotes about a new housemaid who misunderstand instructions. One tale centers on telling visitors the mistress was out and asking for names. The maid reports visitors said little, mentioning bananas, leading to confusion about who called and the caller's name.
Toothy Mixup Recounts Bloomers in Dark Wardrobe Swap
Dusty explains he swapped togs in the dark and failed to switch to proper clothes in time. The exchange centers on his fashion mishap and the bemused response from Toothpick Charlie.
An Asinine Yankee and the Pope Story
A humorous anecdote recounts an American gentleman who told Pio Nono he had met the Holy Father’s father. The narrator’s Roman Catholic housekeeper would have annihilated America over the tale, and the punchline shifts to debunking a belief about the Holy Father’s confinement in the Vatican.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
United States
Pio Nono
America
Holy Father
Vatican
Humbert
Reflections of a Bachelor
A witty, period style meditation on martyrdom fate pride and gender roles contrasts a journalist’s hidden knowledge with a newspaper man’s visible fret and the burden of appearance and self image.
Gleams of Irish Humour in a Western Gazette Style
A collection of light Irish anecdotes and quips: a sharp tourist taunts a peasant about size, a car-driver Barney jokes about craytur and dust, a student’s pulpit exam ends with a quip from the examiner, and a bishop is met by a boy with a goat who demands the cap. Westminster Gazette.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Barney
Westminster Gazette
City Lady's Grievance on Irregular Mails
City Lady laments the unreliable mail service while Grandmother recalls slower, less trusted communication in her youth. The exchange captures a contrast between present impatience and past daily routines in rural life.
Jenkins Kicks Office Boy Triggers Death Hoax
Jenkins loses temper over interruptions and pretends to be dead to avoid talk. Johnnie tricks a new office boy into believing the stunt, prompting a startled visitor to declare Jenkins is dead. The scheme leads to a $50 payment to the boy’s mother and a looming court risk for Jenkins.
Also Mentioned on This Page
Jones
Brown
Nickame
Delamere
William Beresford
Lo Lowel
Lim
Giel
Toronto
Brian
Hte
Jenkins
de Smith
Johnnie
Oirs
Mr. Jenkins
Piteoous
Mercy
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