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Newspaper
Monticello Express
Location
Monticello, Iowa, United States of America
Date
Dec 30, 1897
Page
2
The Express cites Victorian death penalties contrasted with two crimes now deemed treason and murder. A California judge rules a wife may be compelled to support her husband by labor, while many wives do so without court orders. It notes U S sugar and reindeer records, and praises a working man over elites. It opposes using the U S flag for advertising.
Health officials in Indianapolis warn that contagious diseases spread among children through common use of penholders and lead pencils. Pencils are collected in a box each evening and redistributed to pupils the next day, putting many children at risk.
Kansas City plans to dig for a 40 year old Missouri River cargo of corn whisky now on dry land. Hoops may have shifted, and no action will proceed without further notice. The item includes notes on AdeeHna Patti born February 19 1843 and valued at over one million dollars for singing in London, plus immigration trends to 1897 and a Remington-related family obituary.
Men past their prime express envy of youth as they enter the twentieth century. They foresee a greater advance in the world and in civilization than ever before. The outlook for today’s young man is an interesting topic for speculation.
Miss Lucinda Day, 90, died in her lifelong brick house in West Springfield Massachusetts. Seventy years earlier she promised to light a candle each night for a sailorlover who left on voyage and never returned. The candle she kept lighting for decades was finally extinguished the night she died after 76 years.
The Choctaw and Chickasaw in Indian Territory entertain plans to relocate 26 000 natives south of the Rio Grande if Mexico can offer suitable colony locations. The writer notes white settlers covet their lands, warns the Indians may err, while acknowledging grievances and some prosperity among the tribes.
Treasury inquiry a year ago found Former Librarian A. B. Spofford $30 000 short. He repaid most from his own funds. Large batch of old money orders, many dating back 22 years, now thought to account for the deficit. Librarian J Russell Young and First Assistant Postmaster General Heath note the age of the orders.
The passage notes President McKinley’s mother writing a brief early life sketch that contrasts with campaign biographies. It cites her line about managing six children and her own work, extending to millions of women who "do their own work" and are honored in homes. It reflects on the tireless labor of housewives and the quiet, everyday effort behind public figures.
The article notes plans for a proposed U S department of commerce and industry, an expected January 1 railway total of 154 464 miles, and a recent record gold reserve of 160 267 163 dollars. It mentions stamps for the Omaha exposition and U S efforts to promote American horses in Europe.
Across major cities a string of disasters and losses unfold. A train collision near Passaic injures twenty people with three deaths. Philadelphia banks fail with two firms combining liabilities of two million dollars led by William M. Singerly. A former congressman John Patton dies in Philadelphia. National business failures and clearing house totals show declines and sharp weekly changes. Fires, train wrecks, and a series of deaths across Delaware Pennsylvania New York and Utah mark a grim period.
Report compiles multiple 19th century incidents including fatal riots at a courthouse in McArthur Ohio, drownings of hunters near Dawes Creek Newton County, a centenarian death in Minnesota, wreck and murder cases near Murray Kansas and Greensboro North Carolina, bans, fires, and train collision damages with a broad list of victims and locations.
Alaska winter gold output estimated at 10 million dollars. Fire destroyed the M. O. Harter company flouring mill at Fostoria, Ohio, with a loss of 150000 dollars.
Reports from port of Port Arthur to Smyrna and Crete note a mix of geopolitical moves and calamities. Russia gains anchorage rights in Port Arthur under China. Japan’s stance on Ia wali annexation shifts. Cuba faces unrest and autarky talk. Crete and Asia Minor suffer earthquakes with fatalities. Cuban cane fields burn amid insurgent activity. a deadly Dortmund explosion kills 16. Protests near Chemulpo involve British ships. London tragedy of Mrs Jarvis family. Spanish squadron driven from Manzanillo by insurgents.
Senor Jose Marie Galvez chosen as president of Cuba’s first colonial cabinet under autonomy rule. Amid broader turmoil, reports detail multiple violent acts, corporate failures, fires, and regional unrest across the United States and abroad. Notable items include suicides, a murder followed by self-harm, a major wholesale grocer failure in Indianapolis, and rail executive shifts.
The Oakland board of trade backs annexation treaty. Secretary Gage favors naming revenue cutter vessels for Indian tribes. Virginia senate considers ending whipping post for petty larceny. Vermont’s Jonathan Ross served 27 years on the supreme bench. A monument marks Thomas a Kempis’s grave at Zwolle after 426 years. Crocker estate valued at $7,032,129 by appraisers. A New Jersey wood working machinery trust forms with $4,000,000 capital. Miss Wilhelmina Sandstone and Nehemia Whitestone wed at Flintstone. New postal cards display John Adams head for the first time. Pension list full publication urged by Commissioner Evans. Montreal millionaire W C McDonald donates $250,000 more to McGill. A M E association report notes hundreds turned away for lack of funds. Prof Tyler twice honored by Harvard with a doctoral degree. Richmond’s Kings Daughters seek Virginia football suppression.
Washington reports severe distress in Cuba with actual famine, prompting President and State Department to mobilize aid. Consul-General Lee coordinates distribution of money and goods, including clothing medicines such as quinine, food staples, and supplies. Demand grows for donations from the public, with ships and railways aiding delivery and Spanish authorities waiving duties on relief items.
Lord Salisbury responds to Ambassador Hay declining to join a tripartite sealing ban with the United States Russia and Japan. He notes Canada’s unwillingness and says Britain will not intervene in Canadian foreign relations. England’s stance aims to avoid entangling itself in the proposal.
In Chicago on Monday a storage vat at the Independent brewery exploded while three men Theodore Winkofsky Louis Imme and Leonard Scholler were enamel coating its interior. Winkofsky was killed instantly when his incandescent lamp ignited alcohol vapors. Imme and Scholler sustained severe burns and likely will die from injuries.
Conference referees handling William M. Singerly affairs recommend issuing and paying Philadelphia Record stock to creditors for debts. Singerly stays in control of the Record with six years to retire bonds. The Record reportedly earned about 243000 dollars annually over the last seven years.
Mary Costello a Spanish woman dies after a Japanese man named George Taughi fires four shots at her in a San Francisco lodging house though none hit. Death attributed to heart failure from extreme excitement and jealousy motive noted. In Cincinnati L W Kampel a tailor is found dead after inhaling gas via a rubber tube. In New York Edward Joseph Buckley prominent actor dies aged 54 after years of paralysis.
Reports from London and San Francisco detail Russia taking Kin-Chau north of Port Arthur and moving two first class cruisers with marines to Chinese waters. Senators Morgan warn US intervention may be needed as Europe partitions China to protect Pacific trade.
Five western universities join to form the Western Intercollegiate Baseball league in Chicago. Members are Michigan Chicago Illinois Wisconsin and Northwestern. Keith of Michigan elected president and L E Fischer of Illinois secretary. A three game series begins with Northwestern vs Illinois on April 9 in Champaign and ends June 11 with Chicago vs Michigan in Detroit and Illinois vs Wisconsin in Madison.
In Wilkesbarre John Agnew and Thomas Kennedy died after a shaft accident while cutting ice for a carriage. The rope slackened and the car plunged 450 feet, crushing both men. Also, Henry L. Hayward 82 longtime Colorado editor died in Longmont. France’s Jules Cambon slated to become ambassador in Washington. William Dolan 7 killed by brother in law Daly in Haverhill. George Wendell Democratic legislator and landowner dies near New Holland Illinois at 52.
Secretary Sherman urges Americans to donate money and goods for Cuba relief. The 1897 proclamation directs that funds provisions clothing medicines and other essentials go to Gen. Fitzhugh Lee in Havana with duties waived. Spanish aid coordinated to allow direct shipments to the reconcentrados.
Roundup of deadly house fires across cities reports ten deaths. Bethnal Green in London sees Mrs Jarvis and nine children perish while Mr Jarvis dies later in a workhouse infirmary. Grace Nelson dies after clothes catch fire in Franklin Pennsylvania. Henry Thomas of Lamartise Wisconsin is burned beyond recognition. Mrs Lamon of Fort Worth Texas dies after clothes ignite near a fireplace.
Chicago reports from midnight December 22 to 6 pm December 27 show 119 fire alarms, estimated losses of 1.1025 million, one killed and 51 injured including 14 firemen and 12 policemen. Alarms for the year may reach 6,500, the highest ever. total department strength is about 1,150 with extensive apparatus.
James F. Colman, engine driver, steered his locomotive away from a mother and daughter trapped on the track. The engine toppled, killing him instantly. Also in brief notes: athlete John Cosgrave dies after surgery. flour mill in Toledo destroyed for $150,000. Denmark offered land in Greenland for naval stations. Germany refuses US demand on duties in reciprocity talks.
A kind old lady comforts a crying street boy from Cincinnati, offering another dime and asking about the dime’s loss. The boy reveals his father drinks and that the dime was lost while playing with friends in an alley after dropping a bucket for beer. The scene ends with a hopeful view of the boy avoiding future drinking.
A Washington Post anecdote describes a motorman eating a large cherry pie while driving a streetcar. A curious passenger questions him as a child darts across the tracks and the gripman jokes that her pie is under him.
A collection of pithy adages and aphorisms reflecting on forgiveness, justice, gender, happiness, trust, persuasion, and risk. The remarks mix social observations with humorous bite and a dash of local newspaper flavor into stand-alone maxims.
A coastal anecdote explains time at sea in four hour watches with dog watches between shifts. An insurance case uses a sailor’s remark about the collision occurring “about the middle of the first dog watch” to illustrate the level of care, as the ship and lives were entrusted to “the mere watch of a dog.”
A flurry of brief notes mentions widow's weeds as mourning glory plants, plus assorted quotes and ads. Contents reference traveler excursions on the Missouri Kansas and Texas line, suspension garb humor, patent medicines like Piso's Cure and St Jacobs Oil, and mock aphorisms from various papers.
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