Oddities and notes from a busy century paper
A collage of quirky incidents and brief items: a woman in Portland tethering a watch with wire and fainting, a fox hunter cornering a tough quarry for a pelt, a laissez faire tale of ransom in 19th century Italy, a Kentucky town grip, waterproof paper, quarrels over funeral flowers in Wiesbaden, land title issues in Tennessee, a Chinese doctor running an opium joint, live frogs leaping from wood, the heaviest English stone, Jews migrating to Palestine, Hindoo tourists to Europe, a Michigan heir awaiting marriage, horse lungs myth debunked, sneeze tale, plounder reproduction, and the Earl of Derby’s funds.
Saloons, Popes, and a Whisky Elephant Tale
The text notes a saloon empire profiting from leases, Leo XII ranking as Pope 263, Italians long dominant in papal succession since Adrian VI in 1553, a Cincinnati circus elephant given a massive whisky toddy, and a curious anecdote about infants going upstairs if born in the lower story. It closes with a critique of melted snow as a purifier, detailing how snow traps atmospheric pollutants.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Leo XII
Adrian VI
Netherlands
Cincinnati
Europe
Ireland's ether drinking deemed national vice crisis
Ether consumption in Ireland is described as a near national plague with towns where every woman is affected. The government considers harsh repression, yet authorities also gain substantial tax revenue from methylic spirit used for intoxication, complicating policy responses.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Ireland
Diamond mines sit in vertical vents across South Africa
Gsopuists have proved that the diamond mines of South Africa lie in vertical vents or chimneys from seventy feet to 1,500 feet in diameter. These vents descend through the district strata and are filled with silicated and magnesian rock fragments in which diamonds are scattered. Each vent was capped by a hillock or kepje before digging began. There are seventeen vents, aligned in a straight line nearly 120 miles long.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
South Africa
Bell of Isle of Wight church Ringer Reveals Hidden Wood Block
The St Helens church spire on the Isle of Wight, struck by lightning long ago, was thought to have a cracked bell. A warden found a broken wheel piece pressing on the bell edge, removed it, and after 170 years the bell rang clearly, amazing locals.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
St. Helen’s Church
Isle of Wight
Dog messenger delivers news from sick brother
In Tur St Albans a dog owner sends his dog to his sick brother in the suburbs to learn the brother's condition. The dog returns about ninety minutes later with a letter from the brother's wife answering the inquiry, delighting the household.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Tur
St. Albans
Great River of the North Fact Befits a Daring Expedition
The article recounts a massive northern river rising in British Columbia that flows to Behring Strait, its source long unknown, with an expedition by the Union Telegraph Company ascending the river for over 1,500 miles to locate its source.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Mississippi
British Columbia
Attic Circle
Behring’s Strait
Deep Sea
Amazon
St. Lawrence
My Old Stone Wall On the old town hillside
A reflective poem from the Boston Journal evokes a stone wall as a living relic. It recalls June vines, brambles, birds, cedars, and a reader asks who built the wall, pondering Plymouth Rock lineage and a veteran builder now gone. The verse links memory with place and labor.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Iangavne
Plymouth Rock
Muytflower
Pilgrim
A Girl Worth Winning Reunites Lovers At Last
Paul Crumsett returns to New York to find Mattie Parcell grown into a refined heiress. After years of neglect from the Highfoot family, they marry and move to their own home, while Paul reveals a California fortune and the Highfoots are left behind.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Mattie
Paul
New York
South America
Mattia
Pan
Jam
Tam
Syenkars
Mattie Parcell
Paul Crumsett
Mr. Highfoot
Panama
Brazil
California
Highfoots
P. C
Mr. H
Wighfoot
Sam
Riel
Electrical Welding of Wheels and Rails Invention Tested
An invention uses a small dynamo and auxiliary engine on a locomotive to send current through wheels and rails forming a traveling circuit. The incipient weld at contact points prevents wheel slip and reportedly boosts hauling power by 400 percent. A test locomotive is being prepared on the Baltimore and Ohio Railway.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Baltimore and Ohio
Pocketing Gloves Fraud At Woodward Avenue Store
A woman slipped a pair of kid gloves from a Woodward avenue dry goods store. She bought ribbon for 23 cents and paid with a $2 bill. The clerk verified the change as correct, then she left without comment. The piece ends noting a proverb about a man facing a tiger.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Eg Woodward Avenue
How a bone button is made in Birmingham
A correspondent visits Mr. Church’s small Birmingham button factory to observe the making of a vegetable ivory bone button. The process begins with nut kernels called vegetable ivory, cut and shaped by lathes, drilled by two women, then polished and dyed in dust-filled rooms. The article notes a hidden trade secret in the dye mixture and ends with the Birmingham reputation for wonders.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Mr. Church
Birmingham
Olster
South America
Lpah
Alan Guzeile
Raccoon Habits and Winter Behavior Revealed by Observer
A longtime observer recounts experiences in Maine and Massachusetts detailing raccoon winter activity, diet, and hunting of rabbits. He describes feeding methods, predator behavior, and distinct footprints, noting the coon’s preference for insects, eggs, poultry, frogs, nuts, squirrels, rabbits, and fish, with details from Cape Ann and Stand ’85.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Maine
Massachusetts
Cape Ann
Phil
Bhit
Court Beetmakers and the Fine Art of Tudor Bed Service
An amusing glimpse into Henry VIII's court bedmakers described in Harper's Bazar. Only men were employed in a ceremonial, lengthy routine with four young men drawing curtains, squires guarding the bed, yeomen arranging the litter, and multiple linens and furs laid in exact order before the Rennes linen pillow coverings.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Henry
Marten
Rennes
Harper's Bazar
Attacking Ant Ailis with Cannon in Guiana Forests
In Guiana forests huge aggressive black ants build 15 to 20 foot hills and attack humans. traveler Malouet recalls a fortress burned by a surrounding trench filled with dry wood then artillery fire that toppled the hill and killed many ants attempting to flee the blaze.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Ailis
Guiana
Malouet
Washington Star
Sunset Reflections On A Bare Farm Near White Mountains
A sentimental young lady admires a sunset from a barren farm at the base of the White Mountains. She extols purple and crimson hues while the landlady half-heartedly agrees, recalling her late husband’s illness as the colors evoke his face. The exchange appears in a Free Press excerpt.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
White Mountains
Free Press
Goose With an Artificial Leg in Alpharetta
A Georgia town reports a goose with a missing foot fitted with a cane prosthetic. Owned by Mr. J. S. Broadwell the bird formerly hopped and lagged behind its flock but now walks with ease and little apparent pain after the improvised leg was bound to the limb.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
J. S. Broadwell
Mr. Broadwell
Alpharette
Atlanta Constitution
Also Mentioned on This Page
the Register
New Harmony, Indiana
Portland
Louis Carolima Fox
Williamstown
Wiesbaden
Tennessee
Philadelphia
Carrollton
England
Plankington
Norwich
Palestine
America
China
Japan
States
James Jr. Babcock
Ann Arbor
Mich
Heb
James
Waukesha
Wis
Farmer Little
Ohio
Pus Earl of Derby
Bunker Hill
Waesit Smith
Thompson
Brown
Jones
Frees
Chicago
Chicago Herald
Italy
Foundling Asylum
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!