25 Dec 1886
Page 1
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Newspaper
Philadelphia Times
Location
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America
Date
Dec 25, 1886
Page
1
The night before Christmas in the city brought soggy streets and melted snow. Crowds packed Chestnut Market and Eighth streets as rain persisted from afternoon into night. Police kept order while vendors and masqueraders added bustle amid heavy foot traffic and crowded stores.
Busy scenes in the fruit poultry game and vegetable markets show holiday displays with evergreens ribbons and prize turkeys. Prices in all departments are strong and many items are cheaper than last Christmas as abundant oysters and fruits attract large crowds and long lines.
Markets were crowded with shoppers not able to indulge freely yet not in true want. Mendicants appeared in small numbers while the throngs bought supplies, hoping the nickels and pennies hoarded nearby would carry them through winter.
The Commercial Exchange saw a somber trading scene with little activity and no sample throws as merchants faced a quiet day. The Franklin Home hosted a festive Christmas event for over fifteen score former inmates’ children, with a large tree and generous donations from local businessmen. At St Joseph's Church a Bethlehem tableau drew visitors, while Judge Allison prepared a Christmas dinner for two hundred bootblacks. Police issued a noise curfew for Christmas and New Year’s Eve to maintain order.
George W Childs worked late sealing envelopes containing money for Christmas gifts. He distributed over ten thousand dollars in new bank notes that day and up to twenty five thousand dollars in total to employees and others, with many gifts at least fifty dollars each. A dinner followed at 32 South Front street for over three hundred business friends.
The Third Street stock brokers held holiday festivities at the Petroleum and Stock Exchange with a banquet and charity entertainment for bulls hurt in the recent SUMP. The event featured music from the Weecacoe Band, humorous antics with hats and water, and a grand finale by female telegraph operators. Gifts were exchanged among staff, with remarks from Vice Consul Crump and Joel Cook delivering thanks. The Times ad notes its family newspaper role and six cent weekly delivery.
The Rosine Home at 3216 Germantown avenue will open on Christmas Monday December 27 from 11 AM to 4 PM for visitor inspection. The home has been enlarged with a new maternity ward and a committee of ladies will guide guests through all departments to view reform work.
Dense fog and heavy ice clog the Delaware River forcing inward-bound vessels to shelter at New Castle for protection before continuing upriver.
In a Philadelphia style scene the Gas Trustees meet as debate shifts to the Mayor's citizen committee. Morris enters to mixed laughter and respect with questions about appointments and leadership. McManes teases a power shift while Lane and others jockey for influence under a transformed political order.
New York reports Detective Inspector Byrne’s staff arrested John De Leon known as Professor the astrologer on kidnapping charges after weeks of pursuit. He was found at a Thirteenth Street hotel and held on $5,000 bail. The case traces his past schemes linking patrons to Panama and a house of ill repute, with further indictments in Lancaster Pennsylvania.
New York in December 2 reports Mayor-elect Hewitt and ex-mayor Edward Cooper backing Lloyd S Bryce amid a rift over Fatty Walsh the notorious ward politician and ex Dead Rabbits member. The piece suggests a bargain to place Walsh as warden of the Tombs and details his long criminal ties and political maneuvering within Tammany and County Democracy.
Morris Marks, a New York tailor, owed about twenty dollars to landlady Annie Jakcowisky and was evicted. On December 23 he threw vitriolic acid into Mrs Jakcowisky s room injuring her chest and left side and threatening her eye. her husband kissed her wounds and suffered burns. Marks was arrested and committed to await trial while Mrs Jakcowisky is hospitalized.
The contest between Haines and Turley opened before Supreme Court Commissioner C V D Joline in Camden. Haines alleges ballot tampering after recount changed the Centre township result, 170 to 124, and Turley gained enough votes to win. Republicans subpoenaed many voters, signaling a lengthy challenge with national implications due to the U S Senate race.
Harrisburg reports Schall and King car works at Middletown nearly wiped out by a morning blaze. Loss estimated at 150000 with 155 workers thrown out of work. Boiler room origin at 2 30. Foundry office and shops burned. some sheds saved. Large lumber and finished iron losses cited. Insurance issues hinder further coverage.
Garrett of Robt Garrett & Sons presents a 36 acre Fall Springs property four miles from Baltimore city with a large hotel, long used as a summer resort. The site is proposed as a sanitarium and refuge by the Society for the Protection of Children from Cruelty and Immorality.
D B Reed sold his interest in the Driftwood Gazette to late partner J T Earl who becomes sole proprietor. Hartman Steel Works employees plan a large cooperative general store. Pottstown Tron Company lower puddle mill shut down. Puddle helpers demand six cents per heat and strike after refusal to pay five heats per turn.
The week's trade review notes wheat gains from European war disturbance, while speculation stagnates. Stocks and commodities show mixed moves with large weekly variations. foreign holdings and gold remittances persist as investors’ activity shifts amid war rumors and currency moves.
About three hundred coal heavers stevedores and wharfmen employed by the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company struck at Port Richmond. They fear workforce reductions due to business decline and fewer engines used to dump coal. Knights of Labor status varies. engineers at Port Richmond also oppose management with grievances to General Manager McLeod seeking redress.
William D McKeever aged 18 and Marion L Loveridge aged 17, heirs of Orange families, wed in New York on November 2 under a pistol held by the girl's father. An annulment suit by the boy's father is pending. They remarried in New York yesterday and plan to live together, sending a Christmas greeting to their families.
Five men, later identified as criminals from Medina county, blew open the Hexter Brothers safe on Woodland avenue in Cleveland. They drilled a hole in the door, used a giant powder charge, and packed plush sacques and canton flannel to muffle the blast. The explosion wrecked the safe doors, damaged furniture, and yielded a large amount of valuables.
James C. Sutton former Greenwood township tax collector in Perry county aged fifty died after ingesting laudanum in Newport. Authorities had demanded settlement of a $150 duplicate due to unpaid accounts. Found unconscious on the Millerstown road he died after medical attempts. His death is considered a probable suicide.
The May rioters trial is adjourned to Monday morning. Mayor Wilber testified on May proclamations. Judge Sloan limits defense to six witnesses and insists there was a riot at Bay View was not, militia firing was deemed justifiable.
Charles Biddle of Northeast Cecil County fatally shoots Joseph Lynch, keeper of a local pear cider saloon, after a dispute with Lynch and Pierce, an uncle of Biddle, at about 6 p m on Christmas Eve. Biddle retrieved a pistol and riddled Lynch with shot, erasing an eye, before his arrest.
The body of Miss Turlington, a deaf mute young woman who vanished with W. L. Bingham, was found in woods eight miles from Raleigh and one mile from Cary. She had a gunshot wound to the heart and her throat was cut.
George Hagan and Bill Yeager two middleweights who fought in Camden on Tuesday morning were given a hearing at Central Station and handed over to New Jersey officers. Ex Police Sergeant Duffy posted 1600 bail each for their appearance.
The report alleges Churchill justified by fraud in government expenditures as Lord Randolph Churchill resigns. A collision near Lisbon sinks Ville de Victoria with thirty deaths. Lord Hartington’s cabinet entry is unresolved, while a possible reshuffle looms over Tory opinion.
In the Tagus River the British ironclad Sultan collided with Ville de Victoria and dragged moorings, sinking the French steamer. Sixty three aboard were aboard including thirty drowned. An English lady lost six hundred sovereigns from a neck bag. The Monarch and Minotaur also struck ships in the incident.
Lord Hartington will stay in Rome until Sunday awaiting letters from Lord Salisbury and has not received a cabinet invitation. He plans to decide after letters arrive, while Conservative backers push for a pure Tory cabinet and skepticism grows about a coalition under Salisbury. Churchill is not endorsed and Randolph’s resignation sparks calls for reform in war and admiralty spending.
A massive blaze at John Lewis & Co on Brunswick Road in Liverpool destroyed the extensive stores and a large Christmas stock along with a connected menagerie. Police estimate losses at $2,000,000 as fire crews fought the flames and rescued a polar bear amid the inferno.
In Berlin on December 24 a rumor spread that Emperor William was moribund as business closed for the day. The market, already recovering from a prior decline, remained firm and authorities dismissed the report.
December dispatches from London report Russian reserves called out and troop movements spotted in Bessarabia. The French press is barred from publishing military news that could aid other governments, signaling rising war anxieties.
Berlin dispatch notes German newspapers publish a list of Bordeaux merchants to be boycotted and driven out of France, a move urged by the Reveil of that city.
London reports that Lord Colin Campbell's solicitors have applied for another trial of his counter-suit for divorce from his wife. They argue the jury verdict conflicts with the weight of evidence.
A large gathering at Friendship Hall Norris and Sepviva streets ratified a resolution to remain out until the scabs employed by manufacturers are discharged. The meeting followed action by the Executive Board of the District Assembly that concluded an agreement with the manufacturers against the strikers’ committee wishes.
Sparks from the wires report catcher Frank Flint has signed with the Chicago Club for the 1887 season. Also noted is Morton D. Banks of Baltimore assigning with a $50,000 bond, and the steamer Saab carrying £329,000 in gold and 3813 bags of malt from Southampton to New York. A Des Moines Osceola and Southern Railroad sale is ordered within ten days if debts of 1,000 aren’t paid. An international yacht race for 1,000 guineas, under the Royal Thames Yacht Club, is set for next season in honor of the Queen’s jubilee.
Actress Lillie Hinton, famed for stage roles from Cinderella to Leah the Forsaken, died at her father’s home in Philadelphia on Christmas Eve. She was 24, educated at the Normal School, with a noted voice and graceful presence. Funeral planned at the house with private interment at Mount Moriah Cemetery.
George Harding, a resident near Fortieth street and Haverford avenue, leapt from a second story window at Presbyterian Hospital after surgeons announced arm amputation. Police pursued, subdued him, and he was taken back inside. He suffered a broken arm and was treated under chloroform.
Citizens' Municipal Association leader T. B. M. Addis reports contractors for unpaved streets roads and bridges in the Twenty fourth and Twenty seventh wards are in fair condition and deserve payment. John Manderfield praises two bridges on ABE avenue near Fishers Lane for new floors and safe travel noting neighborhood support aided by Addis in pressuring repairs.
Secretary and Mrs. Whitney hosted a Christmas Eve party in the Washington ball room for seventy to eighty children, many children of official life. A large decorated tree and presents on benches filled the scene while many senators and diplomats attended with their wives locally mentioned. The tree will stay up for the children tomorrow.
John W. Thompson of the Zoological Garden displays a ten by seven foot oil painting titled Valpa Riso Chili. The vivid scene shows the Andes and a glistening water surface with an anaconda head, inducing lifelike reactions in visitors. Donated by Thompson, it becomes a permanent garden fixture.
Charles R. Smith of New York filed notice of appeal to the Supreme Court in the will of the late Francis W. Tracey recently admitted to probate. Special Guardian James M. Humphrey appeals for Harriet F. Robinson Tracey from the Surrogate’s decision, with brokers Harnett and Scott underwriting costs up to 250 dollars.
John Croney, jailed since 1893 for shooting Daniel Maguire during an 1882 election clash, received a gubernatorial pardon from Governor Stockley. The Republican Croney faced a $1000 fine and Maguire was Bayard ward worker.
A crowd at the Annie Bradley Yacht Club ball in Odd Fellows Hall at Tenth and South streets engaged in a free fight after midnight. Police arrested twenty two men, each held on bail to keep the peace.
Washington December 24 Commissioner of Patents Montgomery ruled Newark Celluloid Manufacturing Company has no right to the artificial ivory patent. Priority of invention belongs to American Zylonite Company. The case involves millions of dollars.
A large East Side Republican Association meeting in the Twentieth ward at Seventh and Columbia avenue endorsed Edwin E. Fitler for mayor under the Bullitt plan. Several resolutions supporting Fitler were adopted.
In criminal court yesterday the Mark Elkins case charged by his wife Gussie Elkin with conspiring to injure her character was postponed until Monday.
Harrisburg reports Governor Pattison has issued a thirty day respite for James P. McCabe the Wayne county murderer who was condemned to hang on January 13.
Ships arriving in New York include the City of Paris from Liver pool via Chicago, and Wieland from Hamburg. Also listed is the Aspinwall line vessel from Hamburg, with the Suevia passage past the Lizard en route to New York.
Mr Blaine’s gout attack lasted a day. He has entirely recovered and is back at work. Ava usaTA December 244.
A late evening raid at 210 Ridge Avenue ends Horstman and Co’s brief Turkey Raffle venture. A wheel of fortune and paddles drew crowds but no turkeys were paid. owners refused to disclose names, while locals called the operation a notorious swindle. Lieutenant Lyons led the closing, ordering the business to vacate.
In Connellsville the 12 000 coke workers and mine operators reached a compromise. Wages will rise now and again with coke prices, and workers vow to avoid petty strikes. The Board of Arbitration for Edgar Thomson Steel Works will meet next week to set a wage scale.
Detectives traced missing Central Theatre admission tickets to three youths. Elmer Fietner, John Linus, and Edward Sears faced Magistrate Durham on conspiracy to defraud. Bartholomew testified Linus slipped tickets to Sears who handed them to Fletcher. Sears confessed. all held to answer in $800 bail.
Witness Waite is released from the House of Detention and goes to police headquarters for a briefing with Inspector Byrnes. He plans country retreat until the next boodler trial and declines to comment. In Burlington, three butter cases end in convictions for Hemmig Bullock and Matthews with appeals planned. Dullia’s case is dropped for lack of ownership. Hearings continue at May’s Landing Monday.
The trial of Mrs. Elizabeth Bunnell for poisoning Eddie Thaw was completed this afternoon and the jury retired at 2 30. It was thought a verdict of acquittal might come quickly but by 11 tonight the jury had not delivered a verdict and the court adjourned until morning.
Officers Steel and Stewart of the eighteenth district were arraigned before Magistrate Lennon on charges of assaulting Eugene Caldwell of East Cumberland Street. Stewart was held on $1000 bail for assault and Steel on $500 bail for perjury.
City news notes a Knights of Labor weekly fee beginning after January 1. Henry George studied at the Episcopal Academy in the city with Drexel and Thomas of Philadelphia acting as sureties on Cramp & Sons naval contract bonds. John Welsh, 27, of 917 Green street, was badly injured after being run over trying to board a P&L train at Twenty‑first street. Philip Katz’s sentence for conspiracy in theft was reduced to eighteen months on reconsideration. The Independent Rifle Club of the Second Regiment National Guards staged its first street parade and later an exhibition drill at the Jackson Bay Club ball.
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