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Newspaper
Quincy Whig
Location
Quincy, Illinois, United States of America
Date
Apr 17, 1869
Page
5
A nostalgic fragment from The Weekly Whig Republican with prayerful lines about conscience and guidance. The text invokes divine protection during storm and seeks peace and praise to illuminate life. The era and publication tone are implied by the source title.
A collage of jokes and wry anecdotes features editors, editors’ scissors, a locomotive driver, and a run of quick quips about reform, weddings, contracts, social satire, and village wit. It includes jest about Patrick and a clergyman, a telegraph operator, and a minister knotting a horse’s tail for a snowy road.
An editorial advocates organizing a joint stock company led by the Union Merchants' Exchange to push a Mississippi River to New Orleans grain movement. It notes river transport as cheaper faster and calls on St Louis merchants to back the plan while acknowledging rival points like Quincy and Chicago. The piece frames river routes as the coming global grain corridor with multiple river towns as potential centers.
The Herald shifts stance on endorsing a temperance ticket for city offices and criticizes past Democratic inaction on Sunday liquor-selling laws. The piece questions whether Republicans should aid the temperance movement or the Democratic slate and speculates on motives behind the Herald’s position.
A Nevada mining disaster reports a coal mine fire at Gold Hill that spread to two others. As of the latest dispatches, 36 miners are dead. Virginia City is reported as nearly destroyed, marking a catastrophic regional catastrophe in the mining district.
The Connecticut election gave the GOP a strong statewide win, with a Republican House and Senate majority likely ratifying the proposed constitutional amendment on suffrage, while Indiana Democrats face blame for stalled reform and costly special elections as they resist equal rights measures. In Missouri, Adair county forms committees to study a Quincy to Nebraska City railroad, planning meetings in Kirksville and Greendcastle to gauge feasibility and coordinate with other counties.
The Colfax and Blair factions clash over Radical-know-nothing labels in a partisan exchange. The Herald accuses Blair of lifelong know-nothingism while defending Calfax and criticizing past charges. The piece calls for reviewing historical files to verify Blair's repudiation.
In the county’s township elections last Tuesday Republicans leveraged the Court House question as a tool for party ends in Democratic townships. The piece argues the issue was outside politics yet exploited by Republicans, while the Herald’s stance is criticized as a partisan misstep. Financial queries about city debt funding are raised, and a mixed Quaker Indian Catholic mission proposal is noted as an Indian problem solution. The Pacific Railroads committee plans to delay bond issues pending investigations into illegal bonds and road completion.
A 1869 Illinois law grants married women the right to own assets sue and use earnings free from husband or creditors interference. A companion act provides widows a lien on their deceased spouse’s estate, regardless of intestacy. The reforms frame women’s legal independence and property rights in the period.
The speaker cites Tie Wita claiming a bet in foolish argument. The editor would wager on the point, but the Herald has already demonstrated it in practice, making a wager unnecessary.
Reverdy Johnson faces immediate recall following his remark that he "went up like a rocket and comes down like a Stick." The statement sparked controversy, prompting officials to take action and review his conduct.
A list of acts approved by Governor Palmer following the latest report, including incorporation of the Quincy Brewery Company and the Pike County Mutual Life Insurance Company, road and railroad authorizations, public works, and various amendments to prior laws, with vetoes on several bills citing state-limited corporate powers and emigrant safeguards. The governor's veto blocks include proposals for Nevada mining firms and Southern Illinois Emigrant Aid Society, plus objections to fee standardization across counties.
The Quincy Whiz announces a new volume for both Daily and Weekly editions on Thursday April 1. The Weekly marks its 31st year and the Daily its 17th. The paper notes its growth with the city, now second to none in the state outside Chicago.
Special correspondent from Omaha reports a denunciation of the Union and Central Pacific railroads as a swindle. He warns readers against the California route, cites alleged high stage and baggage charges, and accuses Wells, Fargo & Co. of a public ploy. He urges readers to seek safer, sea routes and promises further letters.
An abolitionist era scene recounts two armed men bringing a bound enslaved man to a Illinois tavern. After a brutal chase the slave leaps from a bluff to escape, is recaptured, and vows he would repeat the escape if given the chance. The tale ends with a skeptical, moral sting as a jury of Massachusetts youths confronts the slave’s defiant answer.
The irrepressible Fisk has filed libel suits against the New York Tribune. Local fire destroyings in Eminence Kentucky wiped out much of the town’s business section on Wednesday. A Prussian mail robbery in Liverpool was rumored to involve over $1,000,000. Brown County Illinois elder Jacob Vandeventer died at Mt. Sterling on the Sth inst. He was born in Hardy County Virginia in 1797 and migrated to Mt. Sterling in 1829. Putnam and Keyser grocery in Mt. Sterling Illinois burned Wednesday night, fire starting in weatherboarding soaked with coal oil. loss about $2,400 with goods saved.
A Sunday morning accident on the Hannibal and St Joseph Railroad near Chillicothe wrecked a rear passenger coach and two sleeping cars, sending several passengers to hospital with non fatal injuries. The switch failure disrupted a mail train moving west at about fifteen miles per hour. conductor Conductor Count Warris led救 rescues, while the engine and front cars survived intact.
Report from Sank Centre Herald describes optical illusions on Sank Lake where spectators saw a pack of wolves appearing over a timber point. Ira and Sylvester Doty watched as wolves gathered beyond the ice, then vanished and reappeared, with the scene expanding to over two hundred animals before fading.
A Columbus, Ohio man who recently met ex Secretary Stanton says his health has deteriorated more than believed. His weak condition confines him to his room and he speaks with difficulty due to a painful cough.
A lengthy statistical summary from the Land Office report highlights Illinois as a vast agricultural and mineral state. It notes 1850 and 1860 farm values, rising livestock wealth, wheat and corn leads, cotton and tobacco in the south, a coal basin 375 miles long with many veins, and extensive lead ore. It also cites river navigation, timber, grapes, and rail milestones.
An excerpt describes coal strata with two to two feet thick seams among sand stone shales. It notes softer lighter vein coal that burns freer but costs more to mine due to frequent slips or horse backs. The fragment mentions two foot to two inch seams of coal not profitable to work.
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