This Date in History – George Washington

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WASHINGTON’S DEATH

One hundred and thirty years ago today, on December 14, 1799, George Washington died.

On Dec. 12 of that year, Washington was exposed in the saddle for several hours to cold and snow, and attacked with acute laryngitis, for which he was repeatedly bled.

Washington sunk rapidly and died two days later. His last words were characteristic. He said: “I die hard, but I am not afraid to go. I believed from my first attack that I should not survive it. My breath cannot last long.” A little later he said: “I feel myself going. I thank you for your attentions; but I pray you to take no more trouble about me. Let me go off quietly. I cannot last long.”

After some instructions to his secretary about his burial, he became easier, felt for his own pulses, and died without a struggle.

Mourning was almost as widespread in Europe as it was in America.

Kokomo Tribune (Kokomo, Indiana) Dec 14, 1929

1893

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1911

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1928

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1929

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1967

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Whisky; It Burns

Image from Life in Western Pennsylvania

FIRE CAUSES A PANIC.

EIGHT PERSONS BADLY BURNED IN PITTSBURG.

Employee Unable to Escape from a Big Building — Walls Fall and Crush Adjoining Houses — Many Persons Hurt in the Crowd.

PITTSBURG, Pa., Oct. 28. — The explosion of a barrel of whisky in the big warehouse of the Chautauqua Lake Ice company yesterday afternoon caused the destruction of over $500,000 worth of property and serious injury to eight persons. Several of the injured, it is feared, will die. A score of more of others received slight cuts and bruises or were trampled on by the mob surrounding the burning buildings. Those seriously hurt were:

T.J. HEILMAN, married; dropped from the third floor to the ground; hands and face terribly burned. His injuries are considered fatal.

MARTIN GRIFFITH, married; dangerously burned.

EDWARD SEES, body and head badly burned; may not recover.

WILLIAM COX, dangerously burned about face and body.

W.M. SMITH, painfully burned; will recover.

LIEUT. FRANK McCANN of engine No. 7; struck by falling bricks and left leg broken.

WILLIAM WISMAN, struck by falling timbers and skull fractured.

JOHN REISCHE, badly hurt by falling timbers.

It was just twenty minutes after 1 o’clock when a number of employes on the third floor of the ice company’s buildings were startled by a loud report, and almost instantly the large room was ablaze. The men started for the stairs, but the flames had already cut off their retreat, and the only means of exit left them were the windows, fifty feet from the ground. By this time the heat was so intense that they were forced to creep out upon the window sills and hang by their hands until the fire department arrived. The flames bursting from the windows burned their hands and faces, but they hung their until the firemen placed their ladders in position and brought them down.

To aid to the excitement it was discovered that a large tank of ammonia was located in the cellar of the ice company’s building, and the police, fearing an explosion, quickly ordered the occupants of the houses on Twelfth street to vacate. All the houses in the neighborhood are a cheap class of tenements and crowded to suffocation with Poles and Slavs. When they were told to move out a panic indescribable started among them. House-hold goods store goods, children and everything that could be carried away were rushed to a place of safety.

The walls of the Mulberry alley side fell in with a crash and a few minutes later the eastern wall came down. The debris buried a low row of tenements in the alley and a three-story brick dwelling on Thirteenth street. The tenements were occupied by families, but fortunately they had been deserted some time before the walls fell in. Not one of the families had a chance to save any of their goods and all their furniture was destroyed. The ruins took fire immediately, and for a while the entire tenement district of Penn avenue was threatened with destruction.

When the walls of the big buildings fell the great mob of people made a rush to get out of danger. Many men tripped and fell and were trampled under foot. Several received painful but not dangerous bruises. Sheets of iron were cast from the burning buildings by the fury of the flames and hurled into the crowds. Scores of people received slight injuries, which were dressed in neighboring drug stores.

The Daily Review (Decatur, Illinois) Oct 29, 1893

Another article about the same fire:(I think the above newspaper got the date wrong)
Davenport Daily Leader (Davenport, Iowa) Oct 27, 1893

Again with the whisky barrels? Really?

MAY REACH TWENTY-FIVE DEAD.

Pittsburg. Feb 10. — The lost of life and property by the fire last night in the great cold storage plant of the Chautauqua Lake Ice company, was the greatest in the history of Pittsburg. At least fifteen persons were killed, over a score injured and property valued at a million and one-half destroyed. The loss of life was caused by the explosion of several hundred barrels of whisky in the ware house, knocking out one of the walls.

The dead are: Lieut. of Police John A. Berry, John Dwyer, William Scott, Jr., the son of President Scott of the Chautauqua State Ice Co.; Stanley Seitz, George Loveless, Mrs. Mary Sipe and her mother; Stanley Sipe, Lieut. Josep Johnson, a fireman name unknown; William L. Wallenstein, and three unknown men.

The missing are: Nathaniel Green, accountant of the Dailmerer building, supposed to be in the ruins; Thomas Lynch, iceman in the employ of the Chautaqua company, supposed to be in the ruins; Edward Berry watchman of the storage building.

It is believed that at least ten more bodies are in the ruins, which are still too hot to be moved. The principal losses are: Union Storage company, $775,900; Hoever’s Storage Warehouse and contents, $600,000; Chautauqua Ice company, $150,000.

Three more bodies were taken from the ruins this forenoon. The dead it is now thought will reach 25. Those taken out this morning were: John Hanna, Bookkeeper and cashier of the Chautauqua Lake Ice Co.; John Scott, another son of President Scott, and an unknown fireman.

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Later. — But eight bodies were recovered instead of 14, as first reported. Four are missing, and the firemen believe that a number of others are still under the ruins. The correct list of the identified dead is Lieut. Police Berry; John Dwyer, William Scott, Jr., Stanley Sipe, George Loveless, William A. Wallrobenstein, Josiah Hanna, and William Smith. The missing, Nathaniel Green, Thomas Lynch, John Scott and Edwin Barry.

Davenport Daily Leader (Davenport, Iowa) Feb 10, 1898

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More about the Chautauqua Lake Ice Company:

The Olean Democrat (Olean, New York) Mar 14, 1889

The Olean Democrat (Olean, New York) Jan 15, 1891

Preparing to Visit the Fair

Image from the Mormon Channel – Legacy

Preparing to Visit the Fair.

Say, wife! they tell me’at the fair ‘ll be a corkin’ show,
An’ kinder sort o’ seems ter me as though we orter go,
But, sufferin’ Jerusalem’ the hotel rates’ll be
Too blamed all-fired steep I s’pose, for sech ez you an’ me.
Put on yer thinkin’ cap an’ see ‘f they ain’t nobody there
‘At we kin go an’ visit ‘ith while takin’ in the fair.
It doesn’t matter who they be, jest so they’re kith er kin,
Er some acquaintance, anyone ‘st’s like ter take us in.
It seems ter me ez though ermong our cousins an’ our aunts,
Our nieces an’ our nephews, like they’d orter be’s chance
To rake up some connection, ar at least somebody who
Knows some one’t knows some one, ‘at knows either me or you.
What come of all yer cousin’s folks ‘at moved ter Illinois
Erbout the time we married? Mebby they hav girls an’ boys
A livin’ in Chicago, hunt up their address an’ write
An’ say we long ter see ’em — jest a dyin’ day an’ night.
An’ what erbout the bridewell, ain’t we got no friends in there?
Er mebby in the county jail — it doesn’t matter where.
Ain’t no one in the hospitals ‘at you’d be like ter know?
We’ve got ter scare up someone or we cayn’t take in the show.

— NIXON WATERMAN.

The News (Frederick, Maryland) May 7, 1893

Image from Wikipedia

Fallen Heros – Old Soldiers Day

The Daily Northwester (Oshkosh, Wisconsin) May 30, 1890

OLD SOLDIERS DAY.
MEMORIAL SERVICES IN OSHKOSH.

The speaker closed with the following poem of his own composition:

Brave, Generous Boys
Who shouldered quick their guns
And to the front they pressed,
Giving a life to save a life,
Dying that we might bless.

And the mother with heart un-speakable
Thinks of the blessful past,
And the image of her loving boy
Her noblest and her last.

But death came sternly with a touch
No mother’s love could shield;
Soon mouldering were those laughing eyes
On a southern battle field.

And the lonely mother left
Of sorrow has her share,
Deeming her country’s sacrifice
Is greater than she can bear.

But she thinks of Spartan mothers
In those cruel days gone by,
While firmer grows her trembling lip
And drier grows her eye.

And peace comes stealing o’er her soul
And mixing with tints her tears,
Paints immortal her boy
To shine undimmed by coming years.

There he is safe, serene and blessed,
The mother needs our care.
Her sorrows be divided up —
Let’s each one take a share.

To scared trust we’ll all prove true and guard it well with care,
And on the thirtieth of May,
With songs and blossoms rare,
We’ll gather round the brave boys’ tombs
In gratitude and prayer.

W.W. Kimball, orator of the day.

The Daily Northwester (Oshkosh, Wisconsin) May 30, 1891

Under the sod and the dew,

Waiting the judgment day,

Love and tears for the Blue,

Tears and Love for the Gray.

The Daily Northwester (Oshkosh, Wisconsin) May 30, 1893

Spring’s Offering

The Dawn of Spring

By OLIVER RUTTER

There’s a swish, there’s a whirr —
A bright flashing of wings!
There’s a sweet woodland myrrh,
That caressingly clings,
and the oriole signals love’s tenderest call,
Delightfully increasing Spring’s charm over all.

Now down where rushes grow,
Thrilling blackbirds are heard;
And soft, while the winds blow,
An overture is allured,
Till our troubles vanish, when the song sparrow sings,
As we gather violets like the blue-bird’s wings.

In the morning or noon,
Where the bushes swing low,
Pretty pictures are strewn
On the brook’s mirrored flow,
If, dreamily, we wander in love’s tender plight,
Through the thorn-bushes blossoming, of pink and white.

Over here, over there,
The rivalry is keen,
Though the bidding seems fair,
There is beauty unseen.
Low ‘neath the brambles, near the sweet smelling sod,
Are beauties we may liken to the smile of God.

Far away, far away,
Through a dim, purpled haze,
Taunting clouds are at play,
With the sun’s warming rays,
Ah! what seems as pleasant as the years that are gone,
When the charms of Springtime we are gazing upon?

Life is dear, life is queer,
Life is stubbornly wrong;
Life is sere, life is drear,
When it might be a song!
Ah! who paints the flowers, and the beautiful skies?
Who causes the dead, in new glory to rise?

Morning Herald (Uniontown, Pennsylvania) Feb 28, 1936

Old Sol the Magician.

When April’s tears turn into snow
And nip spring in the bud,
Old Sol is anything but slow,
And soon its name is mud.

New Castle News (New Castle, Pennsylvania) Apr 3, 1912

Springs’s Offering.

We sweetly sing
The new laid egg.
Your fond attention
We would beg
As in a lay
Of praise we greet
The finest thing
On earth to eat.

Behold the modest
Little hen
That’s getting in
Its work again,
And making up
For what we lost
In days of laziness
And frost.

The days when all
There was on hand
Was the suspicious
Storage brand,
That, in responding
To our call,
Came scrambled if they came at all.

Now, wholesome, fresh
And at our taste,
We have them on
The table placed.
The number that
We eat unnamed,
So many, though
We are ashamed.

— Duncan M. Smith.

New Castle News (New Castle, Pennsylvania) Apr 6, 1909

It’s Curious!

It’s curious kind o’ weather when you come to make it out;
One minute winds is blowin’ all the blossoms roundabout,
An’ sunshine’s jes’ a-streamin’ from the blue and bendin’ skies,
An’ dreamin’ — jes’ a-dreamin’, like the light in woman’s eyes!

But jes’ when all is lovely, an’ the wind with music floats;
When the birds is makin’ merry an’ a-strainin’ of their throats;
An’ the sunshine’s like a picnic in the blossmes, pink an’ white,
A cyclone strikes the country an’ jes’ swallers all in sight!

It’s curious kind o’ weather — jes’ the worst you ever felt;
You don’t half git through freezin’ ‘fore the orler comes to melt!
An’ you can’t quite say it’s winter, an’ you ain’t half sure it’s spring;
So’ keep on with the whistlin’ an’ thank God for everything!

The Atlanta Constitution (Atlanta, Georgia) May 13, 1893

Spring Fever.

The time of year
Again is here
When wifey aims to make home neater,
And hubby knows,
When home he goes,
He’ll have to wield the carpet-beater.
With leaden feet

Along the street
He plods his way, sad-hearted, weary.
Well he doth know
That tale of woe
With wife’s n. g. — of such she’s leary.
Useless for him

A yarn to spin,
Pretending illness — can’t deceive her.
To him she’ll say,
In heartless way,
“Come off — it’s nothing but spring fever.”

New Castle News (New Castle, Pennsylvania) Mar 13, 1908

No Doubt About It Now.

Sunshine on the river —
Bird songs in the air!
Green leaves all a-quiver —
(Spring is mighty near!)

Reckless roses springing —
Brown bees here and there;
Lazy plowboy singing —
(Spring is mighty near!)

Easy to detect her —
Stormy skies or clear;
Easter bill collector —
(Certain spring is near!)

The Atlanta Constitution (Atlanta, Georgia) May 9, 1895

The Spring Affliction.

Oh, that blessed tired feeling
Which about the first of May
O’er the soul of man comes stealing
Like a burglar in a play,
Making him so fine and laze,
Kin almost to pure delight,
Calling up a vision hazy
Of a lake where fishes bite.

Winter with its weather bracing
Gave him energy and vim,
But spring has no trouble chasing
All those notions out of him.
When the birds begin to twitter,
Then in chaste and classic slang
He desires to be a quitter
And to let the work go hang.

He has tugged away like fury,
Buckled to it every day.
Now he things the judge and jury
Would prescribe a spell of play,
Would encourage him in slipping
From the busy haunts of men
And across the fields go tripping
Feeling almost young again.

Trading off the tired feeling
For the springy step of youth,
Finding nature’s gentle healing
More than advertised in truth,
Giving him an added vigor,
Keyed just right, not overdone,
Like the delicate hair trigger
On a forty dollar gun.

— Duncan M. Smith

New Castle News (New Castle, Pennsylvania) May 15, 1914

SPORT

The merry waves dance up and down and play,
Sport is granted to the sea;
Birds are the quiristers of the empty air,
Sport is never wanting there;
The ground doth smile at the spring’s flowery birth.
Sport is granted to the earth;
The fire its cheering flame on high doth rear,
Sport is never wanting there.
If all the elements, the earth, the sea,
Air, and firs, so merry be,
Why is man’s mirth so seldom and so small,
Who is compounded of them all?

— Abraham Cowley

The Oshkosh Northwestern (Oshkosh, Wisconsin) Mar 27, 1936

SPRINGTIME

One cloud a hue of lazylite
Flanked by spray of misty white
Gave way to sublimate of gray
A storm cloud hovered on the way.

Springtime, blythe and very gay,
Her banner throws athwart the sky
That she will not her claim deny
Cold winter must vacate and fly.

— M.W. Beebe, Black Wolf Point.

The Oshkosh Northwestern (Oshkosh, Wisconsin) Apr 1, 1938

Cisco Cyclone

Image from Texas Tornado Storm Shelters

Dallas, Tex., April 29 — The News’s correspondent learned from passengers on the east bound train this evening that the destruction by a cyclone at Cisco this after noon was simply appalling. There are not more than twenty five or thirty houses left standing and up to the time the train passed there about 2 o’clock this afternoon twenty-one dead bodies had been recovered from the ruins and there were ten or twelve more persons missing. Strong one-story buildings with walls two feet thick were leveled to the ground. A heavy freight engine and a whole train of cars were blown from the track and demolished and several hundred feet of side tracking was torn up. The number injured is something  like a hundred. Dr. Coleman and citizens from Weatherford went out this morning to render any assistance possible. The building which Frank Hickman occupied was blown down and his five children killed.

Late this evening Mayor Levy received the following telegram from two citizens of Weatherford, who went to Cisco this morning.
“The town is nearly demolished. Twenty were killed and fifty injured, and hundreds are homeless.”

A telegram was also received by Mayor Levy from County Judge Davenport and Mayor Graves, of Cisco, that Cisco has been destroyed by the most destructive cyclone that has ever visited Texas. More than four fifths of the people are without houses. There are many killed and wounded. Help is needed to bury the dead and take care of the wounded and relieve those who lost everything. Mayor Levy has called a meeting of the citizens of Weatherford to take steps toward relief.

A Gainesville special says that Mayor Rollins received a message this afternoon from Judge Davenport, of Eastland county, and Mayor Graves, of Cisco, appealing for aid for the storm sufferers. Mayor Rollins at once issued an appeal to the citizens of Gainesville for contributions.

A message from Valley View stated that a severe storm passed over that town at 6:30 o’clock p.m., blowing down several houses and doing much damage to property. No one was hurt. Several freight cars were blown off the sidetrack and caused the people to take refuge in cellars.

?.R. Willie, who arrived here tonight on the Texas Pacific east bound train, was at Cisco an hour and a half. He says at that time twenty-one dead persons had been found. Over 100 injured were counted. Among the dead are Daniel Cameron, R.M. Whitesides, Mr. Sims, Mrs. Charles Jones and child, Mrs. J.T. Thompson. Five children of Mr. Hickman, who were in bed asleep, were crushed to death by the falling house. Mr. Hickman and his wife had gone outside to see what the roaring noise was and were blown off their feet. Mr. Hickman was seriously injured.
List of Dead and Injured.

The list of dead and wounded as near as can be obtained is as follows:

Killed — Mrs. Jones an baby.
Dave Cameron, brakeman
Captain Whiteside, a merchant
Five children of W.A. Hickman.
One child of Mr. Bowens
Mr. Bledsoe, brakeman
Mrs. J.T. Thomas
Mrs. Porter
Mrs. Knight

Injured — W.H. Sebastian severe cut on his head, Frank Vernon badly wounded, will die, Mrs. Vernon, leg broken, Mrs. Davis, crippled in the back, M.B. Owens, leg broken, Jim Hayes, badly cut on head. A daughter of Mrs. Stephens, wounded and will die. Mrs. Stephens, wounded and will die. Mrs. Powers and daughter, badly injured, Mrs. R.W. Jones, head badly injured, William Walker, head bruised, W.A. Hickman, face badly cut, George Harris, badly hurt, Mrs. Kennand, hurt badly; Mrs. Jones, seriously hurt, section boss, name unknown, and wife, severely injured, H.L. Bidwell, badly cut on head and arm and back injured, Mrs. W.D. Chandler, ankle crushed, Miss Elsie Moeller, arm broken. A conservative estimate place the number of wounded at about 150.

The cyclone traveled northeast, blowing down houses and laying waste farms. The houses blown down are too numerous to mention. Mrs. D.L. Ladd seven miles northeast of Eastland, was killed and Mr. Ladd severely injured. Others were more or less hurt. Mr. Ferguson, four miles northeast of Cisco, was killed and his house burned. The windstorm laste[d] not more than a few minutes. It was followed by a heavy rain. Telegraphic communication is practically cut off.

The Atlanta Constitution (Atlanta, Georgia) Apr 30, 1893

Image from Texas Old Photos on Rootsweb

THE VICTIMS’ NAMES.

List of Killed and Wounded in the Cisco Disaster.

EASTLAND, Tex., April 30. — The following is the first official list of the killed and wounded in Friday night’s disaster furnished to the DALLAS MORNING NEWS relief committee, which includes only those killed or wounded in the city:

KILLED.

Will Sims, section hand, Texas and Pacific railway.
Jim Bibles, conductor, Texas Central.
Wad Bledsoe, brakeman, Texas Central.
Five children of W.A. Hickman.
Dave Cameron.
Ruby Ownes.
Mrs. Borton.
Mrs. J.T. Thomas.
Captain R.M. Whitesides, merchant.
Mrs. S.E. Knight, milliner.
Mrs. Charley Jones and child.

SERIOUSLY INJURED.

Mart Owens, jr., will die to-night.
W.A. Hickman and wife.
Miss and Mrs. Swartz.
M. Bowens.
Mrs. Frank Vernon.
Dr. Moeller and family.
Mrs. Hill.
Mrs. M.F. Mitchell.
Mrs. Vera Thomas.
Mat Mattock.
Mrs. S.E. Knight and two daughters.
Mrs. J.E. Luse.
Two children of Mrs. Chas. Jones.
W.J. Walker.
Tom Jones and wife.
Mrs. Will Walker.
Mrs. J.M. Williamson.
Mrs. Blank, wounded but condition not known.
Mrs. J.G. Wilson.
Miss Baten.
Mrs. Older and chldren.
Mrs. Rice.
Little boy of Mr. Drogden’s.
Minnie Loads.
Laura Ellis.
Frank Owens.
Frank Vernon’s infant.
Mrs. Wold Cleaves.
Mrs. M.E. Powers and daughter.
Three children of Sal. Eppler.
Two children of Mat Matlock.
Two children of Mrs. Chas. Jones.
Mrs. Moore.
Mrs. R.W. Jones.
J.M. Williamson.
Jim Hayes.
Will Walker.
W.V. Steele.

IN THE COUNTRY.

The following is a list of the killed and injured in the surrounding country:

W.H. Beaman, living four miles southwest of here, dead.
Mrs. L.D. Ladd, living five miles north of Eastland, reported killed, can not be verified or disproved.
Mack Ferguson, son-in-law of Beaman, badly injured.
Charles Jenkins, living at Boms, four miles east of here on the Texas and Pacific, seriously hurt in the breast.
Miss Johnnie Townsend, living with her father five miles west of Eastland, seriously cut on the head.
Elbert Townsend, seriously injured about the head and chest.
Bill Doolan, in the same neighborhood, is said to be badly hurt.
T.J. Davis, living four miles west of Eastland, had his ankle badly broken and is otherwise seriously hurt.
L.D. Ladd, five miles north of Eastland, had his arm broken and badly cut over both eyes.
Mrs. Latham, living west of Eastland, seriously hurt about the hand.
G.M. Davidson, in the same neighborhood, had one thigh broken and is otherwise badly injured.
Mr. Fein and wife, two miles west of here, both pretty dangerously crushed by falling timbers.

Dr. Van Zandt, one of the local physicians attending the wounded, makes this statement to THE NEWS:

“I expect there will be two or three more deaths. Little Mart Owens, whose skull is fractured, will certainly die and the chances are good for one or two more.”

Galveston Daily News (Galveston, Texas) May 1, 1893

Galveston Daily News (Galveston, Texas) May 3, 1893

APPEAL FOR AID

To Relieve the Suffering of the Family of Mart Owens.

ALBANY, Shackelford Co., Tex., May 9. — To the cattlemen of Texas: On behalf of the distressed family of Mart. B. Owens, a victim of the ___ Cisco cyclone, I appeal to you for aid and assistance to relieve their sufferings and wants with the hope that liberal responses will be the result of these lines.

The day following the disaster I took the opportunity to visit Cisco for the purpose of acquainting myself with the terrible condition of affairs. The scene that I beheld was indescribable. I visited the spot that Mart Owens once called home. All that remained to tell the tale of woe was three feet of a rock chimney, the stone steps in the terrace, one chair in the back yard and barely enough lumber to build a hen coop. Furniture, bedding and clothing all gone. A vacant lit remains as the silent witness who speaks in unmistakable words of the distress that befell the unfortunate ones.

Not far from the scene, I beheld another more pitiable. Mart Owens lay dying, one sweet little girl by his side with her hand mashed in, a son 14 years old dead near by, his helpless wife with an injured back close by. Six other children, all more or less injured and crippled with arms and legs broken magnifies the picture of distress.

Mart looked about him and in feeble tones, gently spoke: “I would help this if I could, but I don’t know as I want to. I’ll not be here to care for them.” One son, being absent on a round-up escaped injury.

A few days thereafter Mart Owens and two children lay in one grave, still in the cold embrace of death.

He had seen better days; he was an old-time cattle man and as such merited the respect of a large circle of acquaintances and friends. Adversity had overtaken him, and while fortune no longer smiled upon him, his credit was unimpaired and had he lived would have been able to regain his vanished fortune. Those of us upon whom prosperity has smiled should not be reluctant in opening our purses and assisting the destitute widow and helpless orphans, whose bitter wail and deep anguish imploringly cry to our merciful father for aid and comfort.

Mart Owens left no life insurance or other property; all that he left in the way of wealth to his family was a clean record. Mart has “turned over” his last herd and gone to meet Abraham, Isaac and Jacob at the last “grand round-up,” from whence no herder has ever returned to camp. Friends, we have only a temporary lease on our “herds” and will soon be called on to “tally them out” to the giver of all goods, who will select another “herder” to take our place.

Mart Owens was the only cattleman in Cisco, and seems to have been the worst sufferer. The people of Cisco who had anything left did all in their power to relieve the suffering. The people of Texas have responded nobly for the general good, but it is our duty to help the Owens family. The cattlemen of this state have kind hearts and will sympathize with the distressed widow and helpless orphans of a brother cattleman.

In addition to the contribution already made, we cheerfully subscribe for the benefit of the Owens family the sum of $100 and trust that our action will be emulated by the cattlemen of Texas. Funds subscribed may be paid to the order of the undersigned at the First national bank of Albany, Tex., and will be devoted to the noble cause mentioned above. Statements of the amounts subscribed will be duly acknowledged to the subscribers through the public press. Let us then, one and all, do by Mart Owens what we would have him do by us. Trusting for early responses, truly yours,

GEO. T. REYNOLDS,
President First national bank, Albany, Tex.

Galveston Daily News (Galveston, Texas) May 14, 1893

Cisco, Texas image from Eastland County, Texas Photos on Rootsweb from Laura Lindsey

Interesting bit of trivia from Wiki:

Conrad Hilton started the Hilton Hotel chain with a single hotel bought in Cisco. Hilton came to Cisco to buy a bank, but the bank cost too much; so he purchased the Mobley Hotel in 1919. The hotel is now a local museum and community center.

Civil Service Rules!

The Civil Service Doorkeeper.

You must be up on the classics, you must know enough to speak,
As glibly as a heathen, any quantity of Greek;
Must gallop through the Iliad — lead the highest German schools,
If you want to be doorkeeper under civil service rules!

You must pace along through Persian like a native of the soil;
You must run the Gallic gamut, make the Latin language boil;
You must lope through andalusia, on the backs of Spanish mules,
If you want to be doorkeeper under civil service rules!

In short, although it’s funny — your education’s girth
Must be ample — for example, it must belt around the earth!
You must show a good diploma from a hundred thousand schools,
If you want to be doorkeeper under civil service rules!

Learning Rewarded.

“Did Brown stand the civil service examination?”

“First-class.”

“Went through the Greek alphabet?”

“Jest a-hummin’!”

“And the Latin verbs?”

“Every one of ’em!”

“What place did they give him?”

“Head coal-shoveler.”

The Atlanta Constitution (Atlanta, Georgia) May 16, 1893

THE Atlanta Constitution flings responsibility upon the proprietor of its rustling evening contemporary as follows:

There should be 2487 offices set aside for Georgia, this being her fair proportion. Of course the state will get its full part, else what is the gain in cabinet representation?

Of course hungry applicants from Georgia will not get that many places, whereupon the Constitution will charge the failures up to Smith and ask the people to quit the Journal and subscribe for the Constitution, See?

Galveston Daily News (Galveston, Texas) Mar 17, 1893

APPLICANTS BY THE TRAIN LOAD.

It seems that the Atlanta Constitution has paraded the long list of 2487 offices to which it claims the Georgians are entitled hold has urged Georgians to assert their claims with such vehemence and eloquence that an excursion to Washington by a grand army of claimants is in contemplation. The Constitution took no pains to explain that very few of the places in its list were vacant and that others were places to which the civil service regulations must be applied under the law regardless of state lines. It simply insisted that Georgians were entitled to 2487 fat places and that they should not hesitate to assert their rights to them.  The Washington Post explains that “the Constitution not only boldly proclaims that Georgia is entitled to 2487 offices, but it calls upon the Georgia democrats to come to Washington and demand their rights.” The Constitution denies that it called upon the Georgians to go to Washington and demand their rights, claiming that it actually dissuaded them from seeking offices; but while professing to deprecate plum seeking it continued and still continues to display and count the tempting fruit in a manner calculated to convince Georgians that the plums belong in their mouths and that it is their duty to take them. A projected excursion to Washington is the natural result of a persistent effort to make the people despise Mr. Cleveland for failing to give them 2487 federal offices and to induce them as a matter of right to claim said offices forthwith, yet the Constitution asserts:

The talk about an excursion of Georgians to Washington, for the purpose of applying for office, is worse than nonsense. It is a part and parcel of the extraordinary scheme which northern editors and northern politicians have entered into for the purpose of making Georgia the butt of ridicule and destroying the usefulness of those of her statesmen who have already received the recognition of the administration.

For tempting the people the Constitution should be taxed with a heavy share of the expense of the excursion. In fact, the part it has played in provoking applicants to roll into Washington by the train load to claim their spoils is almost on a par with the work of the colonization agents who sometimes lead dusky clients who confide in them to make a bad break for Africa. Of course, the misguided Georgians will gain nothing but sad experience by thus seeking to carry the war into Africa, but it is safe to guess that they will know better next time. If possible, the Constitution should do something to stop the excursion before it is everlastingly too late to pitch a crop.

Galveston Daily News (Galveston, Texas) Mar 25, 1893

A Serious Matter.

We call the attention of our readers to the fact that the attempt to turn into a joke the demand of The Constitution for a fair apportionment of the offices, so far as Georgia is concerned, has come to a timely end.

It has been discovered that the principle for which we have been contending goes deeper than a mere desire to see the offices fairly divided. The matter rests, indeed, on the broadest possible grounds, and the demand in behalf of Georgia covers the rights of all the states that have been unjustly deprived of their fair share of the public patronage.

The deprivation has been made to work to the advantage of the north, not alone in the matter of office-holding, but in a more substantial manner. Governor Fishback, of Arkansas, in his recent letter to Governor Northen, touches on one phase of the matter that is not specially related to the desire for office.

For thirty years nearly all the appointments to foreign countries have been made from the north and have represented foreign interests. These officials have exercised a powerful, indeed, an overwhelming influence in giving direction to immigration. Moreover, these appointees have been the rankest of rank partisans, and they have lost no opportunity to create a public sentiment in the countries to which they were credited prejudicial to the south, its climate and people.

Governor Fishback thinks the time has come when all this should be changed, and when the south should have a chance to present its advantages through the favored representatives of the government. In other words, the south wants a fair show at home and abroad. This is why The Constitution insists that Georgia shall have its equitable share of the appointments at home, in the departments and abroad — under the civil service rules and outside of them.

Meanwhile, we invite those editors who think the matter is funny to continue their efforts.

The Atlanta Constitution (Atlanta, Georgia) Apr 18, 1893

Makin’ of a Man

The Makin’ of a Man.

I’ve been readin’ of a book that’s called “The Makin’ of a Man.”
A-spellin’ through its pages an’ a-gettin’ at its plan;
An’ I think the man what writ it is a preacher — name o’ Lee
That endurin’ the collection says, “Salvation’s full and free.”

Now, the makin’ of a man might be jes’ what he makes it out,
But still, ‘t’aint that away to me with folks that’s hereabout;
An’ I’m in’ fer diagreein’ an’ objectin’ to his plan,
An’ I’m goin’ to tell you feller what’s the makin’ of a man!

Fust off, the best part of him, an’ the main spring of his life,
Is that sweet bunch o’ calico an’ roses, called “a wife,”
An’ then, the next best thing to me — I’ll make my meaning clear:
Is what them city fellers call the hotel “bill o’ fare!”

Fust,, thar’s your hog and hominy — you can’t lose isght o’ that —
Your bacon in the smokehouse, with a streak o’ lean an’ fat!
Your taters an’ your punkins, on the good old country plan —
Them’s what I think, my brotherin, is the makin’ of a man!

That’s what! I guess the preacher I’m agiving of a rub,
Had dinner ‘fore he writ his book an’ kinder skipped the grub!
But you jes’ hear me talkin’, and you’ll kinder think my plan,
Which takes in hog an’ hom’ny, is the makin’ of a man!

F.L.S.

The Atlanta Constitution (Atlanta, Georgia) Apr 26, 1893

Good Brown Bread

Image from Yankee Magazine online – Granny’s Brown Bread – Recipe at the link

BROWN BREAD.

I’m a Yankee, born ‘mong the rye and corn
Of the Eastern States, ’tis said;
And a tribute I’ll pay, in a rhyming way,
To their loaves of good brown bread.

I’ve lived at best, six years in the West,
Where wheat is used instead,
But in all my round I’ve seldom found
A loaf of good brown bread.

Since I have roamed to my boyhood’s home,
The rocks and hills I dread;
Yet in spite of that I’m growing fat,
Every day, on good brown bread.

You still may make white bread and cake,
By style and fancy led,
But I tell you, sir, that I prefer
A loaf of good brown bread.

N. E. Farmer.

The Berkshire County Eagle (Pittsfield, Massachustetts) Oct 22, 1858

*****

Here are a couple of old recipes found in a Google book search:

Yankee Brown Bread – 1848

To read about the “pearlash” mentioned in the above recipe: Food Facts & Trivia

Apparently, in 1848, they did not steam the bread, but baked it in the oven. This recipe also lacks molasses, so I guess it’s a more “primitive” brown bread.

Boston Brown Bread – 1893

This recipe includes buttermilk and molasses, and is steamed for five hours. The Granny’s Brown Bread linked with the picture, only steams for two to three hours.

Two Passing Souls

Image from Bill Frymire Visuals

TWO PASSING SOULS.

Black the night quick gathering round me,
Loud the cruel, cold waves roar;
Swift the tide that bears me onward.
Whither? To no friendly shore!
Ah, my heart is fearful, shrinking,
No support have I, nor stay;
There’s no light can pierce this darkness,
I am doomed — lost, lost for aye!

Father, I have heard the calling,
And my heart leapt up with joy;
Leave I all earth’s pains to fathom
Happiness without alloy.
Cold the water, but, dear Father,
Firm thy hand and strong thy cheer;
Strange, sweet music strains float near me,
Hark! my “Welcome Home” I hear.

— Carrie Jordan in Philadelphia Ledger.

Daily Advocate (Newark, Ohio) Jan 7, 1893