The Cortland Democrat, Friday, September
14, 1888.
The Balloon Ascension.
A very
large crowd of people were on the Fair grounds, on Wednesday afternoon, to
witness the balloon ascension and to see Prof. Young in his parachute descent.
The tops of buildings within a half mile of the grounds were covered with
people, as were the hills east of the grounds.
The 45th
Separate company, Capt. B. E. Miller commanding, gave an exhibition drill at 8
o'clock, which was admired by all. The company went through with all the
difficult maneuvres with as much precision and in as good style as if they were
old veterans. As a drill officer, Capt. Miller has few equals.
Prof.
Young commenced the work of inflating his mammoth air ship at about 4 o'clock.
The balloon is made of cotton cloth and weighs 400 lbs. When filled with hot
air, it is at least 40 feet in diameter and 60 or 70 feet high. The process of filling so much space with hot air is necessarily
a slow one, and it took until 6 o'clock to accomplish the work.
At 6:08
Prof. Young called to his assistants to "let go," and the balloon at
once ascended straight upward, lifting the parachute and the basket attached to
the same in which Prof. Young stood, as it went. The balloon went straight up
to an altitude of about 1000 feet, and then floated quite rapidly in a
northeasterly direction. When it arrived over the east hill, the parachute was
seen to part company with the balloon, and it came down rapidly for a few feet,
when it opened to its fullest extent and its descent was quite moderate until
it landed in an open field on the hill in full view of all the spectators. Mr.
Young was not injured in the least, and with the aid of several persons who
were in the immediate vicinity, he gathered up his parachute, and soon appeared
at his hotel in the village.
The
balloon collapsed very soon after the parachute was disconnected, and fell to
the ground, where it was found uninjured, and brought to town.
It was a
very successful exhibition, and gave excellent satisfaction to the immense crowd
who witnessed it.
MR. VAN HOESEN AND HIS MONEY.
He Sees Forepaugh's Circus and Loses a
Fifty-Dollar Bill.
On
Thursday Mathias Van Hoesen, of Preble, attended Forepaugh's circus at Cortland. He is eighty-three years old, but has
all his facilities and needed no one to look after him. He bought his ticket and
paid for it out of a ten-dollar bill he had in his purse, together with a fifty-dollar
bill. Arriving on the inside of the tent he bought a reserved seat and enjoyed
the performance. When he reached home that night he discovered that his fifty-dollar
bill was gone, and he wrote a letter to Mr. Forepaugh apprising him of the
loss. Ryan Green, a son-in-law of Mr. Van Hoesen, brought the letter to
Syracuse yesterday morning, and taking Private Detective John P. Lee with him,
delivered the letter at the circus ground.
Mr.
Forepaugh read the letter and said he would try and investigate the case,
asking Mr. Green to come and see him again in the afternoon. The employees of
the circus were questioned and the bill was found in the possession of James
White, who has charge of one of the stands. Mr. White said that he found the
money on the ground near where Mr. Van Hoesen bought his reserved seat ticket.
The bill had the appearance of having been tramped in the mud. It was handed
over to Mr. Green.—Syracuse Herald, Sept. 8.
Arrested on a Serious Charge.
Last
Thursday evening, Charles Eddy, a man about 36 years of age, was arrested by
Deputy Sheriff Ripley, charged with having attempted to outrage a twelve year
old girl, named Eliza Dutcher. Eddy met the Dutcher girl and a little playmate,
named Maud Stabler, on Cayuga street [in Homer,] and under the pretense that he
wanted them to sell fans at the circus, induced them to accompany him to a barn
back of the circus grounds. When they had reached the barn, Eddy sent the
Stabler girl to the other side of the building, and attempted to accomplish his
fiendish design. The screams of the Dutcher girl frightened her companion, who
ran to tell her father, and he, accompanied by an officer, went to the scene
and took Eddy into custody. He was arraigned before Justice Bouton who, in
default of bail, committed him to jail, pending his examination, which was set down
for the 17th.
Eddy is a
married man, and has been for some time engaged in taking care of horses for F.
N. Harrington and W. J. Hollenbeck. He was intoxicated at the time, but this
should prove no excuse for the dastardly crime he attempted.
HERE AND THERE.
Two sharp
frosts in this vicinity last week damaged corn, potatoes, and other crops considerably.
Williston
Rice, of Brake hill, was quite seriously injured last Sunday by being trampled
upon by an enraged bull.
Miss
Covil's pupils gave their quarterly music recital at her studio, last Saturday.
All did well and were favored with encouragement and advice from Prof. Chas. W.
Sanders of New York.
Dr. C. D.
Beardsley, of this place, performed a skillful operation upon a horse belonging
to A. Rockwell Head, of Homer, a few days since. He successfully removed two
thyroid tumors, one of which was a very large one.
Albert
Sessions, who resides on the hill three miles north of Homer village, and who
disappeared two or three weeks since, about the same time as the wife of his
hired man was missing, has not yet returned. The hired man’s name is Eugene [McEmber.]
Morgan
McAllister, aged thirteen years, who has been living in Canada for the past
five years, started for South Cortland, where he formerly lived, on the 30th
ult., on foot and pennyless. Conductors kindly passed him over the several roads,
and he reached his place of destination safely the following Sunday.
Forepaugh
gave two excellent entertainments in this village, last Thursday. Everything advertised
on the bills was to be seen inside the mammoth tents and every act was good.
The animals were fine specimens, and the variety extensive. The only criticism
we heard was that there was too much of the marvelous to see at one exhibition.
The attendance was large in the afternoon, and there was a good audience in the
evening.
Natural Gas.
EDITOR
DEMOCRAT:—While the Mullin brothers were drilling for water on my farm (to-day)
they struck a vein of natural gas and James Mullin touched a match to it and
there was quite an explosion in which he was considerably burned, and a sheet
of flame shot up eight or ten feet high and is now burning with no likelihoods
of its ever stopping, and I can see no way of stopping it if one should want to.
Yours
Truly,
WILLIAM
PIERCE,
North
Lansing, New York, Sept. 11, 1888.
Attention Dairymen.
On
Tuesday next Mr. Geo. A. Smith, an expert cheese maker employed by the State Dairymen's Association, will
give a practical exhibition of the latest and most approved method of making
cheese at the Sear's factory four miles west of Cortland, at 9 A. M. At the
same hour on the following day he will be at the Lafayette factory in the town
of Groton, for the same purpose. All dairymen and butter and cheese dealers are
cordially invited to be present.
Death of Geo. J. J. Barber.
Geo. J. J.
Barber, Esq., died at his residence in Syracuse last Tuesday evening, aged 67
years. Mr. Barber was the second son of the late Jedediah Barber of Homer, and
for several years was associated with his father in the mercantile business in
that place. The old store was burned down in 1855 or 1856, and Jedediah Barber
retired from the mercantile trade. His son, George, continued the business in
the brick store opposite for some years. About fifteen years ago he retired and
moved to Syracuse where his son, Jedediah, had been and still is living. He
leaves a son and a daughter.
Thirty
years ago the Barbers
were doing the largest business of any firm in the county and were widely known
and highly respected. Jedediah Barber owned a very large amount of real estate
in Homer, but after closing his store, he continued to deal extensively in
produce, in which business he is said to have lost the larger part of his property.
We believe Mrs. Jacob M. Schermerhorn of Homer is the only member of Jedediah
Barber's family now living [here].
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