Stephen Crane and the Commodore Disaster

 

The Ithaca Daily News, Monday, January 4, 1897.

THE COMMODORE SUNK.

Filibuster Steamer and Her Cargo at the Bottom of the Sea.

ALL ON BOARD WERE SAVED.

The Overloaded Vessel Began to Leak, and Her Pumps Refused to Work—

A Rumor to the Effect That There Was Treachery on Board.

   JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Jan. 4, 1897—The filibuster steamer Commodore, which has landed successfully in Cuba several large consignments of arms and munitions of war for the patriots, has gone to the bottom off Mosquito Inlet, on the coast of Florida.

   The Commodore left Jacksonville on Thursday night, having been cleared by the customs authorities to carry a cargo of arms and ammunition to the port of Nuevitas, Cuba.

   Yesterday she was found stuck in the mud three miles below the city. She was pulled off the shoal by the United States revenue cutter Boutwell, which conveyed her safely across St. John’s bar.

   It seems that the Commodore was overloaded at the start, mainly with coal, and that she came near capsizing while crossing St. John’s bar.

   Yesterday Captain Murphy was astounded to discover the hold full of water. He immediately set the crew to work bailing with buckets and started up the steam pumps, but to no purpose.

Left to Her Doom.

   The water rapidly gained and finally extinguished the fires while the vessel was yet a long distance from the shore. It was then imperative that the men should take to the boats, which they did, leaving the ill fated Commodore to her doom.

   The Commodore’s papers show that Captain Edward Murphy is master of the vessel, and that Frank P. Grain is first mate, Felix de los Rios second mate, James Redding chief engineer, Ed B. Ritter assistant engineer.

   The crew is as follows: Franco Blanco, C. B. Montgomery, Paul E. F. Rojo, Julio Rodbar, Ramon Hernandez, J. Hernandez, William Higgins, Jose Fernandez, Murray Nobles, Manuel Gonzales, Miguel Fernandez, Jose Alvarez, Buenafestusa Singy, Emelio Masquis, Joseph Dehancy, Gravier Marbury, Modesto Leon, Santiago Diaz, Luis Surra, P. D. Pernercousi, W. A. G. Smith, R. A. Delgado and Stephen Crane, the novelist.

   The first boat to land was one containing Delgado, Paul Rojo, Franco Blanco and nine others, who reached New Smyrna in safety and immediately wired to Jackssonville requesting the dispatch of the Three Friends to assist the Commodore, which they hoped might still be afloat. The owners of the Three Friends here wired to the secretary of the treasury asking permission to send their boat to the rescue, but received no reply.

All on Board Saved [early report].

   Later in the day another telegram was received stating that Captain Murphy, with Stephen Crane and 14 other men, who had taken to the other boat, had landed safely at Ormond, 20 miles above New Smyrna, and that the Commodore was a total loss.

   This information, which is incontrovertible, has greatly disheartened the Cubans in this city, who had hoped great things for their cause from the result of this expedition.

   The point at which the Commodore went down is said to be about 15 miles off the coast of Florida, approximately 100 miles below the St. John’s bar.

   There seems to have been no difficulty in saving the lives of all on board. It is said that Captain Murphy had been warned by rivermen before leaving Jacksonville that the Commodore could not stand the heavy cargo of coal with which she was loaded, being old and constructed of wood, but that he paid no attention to these warnings.

   There are vague rumors afloat of treachery, but these can be traced to no substantial foundation.

 

Associated Press, Tuesday, January 5, 1897.

COMMODORE DISASTER.

Seven of the Crew Perished.

   JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Jan. 5, 1897—Captain Edward Murphy, commander of the lost steamer Commodore; Stephen Crane, the novelist; C. B. Montgomery, cook, and William Higgins, an oiler, with four Cubans, arrived here from Daytona.

   From the survivors it is learned that the men of the Commodore left the ship in four boat loads. Twelve Cubans embarked in the first, four more in the second, seven Americans in the third, and four, including Captain Murphy, Crane, Higgins and Montgomery, in the fourth. The first three were lifeboats, the last a 10- oared dingy.

   The men in the third boat lingered in the neighborhood of the sinking steamer and for some reason the small boat foundered and sank.

   The men were ordered to swim back to the steamer, where they improvised a raft. This the captain attempted to tow to shore, 14 miles away. Just as they started it was observed that a negro on the raft was drawing himself along the tow line to the dingy. The captain realized that this meant death to all, and he ordered the raft cast adrift.

   He shouted to the men to return to the vessel, which they attempted to do, but when near the Commodore it gave a lurch, sank, and the men on the raft were drawn down in the vortex and did not rise again. They were James Redigan, engineer; E. B. Ritter, assistant engineer; Frank Grain, mate; W. A. G. Smith, fireman; Modesto Leon, Cuban pilot and guide, and Jonas Franklin and Murray Nobles, two colored firemen.

 

Editor’s note:

   The sinking of the Commodore was the subject of Stephen Crane’s short story “The Open Boat,” which was published in 1897. Stephen Crane, author of “The Red Badge of Courage,” was a war correspondent employed by the Bacheller newspaper syndicate when he boarded the Commodore on New Year’s Eve, 1896. The ship sank on January 2, 1897.

Reference:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Open_Boat

Fire, Thin Ice and Safe Deposit boxes.

Part of Schermerhorn block (J. J. Newberry).

Cortland Evening Standard, Monday, January 4, 1897.

FIRE AND SMOKE

WROUGHT HAVOC IN THE SCHERMERHORN BUILDING IN THE NIGHT.

Schermerhorn Building Badly Damaged. G. J. Mager and Co.’s Loss Over $30,000, Bingham Bros. and Miller’s Stock Damaged by Smoke. Other Losses. All Fully Insured. Perhaps Burglars Started the Blaze.

   Cortland’s first fire in 1897 is now on record and the damage is hard to estimate owing to the large amount done by smoke, but it will probably approach $40,000.

   This morning at 1:30 o’clock Officer S. N. Gooding was passing through the alley at the rear of the Schermerhorn block [J. J. Newberry], when he heard a crackling noise. He looked all around, but could not discover anything and went around on Main-st. when he saw smoke issuing from the clothing store of Bingham Brothers & Miller. He hastened to the night cafe of B. H. Bosworth and called for help to locate the fire. Mr. Bosworth went across the street and saw that the dry goods store of G. J. Mager & Co. also was filled with smoke. He returned to the engine house, where he pulled box 333 and then rung in a general alarm.

   The department was quickly on the scene and the Water Witch company secured first water. The fire was very difficult of location. Great clouds of smoke confronted the firemen when the doors of Mager & Co.’s store were opened and it was impossible to enter. As the greatest volume of smoke came from the cellar under the store that was thought to be the location of the fire, though no flames were visible. Water Witch sent a stream into the cellar from the front and also one from the rear. Orris Hose directed a stream into the cellar from the front as did the Hitchcocks, and the Emeralds did so from the rear. The fire was in the rear of the cellar and was slowly creeping toward the front, and also upstairs.

   The inestimable value of the ball nozzle, the special property of Orris Hose, was shown at this time, for Messrs. Charles Morris and Charles Griffith, two members of that company, entered the cellar from the rear with a spray issuing from this nozzle and worked their way to the front of the cellar, putting out all the fire there, and practically saving the building from almost total destruction. The fine spray sent out from this nozzle drove back the smoke before it and enabled the two men to penetrate the dense smoke, and at the same time extinguish the fire.

   Said Chief Arnold to a STANDARD man this morning:

   "Too much cannot be said in praise of this nozzle. We ought to have more of them."

   By this time the flames had burned through the floor and were in the store proper, and while such effectual work was being accomplished in the cellar with the ball nozzle, two streams were directed into the store and soon the fire was extinguished.

   The fire was found to have originated near the furnace in the rear of the cellar, and possibly caught from the furnace in a pile of dry goods boxes.

   In the cellar was stored a large stock of woolen underwear, cotton goods and oil cloth, all of which is a total loss. The fire burned through the floor in several places and what goods were not destroyed by fire were rendered almost worthless by smoke and water. The walls and ceiling were blackened and in many places charred. Some of the shelves were burned down.

   G. J. Mager & Co. estimate their loss at over $30,000 and it is covered by an insurance amounting to $33,500 placed as follows: $13,500 with G. J. Maycumber— in the National $2,000, Continental $1,000, Royal $l,000, Phenix of Brooklyn $1,000,  Phoenix $2 ,000, Hartford $2,000, Aetna $2,000, Commercial Union $2,500; $11,500 with Theodore Stevenson — in the Milwaukee $1,500, Westchester $1,000, Manchester $3,000, London and Lancashire $2,500, Commercial $500, Westchester $1,000; $4,500 with Davis, Jenkins & Hakes— in the Firemen’s Fund $1,500, Caledonian $1,500, Norwich $1,500; $4,000 with J. A. Nixon—in the Hanover $2,000, New Hampshire $2,000.

   The Schermerhorn block is itself fully insured, the policies, amounting to $11,000, being placed with G. J. Maycumber.

   Attorney Edwin Duffey's law library is slightly damaged by smoke, and is fully insured. The same is true of Attorney E. E. Mellon's library.

   The stock of clothing of Bingham Bros. & Miller is badly damaged by smoke and the loss is hard to estimate, though it is fully covered by insurance.

   Smoke slightly damaged Edgcomb & Maritt and Hyatt & Tooke, who occupy the building next north of the block. They are fully insured.

   The furnishings in the John L. Lewis lodge rooms on the third floor of the block were badly damaged by smoke, but the loss is fully covered by an insurance amounting in all to $2,000.

   Mr. George McKean was exceedingly thoughtful of the brave firemen but suffered a very painful accident while performing an act of kindness. As soon as the fire broke out and it became evident that the firemen were to have a struggle, Mr. McKean began making coffee for them and was in the act of serving it to the firemen at work in the store when the floor gave way under him and he was precipitated into the cellar, dislocating his left shoulder. He was removed to his room and was attended by Dr. Dana.

   This was the first fire under the administration of Chief L.  A. Arnold, and he showed that he was the right man for the place. He seemed everywhere at the same time.

   Edgcomb & Marritt, who were insured in the New York Central Lloyds, have already received through the local agent, Pierce, Cone & Bates, a check for the full amount of the loss claimed by them. This is the first party to get a settlement.

   The smoke, which came from the woolen goods in the cellar, was the most dense that Cortland firemen have been called upon to face in many years.

   Upon July 27, 1893, this same building was on fire. The fire originated in the dressmaking establishment of Mrs. H. H. Pomeroy on the second floor. The loss to those on the first floor was small and was confined to loss by water. On March 14, 1894, occurred another fire in the same building of which the origin is a mystery. It was first discovered upon the left side of the hallway, where flames were coming from the carpet room of G. J. Mager & Co. At this time the firm's stock was damaged to the amount of $10,000, Bingham & Miller $3,000, Glann & Clark $2,500, Mrs. Pomeroy, $1,200, E. E. Mellon $500.

   The store of Bingham Bros. & Miller is closed to-day awaiting adjustment by the insurance companies.

   The burglar theory is gaining considerable ground as furnishing a plausible explanation of the origin of the fire. It has been discovered that the putty had been scraped off and three panes of glass removed from the door entering Mager & Co.’s cellar from the rear. There is also evidence of an attempt to enter the store of Bingham Bros. & Miller, as the putty had been scraped from two panes of glass in their cellar door, and there are fresh knife marks on this door frame.

 

How to Guard Against Burglars.

   In times like the present when local burglars are operating in the town persons with bonds, stocks, mortgages, and other securities and valuable articles of gold and silver, watches and jewelry, can find ABSOLUTE PROTECTION for them in the safe deposit vault of The National bank of Cortland—Boxes rent from $5 to $10 per year.

WESLEY HOOKER, President.

 

FELL THROUGH THE ICE.

Four Women in the Mill Pond all at the Same Time.

   On Saturday afternoon Louise Clineburg of 9 ½ Pomeroy-st., aged about thirteen years,  Bessie Comerfort of Cleveland-st., who is a little younger, and Jennie Gregg of 28 Cleveland-st., about the same age, were sliding on the ice upon the mill pond in the rear of the home of Mr. A. Eggleston, 144 Clinton-ave.

   The ice was thought to be thick and strong except for a narrow channel which had been cut for the purpose of floating down to the icehouse ice cut early in the week farther up the pond.

   This channel had skimmed over with a light coating of ice, but was too thin to be trusted. The children knew this and intended to keep off of it, but in their play the first women mentioned got farther over than they thought and fell into the water where it was quite deep. They came up and grasped the edge of the thin ice and it kept breaking under them. Jennie Gregg ran off screaming for help.

   Mrs. Mary J. Dawson of 150 Clinton-ave. was calling at Mr. Eggleston's and heard the screams. She ran out on the ice to rescue the children and in her efforts caused the ice to break again and let her fall in. Miss Jennie Bell, who is employed at Mr. Eggleston’s, had followed Mrs. Dawson down to the pond and she in turn tried to get them all out. The ice broke under her and she too fell in. Mrs. Dawson sank twice, but succeeded in getting hold of strong ice as she came up again. Miss Bell got a good hold up on strong ice and helped support the children, but none of them could get out.

   The screaming for help continued and was heard by Mrs. D. C. Todd, who lives across the street. Mrs. Todd ran over toward the pond calling on the way to Dell Barber, who was at work at the icehouse. Mr. Barber hurried down and succeeded in rescuing the four people who were thoroughly chilled. All were close by home, however, and in a very short time had their wet clothing replaced by dry garments and were taking hot drinks to prevent their taking cold. They are all doing well at last accounts.

   It was very fortunate for all that the break occurred as it did near the shore where there is no current and where they would come up as they did just where they went down and were not swept along under the ice.

Excellent Schermerhorn building photo dated July 2013 at flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/38956209@N03/9379673529/in/photostream/

 

Fighting Fire at Minus Fifteen Degrees Fahrenheit.

Fire Department steamer.

The St. Lawrence Plain Dealer, Wednesday, December 30, 1896.

POTSDAM’S BLAZE.

The Worst Fire in Many Years--The Loss Is Estimated at $57,000, with Insurance for $30,000. The Fire Engine Breaks Down at the Start.

   The village of Potsdam seems unusually unfortunate in fires. It has had several serious ones, but not for years one so bad as that of last Sunday morning [Dec. 27, 1896], when the alarm called out the fire department at about two o'clock, on a bitter cold night, with the thermometer 15 degrees below zero.

   When first discovered the fire was confined in the rear office of the Wilson meat market on Main street, but even before the first arrivals put in an appearance the blaze had broken out and had wrapped the entire building in flames, which were rapidly reaching out on all sides and threatened to soon envelop the Herald block on the east, the Windsor House on the west and the Williams livery stables on the north, all in close proximity. The entire absence of wind alone saved the entire business section on this side of Market street from destruction.

   In spite of the fact that the fire department responded promptly to the alarm and five streams were soon playing on the burning meat market, the flames had already found their way through a shed into the Belding block on Main street, occupied by Davis's restaurant, Henry Papaw's confectionery store and Pat Calnon's saloon, and was making rapid strides toward the Windsor House. The heat began to grow terrific, and plate glass windows on the opposite side of the street were cracked. The iron shutters on the Herald building saved it and prevented the flames spreading in that direction.

   At the first alarm of fire, Engineer Howe touched a match to the engine at her quarters back of Story's dry goods store and in an incredibly short time she was giving forth two terrific streams, operating in her house and drawing water from a deep well located in the room. She was working in splendid shape when an accident occurred which ruined her completely for any further service that night.

   It was at about 3 o'clock and Engineer Howe was standing near her right discharge pipe when the heavy hose attached suddenly burst with a loud report and the full force of the water, with a 140 pound pressure, struck him full in the chest, knocking him against and through a window. He managed to stagger out of the way, however, and after turning off the valve took refuge near the heater in the corner of the room to get thawed out and recover from the shock.

   The accident seemed to have disarranged the automatic valve in the pipe which supplies the boiler with water, as Engineer Howe's young assistant soon called to him that they were losing water and be could not get her up, whereupon Mr. Howe ordered that the fires be drawn, when it was discovered that one of the flues had sprung a bad leak. This of course rendered the steamer useless and the fire fighters were left with nothing but the city pumps to supply them.

   The buildings on the corner were among the oldest in town, largely of wood and regular fire traps. The flames spread from the meat market to the Sullivan livery stables and were checked at the Williams stables in the rear, but on the front they licked up one or two saloons and went on to Matteson & Lehand's grocery on the corner. About the same time the Windsor house on Market street belched forth flames and in a few minutes it collapsed. In this building was the Williams saloon and the Barnett Bros. clothing store. The next to go was the Central restaurant and Hepburn’s saloon. The flames were checked in the Jacobsons’ clothing store and by church time Sunday only a smouldering mass of ruins was left.

   The following estimates are probably not far out of the way. Barnett Bros., Windsor house block and clothing store, $25,000; insurance $12,000. G. C. Lewis, restaurant loss, $6,000; insurance, $2,000. William Williams, saloon, loss $4,000; insurance, $1,000. Matteson & Lehand, grocery, loss $4,000; no insurance. I. and S. Jacobson, clothiers, loss $6,000; insurance, $5,000. Daniel Hurley, Windsor house, $2,100; no insurance. H. H. Hepburn and Pat Calnon, saloons, loss $5,000; insurance, $3,000. Knowles block $2,000; fully covered. Other small losses mostly covered by insurance.

 

Potsdam: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potsdam,_New_York

 

 

The Plaindealer

Published every Wednesday Morning in the

PLAINDEALER BUILDING, MAIN ST,

CANTON, N. Y.

GILBERT B. MANLEY, Editor and Proprietor

WILLISTON MANLEY, Associate Editor

GEO. T. MANLEY, Manager Printing Dep’t

Terms, $1 per Year in Advance.

 

MY YELLER DOG

   My yeller dog is yeller on the outside and yeller on the inside. My yeller dog gets spooked by his own shadow. Japanese beetles and lady bugs scare him. Wind and clouds scare him. Most everything scares him. (There’s an exception I can tell you about later.)

   Every time he sees a neighborhood cat on the prowl, he points--lifts his right paw, stretches his tail out--and then my very strange yeller dog quacks like a duck. That’s right, quacks! Unbelievable, isn’t it? I hear it so often that I’m used to it.

   Most cats are surprised and curious when they hear him quack. They stand their ground, showing teeth and hissing back. My dog sees the cat's response and predictably panics. Disgusting, isn’t it? Certainly not the behavior to expect from a normal dog. No matter. I sometimes get annoyed, but I love my strange yeller dog all the same.

   I took my yeller dog to a vet a few years ago. Asked the vet to fix my dog’s vocal cords. He examined the dog and said he couldn’t find a physical cause for the strange problem. He suggested that it was psychological. He recommended a psychiatrist.

   So I took my yeller dog to a psychiatrist. After a lecture about co-dependency, he gave both of us a bunch of pills. I said, “How are these pills going to help?” He said, “There’s pills for everything. If these don’t work, I’ll give you and your dog different pills until we find the right pills and the right cure.” He gave us different pills over time. I tried feeding my dog different dog food, too. My dog got Montezuma’s revenge and messed up the house. Put him back on Hill’s real quick.

   After two years taking advice and taking various pills provided by our psychiatrist, my yeller dog still quacks, and I feel just awful.

   It’s down and out embarrassing to take my yeller dog out for a walk and discover most of those tree-hugging, bushy-tailed squirrels are chattering and laughing about him whenever they hear him quack. If he finds and chases a freshman squirrel that’s afraid of him, only because he’s a dog, that squirrel will inevitably find safety in a nearby tree. It seems my yeller dog always gets a late start, or doesn’t have a clear sense of direction.

   I talked to my neighbor about it and he tells me that my yeller dog lacks timing and can’t measure distance. He recommended a GPS device, ready on talk mode, but I’ll be damned if I’ll take it out of my truck and put it on my dog’s collar. I need it for myself. Besides, I would have to add a battery pack and adding that weight around my dog’s neck might choke him to death.

   Remember how I told you there was an exception and I would tell you about it later? Well, now, I suppose, is the best time to mention it. While it’s true that my yeller dog is generally afraid of most everything he encounters, it seems that God blessed him with a handicap which has a special talent attached. It seems my yeller dog is a quacking Dr. Jekyll-Mr. Hyde monster around ducks.

   Leave your guns and ammunition at home, boys. You don’t need a gun when you go out duck hunting with my yeller dog. He starts quacking in the fields and marshes and makes ducks think he’s one of them. He chases and kills ducks like a tree-cutting harvesting machine. He’s a ravishing grabber of all things duck. He catches ducks on the ground, in the water, and often by leaping high in the air as they try to fly away. Let me tell you, that yeller dog would be downright dangerous if he had wings.

   Years ago I mentioned my yeller dog’s aggressive behavior around all things duck to our psychiatrist. Dr. Phineas Shrink (not his real name) got as confused as everyone else, and he didn’t offer a clear explanation. He admitted that it’s normal behavior for a bird dog, but claimed that my yeller dog is not a bird dog. I don’t have a certificate to prove otherwise. When I took that yeller dog into my house, he was a sulking, shivering runaway off the street.

   The first time I took that yeller dog out for a duck hunt, I did it alone without companions. I wanted to avoid embarrassment. Not anymore. No sir! I have since told all my friends about his unique hunting skill, and now the Knights of Columbus and Odd Fellows join us on our hunt every fall.

   I don’t like to brag but one of the hunters told me privately that it was great having my quacking yeller dog do all the hunting and retrieving, while serious hunters stay in a stove-heated camouflaged shelter with TV, fridge and plenty of cold beer and pretzels. That’s the kind of endorsement that makes a person feel proud. Another guy said I ought to take my dog to Hollywood and get on one of those special reality TV shows. I talked it over with my yeller dog and we both agree we don’t cherish the thought of all that publicity. You know, we don’t need the money. The government takes good care of us.

New Year's Eve, 1896--Menu, Events, and Visit to County Almshouse

 

Cortland Evening Standard, Thursday, December 31, 1896.

AT THE KREMLIN.

Landlord Carns to set up an Appetizing New Year’s Dinner.

   Proprietor Carns of The Kremlin is acquiring a reputation for setting a splendid table at his popular hotel. The following is his menu for his New Year's dinner which will be served from 1 to 3 o'clock at the usual price of fifty cents a plate:

Celery. Blue Points. Deep Shell.

Sweet Pickles. Pickled Onions. Queen Olives.

Horseradish Mayonnaise Dressing Lettuce

Olive Oil. Worcestershire Sauce.

Baked blue Fish. Maitre d’ Hotel.

Roast Turkey Stuffed, Cranberry Sauce.

Roast Young Duck, Current Jelly.

Roast Suckling Pig, Apple Sauce.

Boiled Mutton, Caper Sauce.

Chicken Salad. Lobster Salad.

Apple Pie. Pumpkin Pie. Mince Pie.

Suet Pudding. Brandy Sauce. Rhine Wine Jelly.

Whipped Cream. Assorted Fruit. Assorted Nuts.

Assorted Cake. Layer Raisins.

Edam, Pineapple and American Cream Cheese

Chocolate and Vanilla Ice Cream.

Tea. Coffee.

 

The W. C. T. U.

Visit the County Almshouse December 30.

Gifts Tendered the Inmates.

   Two large loads and three single carriages of "White Ribbon" women were most cordially received yesterday by Mr. and Mrs. A. D. Kingsbury, keepers of the county almshouse, and by Mr. O. P. Miner, county superintendent of the poor, who with his wife and a number of neighbors and friends awaited them. The ladies were accompanied by Rev. Geo. H. Brigham, who is the genial, witty, great-hearted, loving Christian friend of all the inmates and whose coming is as much anticipated as that of the ladies themselves.

   The program consisted of several appropriate songs, prayer, scripture reading and response by the W. C. T. U., an address by Mr. Brigham, remarks by Mr. Fletcher and Mr. Miner. Miss Eva Cotton sang very sweetly "Scatter Sunshine." Ethel and Leon Clark sang with great acceptance "Baby Song," "Dashing Through the Snow," and "Fiddle Song." Master Leon also gave a short recitation. Distribution of the gifts followed. Then to each of the visitors there was presented a well-made holder with a few pin rolls for their little children, the thought and work of Mrs. Phylinda Neely, an inmate over 83 years of age, whose eyesight is nearly gone but who, to use her own words, "sews by the sense of feeling," and "Mrs. Kingsbury doesn't find any fault either." And indeed that good woman wouldn't if she could and couldn't if she would.

   A parting song, hand shaking, a short social time, and to those who so desired, a walk through the institution and the Holiday visit of 1896 was over.

   The appreciation and thanks of the Woman's Christian Temperance union of Cortland are gratefully tendered the session of the Presbyterian church for their generous contribution of money, and to Mr. R. B. Fletcher who kindly gave his service and his team and to all who in any way did aught to make the visit the delight and success it was.

   Nor would this report be complete if mention were not made of the tender tribute Mr. Brigham paid to the memory of Miss Venette Stephens, who for so many many [sic] years never failed in kindly remembrances to the needy ones there but who had passed over "the river."

   “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethen, ye have done it unto me."

 

HOLLISTER BROTHERS

Have Purchased the City Bakery at 7 North Main-st.

   The City bakery at 7 North Main-st., which has heretofore been conducted by Hollister & Rigby, has been purchased by Hollister Brothers, who will take possession to-morrow. The bakery will be under the personal charge of Messrs. H. P. and F. Hollister, both of whom are hustling business men and are also first-class practical bakers. For the past three years they have been engaged with Coon Brothers and they understand their business from A to Z. They will do their baking in the same-building and will always keep in stock a full line of pure, fresh, first-class bakestuffs that cannot fail to please the most fastidious. They are sterling young men and deserve and will probably receive a large patronage. It will be the only place in town where Hollister's baked goods can be found, and it will cater to a first-class retail trade.

 

GRAND NEW YEAR’S DANCE.

   There will be a grand New Year’s eve dance at the armory this evening, and "Happy Bill" Daniels' full orchestra will furnish the music. There will be a concert before the dance for the benefit of those who do not dance. Refreshments served.

 

Borax Soap.

   Dobbins' Floating-Borax Soap costs more to make than any other floating soap made, but the consumers have to pay no more for it. It is 100 per cent pure and made of borax. You know what that means. Order of your grocer.

Dobbins' Soap Mfg. Co., Philadelphia.

 

LOCAL PERSONAL.

   MESSRS. A. W. and Eugene Graham left this morning for Etna on a hunting expedition. They were armed to the teeth. Their return is not looked for until next year.

   Dr. F. J. CHENEY [Normal School Principal] left this afternoon for Albany to attend the inauguration of Gov. Black to-morrow.

 

X RAYS GROW HAIR.

Baldest Heads, ‘Tis Believed, Can be Given a Luxurious Growth.

   Professor George Newcomb of Salem, Mass, announces that the X rays will cause the hair to grow upon the human skin by the stimulation of the bulbs and follicles. He is building a special apparatus in his laboratory to demonstrate this. He believes that the baldest of heads can by this means be clothed with a luxuriant growth of hair, provided that the roots are not entirely destroyed.

   Some time ago Professor Newcomb was obliged to discontinue his experiments through ill effects experienced after many months continuous exposure to the mysterious "lights." His finger nails, skin and the hair of his right hand all came off, and he suffered excruciating pains in that member, but since he has ceased experiments along the original line the nails have grown again, and there is an unusual and surprising growth of hair upon the hand where it had all come off.

BREVITIES.

—To-morrow is a legal holiday and the post-office will only be open from 7 to 10 A. M. and from 6 to 7 P. M. There will be but one delivery by carriers and the money order department will be dosed all day.

—Superintendent P. C. Mudge of the Cortland sewerage system, in his annual report shows that over 200 residences have, been connected with the mains since their construction. Eighty-one of these connections have been made since last July.

—The STANDARD carrier boys will be around to-morrow morning with their annual New Year's greeting in the form of the handsomest calendar which we have issued. If the boys have been faithful in their delivery of the papers during the past year they will appreciate a little return of some kind from the subscribers.