Board of Supervisors Declines to Investigate Alleged Abuses at Alms House.

The Cortland News, Friday, December 19, 1884.

Editorial Notes.

   Elsewhere we publish the report of the committee from the board of supervisors to inquire into the management of the county alms house, and, in the language of that report, the committee might as well have said that we were the parties who made the charges against the management. Such is not the case, however, as we simply called attention to the fact that these charges, or rather rumors, were in circulation and advised the Board to ascertain whether there was any truth in them. This was not done with any malice toward either Mr. Murray or Mr. Hillsinger, but for the purpose, if there was any truth in the reports, to have the faults remedied, and in case they were false, to put the two gentlemen named beyond the reach of the insinuations.

   The committee called the editor of this paper before them, asking what we accused the management of, and were informed that we made no charges, but gave them, in substance, what had been said to us in regard to the treatment of inmates, etc. What efforts the committee made to find out as to the truth of these reports, we do not know, but on account of the short time given them— only twenty-four hours — they could not have collected a very voluminous amount of evidence, although evidently enough to convince them of the falsity of the charges.

 

Supervisors’ Proceedings, Twentieth Day.

   Dr. Nelson, from special committee to inquire into reports of mismanagement at the alms house, made the following report, which was unanimously adopted.

   Your committee to whom was referred the matter of investigating certain charges, against the management of the County Alms House, would respectfully report:

   That they have inquired into the matter as well as the limited time would permit, and find that the person making the charges against said institution, disclaims any personal knowledge of the truth of said charges, and states that his information came from former and present inmates of said alms house, through outside parties whose name or names he declines to give or make known to your committee.

   Your committee would give it as their opinion that there is no foundation in fact to support the charges made against the institution or the management thereof, but rather that they grew out of the former and present inmates whose mental condition can hardly be considered reliable.

Respectfully submitted,

W. H. CRANE.
J. C. NELSON,
H.  P. ANDREWS,
Committee.
Dated Dec. 2, 1884.
At 4 o'clock the board adjourned.

 

CORTLAND AND VICINITY.

   As this is our last issue before Dec. 25th we wish our patrons, subscribers and everybody "A Merry Christmas."

   The thermometer in front of Brown & Maybury’s drug store registered twenty below zero at three o'clock this morning.

   The annual election of Cortland fire department will occur on Wednesday evening, December 31.

   Workmen are busy this week in putting in the heating apparatus in the new Wallace block.

   On account of the snow the street car has been abandoned. Hourly trips between the villages, however, will be made either by omnibus or sleigh.

   E. D. Mallery, manager of Taylor Opera House, has purchased an interest in the above named block, of William E. Taylor and will take possession January 1, 1885, and after that date will have entire control of the whole building.

   Hi. Henry's premium minstrels will be at Taylor Opera House, to-morrow evening. Popular prices of admission 25 and 35 [cents].

   Hi. Henry owns the biggest part of a town in Western New York. He has ever so many houses, two of three gas wells, a couple gross of town lots, a beloved mother but no wife. He is king bee of the place of his abode, which is Gowanda, N. Y., near Buffalo.

   At McKinney's hotel, in Virgil on Christmas evening, an enjoyable time may be had by all. Mr. McKinney gives very popular parties and the guests always report a good time.

 

Preble.

   Our sportsmen, Seth Aldrich and James Manchester, the two oldest men in town are making it lively for the foxes nowadays.

   Hobert Cummings is loading potatoes this week at 30 cents per bushel.

   Strange as it may seem, though it is a fact, there are people who are never satisfied after having their own way. One of our silk hat Democrats has ordered all of Blaine's pictures to be destroyed, especially in the school-rooms, as both teachers have them upon the walls of each room. We think the Democrats had better not be too cranky for this is the last president we will let them have. Teachers, place Blaine upon the walls again.

The Cortland News, Friday, December 5, 1884.

The Coal Mine.

   On Wednesday afternoon a representative of this paper visited the farm of Leander Ladd, about five and one-half miles west of Cortland tor the purpose of ascertaining all that could be in regard to the find of coal.

   Three years ago last spring Mr. Ladd had a well bored in his barn, at a depth of seventy feet the drill struck a vein of something soft, and continued for about a foot when it again entered rock. After boring about two feet further, the soft substance was again struck and ten feet was added to the depth of the well in one day, the sand pump bringing up what looked to be coarse black gravel. Some lightning rod agents who were at work on Mr. Ladd's buildings, and who had been all through the anthracite regions of Pennsylvania, informed the owner that there was coal at the bottom of the well. Mr. Ladd paid but little attention to these stories and went on as usual about his farm work. The dirt and gravel from this well was taken to a held and dumped upon the land.

   Last spring Mr. Ladd had occasion to dig another well at the corner of his barn, some three or four rods away from the old one. After going to a depth of sixty eight feet this soft black substance was again struck and continued for about fourteen feet.

   The men who were doing the drilling informed the proprietor of the farm that it was coal--and no mistake--that the sand pump was bringing up and a double handful of specimens of the size of kernels of corn were saved out. Remembering what had been told him while sinking the other well, Mr. Ladd resolved to find out for certain whether there was a deposit of coal in any quantity there, and accordingly started the sinking of a shaft about forty rods to the west of where the wells had been put down. The shaft is six by ten feet, and a depth of seventeen feet has now been reached, most of the way being through rock that has to be blasted out.

   Water bothers a good deal and a pump has to be kept going most of the time. The man who has had charge of the sinking is only a novice at "shooting" rock, and has now acknowledged his inability to cope with the hard rock, and so business is suspended for a few days until more experienced hands can be obtained, which will be but a short time as Mr. Ladd is thoroughly resolved to know for certain whether he has coal there or not.

   We wish him success in every way, and hope his best expectations may be realized.

 

 

 

 

 

The Cortland News, Friday, January 23, 1885.

Cardiff Giant Again.

   Dear Friend,—If you are solicited to send your dollars, or to take stock in the company that is forming to develop the coal fields in western Cortland, remember the Cardiff Giant. The fundamental chapters of Geology must be recast and its most certain conclusions overthrown if an acre of workable coal is ever found in the formation upon which Cortland is planted. Then before you take stock let your eyes rest upon the face of eight feet deep of choice anthracite that has been disclosed on Mr. Ladd’s farm.

"CARDIFF GIANT."

   A correspondent in another column thinks that the coal find on the farm of Mr. Ladd is another Cardiff hoax. His reasons for so thinking are that the formation of this section of the country are against all probabilities of coal. Whether he is right or wrong remains to be seen, but let us all hope that he may be in error for nothing will be better for us than to break the coal monopoly which rules this section.

 

The Cortland News, Friday, December 12, 1884.

Editorial Notes.

   At his own request General Grant will not be placed on the pension rolls by the present Congress. Senator Mitchell, who last week introduced a bill in the Senate to pension the ex-president, has announced that General Grant has written to him a letter saying he would not accept a pension even if both house of Congress passed the bill. Mr. Mitchell requested leave to withdraw the bill, and it was promptly granted by the Senate.

   The Civil Service, law is of profound interest just now to tens of thousands of anxious officeholders and office seekers. There is one point on which the former place too much reliance, entirely and that is the removal clause. The general idea is that there can be no removal except "for cause." This is not true. Except that no man can be displaced for refusing to do political work, or refusing to pay a political assessment, the power of removal is the same as it always was. The only difference is, that now when a removal is made of one of those included in the operation of the Civil Service law, his place must be supplied by promotion from a lower grade, and the lowest grade can only be filled up by those who passed the requisite examination. This takes away the inducement to make a change for the sake of rewarding one's friends, but does not prevent it being done to punish his enemies.

Reference:
Hi Henry’s Locomobile: http://elwoodindiana.org/content/first-documented-appearance-automobile-elwood-april-30-1902
Hiram F. Henry (1845-1920) obituary dated January 30, 1920 N. Y. Times:  http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=F30917F6345A1A738DDDA80B94D9405B808EF1D3
Minstrel Show: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minstrel_show