The Cortland Democrat, Friday, June 19,
1891.
Concerning Grand Juries.
The last
Grand Jury took occasion to make a written statement to the court, signed by
the foreman Mr. Charles T. Peck of this place, and J. W. Patrick of Truxton, clerk.
The statement condensed is as follows:
At the
town meeting held in Solon last February, Henry Kelley, the supervisor of the
town, and a candidate for re-election on the Democratic ticket, acted with the Justices
as a member of the board of inspectors. That "gross and almost inexcusable
irregularities appear," and that "the certificate of election signed
by said board, whereby they certified to the election of a candidate who had a
lesser number of votes than another candidate running for the same office at
such election, and contrary to law, and by allowing said supervisor to appoint
a certain officer to hold office, who had not been elected thereto, according
to law, upon the simple authority of an unreliable newspaper comment, instead
of making themselves conversant with the election law and strictly adhering to
its provisions.
The
statement was entirely unnecessary and uncalled for, and the publication of the
same in the Standard of last week was intended to make political capital
and at the same time injure Mr. Kelly, who is an honest man and a worthy
citizen.
The paper
referred to is the Cortland DEMOCRAT, and its statements are as reliable as are
those of any member of the late Grand Jury. The law had just been passed and
the provisions of the law were given as carefully and correctly as possible without
having a copy of the same in hand, and it turned out that it was entirely
correct, and the only trouble was in understanding its exact meaning. We
venture to assert that not a single member of the Grand Jury knew anything
about the law at the time, further than the condensation of the same published
in the DEMOCRAT. Why then should they censure Mr. Kelly for not being possessed
of information that it was impossible for any one to obtain?
Here is
the great crime which Mr. Kelly committed and for which a gang of republicans tried
to procure his indictment. At the town meeting in February last, there were
more candidates on the ticket for Inspectors of Election than the law required,
the law having been changed after the tickets were printed and before election,
and it became necessary to select one of the candidates on the democratic
ticket when the board canvassed the votes and leave the other off. Henry Monroe
was one of the candidates but the other candidate was appointed with the full
concurrence of the board. It turned out that Monroe had one more vote than the
man appointed, and Monroe, egged on undoubtedly by certain republicans who were
anxious to create trouble in the democratic party in Solon, went before the
Grand Jury and endeavored to have Kelly and the Town Board indicted. Was ever
such a row raised over such an insignificant matter? The office is important to
the public but not to the individual as the fees are hardly as much as the
service is worth.
If Kelly
and the board had committed a crime, why didn't the grand jury indict them
instead of offering an apology to the Court for their neglect to do so? The
board of canvassers of the town of Cortlandville, always Republican, have
committed the same crime for which Kelly is censured repeatedly. For many years
the board appointed from the Democratic ticket the candidate for inspector who
had the least number of votes, simply because they knew that the other
candidate understood the law and would be better able to protect the interests
of the Democratic party than the one they appointed. The district attorney should
present these parties to the next grand jury. The DEMOCRAT promises in advance
to furnish the evidence.
The DeRuyter New Era of last week [June 11, 1891, County & Vicinity, page two—CC
editor] contains the following:
"The
Cortland county grand jury failed to find an indictment against the notorious Mrs.
Strowbridge. An uncle of the young man most interested was made foreman of the
jury, and the district attorney is said to have slighted the case very noticeably."
The DEMOCRAT
begs leave to suggest that the Hon. Walter Lloyd Smith is entitled to a
statement or apology, on account of the deception evidently practiced upon him
in procuring the appointment of the foreman of the late grand jury, and we are
not particular whether the same be signed by the foreman or the district
attorney, or by both. A district attorney who desires to do his duty would not
permit a man to be appointed foreman of a grand jury, whose relative had an
interest in the findings of the same, if he could prevent it, and there is no
question but that he could prevent it if he chose to do so.
He Took an Overdose.
Bird S.
Brink of Marathon, registered at the St. James Hotel in Syracuse last Saturday
evening, as "B. S. Brink, Cortland," and was assigned a room. Sunday
he did not appear and as the employes could get no answer from repeated
knockings on the door, the proprietor forced the same open and found Brink in
an almost unconscious condition. Empty morphine, chloral and alcohol bottles
were found in the room.
Dr. A. C.
Benedict was called and under his ministrations Brink was slightly revived and
is expected to recover. Brink was in the habit of taking large doses of drugs and
liquor, and it is thought he must have taken an overdose. He was acting as
agent for a bookholder chair attachment, and his books showed that he had been
very successful in taking orders. He is well known in Cortland.
Important.
Those of
our readers who have no system of sewerage where they live, should be warned to
be scrupulously careful about the manner in which they dispose of dishwater, washing
suds and the like. Never have one place to empty these but distribute them at
the roots of various trees and shrubs and away from the well or cistern. Washing
suds should never be allowed to stand. Throw them away as soon as the washing
is finished. Above all things avoid a barrel sunk in the ground as a means of
drainage.—Exchange.
Cortland County Medical Society.
The
Cortland County Medical Society held its eighty-third annual meeting in Cortland
on Thursday afternoon. June 11.
The
members present were Drs. F. D. Reese, J. Angel, F. W. Higgins, H. S. Edson, A.
J. White and H. T. Dana, of Cortland; D. H. Stone, G. D. Bradford and F. H.
Green, of Homer; L. G. Smart and C. R Trafford, of Marathon; H. C. Hendrick, of
McGrawville; H. D. Hunt, of Preble; W. Y. Bliss, of Tully, and Dr. Tours, of
Buffalo.
The
officers elected for the ensuring year are:
Pres.—Dr.
L. G. Smart.
Vice-Pres.—Dr.
D. H. Stone.
Sec'y.—Dr.
F. W. Higgins.
Treas.—Dr.
H. S. Edson.
Librarian—Dr.
F. H. Green.
Board of
Censors—Drs. H. D. Hunt, H. T. Dana, G. D. Bradford, and W. Y. Bliss.
The
President's address was read by Dr. F. D. Reese, giving a history of
bacteriology, the rise of germ theory, and some practical deductions.
The
society gave a vote of thanks to Dr. Reese for his able address.
The
Secretary gave a report of the work done by the society during the past year. The total attendance has been 51; the number of
scientific papers read 18.
Dr. L. G.
Smart, delegate to the American Medical Association at Washington, D. C, gave a
report of that meeting.
A discussion
on Eczema was opened by Dr. D. H. Stone on Cause, Dr. M. L. Halbert on
Symptoms, Dr. J. Angel on Prognosis, and Drs. W. Y. Bliss and C. B. Trafford on
Treatment, with a case cited by Dr. H. T. Dana.
A general
discussion followed, showing that a great diversity of opinion prevailed in
regard to the disease. Still many valuable suggestions on treatment were
presented.
The
society adjourned at 5:30 to meet in August at Tully on an invitation of Dr. W.
Y. Bliss.
F. W. HIGGINS,
Sec'y.
G. A. R.
Late
Wednesday afternoon, a telephone dispatch from McGrawville, announced to the
comrades of Post Grover No. 98, G. A. R., that Inspector Walker of Tarble Post,
with a delegation of about a dozen comrades and ladies of that Post and Corps, would
be present at their annual inspection that evening in their rooms.
Although
the notice was short, the ladies of Grover Relief Corps rallied to the support of
their comrades and the Post rooms were filled with a jolly company and a most
enjoyable social evening was passed; after refreshments were served, speeches,
singing and story-telling was the order of business until a late hour. It was
suggested that the clock be stopped in order to get a little more time
to finish up.
Inspector
Walker proved himself a "talker" as well as did
Chaffee, Smith, Parker, Hendricks, and Henry. Major General Tripp spoke
eloquently for the Relief Corps. Cliff "Wiles" bugled for Homer. Wright, Sager
and Kellogg held the fort for Cortland, while Palmer and Edgcomb, assisted by
Mrs. Dunsmoore at the organ, led the crowd in singing the old soul-stirring
Army songs of the Camp.
Where to Spend the Summer.
Cortland
county people who contemplate visiting the Thousand Islands during the present
season may hesitate in making a choice of quarters. Grand View Park, located on
the point of land known as the Head, on Wells Island, has a magnificent, unobstructed
view of the river for seven miles, while the grounds are admirable made especially
so by abundant products from the floral gardens of Messrs. Hopkins, of this
village. Muskalonge [sic] fishing is superb. This pleasant resort opened June 1
under the management of Mr. Geo. Babcock, late of the Empire House, Syracuse, and
formerly a resident of Homer and Cortland. Descriptive information furnished on
a lithograph map by sending 5cents to Grand View Park Hotel, via Thousand Island Park,
N. Y. Parties leaving Cortland on the morning train will arrive at the Park in
time for dinner.
