A FAKIR IN CORTLAND

Cortland Evening Standard, Thursday, October 11, 1894.

A FAKIR IN CORTLAND.

He Does up Women Who Have Large Washings.

   Of all contemptible people in the world it is a fakir, and if one of this class deserves punishment more than another, it is one who gave his name as Charles H. Arnold and faked hard-working women. Five of the known victims are Mrs. Nina V. Leonard, Mrs. F. L. Colegrove, Mrs. White, Mrs. Stevens and Mrs. Lewis.

   The fakir came to the laundresses homes and sold to them a $20 ironing machine to lessen their labor. He agreed to furnish purchasers with five dollars a week worth of work. He required the purchasers to pay him two dollars in advance to pay the express charges on the machine and a receipt for starching their clothes, which afterward proved worthless. Although he said that he could sell only four in a place he agreed to let his purchasers know the evening following their purchase of the machine where his Cortland office would be located. It is needless to say that the fakir was not seen or heard from since the time he placed the two dollars in his pocket and that he failed to meet the laundresses, as he had promised to show them how the machine was operated.

   The machine was an imaginary one.

They Think It Singular.

   In its account of the Dryden fair, the Ithaca Democrat says: "One point seems singular, and that is, about all the exhibits of merchandise from outside the village of Dryden seemed to be from the stores and shops of Cortland, none being from Ithaca. It would seem as if this city might find some merchants wide awake enough to compete with Cortland or any other foreign place, in the fairs in any part of this county."

   It is not singular at all, our Ithaca friends. Cortland is a wide awake town, all stir and bustle, and Cortland merchants are always alive to their opportunities of getting their goods and their business before the public. There is hardly a day but what there is a score or more of Dryden people here trading.

HOMER DEPARTMENT.

Gleanings of News From Our Twin Village.

   Mrs. B. F. Stanley is visiting her sister, Mrs. Mary Bacon on James-st.

   Mr. and Mrs. E. D. Seward are entertaining Mrs. Seward's mother, Mrs. D. M. Webster of Schenevus.

   The thirty-third reunion of the Tenth N. Y. Cavalry will be held at the Vanderbilt House in Syracuse on Oct. 16, 17 and 18. A full notice will be found on another page of this issue. Mr. L. P. Norton of this village is the adjutant of the regiment.

   William, alias "Billy" Way, was gathered in by Officer Jones yesterday afternoon for public intoxication. After spending the night in the cooler "Billy" was given a ten days' excursion ticket to the county jail. "Billy" accepted the magistrate's courtesy.

   Mr. C. B. Shaw is buying cabbage in Preble to-day.

   Mrs. Marcus Coughnet, Mrs. Henry Bardell, Mrs. John Miller and Mrs. D. L. Brown were the guests of Mrs. E. C. Erkanbrack at Preble to-day.

   Mr. J. N. Hayward of this village has accepted a position as foreman of a trimming department in a large carriage manufactory at Buffalo where he is now staying. Mrs. Hayward will leave town in a few weeks for her new home in that city. Mr. Hayward had been employed at the Brockway Wagon works in the same capacity for thirteen years when he resigned about a month ago.

   Mr. L. P. Adams returned from Pottsville, Pa. this morning. He has been away nearly a week with the Groton band.

   Two meetings of the board of trustees of this village have been held within the past week on October 5 and 8. The matters of importance which were considered were the providing of 250 feet of hose for use in the south end of the village and the adoption of a motion compelling the new street railroad company to lay their track in the middle of the road between Tisdale's mill and the foundry on South Main-st.

   Mr. Lewis Riggs who has been visiting his mother, Mrs. Adelaide Riggs, for several days past, left town this morning for Nashville, Tenn., where he will resume his studies in the dental college there.

   After being idle for two months the employees of the woodworking department of the Brockway Wagon works will be glad to resume work in that department next Monday morning. The other departments will commence operations a week later. This revival of industrial activity will be welcomed by all and it is to be hoped that a similar change may take place in all branches of trade in the near future.

   Mr. Thos. Fisher had a very unpleasant experience while attending the Masonic excursion to Binghamton on Tuesday. Just after he boarded the train to come home in the evening he discovered that his pocketbook containing $60 in money and his railroad ticket were missing. Fortunately he had enough acquaintances among the passengers so that his return home was made possible, but the pocketbook was left in the Parlor City. Mr. Fisher seems to view his loss in a very sanguine manner, as he was heard to remark that it was the first money he ever lost in his life and that he supposed it was time he lost some. Probably the sneak who secured the amount was of the same opinion.

ANNUAL INDIAN CONFERENCE.

Affairs of Our Red Brethren Discussed at Lake Mohunk.

   LAKE MOHUNK, N. Y., Oct. 11.—The 12th annual Indian conference opened here with about 360 members present—50 more than ever before. Mr. Smiley delivered a brief address of welcome.

   Rev. Dr. Merrill Gates, president of Amherst college, was chosen chairman.

   Dr. Gates opened the conference with a short address and introduced General  Whittlesin, secretary of the Indian conference board of Indian commissioners, who gave a brief account of the legislation on Indian matters for the past year.

   Dr. Hailman, the superintendent of Indian schools, was the next speaker. He said he found the Indian children little different and not inferior in capacity to white children and that the civil service examinations have been adapted to requirements of the case, so that those who have passed those examinations are reasonably sure to be well qualified as teachers.

   Miss Sybil Carter, for 15 years a worker among the Indians of the Northwest, spoke on the subject of work and wages, telling how she taught the Indian women to make lace, paying them promptly for it and showing that their work is admirable in quality and in constant demand on its own merits at good prices in the cities of  the East.

   The morning session was closed by ex-Senator Dawes of Massachusetts, who gave an instructive account of the present condition and prospects of the Indians in the Indian Territory.

Japanese troops crossing Yalu River and entering China.

MARCHING ON PEKIN.

JAPAN GAINS ANOTHER VALUABLE POINT OF VANTAGE.

More Troops Landed On Chinese Soil. Nothing to Prevent an Advance On the Celestial Capital—Conflicting Rumors From the Seat of War—Talk of European Intervention—The Czar's Health. Foreign News In General.

   SHANGHAI, Oct. 11.—Various local rumors are in circulation, the most prominent being that 60,000 Japanese troops have landed near Shan Hai Kwan on the boundary between the Chinese provinces of Manchuria and Chi-Li, at the eastern end of the great wall which traverses China.

   The telegraph wires have been cut, thus hindering communication with that district. A report which is classed here as unreliable says that the Japanese have affected a landing near New Chwang, gulf of Loao Ton.

   According to a letter received here from Tien Tsih, during the progress of a large fire there on Friday last the China merchants got down as volunteers and protected the settlement and are now patrolling the streets from sunset to sunrise.

   It is reported here that several Japanese warships have been sighted off Takuar.

   A dispatch here from Tien Tsin [Tianjin] says that the British and Russian ministers have arrived there and they will proceed at once to Pekin.

   Another report which reaches this city says that after a skirmish which took place north of the Yalu river Tuesday the Japanese outposts were driven back across the river.

   Advices received here from Port Arthur say that the repairs to the Chinese fleet which were engaged in the battle off the Yalu river have been completed and the fleet will proceed to sea at once.

   Shan Hai Kwan, where the Japanese are reported to have landed 40,000 troops, is directly on the railroad building from Tien Tsin to Moukden and is of great strategic importance. In fact, the opinion has been expressed that if Shan Hai Kwan is captured there is nothing to prevent the Japanese from marching on Pekin. A Japanese fleet was reported to have been sighted off Shan Hai Kwan on Sept. 28.

   A dispatch from Tien Tsin says that the emperor is taking the initiative infusing new energy into the national defense. He is mustering military resources, the existence of which was scarcely suspected.

   Viceroys Yun Kwei and Hu Kwang have been summoned to Pekin for a council.

   The Japanese cruiser which was taken for the Yoshino was probably the Chi Yoda.

   The Japanese admiral has been making sham demonstrations with dummy ships painted white like war vessels, but there are always the same two cruisers appearing about the promontory of Shan Tung.

   The Japanese are taking elaborate pains to conceal their losses in the recent engagement. The truth, nevertheless, is gradually coming out that their fleet was crippled more seriously than the Chinese were aware.

   English papers received here contain a falsified version of the Chinese emperor's declaration of war as circulated in Europe. The phrase, "Rooting the pestilent Japanese from their lairs," was not in the original document. Experience has shown that the Japanese accounts of events preceding and during the war have been misleading.

   A dispatch from Shanghai says that tens of thousands of Chinese troops are waiting for arms. It is supposed that the reserve stores of rifles and cartridges have been found not to exist. Many of the troops sent to the front had no better arms than jingals and bows and arrows.

   Additional contracts have been entered into with German firms for supplies of firearms of any pattern. These firms charge exhorbitant prices for the delivery of their supplies at European ports, and China takes the risk of transportation to Shanghai or other Chinese ports.

Advocates Immediate Intervention.

   LONDON, Oct. 11.—The Standard this morning publishes a leader, in which it argues in favor of the immediate intervention of the powers, including the United States, in the Chinese-Japanese war.

Grave News of the Czar.

   ROME, Oct. 11.—The papers here state that M. Vlangali, Russian ambassador to Italy, received grave news concerning the health of the Czar.

BREVITIES.

   —The Y. M. C. A. gymnasium committee meet to-night at 9 o'clock in the parlor.

   —Don't fail to hear Judge Green, the humorist, at Normal hall, next Saturday evening. As a public entertainer he ranks with the best.

   —The rainfall during the twenty-four hours ending at 6 o'clock last night was 1.82 inches, one of the largest amounts ever recorded in Cortland in the same length of time.

   —One of the attractions in the Y. M. C. A. lecture course at Syracuse this winter will be a tariff debate between Hon. Roswell G. Horr and Congressman Michael G. Harter.

   —The Alpha Chautauqua circle will meet with Mrs. F. J. Doubleday, 44 Port Watson-st, Saturday evening, Oct. 13, at 7:30 o'clock. A full attendance is desired, it being the annual election of officers.

   —Edward Sheldon received first premium on his pair of roadsters at

Cortland and Ithaca fairs, and including Dryden fair, has taken eight first premiums in the past three years. A pretty good record.—Dryden Herald.

   —There will be a union service in the Presbyterian church next Sunday evening addressed by Mrs. Mary J. Weaver, the Quaker evangelist and national superintendent of evangelistic work in the Woman's Christian Temperance union.

   —Shortly after midnight last night M. H. Campion entered a complaint to the police that he had been assaulted and robbed upon the street. He claimed to know his assailant. This morning, however, he remembers that the money which he thought he had lost had been deposited early in the evening with a friend and was all safe.

   —At a recent regular meeting of the Loyal Circle of King's Daughters held at the home of Mrs. Johnson, the following ladies were elected a sewing committee: chairman, Mrs. Jones; Mrs. Rindge, Mrs. W. Barnes, Mrs. C. Geer, Mrs. W. Johnson, Mrs. Gillett, Mrs. Townsend, Miss Webster, Mrs. Hall, Mrs. Stevens.

  

SMALLEST ON RECORD

Is the Potato Yield in the United States this Year.

   An estimate of the potato crop made by a well-known New York commission merchant for 1894 places it at 165,000,000 bushels which, compared with the population, is the smallest on record. The average yield per acre is also the lowest recorded, being only fifty-six bushels. With the exception of Northern New England and Colorado, the whole middle states and central west are short of potatoes. Quality is uneven, the best yielding sections having the finest quality, while the short sections complain of small tubers of inferior quality. The Canadian crop is also short. Prices have opened at a higher range than usual, and growers exhibit a tendency to hold for still higher values.