CARTING OFF SNOW AND RUMOR IS ALL BOSH

"Stumpy," photographed at the Waterworks, Cortland, N. Y. (Photo credit, Mrs. Stumpy.)

Cortland Evening Standard, Thursday, February 14, 1895.

CARTING OFF SNOW.

And Putting it Where the Water Will be a Public Nuisance.

   Five teams and a small army of men have been at work all day drawing off the huge banks of snow that have lined Main-st. on both sides and are piling it all along the stone wall of the grounds of Mr. Wm. R. Randall on West Court-st. Doubtless the street commissioner or whoever ordered the snow drawn to this place has his own ideas upon the subject, but to the people at large it looks like a very injudicious move, and the work in being criticized freely on all sides.

   It is easy to criticize, but here is the situation. The snow forms a bank six or seven feet high and fifteen or twenty feet wide for a distance of some three hundred feet, and is packed in hard. That snow will be long in melting. There is only one small sluiceway under the walk and that is never of any particular use until after the snow is gone. That bank of snow will hardly disappear for a month after all the rest of the snow has melted away. Every particle of water that is produced has got to go down over the crosswalk leading from the Randall corner to the Wallace building. That walk is always one of the worst walks in the village. Every heavy rain in the summer floods it, and the ordinary snow that falls on the hill above, all of which has to come down here, keeps it ankle deep with slush and running water when it melts.

   And now here is this huge bank of snow, with the volume of water which it will make, all to run down over that crosswalk and to get across Main-st as best it may, and people must wade through that stream for days at a time, for this walk is one of the most frequented and necessary in town. It looks as though very little foresight had been used.

   It is a good plan to get the snow out of the gutters on Main-st. That ought to be done, but it should have been drawn to a place where there were gutters and sluiceways enough to carry the water off without making it an abomination and a nuisance to every man, woman and child who has occasion to walk along Main-st.

Cannon for Cornell University.

   Lieutenant Bell is daily expecting the two new cannons which the war department has ordered to be sent to Cornell. The carriages and fifty sabres have arrived but the cannons are still at the Watervliet arsenal where they are being equipped with the very latest devices for rendering them effective. The new guns are to be the best of their kind. They are breech loaders, about seven and a half feet long, with a thirty-two inch bore. They will throw a projectile weighing 13 1/2 pounds nearly four miles, the charge required being 13 1/2 pounds of powder. The guns are perfectly accurate at two miles.

   That the government is satisfied with the instruction in military science given at Cornell is shown by the fact that these two guns cost $5,000. It is Lieutenant Bell's intention to make the artillery squad a model of military discipline this year. They are to have distinctive uniforms and, besides using the guns, they will be thoroughly drilled in all kinds of military gymnastics.—Ithaca Journal.

IT IS ALL BOSH.

The Report of a Receiver for the Cortland Foundry.

   A report was in circulation last night that the Cortland Foundry and Machine Co. was about to go into the hands of a receiver. A STANDARD man this morning called upon Mr. H. C. Fairbanks, the manager of the business, and made some inquiries. That gentleman denounced the whole thing as absolute bosh, and scoffed at the idea. He said that not for two years has the company done so heavy a month's business as that of the month of January. They are employing fifty men and are keeping them busy full time. They have many orders ahead that they have not yet been able to begin upon. Never has the prospect looked brighter for a season of abundant work than it does now, and never has there seemed less likelihood of a receiver being required than now.

   In these days of uncertainty it requires but a suspicion on the part of many to cause a full grown report of a certainty to be spread abroad and the public catch at it with the eagerness of a drowning man grasping at a straw. Much damage can be done to business firms and to communities by passing along unverified rumors, and to report such as facts when there is no ground for them lacks very little of downright cruelty.

Orders for Coaches.

   Orders are coming in quite rapidly at the works of the Cortland Omnibus & Cab Co. Yesterday they received orders for two $800 coaches from the Columbus Transfer Co., of Columbus, O. This same company bought two of these coaches about one year ago. They have also received an order for another coach from G. W. Fynny of Mansfield, O. Mr. Fynny also bought a coach of the Cortland Omnibus & Cab Co. just a little over a year ago.

Cortland Opera House.

An Evening of Laughter.

   The management of Charles L. Davis' Alvin Joslin company promised a laugh every minute for three hours. The entertainment last night more than fulfilled the promise. It was almost a laugh every second. There was a large audience [at the Opera House] and every one thoroughly enjoyed the show. The court scene is one of the funniest pieces of acting ever put upon a stage. Mr. Davis of course is the most prominent and conspicuous figure in the play, but the support was good and the whole company was a good one.

"The Boy Tramp.''

   "The Boy Tramp," which will be the attraction at the Opera House on Monday, is one of those thoroughly entertaining comedy-dramas commanding the interest of people of all social grades. The story of the play is founded on certain phases of every day life that touch the heart strings and call largely upon the pathos of our natures. The play throughout abounds in strong and telling situations, which are heightened by realistic scenery and thrilling climaxes. Great care and no little expense have been given to the scenic and mechanical effects attached to the presentation of the play, a car-load of scenery, mechanical effects, properties, etc., being used, of which the great Brooklyn bridge, with its electrical effects, is a marvel in stage realism. During the action of the play a number of high class specialties are introduced.

   "Cell 22" will be played by the same company on Tuesday night.

George William Curtis.

LADIES' LITERARY CLUB.

Discuss the Life and Career of George William Curtis.

   The Ladies' Literary club met yesterday afternoon at the home of Mrs. David W. Van Hoesen, 41 Hubbard-st. The subject of the meeting was a continuation of the discussion of the life and career or George William Curtis. Mrs. Welland Hendrick read a paper upon Curtis in speech literature. Mrs. Cordo reviewed one of his orations upon education delivered at Vassar college. Miss Cornelia Adams discussed Curtis as an editor. Mrs. E. C. Beach read selections from the Easy Chair. Mrs. C. P. Walrad read a paper prepared by Miss Carrie D. Hulbert, who is out of town, upon Curtis as a statesman. Miss Sara A. Saunders read selections from Prue and I. There was no music at this session.

   The next meeting will be held Feb. 27 at the home of Mrs. D. L. Bardwell, 24 Orchard-st.

ANOTHER BID RECEIVED.

Over 3,000 Copies of the Woman's Paper already subscribed for.

   A bid of $15 has been received for the third perfect paper to come from the press upon the afternoon of Feb. 22, when the woman's edition of the daily STANDARD is to be issued by the Ladies' Auxiliary of the Y. M. C. A. for the benefit of the Y. M. C. A. building fund. Bids of $5 and $10 had been made for the first and second papers respectively. A bid of $25 was made for the fifth paper if bids of $15 and $20 could be found for the third and fourth papers.  The bid on the third paper has come and now it remains for some one to offer $20 for the fourth paper. This will secure the $25 for the fifth paper, otherwise it will be withdrawn.

   A committee of ladies are making a house to house canvass of Cortland to solicit subscriptions at five cents each for the woman's paper. One lady has finished her route. The others are not more than half done. At present the subscription list is considerably in excess of three thousand copies. Homer also is to be thoroughly canvassed and McGrawville and Marathon. Orders in Homer may be left with Mrs. J. J. Murray, in McGrawville with Mrs. A. P. McGraw, and in other places with the postmaster. The ladies are highly elated with the success so far and they are to be congratulated on their work.

PAGE TWO—EDITORIALS.

What Are We Coming To?

   Senator Morgan of Alabama has prepared a bill for the reconstruction of the United States consular service. It is a severe blow, this bill, to the good old doctrine that a public office is a private snap. Senator Morgan actually proposes that our consuls shall be put through an examination for all the world like college students or letter carriers. He thinks that the time has come when the United States consular service will have to make a strenuous effort, and that a steady one, not to be outdone by the consular service of other nations and not to show off shamefully and scandalously in comparison with that. Our commercial interests demand this, and we shall be criminally negligent unless we attend to it.

   Meantime the branches in which the candidate will have to pass examination, if the Morgan bill becomes a law, are first of all the common school studies. The embryo foreign consul must even know the constitution of the United States, and besides that must actually understand how to spell at sight. As if this were not tyrannical enough, he must be between the ages of 21 and 45 and must be familiar with the history of all the world's most important treaties "from the peace of Westphalia to the present time." That is tough.

   Can no old political heeler who has been voting the boys straight for 40 years any longer get the small recognition of a foreign consulship? What are we coming to?

   The last indignity, however, the feather that breaks the camel's back, so to speak, will be the requirement that a candidate for consul must know at least one foreign language and pass examination therein. If the day has come when an appointee to a foreign consulship must actually be required to understand the language of the land he is going to transact business in, then indeed it is time to quit.

◘ There are 9,750,000 men available for military service in this country. Of these 116,889 belong to the national guard. There is not a country in civilization outside of the United States that can furnish such an army with the single exception of Russia. This was what Gladstone thought of when some ten years ago he wrote predicting the power the United States would attain in future.

◘ In a civilized community when any gang of roughs infract [sic] the law and commit outrages of violence the community rises and suppresses them. In pioneer countries they are tried by the summary process of lynch law. In any case they are suppressed one way or another. As with civilized communities, so it is with civilized nations. When a people, even a savage people, commit outrages on humanity, such as murder, enslavement and torture, the civilized nations rise and inflict punishment on the savages guilty of such foul barbarity. The savages are forced to accept the rule of a civilized government strong enough to see to it that the outrages are not repeated at any time. Judged by this unwritten law of nations, Turkey must go. She has forfeited her right to be considered as a nation. She is a relic of barbarism in the midst of civilization. There is no reason why she should exist longer—not one. Let Russia have her and welcome.

ADVICES FROM THE EAST.

China-Japan Peace Negotiations—Foreign News In General.

   VICTORIA, B. C., Feb. 14.—The steamship Empress of China has arrived with Yokohama advices to Feb. 1.

   They are interesting as showing the events which led up to the Wei Hai Wei conquest, and the preliminary work of the peace commission.

   The third of Japan's great military expeditions was launched Jan. 19, when the first detachment of the newly organized army corps set sail from Talian bay in 19 transport vessels, conveyed by strong naval forces. Their destination was an inlet at the extreme eastern point of the Shantung peninsula, but in order to mislead the enemy a small squadron was sent on the same morning to fortify the port of Tung Chow, some 40 miles west of Chefoo, with instructions to open a heavy bombardment and make a show of attempting to land troops. The invaders correctly encountered no vigorous opposition at the spot they had chosen

   The transports arrived at dawn on Jan. 20 and before evening the soldiers were all on Chinese soil.

   Mr. Foster was given to understand that unless ample powers were guaranteed by their credentials the envoys would not even be admitted to a hearing. The diplomatic contest will be stubborn.

   At this date China does not yet seem to realize that Japan will demand a cession of territory, and it is anticipated that the humiliation of losing any of her continental domain is more than she will be willing to endure.

   The Chinese embassy arrived at Hiroshima on the 3lst, and were received with the formalities due to their official position. Apartments were provided for the two heads of the commission in the government houses and Mr. Foster was invited to the residence of a member of the Asano family, to which the province in which Hiroshima is situated formerly belonged.

   Admiral Count Kawamaura, for many years the head of the Japanese navy department, publishes an emphatic denial of a statement sent out by a foreign correspondent at Port Arthur that the torpedo boats sunk 10 junks filled with people.

   The two American adventurers, Wilde and Howe, who were arrested in Japan while on their way to China with the avowed purpose of annihilating the Japanese navy by their newly invented explosive, and who were released on giving pledges that they would not attempt to proceed to their destination, have, nevertheless, completed their journey as originally proposed and are now putting together their destructive machinery at Tien Tsin.

Peace Envoys Return Home.

   NAGASAKI, Japan, Feb. 14.—The Chinese peace envoys, who returned here from Hiroshima, after having been informed by the Japanese representatives that their powers were not considered full enough for them to undertake peace negotiations, left here for China, having been notified by their government to return to that country.

BREVITIES.

   —Valentine's day.

   —The Ladies' Auxiliary will meet in the Y. M C. A. rooms Saturday afternoon at 3 o'clock.

   —Yesterday the Citizens party filed in the town clerk's office the nomination of H. M. Phillips as excise commissioner.

   —Miss Crissy's children's dancing class gives a masquerade party this afternoon in the Clover club rooms, and the senior class gives a reception tonight in the Vesta lodge rooms.

   —After the meeting of Excelsior Hook & Ladder Co. last night the officers tendered the members of the company a banquet in the rooms. Cigars were passed, jokes cracked and the boys had a jolly good time.

   —Mr. George W. Houk of Syracuse is exhibiting the Eclipse bicycle with all the latest improvements at the store of C. F. Thompson. Through a mistake his wheels did not arrive yesterday as was expected, but are on hand to-day.

   —A regular meeting of the W. C. T. U. at 2:30 P. M. will be held Saturday, Feb. 16. Consecration service will be led by Mrs. J. W. Keese. The program for the after-meeting is in charge of Miss Sara H. Hare, who is chairman of the finance committee.

   —R. B. Willey of Chicago, brother of Mrs. Martha Head of Cortland, was killed last week in the hog slaughtering house of Nelson Morris & Co. of Chicago where he was working, by slipping into the moving machinery which he was oiling. He was brought to his old home at Ithaca for burial.