THE ELMIRA, CORTLAND & NORTHERN R. R. ENTERTAINS LEHIGH VALLEY R. R. OFFICIALS

Cortland Evening Standard, Thursday, January 9, 1896.

THE E., C. & N. R. R.

ENTERTAINS LEHIGH VALLEY OFFICIALS.

No Truth to the Report That the Former Road is Sold to the Latter, or Will Be.

   Yesterday afternoon at 12:18 the E., C. & N. R. R. received at Van Etten from the Lehigh Valley R. R. two private cars containing certain officials of that road. There were on board General Superintendent Rolin H. Wilbur, General Traffic Manager H. H. Kingston, O. O. Eiser, superintendent of the Pennsylvania division and H. D. Titus, superintendent of the Auburn division, besides some other lesser lights. They were met at Van Etten by Superintendent Albert Allen of the E., C. & N. R. R., who accompanied them on a tour of inspection of his road. The special train arrived at Cortland at 2:06, stopped here about five minutes and continued on to Camden, arriving at 4:30. At 5:22 they started back, reaching Cortland at 7:50. The party spent the night here and at 9:35 this morning started for Elmira, arriving soon after noon.

   The presence of these gentlemen in Cortland and along the line of the road was sufficient to start the wildest reports. The town was full of rumors of the sale of the E., C. & N. to the Lehigh Valley. Credit was given to this from the fact that the Lehigh Valley is energetic and progressive and is reaching out in every direction, spreading a net work of tracks across Central New York. It was known that the Lehigh people have long been seeking a way to get into Elmira and it appeared that Van Etten, which is only fourteen miles from that city, and is the junction point of the two roads would become the necessary transfer point. Among other things it was said that the sale had been made and that the car shops were to be moved from Cortland to Sayre, Pa.

   A STANDARD man asked Superintendent Allen about it and his reply was that the report of a sale at present was absolutely false and utter nonsense, and that there was nothing to justify the thought of there ever being such a sale in the future. This was merely a friendly visit of some of the officials of another road. They desired to see what the E., C. & N. had got up here and what improvements they had made lately, and he invited them to take a trip with him over the line just as they had done several times before in years gone by, and just as officials of other roads had been his guests without a thought of purchasing the road. In fact, the president of the road, E. P. Wilbur, was not in the party, and there was no one among them who from his official position would be competent to buy a railroad.

   This seems to settle the question pretty thoroughly. It would indeed be a misfortune to have the carshops moved away.

ARE JUMPING ON HIM.

Anti-Hitching Ordinance Was a Creation of the Trustees Alone.

   Dr. E. M. Santee reports that many of the business men are jumping on him for being the author and instigator of the ordinance forbidding the hitching of horses or the leaving of them loose on Main-st. The doctor denies that this is a fact. He says that as a representative of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals he petitioned for an ordinance forbidding the hitching of horses on any street for an unreasonable length of time in severely cold or stormy weather. He had no thought of the other matter when he presented the petition of this society. The trustees incorporated this with another matter which they had intended to enact and made the two come into a single ordinance, and he is getting the credit or blame for both.

   President Higgins states that the doctor's version of the matter is perfectly correct. The anti-hitching ordinance emanated from the board and the board alone, and they stand ready to father it and enforce it.

DEPARTMENT OF GOOD GOVERNMENT.

BETTER TIMES.

   We do not say that Cortland has entirely escaped from the financial stress that is upon the country, but it is evident that we feel it less than most towns and villages of the state and country. It is a little remarkable that with most of our factories doing comparatively little, and the prevailing scarcity of work, we should be as happy and prosperous as we are, so that business men who visit us from other places constantly remark upon the fact that we are having better times here than they have elsewhere. The published statements of our business men concerning the Holiday trade were a surprise. They show that our people purchased more abundantly of Holiday goods than for years past, and this while hard times are abroad. Then the readiness almost amounting to enthusiasm, with which our people are favoring paving our streets, at great expense, right after the outlay for the sewers, is further evidence of our prosperity. It does not look as though stopping in a measure the sale of liquor in our town has hurt our prosperity. Indeed it has given the better class of our citizens better heart to push improvements. They now see that there is hope of repressing the enormous financial drain which the liquor business makes upon our people and the vice which it produces. The saloons of this town have been accustomed to take in not less than $50,000 a year. That is the very lowest estimate. Anything like a proper enforcement of law will reduce that outlay to one-third, say to $17,000.  Think of the blessing of saving $33,000 a year to the families of drinking men, to be put into home comforts, education of children, etc.

   Here we have one explanation of this years unusual holiday trade in Cortland. The pressure put upon the illegal sale of liquor among us during the last few months has so lessened the amount sold that drinking people have had, in the aggregate, thousands of dollars more for the purchase of goods. Every business man should think of these things. If every saloonkeeper and saloon employee of this town could be driven to earn his bread in some lawful industry, what a financial and moral blessing! Into this financial question comes the fact, which ought to have its weight with every taxpayer, that somewhere between $1,500 and $2,000 have been put into the village and town treasurers in fines which saloonkeepers have been made to pay. This is, of course, only a small consideration when compared with the financial saving to the families of drinking people.

NEW YORK SALOONISM.

   Most humiliating was the fact that Governor Morton stated in his late message when appealing to the legislature on the excise question: A saloon to every 150 inhabitants, old and young, male and female. Think of it! Such a reign of the saloon is a gigantic curse. It is certainly time for the people of this great Empire state to call a halt in this matter. If the liquor power gets still better terms in the legislation of the state this winter, it will be an untold calamity. It is hard enough now to restrain this mighty evil. The aroused people of the state are demanding stricter laws—laws which will enable a community to put out and keep out the saloon, if they so desire and vote; and we believe this demand will be granted.

   The Syracuse Standard in speaking on this subject says: Governor Morton may well be suspected of having indulged in a quiet, smile when he said in his message, after referring to the large number of saloons in the state, larger than in any other in the union: ''Public opinion does not concur in the desirability of such distinction for our state." When a Republican convention stampedes for a platform containing an outspoken declaration for Sunday laws, particularly aimed at the liquor traffic, and when the Republican ticket on this platform sweeps the state, it becomes evident that public opinion comes very near concurring in the opposite direction.

   The figures which Governor Morton submits are little short of a disgrace to the state. A saloon to every hundred and fifty inhabitants—men, women and children, in the cities and out! Nearly three times as many, in proportion, as Pennsylvania, and eight times as many as Alabama. Truly, the "desirability of such distinction" is very little to be esteemed.

Band Officers.

   The following officers of the Cortland City band have been elected. The band is in a flourishing condition, is learning new music, and from this time forward will hold two rehearsals each week:

   President—J. D. Clark.

   Vice-President—Frank W. Lanigan.

   Secretary and Treasurer—A. S. Perry,

   Director—C. H. Bates.

   Assistant Director—George C. Murphy.

   Manager—L. Holdridge.

Excelsior Hook & Ladder.

   The following officers of the Excelsior Hook & Ladder Co. were elected at the meeting of the company last night:

   President—Daniel Geer.

   Foreman—B. H. Bosworth.

   First Assistant—Harry L. Hartwell.

   Second Assistant—M. D. Fitzinger.

   Secretary—L. E. Waters.

   Treasurer—Harvey Baker.

   Property Clerk—Irving Townsend.

   Trustee—J. J. Glann.

   Representative on Board of Engineers—John Phelps.

Water Witch Election.

   At the regular meeting of Water Witch Steamer & Co., No. 1, last evening, the following officers were elected for the ensuing year:

   Foreman—E. M. Eastman.

   1st Asst.—F. G. Christenat.

   2nd Asst.—F. T. Allen.

   Secretary—C. W. Cook.

   Treas.—A. J. Barber.

   Trustee three years—F. P. Merchant.

   Representative—Bart Hulbert.

   Alternate—M. S. Wright.

   Janitor and Property Clerk—J. J. Chamberlain.

   Representative Five County Convention—A. J. Barber.

   Alternate—W. W. Brown.

"Children from Many Lands."

   The Berwind-White Coal Mining Co., producers of Eureka coal, through its agent George E. Green of Binghamton, has for a number of years issued for its patrons a handsome calendar. This year it has excelled all former efforts, and the calendar we can unqualifiedly say is the handsomest that has come into this office this year. It is entitled "Children from Many Lands," and was designed and copyrighted by Frances Brundage. It has six pages and upon each is a little girl, a representative of different peoples. A poetical quotation appropriate to the page and to the season accompanies each. It is printed in colors and is indeed a work of art and will be an ornament to any place.

Leak in a Water Pipe.

   A bad leak in the water pipe leading from the main on Main-st. to the

Garrison building occurred about 5 o'clock yesterday afternoon. The water rushed out and for over an hour flowed down Railroad-st. [Central Avenue] at places flooding the walks. Workmen were at once set to work digging, but slow progress was made owing to the hard frozen earth. The break occurred at a joint under the edge of the sidewalk and is being repaired to-day by T. T. Bates the plumber.

PUBLIC INSTALLATION

Of S. O. V. Officers Last Night—Fine Literary Program.

   Last evening G. A. R. hall was well filled with members of the G. A. R., W. R. C., and other friends to witness the installation of the new officers of James H. Kellogg camp, No. 48, Sons of Veterans. Townsend's orchestra of seven pieces was in attendance. The following program was rendered at 8 o'clock:

   Overture, Orchestra.

   An Old Soldier's Visit to the Capitol, R. H. Davis.

   Doctoring Under Difficulties, F. A. Beardslee

   Music, Orchestra.

   That Old Sweetheart of Mine, R. H. Davis.

   Character Sketch in Three Numbers, B. D. Hakes.

   Music, Orchestra.

   Especial mention should be made of Mr B. D. Hakes whose interpretation of the experience of a drunkard was fine.

   After the program had been concluded Past Captain C. H. Fenner installed the following officers of the camp:

   Captain—W. C. Wolcott.

   First Lieutenant—Earl Wooster.

   Second Lieutenant—H. Cooper.

   Chaplain—L. M. Alexander.

   Camp Council—L. M. Alexander, F. B. Miner, R. H. Davis.

   First Sergeant—C. H. Fenner.

   Quartermaster Sergeant—H. A. Stanton.

   Sergeant of the Guard—F. B. Miner.

   Color Sergeant—Frank Allen.

   Principal Musician—R. Maycumber.

   Corporal of the Guard—R. H. Davis.

   Camp Guard—Lee Wolcott.

   There was a delegation of McGrawville people in attendance and after the exercises an adjournment was taken to the ballroom where dancing was engaged in until midnight.

   The camp has been very fortunate in securing the services of Col. J. E. C. Redington, editor of the "Acme Haversack," to come to Cortland Jan. 22 and give an entertainment consisting of story and song. Col. Redington has a wide reputation and the entertainment promises to be a rare treat. Bean soup will also be served on that evening. The next regular meeting of the camp occurs Friday night and a full attendance is desired.

BREVITIES.

   —Mrs. Emma Runyon has added 75 cents to the Galpin fund.

   —Marathon will have a farmers' institute next Monday and Tuesday.

   —The Orris Hose company hold their annual banquet at Wallace & McKean's to-night.

   —The Loyal Circle of King's Daughters will meet with Mrs. A. M. Johnson, 54 N. Main-st., Friday, Jan. 10, at 2:30 P. M.

   —The vital statistics of the village of Marathon for 1895 show 28 births, (14 boys and 14 girls) 20 marriages and 23 deaths.

   —The farmers institute at the court house in Cortland begins to-morrow morning at 10:30 o'clock and continues through Saturday.

   —The friends of Rev. E. A. Huntington of Truxton will make him a donation visit at Woodward's hall in Truxton on Friday evening, Jan. 17.

   —The regular meeting of the Woman's Foreign Missionary society of the First M. E. church will be held to-morrow afternoon at the home of Mrs. J. B. Kellogg, 48 North Main-st.

   —Rev. Dr. Theodore L. Cuyler, who is an all the year round visitor at Saratoga, will be 74 years old Friday. He was born at Aurora on Cayuga lake, Jan. 10, 1821.—The Saratogan.

   —Nearly three hundred skaters took advantage of the fine ice at the rink last night. To-day snow has fallen, but workmen have been busy sweeping it off, and the report is that the skating is first-class.

   —The snow that has fallen to-day has made the sleighing fine and this afternoon many of the fine turnouts in which Cortland takes much pride are out on the streets, while the sleigh bells jingle merrily.

   —Janitor James F. Costello of the C. A. A. club house has placed in the hall a fine gas lamp of solid bronze and French plate glass. The lamp was formerly the property of Henry Havermeyer, the New York millionaire.

   —In the appointment of committees in senate and assembly last night Senator W. E. Johnson of this district was named as chairman of the committee on military affairs and as a member of the committee on public health. Assemblyman Frank P. Saunders was named as a member of the committees of villages, agriculture and taxation, and retrenchment. Our senator and assemblyman seem to have been very well cared for.