THE HEAT PESTILENCE IN NEW YORK CITY

Cortland Evening Standard, Thursday, August 27, 1896.

THE HEAT PESTILENCE IN NEW YORK CITY.

   The unprecedented hot wave that shriveled up New York and Brooklyn lasted ten days. The deaths from those who had been prostrated by it did not cease for several days after the actual fall in temperature. The heated period extended over five days of each of two weeks. For the second week of its appalling reign there were in New York city and Brooklyn 2,686 deaths. The normal death rate was much more than doubled. Only those went into the streets who were obliged to go. None knew whether his own turn would not come next to reel and fall upon the sidewalk or at his desk.

   The scenes at the morgue and at the undertakers all over the city recalled the description of the plague in London. There were not hearses enough to bury the dead and, horror unspeakable, there were not even coffins enough to hold he corpses. There were not gravediggers enough to hollow out the last resting places of those whom the sun rays had killed. In hundreds of cases corpses were kept until they became a menace to the living because there was none to bury them. Day and night the gravediggers toiled at their gruesome task, till they themselves succumbed to the heat and fell fainting over their work.

   At the morgues scores of bodies lay unidentified. At the hospitals it was the same. Corpses are identified by their clothing. In the haste to save the life of the patient his clothing was ripped off with knife or scissors and thrown in a heap with all the rest. In that awful heat went out the souls of scores whose friends and relatives will never know their fate till judgment day. The city distributed free ice and public free baths were open all night.

   The sufferings of the dumb brutes no pen can write. In Brooklyn 2,000 horses, cats and dogs died from the heat. In New York city 1,560 horses fell in their harness. It was pitiful to see that most of the noble creatures lay upon hillsides, with their heads toward the top. They had dropped dead while straining to draw heavy loads up hill, faithful to duty till the last. It was not uncommon to see several large and beautiful horses lying dead upon the same elevation. For nearly a week many of their bodies lay where they fell, filling the air with pestilence and horror. The horse undertaker could not haul them away because his own horses had fallen.

   New Yorkers who lived through it will recall to their dying day that awful ten days' heated term.

REVOLUTION IN TURKEY.

Great Uprising In the City of Constantinople.

MOB SEIZES THE OTTOMAN BANK.

Rioting Becomes General, and Bazaars, Houses and Other Places Are Sacked by the Mob—British Warship Hurrying to the Scene.

   CONSTANTINOPLE, Aug. 27.—At 1:30 o'clock yesterday afternoon a score of men, armed with revolvers and bombs, invaded the Ottoman bank, killing a number of gendarmes on guard.

   Closing the doors of the Ottoman bank, to prevent for the time being the onward advance of the mob, the employes of the bank fled to the quarters occupied by the tobacco syndicate, which has control of the collection of the taxes on tobacco throughout the Turkish empire. The invaders mounted the roof of the building and from the open windows fired at the police in the street below.

   The police returned the fusillade in a vigorous fashion and several persons were killed and wounded.

   The riot then became general. Shops were sacked and bazaars invaded and the wildest excitement prevailed throughout certain quarters of Constantinople. At 5 o'clock the bank was reported as still being in the hands of the invaders.

   A later report says that there is no doubt but what the movement was revolutionary in plan and scope, that it has its origin at the secret meetings of the Hintchakist Armenians.

   About 40 of the rioters were still in possession of the Ottoman bunk at a late hour, despite all the efforts of the government forces to remove them from the building.

   Advices from the disorderly sections of the city are to the effect that the riots continue and that the mob is constantly increasing in the Galate quarter.

   A bomb was exploded in Constantinople near the Galataseral guard house. Many soldiers were killed and wounded.

   Her majesty's steamship Dryad at once left Therapia, where she was anchored, and proceeded to this city.

   Her majesty's steamer Cockatrice has just arrived en route for the Danube. She will probably remain here on account of the riots.

Frank S. Black.

PAGE TWO—EDITORIALS.

Frank S. Black for Governor.

   The STANDARD takes special pleasure in the nomination of Congressman Frank S. Black of Troy for governor, and is also pleased that the delegation from this county voted solidly for him. Mr. Black was the only Republican candidate for the nomination whom The STANDARD endorsed before the convention was held, and we then believed and still believe that he was the ablest among an unusual number of able candidates. On the 17th of July we referred to Mr. Black's candidacy, quoted at length from an editorial in the Troy Times in support of him, and said: "The Republican party in this state cannot well find a stronger nominee than Mr. Black."

   As temporary chairman of the convention, Mr. Black made a speech which in point, force and ability was a revelation to many delegates to whom he had before been unknown, and which exerted a powerful influence in securing for him the nomination. He will make an admirable executive officer. The following brief biographical sketch will show what manner of man he is:

   Frank S. Black of Troy is the present congressman from the Columbia and Rensselaer district, serving his first term. He has recently been renominated. Mr. Black is 43 years of age and was born on March 8, 1853, in the town of Lymington, York county, in the state of Maine, which town adjoins the one in which Speaker Reed resides.

   Mr. Black was born of poor but intelligent and God-fearing parents. He has worked hard all of his life, and after being graduated at Dartmouth college taught school for a while. Mr. Black came to Troy about eighteen years ago. His first work there was upon a morning newspaper as a reporter on a meager salary. Mr. Black studied law in the daytime and devoted his nights to reportorial work. He was soon admitted to the practice of his chosen profession and rose rapidly to distinction, until there are few important cases in that section of the state in which he is not retained.

   Mr. Black was married on Thanksgiving day in 1879 to Miss Hamlin, who was born and resided in Provincetown, Mass. Mr. Black has one child living, a boy 14 years of age. Mr. Black was always an ardent Republican and has done good work for his party upon the stump in many campaigns. He became unusually prominent in politics in 1892 and tenaciously fought the machine which has so long been all powerful in Rensselaer county under the domination of United States Senator Edward Murphy, Jr.

   In 1893 Mr. Black was the leader of the movement which led to the formation of a committee of public safety in Troy, which resulted in the conviction and execution of Bartholomew Shea tor the killing of Robert Ross at an election row in Troy. This was the year Judge Maynard ran, when Rensselaer gave him a majority of 6,000. Under Mr. Black's leadership the Republicans of Rensselaer overturned this strong Democratic county and in 1894 secured a Republican majority of 2,700. The Republican party has been led to continued victory under Mr. Black since that time.

SCOTCH PICNIC.

Seventh Annual Reunion of Scotch People at Robert Lamont's.

   The seventh annual reunion and picnic of the Scotch people of this vicinity was held yesterday at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Lamont between McLean and Dryden. Ever since the organization of these annual reunions it has been the good fortune to have a pleasant day for the occasion, and yesterday was no exception to the rule. The dusty roads made driving unpleasant and wheeling difficult, but this was more than made up for by the cordial greeting received and the hearty welcome extended by the host and hostess and their family, who had left nothing undone to make the day a complete success.

   The spacious lawn with its abundant shade made a delightful place for spending the day, renewing old acquaintances and talking over the "days of Auld Lang Syne." A large tent in front of the house covered the tables where the dinner was served and exactly one hundred and ninety people partook of the bountiful dinner spread beneath its shade. It is needless to say that the proverbial Scotch oatmeal was lacking but no one seemed to notice this in the abundance of good things provided.

   After the dinner was over and the necessary business connected with the organization disposed of, Rev. W. A. Smith of Groton "a true Scotchman through and through" was introduced and for half an hour held the undivided attention of all present by his exceedingly interesting and timely remarks upon Scotland and the Scottish people. "Scotland," the land of the heather, the home of Wallace and of Burns and the birthplace of many who were then present was the theme, and what theme could be more interesting upon such an occasion, especially when treated by an enthusiastic Scotchman and listened to by those so intimately connected with the scenes described and in sympathy with the thoughts suggested? The land itself, its people, their characteristics and achievements were all dwelt upon in an entertaining manner and the address was thoroughly enjoyed by all present.

   At the business meeting the following officers were elected for the ensuing year:

   Pres.—Lewis Bouton, Cortland.

   Vice-Pres.—Arch. Robinson, Ithaca.

   Secretary and Treasurer—Archibald L. Bouton, Cortland.

   The next reunion will be held at the home of Mr. James White, three miles west of Cortland on the last Wednesday in August, 1897.

   Of those who were present at yesterday's gathering the following are the only ones so far as could be ascertained who were born in Scotland: Rev. W. A. Smith, Montgomery Smith, John McKellar, Groton; Alex. Stewart, Arch McIntosh, Dan McIntosh, Mrs. Mary Shaw, Locke; Arch. Robinson, Ithaca; John D. Lamont, Mrs. H. Lusk, Dryden; Mrs. Margaret Shutt, Slaterville; D. McKellar, Killawog; Mrs. J. L. Bovee, Richford; Robert Forbes, Lisle; Mrs. Jane Pope, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Harkness, Mr. David Harkness, Mrs. James White and Mrs. Lewis Bouton, Cortland.

NO MANUSCRIPT ABOUT IT.

The Report of Mr. Hick's Speech was Based upon Notes Taken Upon the Spot.

   The Homer Republican reprints The STANDARD'S report of the sound-money speech of Hon. W. W. Hicks at Homer last Friday night and prefaces it with the following: "The Cortland STANDARD of Saturday gave the gist of the speech as prepared from the manuscript in the following very full and complete form."

   We would inform our friends of The Republican that there was no manuscript about it. No one who knows Mr. Hicks and his style of speaking would believe that he ever had any manuscript or ever prepared any for a political speech. He stated that night that he had spent over six months in the study of the statistics in official records upon which he based his speech, but it is doubtful if he ever wrote a speech out in connected form, or if he would have followed it if he had so written it.

   He had with him that night on the stage [at Keator Opera House] only a pamphlet containing a paper of Alexander Hamilton's from which he quoted, and a single page of notepaper containing heads upon which he wished to touch, and page references to the Hamilton pamphlet. The STANDARD'S report was prepared wholly from notes taken on the spot by a representative of this paper who sat within ten feet of the speaker and the report represented, not what Mr. Hicks might have said if he had followed a manuscript, but what he actually did say then and there.

   We are obliged to the Republican for its good words concerning the report and for the compliment paid in reprinting it.

FIRE IN AN ICEHOUSE.

Some One Must Have Slept There and Set Fire to the Hay.

   As Mrs. Frank Donegan was passing the icehouse on the property of Wickwire Brothers near the stone bridge on Clinton-ave. this morning at about 5:45 o'clock, she saw smoke issuing from the building. Running across the street she notified Mr. D. C. Todd of it. Mr. Todd and his son Harry hurried over from their house and found a bundle of dry hay in the building burning and some sawdust under it smouldering. No ice was put into this building last year, but the sawdust and hay in which it was formerly packed is still there.

   A few pails of water extinguished the fire. It is impossible to conceive what the cause of the fire could have been unless some one slept in there on the hay and dropped a spark from a match or a pipe.

Griswold Family Reunion.

(From the Dryden Herald.)

   The home and grounds of Daniel Bartholomew were the scene of a very pleasant reunion Thursday when the members of the Griswold family to the number of 112 with twenty-three guests held their annual picnic. A tent gayly decorated with flags and evergreen occupied a central position on the lawn. Soon the house and grounds were filled with the happy crowd of relatives and hand shaking and visiting were the order of the day. A bountiful repast of the good things that disappear at family picnics like magic was served and some of the guests made short speeches which were happily received. Morris Sweetland was elected president for the coming year, and Mrs. Fred Space was re-elected secretary. The picnic will be held next year at the home of LaFayette Sweetland near the lake.

Mahan's Music Store, Court Street, Cortland, N. Y.

THE MISSES KEYES

And Other Musicians to Give a Fine Series of Concerts.

   Mr. Mahan is meeting with fine success in making engagements for the Misses Keyes Concert company. They are already booked for Cortland, Groton, Dryden, Newark Valley, Union, Binghamton, Marathon, McGrawville and other places. The company, in addition to the Misses Keyes of New York, comprises Mr. Geo. Oscar Bowen, tenor; Miss Grace L. Kinney, reader; Miss Susan Tompkins, violinist; and Mrs. G. A. Tompkins, harp and piano.

   Certainly this is a most pleasing combination of fine talent. The Misses

Keyes are immensely popular—and deservedly so—and with such a variety of vocal and instrumental selections as this company will give they must draw large audiences and give the most complete satisfaction to all who listen to them.

BREVITIES.

   —New advertisements to-day are—The Wesson-Nivison Mfg. Co., Loyal Bicycle, page 7.

   —Mr. Edward Allen won the third prize in the one-mile open bicycle race at Norwich Tuesday.

   —The Evangelist, S. A. Chaffee, who is well-known in Cortland, will address the meeting of the Volunteers of America in the W. C. T. U. rooms this evening.

   —Mr. Robert Chadwick suffered a slight shock at 4 o'clock yesterday afternoon at the residence of his son, Mr. D. J. Chadwick, 10 Homer-ave., but is better to- day.

   —Regular meeting of the W. C. T. U. on Saturday, Aug. 29, at 3 P. M. Devotions led by Mrs. Moorehouse, followed by a business meeting and the annual election of officers.

   —Harold Crawford, son of Mr. and Mrs. Willis J. Crawford of 16 Halbert-st., died at 4 o'clock this morning, aged 1 year and 3 weeks. The body was taken on the 1:42 train this afternoon to Barton, N. Y., for burial.

   —An unusually large number of private picnic parties were at the park and took lunch last night. The evening was just right and many remained to hear the band concert in the evening.

   —Joiners' business college opens Monday, Aug. 31. Mr. Joiner has rented the entire third floor of the Democrat block on Railroad-st., into which he is moving and where there will be more room and better accommodations for the large number of pupils.

   —The Cortland City band gave another of their ever popular open air concerts at the park last night, which was listened to and enjoyed by a large number. The trolley cars did a good business. McDermott's orchestra furnished excellent music for dancing in the large pavilion.

   —People of this city have been recently much annoyed by a small insect, and until lately have been unable to find what it is. It is now called the "Italian flea," its bite resembling the hives.—Ithaca Journal. Some Cortland people have been having trouble which may proceed from the same cause.

   —At the regular conclave of Cortland Commandery of Knights Templars to be held to-morrow, Friday, evening arrangements for the pilgrimage to Utica, Sept. 8, will be completed. It is therefore necessary that all Sir Knights who have signified their intention of going and all others be present, as the business to be transacted interests every Sir Knight of this commandery.