OLD LANDMARK GONE

Cortland Evening Standard, Tuesday, November 10, 1896.

OLD LANDMARK GONE.

COLLEGE BOARDING HALL IN MCGRAWVILLE BURNED.

A Relic of the Days of the Old Central New York College —Corset City Fire Department Do Good Work, but Water Fails Them—Deeds of Daring.

   The new fire bell and the new chief engineer, Fred D. Graves, both saw service this morning for the first time in their official capacities, and both acquitted themselves with credit. At about 2:30 o'clock the shrill notes of the factory whistles mingled with clang of the fire bell informed the people of this village that they were not even to be exempt from fire in this world, but that a fire in the Corset City was not only possible but an actual fact.

   The fire department made quick time and found the old boarding hall opposite the academy in flames. This old relic of the dark ages was a building three stories with a basement and was arranged to accommodate about ten families, but at the time of the fire was occupied by only two families—that of Mrs. Minnie Hopper and three children and that of Mrs. Fish who also has three children, all of whom easily escaped. It is, however, currently believed that many lives were lost, but that they were of a species of inhabitants not included in the census.

   Mrs. Hopper, who lived in the center suite on the first floor, not feeling well, arose about 2 o'clock and saw a light from the window. She at first thought it came from an adjacent street lamp, but finally investigated to find that flames were leaping in the air from the northwest chimney, there being four massive chimneys in the building. She also discovered that the roof was on fire and after rousing Mrs. Fish who lived in the front of the same floor, she went outside and gave the alarm, but it was some minutes before a general alarm was sounded. Chief F. D. Graves was bound to make a record and ran against tune, but found F. G. Isaacs ahead of him.

   Nearly all the furniture of Mrs. Fish and Mrs. Hopper was saved but a few articles of furniture belonging to Harry Pratt which were stored on the third floor were destroyed. Mrs. James A. Brooks and Miss Claudine Tripp took charge of the homeless children. There being no snow and the new fire well on that street not being quite ready for use, the firemen were obliged to put on all the hose and fall back upon the fine private reservoir which William Lord recently built upon his lot. By that time the building was doomed and the only thing to do was to prevent the fire spreading, which was easily done, as but little breeze was stirring and the building burned slowly from the top downwards.

   Of course there were deeds of heroism, the chief of which was the rushing of Reno G. Hoag of the STANDARD office into the burning building amid a grand display of fireworks to rescue the purse of Miss Stella Hopper, who offered him a reward which was, of course, in true hero style indignantly refused. Exhilarated by the applause, he appeared again clasping in his arms what he claimed was an infant rescued from the flames, but which proved to be a doll stuffed with sawdust. Two of the Hose company made a similar mistake in the dark only to find that the article deposited upon the pile of furniture was one of their number in the person of M. W. Loomis. Messrs. Charles Hurd, Charles Cummings and Charles Donohue rescued a horse from the burning building, which proved to be such as is used by coopers.

   The building destroyed was the boarding hall of the old New York Central college which was erected by the Baptists in 1847-8 and many residents have seen its tables surrounded by the students of ebony hue, for all races were received here on an equal footing. One of the most learned of the faculty was himself a negro. When the small pox epidemic and other causes wound up its career as a college and the college building was sold to the village, the boarding hall and farmhouse passed into private hands and the latter is now the only one of the college buildings left standing. The burned building was for years owned by Judge N. H. Osborne and later by his estate until about a year ago it was sold to O. A. Kinney and A. B. Gardner. There was an insurance of $700 on the building and barn in the agency of Theo. Stevenson which will cover the loss.

   Mr. Henry Ayres won a vote of thanks from the fire companies by serving them with hot coffee. The fire department proved that they were not for ornament only, but they cannot be expected to reach the highest efficiency unless they have water.

  

DEATH FROM CHLOROFORM.

Mrs. Charlotte R. Hunt the Sufferer through Weakness.

   Mrs. Charlotte H. Hunt, aged 24 years, died this morning at her home, 45 Park-st., at about 6 o'clock from the effects of an overdose of chloroform. With her husband she moved to Cortland from Binghamton last July. Mr. Hunt is a wood carver at the Hayes chair factory, and has been a most devoted husband. Mrs. Hunt has been unwell for several months and very despondent and for the past three months has been confined to the bed. During this time her husband out of working hours has been her constant attendant and nurse. For two mouths he has slept very little during the nights.

   Last night he came down to consult Dr. H. P. Johnson, who has been their physician, saying that his wife along with other things had caught a little cold. He took home with him a prescription put up by the doctor and asked him to come up and see Mrs. Hunt this morning. It was 1 o'clock when Mr. Hunt sat down in a big chair near the bed to watch the night out with his wife, as has been his custom. He dropped asleep and did not wake until 8 o'clock this morning. When he did rouse up he saw his wife lying on her side. He stepped over to speak to her and noticed that she did not move. In one hand was a napkin and lying in the bed by her side was an empty bottle that last night had stood upon the bureau about two feet from the bed and which had then been about half full of chloroform. Mr. Hunt was frightened and turned his wife partly over. She gasped a few times and ceased to breath. Mr. Hunt called a neighbor and sent him at once for Dr. Johnson, but Mrs. Hunt was dead when he arrived.

   Coroner Moore was summoned and made an investigation of the facts in the case, but decided that no inquest was necessary. It seemed to be a plain case of death by chloroform.

   The question which rose at once was whether or not it was intentional, and the physicians are strongly inclined to think that it was not. The family had always kept chloroform in the house to use in proper quantities in relieving pain. In her nervousness in recent weeks Mrs. Hunt had occasionally taken a few whiffs of it to put her to sleep that she might get a little rest. Mr. Hunt did not intend to get to sleep when he sat down last night in the chair, but was so tired and worn out by nights of wakefulness that he must have done so. It is the opinion that Mrs. Hunt reached over from the bed and got the bottle with the intention of taking a few breaths of it. In her weak state the indications are that the few breaths so overcame her that she dropped the bottle into the bed spilling the contents, for the sheets were soaked with it. The fumes then probably rose so strongly as to cause her death and Mr. Hunt is inclined to believe that he too was affected or he would never have slept as he did until 6 o'clock this morning. The thought of suicide does not seem to be justified by any of the facts of the case, and it appears to have been purely accidental.

   The funeral will be held from the home on Thursday morning at 9 o'clock and will be private. The remains will be taken to Binghamton on the 10:17 train for burial.

Cemetery Association Election.

   At the annual meeting of the trustees of the Cortland Rural Cemetery association last night the officers were re-elected as follows:

   President—S. E. Welch.

   Vice-President—W. S. Copeland.

   Secretary—E. A. Fish.

   Treasurer—C. P. Walrad.

Village Trustees.

   The board of village trustees met at the office of the village clerk last night in regular session. The full board was present.  After the reading of the minutes the board went into executive session.

   New walks were ordered opposite the premises of A. H. Watkins on the north side of Fitz-ave. at No. 60, also opposite the premises of Charles G. Stone, 62 Fitz-ave. Representatives of the fire department came before the board and requested that an allowance be made to the Hitchcock and Orris Hose companies on account of fuel.

   The board then adjourned to Wednesday night at 7:30 when will be given in the village clerk's office a public hearing on the application of the Cortland & Homer Traction company for a franchise on Elm-st. between Church and Pendleton-sts.

BOARD OF SUPERVISORS.

Proceedings of Cortland County's Lawmakers and Financiers. Second Day, Tuesday, Nov. 10.

   Pursuant to adjournment the board met at 9 o'clock, and was called to order by Chairman Crane. All the members were present. The journal of Monday was read and approved.

   On motion of Mr. Lee:

   Resolved, That the rules of the assembly of the state of New York be adopted by this board, so far as applicable to the same.

   On motion of Mr. Childs:

   Resolved, That the session of this board shall commence at 9 A. M. and continue till 12 M. and from 1 P. M. to 4 P. M.

   The chairman announced the following standing committees:

   On Footing Assessment Rolls—Messrs. Bingham, Hunt, Childs, Corning, Surdam, Tuttle, O'Donnell.

   On Court House and Jail—Messrs. Surdam, Greene, Tuttle.

   On Erroneous Assessments—Messrs. Brown, Lee, Surdam.

   On Settling with County Treasurer—Messrs. Corning, Greene, Hammond.

   On Settling with County Clerk and Sheriff—Messrs. Lee, Holton, Childs.

   On Settling with School and Loan Commissioners—Messrs. Hammond, DeLong, Greene.

   On Settling with County Judge and Justices—Messrs. Tuttle, Hunt, Brown.

   On Constables' Bills—Messrs. DeLong, Corning, Hunt.

   On Miscellaneous Bills—Messrs. Smith, Lee, Greene.

   On Printing—Messrs. Brown, DeLong, Holton.

   On Settling with Superintendent of the Poor—Messrs. Greene, Hammond, Bingham.

   On Coroners' Bills—Messrs. Hunt, Surdam, DeLong.

   On Settling with District Attorney—Messrs. O'Donnell, Childs, Lee.

   On Equalization—Messrs. Childs, Smith, Holton. Brown, Bingham, O'Donnell, Hammond.

   On Jurisprudence—Messrs. O'Donnell, Childs, Corning.

   On Appropriation—Messrs. Holton, Smith, Bingham.

   On Settling with Supervisors and Clerks—Messrs. Tuttle, Hunt, Surdam.

   On motion of Mr. Lee, the standing committees as announced were declared the standing committees of the board for the term.

   On motion of Mr. Hammond, the board adjourned until Wednesday morning at 9 o'clock for the purpose of organizing as a board of county canvassers.

BREVITIES.

   —New advertisements to-day are—Warner Rood, "Tornado," page 5.

   —One tramp occupied a cell at the police station last night and was this morning released.

   —A telephone has been put into the supervisors' rooms for use during their present session.

   —The office of the United States Express company and the D., L. &. W. R.

R. city ticket office are now located at 15 Railroad-st. in commodious and convenient quarters.

   —All ladies interested in the Ladles' Catholic Benevolent association are requested to meet at Empire hall to-morrow evening at 8 o'clock. A supreme trustee of Syracuse will be present to address the meeting.

   —Hector Cowan, National Democratic candidate for county treasurer, has filed a statement at the county clerk's office that he paid five dollars to I. H. Palmer to pay the expenses of distributing sound-money literature.

   —Mr. P. C. Rogers of McLean informs us that the street lamps just purchased for that village were fifty-two in number and cost $1 apiece instead of $40 for the lot as previously reported. The lamps were purchased at Groton when that village put in electric lights.

   —Much satisfaction is expressed on all sides here in Cortland at the item in yesterday's Homer column that the entire factory of the Brockway Wagon Co., Homer, had started up with full force running full time. That was expected to occur if McKinley was elected, but the anticipation being consummated brings home to our own doors the promise of better times.

   —The board of supervisors after adjourning this morning re-assembled in the county clerk's office and organized us a board of county canvassers by the election of Jefferson Greene of Willet as chairman. County Clerk Palmer is ex-officio the clerk of the board. The work of canvassing the vote is a slow process under the new style of returns and there is a likelihood that two days will be required for the task.

   —The many friends of Mrs. Mary Angel, widow of the late Dr. Jerome

Angel, will be pained to learn that her mind has become so affected through grief over the sudden death of her husband that it has been decided best by her friends to remove her to a private sanitarium at Easton, Pa., where she can have the very best of medical treatment, and where, removed from the scene of her trouble, it is confidently hoped that she will soon be restored to health. The deepest sympathy on the part of all go out to the afflicted family.

PAGE TWO—EDITORIALS.

A New Bridge.

   The whole country will be interested to know that if all goes well by 1900 the slow and ponderous city of New York will have a new bridge across the East river to Brooklyn. In Chicago or London or Paris or even Cincinnati this bridge and three or four more would undoubtedly have been constructed long ago.

   We have, however, the assurance that when done the work of building the bridge which connects the principal parts of Greater New York will be well done. There has been need of such a structure for the past half dozen years.

It has long been dangerous to life and limb to attempt to reach Brooklyn bridge on the New York side in the crowded hours.

   The new bridge will be constructed by the two cities of New York and Brooklyn. It will be 1 1/2 miles above the present one. It will be a magnificent structure, an improvement in many ways over the present bridge. It will be a suspension bridge, its tremendous single span carrying six railway tracks, two wagon roadways and two foot passenger ways. In order to get secure foundations for the pillars the workmen will go down to solid rock. On the Brooklyn side this means working down and sinking caissons a distance of 100 feet in the case of one tower and 86 feet with the other. On the New York side the foundations will be 65 feet deep. The towers will be 335 feet above the river.

   Steel wire cables have been improved since Brooklyn bridge was built. Each of the four that holds up the floor of the new bridge will measure a little over three feet in circumference and will contain 6,800 smaller wires. The floors will be laid upon steel beams.

   President Cleveland has certainly done all that he consistently could to favor Spain in her attempt to reduce the Cuban rebellion. He has had naval vessels watching to stop the departure of Cuban filibusters. He has had those who violated the neutrality laws arrested and dealt with, and he has issued a proclamation warning American citizens of the consequences of assisting a rebellion against Spain, a nation with which the United States had a treaty of peace and friendship. Many of the president's own fellow countrymen believe he has even been too severe and strict in his interpretation of neutrality laws, to the extent of favoring Spain; that, too, although American sentiment is unanimous for the independence of Cuba. And now as a reward for thus doing all that the treaty laws demand, and even more than that, the American government is charged by one of Spain's leading newspapers, The Imparcial, with continually conniving at filibustering. The same organ declares that neutrality in the United States toward Spain is an "odious fiction." It will be strange if the patience of the American government does not wear out after a little while longer, especially as Spain is now even further from conquering the rebellion than she was in January, 1895, when it began.