The
Cortland Democrat, Friday, October 23, 1896.
Sale of
the Hitchcock Company's Plant.
On Saturday, Oct. 17th, occurred the sale of
the real estate of the Hitchcock Manufacturing company. The property was bid
off by O. U. Kellogg for Samuel Keator who is the indorsor [sic] of their paper to
the amount of about $82,000 and who was secured by real estate mortgages.
The foundry and machine shop on Port
Watson-st. was bid off for $22,150. The wagon works on Elm-st. and two houses
on Greenbush-st. were bought for $42,650. The house on Pendleton-st. was bid
off for $1,024 and 100 acres of land in Haights Gulf was bought for $100.
Mr. Keator intends to open the works at once
and finish all work now under way.
MYSTERIOUS
FIRE.
Law
Office Entered—Desks Ransacked and an Attempt Made to Open the Safe.
When lawyer B. A. Benedict left the
Tioughnioga club and started home about 9 o'clock last week Thursday evening he
stopped at his office in the Wickwire building to look up some point in his law
books. As he ascended the stairs to the office the janitor of the building, who
lives on the third floor, was about to turn off the hall gas jet. On Mr.
Benedict's saying he would turn it off when he went home the light was left.
Before Mr. Benedict started home he put some
papers in his safe and turned the handles but not the combination as the
handles work rather hard and would hold the doors together in case of fire. He
left all of his window shades up and the rooms and desks in order and locked
the door. Upon reaching the hall the light was out, but he at the time thought
nothing of it.
About 11:50 the family of the janitor, Mr.
J. M. Sheldon, were awakened by smoke and an alarm of fire was given from box
333. The Orris [fire company] ball nozzle and the hand chemicals soon
extinguished a fire in an old book case in Mr. Benedict's backroom, but the
front door which he had left locked was open and the papers on his desk and
table were in disorder. The nickle knobs had all been unscrewed from the safe
hinges as if in the attempt of a burglar to make an entrance. When Mr. Benedict
arrived he found the safe locked which showed that whoever had tried to get in
had turned the combination and locked themselves out instead of turning the
handles for nothing inside was disturbed. The shades were all down.
The marauders slid in through a transom as
was proved by the prints in the dust over the door. Probably they stood in the
dark hall when Mr. Benedict left. After starting the fire they left by turning
the spring lock on the front door. The reason for this piece of business, as
well as who the guilty parties are, is a mystery. There is small loss from the
fire in any way.
 |
| William Jennings Bryan. |
PAGE
FOUR—EDITORIALS.
◘
The story that Mr. Bryan applied
at one time for a position as press agent of a theater having been proved
absolutely false, it is pretty small business for a paper like the Rochester
Post Express to deliberately repeat it editorially with comments calculated to
give the impression it was a correct report. Such a performance cannot tend to
impress its readers with its fairness, accuracy or intelligence. A good many
other Republican newspapers have lessened their capacity for helping the cause
of McKinley by their silly and contemptuous references to Mr. Bryan, for whom
millions of citizens will vote for President and whose large ability and high
character are beyond question.—Syracuse Herald (Rep.) Oct. 21.
◘
Farmers ought to be interested
in the men they elect to represent them in the state legislature. They should
send men only in whom they have the utmost confidence. Men who
have intelligence enough to know a bad bill when they see it and who have the
integrity to vote against it. Men of quick discernment, well educated and men
who have a thorough business knowledge obtained from actual business
experience. A Member of Assembly should be fearless and ever ready to fight for
the right and against wrong. Many bills injurious to the rights of the farmer
have their inception in the lower house of the legislature. Elect Frank W.
Collins for Member of Assembly and the rights of Cortland county farmers will
be carefully guarded.
◘
The Standard Oil Co. employs
several thousand men in Ohio and Indiana. They have been ordered to vote for
sound money or lose their places. This is one of the great moral questions that
have crept into this campaign. It's about time John D. Rockefeller,
the head of this wonderful monopoly, gave another million to some religious
college.
◘
England purchases American
silver bullion at 53 cents, ships it home to its own mints and has it coined
into money. With this 53 cents worth of bullion England buys a dollar's worth
of wheat in India, where free coinage has been discontinued. Here is a clear
profit of 47 cents on an investment of only 53 cents. If this country should
adopt a free coinage law the price of silver would go to par and England would
be without silver to trade with India and she would be forced to buy millions of
bushels of wheat of us. This new market would raise the price of wheat and
would be a benefit to the farmer. When the farmer prospers Mr. McKinley's mills
will start up again and not before. Is it any wonder that England is opposed to
free coinage in the United States?
At the time of a
presidential election when the attention of the people is more directly called
to questions of national importance, local affairs and issues pertaining to the
welfare of the communities are apt to be overlooked, and interest, which at other
times would command the attention of those who have the welfare of the people
at heart, are forgotten. The one office to be filled at the approaching
election which will come more nearly home to the people of this county than any
other is the office of school commissioner. The man who fills that office should be, in the first place,
a man of good moral character. In the second place he should be a man who has
the welfare of the schools at heart and is willing to work for their best interests.
Third, he should be willing to devote a sufficient amount of his time to the work
to see that the duties of the office are properly performed.
There are two
candidates in the field for this office in the first commissioner district.
Nathan L Miller, who has held the office for the past three years, has been re-nominated;
George D. Bailey, principal of the McGrawville Union school, is the Democratic
candidate and should receive the support of every person in the district,
regardless of party, who has the best interests of our common schools at heart.
What are some of the
reasons why Nathan L. Miller should not be re-elected to this office? In regard
to the first qualification we have named which a man should possess to hold
this office we have only to say: that a man who does not possess and cannot
command the respect of the teachers of his district is not fit to hold the
office of school commissioner. In the second place Mr. Miller has no interest
in the welfare of the schools, the money which the office will bring to him is
all that he cares for. He has not done one thing for the good of the schools of
his district during the three years he has been in office. The schools of this
district are in no way better because of anything that Mr. Miller has done than
they were when he was elected to office three years ago.
Another strong
point against Mr. Miller's re-election is that the greater part of his time is
taken up with his law practice. If a man wants to give his whole attention to law
let him leave the school commissioner business alone. If he wants to be school commissioner
let him devote at least s fair portion of his time to the duties of that office.
The taxpayers of Cortland county do not propose to pay a man a salary merely
for the fun of seeing him draw that salary.
When a commissioner
neglects an institute which is in session in order to attend a session of court
which is held during the same week; when he delegates the important work of
conducting teachers' examination to others that he may give his own attention to
personal matters; when there are schools in his district which he has never
visited during his whole term, or if visited at all in such a perfunctory way
that no good could possibly result, it is high time that a man be elected to
office who would at least give it the attention it requires.
There is a
widespread dissatisfaction throughout the district in reference to Mr. Miller's
work as commissioner. Men who seldom express an opinion on such a subject under
ordinary circumstances, come out plainly and say they will not support him. A
man who has always voted the republican ticket was asked a short time ago if he
would support his party's candidate for school commissioner, "No sir!"
came the answer, "I want a man in the office who will attend to his
business."
On the other hand
George D. Bailey will give to the work the personal attention which it demands.
He is a successful, practical teacher. He has made teaching his life work and
is not following the business simply for what there is in it. He will bring to
the office the results of practical experience as a teacher and will faithfully
and earnestly work for the welfare of the common schools.
REPUBLICAN.
HERE AND THERE.
The rabbit and squirrel season opened last
week.
The next annual state convention of the W.
C. T. U. is to be held at Cortland.
The Dryden Cornet band is arranging for a
Band fair, Nov 24th, 25th and 26th.
"The Kremlin" is to be the name of
the [former Central] hotel on Court-st. which is being refitted and refurnished
by Wickwire Bros.
Snow fell in flakes as large or larger than
a silver dollar for an hour last Sunday. Some neighboring towns report over an
inch of snow.
Last Monday the Prohibitionists strung a
very fine banner from the building over Chas. Collins' crockery store The
banner is of silk and contains the pictures of their candidates for President
and Vice-President.
Mr. Edward G. Tibbits, aged 27 years, died
at the home of his parents on Pomeroy-st. last Friday night. The indirect cause
was malarial fever contracted while in the West several years ago. The funeral was
held Tuesday.
Last week the supporters of Palmer and Buckner
strung a handsome banner across Main-st. from the Keator block to the Standard
building. It looks funny enough to see a Democratic banner attached to the Standard
building.
Mr. Ira A. Dexter and Miss Mary E. Farrell were
married at St. Mary's church Wednesday morning by Rev. J. J. McLoughlin. After
the ceremony a wedding breakfast was served at the home of the bride's parents
on Port Watson-st. The couple left on the 10:17 train for a short wedding trip
after which they will be at home at 60 Elm-st.
Bingham Bros. & Miller have a new
advertisement in their usual place on our eighth page.
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