WHITNEY POINT IN ASHES

Photo credit: Village of Whitney Point.

Cortland Evening Standard, Friday, April 23, 1897.

WHITNEY POINT IN ASHES.

FORTY-FIVE BUILDINGS DESTROYED EARLY THIS MORNING.

Only One Store Left In the Place, and That a Jewelry Store—Hotels, Church, Printing Office, Postoffice, Opera House,

 Stores and Residences All Gone—Help from Binghamton, Marathon and Hallstead, Pa.—Loss $275,000, Insurance $90,000.

   WHITNEY POINT, April 23.—Shortly before 4 o'clock this morning fire was discovered in the harness shop of Wm. Wang in the Griffin block in this place. The fire spread rapidly to the meat market of Ray Lewis, the clothing house of C. E. Kark and the oyster house of Delos Burdick, all located in the same building. The flames then crossed the street and soon the Beach House and livery were consumed. The fire department soon saw that they were powerless to extinguish the flames and aid was asked of Binghamton, Hallstead, Pa., and of Marathon.

   The following business places and residences were soon in ruins: Seeber & Youman's drug store; L. Bennett, harness store; L. C. Collins, furniture dealer; F. E. Allen, general store; W. H. Allport, novelty store; Wells & Chandler, dry goods and groceries; C. B. Morse, clothing; Mrs. K. Biddlecom, millinery; C. Rittenberg, barber shop; Whitney Point Reporter office; Baptist Church; Cornell & Nowlan, hardware; Jesse Ames, residence; Firemans hall; opera house; Johnson & Son, hard ware; Dr. Pellett, residence; Wm. Collins residence; J. D. Eaton, grocery; Hiran King, gentlemen's furnishing; post office; Mark Dunham, grocery; Geo. Love, livery and blacksmith shop; George A. Quick, hotel and residence; John Elliott, feed store and residence; Wm. Denning, general store; P. Wilcox, foundry; A. D. Brown, blacksmith shop; and the residences of O. Walter Lewis Taft, Dr. Hall and Joseph Smith.

   The fire then broke out on the spire of the Methodist church, but by heroic efforts the church was saved.

   The Binghamton company arrived at 5:30 o'clock and the Marathon and Hallstead companies at 6:45. After several hours' labor the fire was under control. The scene is terrible to behold. A once prosperous village in a few hours has been nearly wiped out of existence. Only one store remains in the town and that is the jewelry store of G. E. Daniels. The loss is conservatively estimated at $275,000 and there is only $90,000 insurance divided among five agencies. In all forty-five buildings were destroyed.

A FLANK MOVEMENT.

The Greek Fleet Seized Turkish Stores Which Were Unprotected.

   ATHENS, April 23.—After the bombardment of Katrina on the Gulf of Salonica by the Greek squadron and the flight of two battalions of Turks and the inhabitants of that place, the Greek fleet landed a detachment and found the Turks had left behind them immense stores of provisions destined for the armies of Edhem Pasha. These valuable stores had been almost unprotected owing to the belief of the Turks that a blockade of Greece by the fleets of the powers would prevent the Greek fleet from attacking the Turkish towns on the Gulf of Salonica, which are near the railroad to Salonica and which have been used as points at which to land stores for the Turkish army and forward them to the front.

   The capture of these towns, not to mention the loss of the stores, places a serious difficulty in the path of Edhem Pasha and it is stated here that as soon as the Turkish commander-in-chief heard the news of the capture of Platamona and Katrina he dispatched 10,000 men towards the coast of Macedonia, fearing a flank attack from the Gulf of Salonica.

SUSPICIOUS CHARACTERS.

Two Men Seen on Tompkins-st. the Night of the Robberies.

   On Wednesday evening, the night of the robberies in Cortland, two suspicions looking characters were seen on Tompkins-st. by Mr. and Mrs. Edwin M. Hulbert at their residence. Mr. and Mrs. Hulbert retired at about 9 o'clock on that evening, leaving the house entirely dark. They were awakened at 10:15 by the pulling of the front doorbell. Mrs. Hulbert quickly arose and on going to the window saw a tall man hastily leaving the front porch and going westward. The watch-dog inside the house was barking furiously.

   Mr. Hulbert arose, and while the two were looking out of a window, two men passed the house on the walk toward Main-st. and in passing each kept looking up at the house until they were entirely past the house. Mr. Hulbert says he has no doubt that the strangers were thieves, and were trying to find who were in the house. One of the two men was a tall, slim man with a light overcoat and the other was shorter. They may or may not have some connection with the burglaries.

   Their description tallies with that of the two seen by several while coming into town on the D., L & W. tracks Wednesday morning, as already stated in The STANDARD.

Supervisor Greene Married.

   Supervisor Jefferson Greene of the town of Willet and Miss Mabel Ingalls of the same place, but formerly of Cortland, were married at the home of the bride's parents on Tuesday, April 20, by Rev. J. B. Wilson. The Whitney Point Reporter says:

   Weddings sometimes work strange pranks on the minds of its victims. Jefferson Greene of Willet who was married to Miss Ingalls of the same place Tuesday gave us a sample of this. He was formerly a railroad man himself and has traveled on the D., L. & W. from this place many a time yet he and his bride came leisurely down here that morning to take the fast train. Of course they had the pleasure of seeing it go through without stopping and had to wait for the 4 o'clock. It is provoking enough to get left, but to be obliged to take a freight and accommodation to start on a wedding trip is enough to make one regret the step.

Meeting of Spiritualists.

   E. W. Sprague, missionary for the National Spiritualist association, will hold meetings in Good Templars' hall in Cortland on Saturday and Sunday, April 24 and 25. The Saturday meeting will be held at 7:30 P. M., and the Sunday meetings will be at 2 P. M. and 7:30 P. M.

   Mr. Sprague is a noted speaker and test medium and will follow his lecture with character readings, spirit communications and tests. Mrs. Sprague will also take part in the meetings. Admission free.

   A collection will be taken to defray expenses.

Went Down a Bank.

   Mr. Albert Hoffman was yesterday afternoon ploughing upon his lot on Prospect-st. at the top of the high bank near the waterworks pumphouse. As one of his horses was walking on the edge of the bank some of the gravel caved out and let the horse go down. His weight, harnessed as he was to his mate, pulled the other one down too, and the two rolled down a bank twelve or fifteen feet. As Mr. Hoffman had the reins over his back he was pulled along too. The horses did not appear to be hurt at all, but Mr. Hoffman had an ankle sprained and Dr. Nash, who attended him, is not yet certain that one of the bones of the ankle is not sprained.

LEHIGH VALLEY.

Special Rates to the Grant Ceremonial in New York.

   On account of the Grant monument ceremonial at New York City on Tuesday, April 27, the rate of a single fare for the round trip has been arranged and tickets will be sold on April 26 good on all trains that day except the Black Diamond express, and will be limited for return until and including May 4.

The American Lilliputians.

   The American Lilliputians with a company of twenty begin an engagement at the [Cortland] Opera House to-night at popular prices. The play is "The Hogan Alley Kids." The company includes a number of people who have acquired a considerable reputation for themselves and many specialties will be introduced. Entertainments will be given to-night and tomorrow night and a matinee to-morrow afternoon. Bear in mind that the prices are 10, 20 and 30 cents.

Walter Wellman.

MAKING HASTE SLOWLY.

Dullness at the National Capital.

CONGRESSIONAL WORK DRAGS.

The Session Will Probably Extend Until August—Canton People Are Proud of Their Townsman—Why Rich Men Get Office—Cost of Entertaining.

   WASHINGTON, April 23.—[Special.]—The national capital is degenerating into a dullness that is almost like that of mid-summer. With the house in short session only two days a week, the senate droning along without very much doing and President McKinley going provokingly slow in the matter of appointments to office, things are becoming quite monotonous. After a time they will be much livelier. The tariff bill will be up in the senate, and there will be some sharp debating. In a few days Senator Morgan promises to call up his resolution for the recognition of the independence of Cuba, and this is sure to stir up the animals. Then there is a prospect that after a bit Speaker Reed will conclude to appoint the committees of the house and permit that body to go to work to some extent, though at a very leisurely pace. Every one in Washington at all familiar with the situation is making preparations to stay here till August.

Trouble Over the Rates.

   The senate finance committee is making fair progress in its revision of the Dingley bill. While there are a great many amendments I am told they are not of great importance. The difficulty in putting rates up or down I have already explained in this correspondence. There are too many interests well represented here, too many influential men fighting one another, to secure much of a movement one way or the other as to those things which enter into the life of trade. The senate committee likes, however, to have it said that it has remodeled the bill. It likes the sound of "150 senate amendments," so that writers for the press can dilate upon the manner in which the upper branch has taken the house bill and turned it inside out. The number of amendments counts for a good deal in the minds of ordinary observers, irrespective of their actual importance. The senate amendments will be very numerous. Many of them, however, are mere matters of language and others are trivial. There has been quite a competition for places upon the finance committee of the senate. Mr. Hanna and Mr. Burrows of the west and Mr. Platt and Mr. Sewell of the east have been ambitious for place upon this important committee, without doubt the most important and influential in the senate. Quite a good deal of feeling, has been worked up between the rivals, especially Platt of New York and Hanna, though it has all been good humored.

A Bold, Bad Senator.

   In this connection there is a good story on Senator Burrows, which no one enjoys better than the senator from Michigan himself. At the recent Republican senatorial caucus one of Mr. Burrows' friends, and he has as many of them as any man I know, suggested as a reason why Mr. Burrows should go upon the finance committee was that he had as a member of the lower house served on the ways and means committee and helped frame the McKinley tariff bill.

   "Well," said one bold, bad senator, "if Mr. Burrows has sat in the lower house and served upon the ways and means committee he ought by this time to understand the constitutional provision which requires revenue bills to originate in the house of representatives."

   This was twitting on facts, for not long ago Mr. Burrows in an absentminded moment actually introduced a tariff bill in the senate. All the other senators are joking Mr. Burrows about his tariff bill.

   Scarcely a day passes that President McKinley does not have as guest at luncheon or dinner one or more of his old friends from Canton. The Canton people who come to Washington are very proud of their townsman, the president, and they are also very proud that he does not forget his old neighbors now that he has become the chief magistrate. "That is the sort of a president to have," said one of them to me. "Why, Major McKinley is just the same man he always was. He treats us just as he used to when he was a congressman, or even when he was our prosecuting attorney. He is the greatest man you ever saw to remember all the old folks and all the children, and all the relations at home, and he always wants to know how they are getting on. You can't help liking a man like that. Around the White House the employees tell me every one idolizes him. He is so kind and cheery to them, all. But I wish the major wouldn't work so hard. It is beginning to show on him. He is not as strong as he was when he left Canton to take up the cares of state, and when we come down here and run in to see him after not having laid eyes on him for a couple of months we notice the change. We tell him to pull up too, and he promises to do it. But I'll wager he won't as long as there is a man, woman or child that wants to see him."

Sons of the Rich Only.

   It is getting to be quite the fashion in this country, just as it is abroad, to appoint the young sons of rich men to the secretaryships and assistant secretaryships of our legations and embassies abroad. I asked one of our new foreign ministers why this was so, and he paused to explain. "Well, you see," said he, "the demands upon a minister or ambassador are very great at the place of his official residence. Americans are great travelers. Every day there are a lot of callers at the embassy or legation. They have a pretty good opinion of themselves too. They want to be entertained. They have read of the big salaries which we pay our foreign representatives, and they think it only fair they should be asked out to dinner. They like to say when they get home that they were entertained by Ambassador So and So or Minister Such and Such. To entertain all these people, or even those, whose official or social rank entitles them to attention, is too much of a strain on the minister. So he contrives, if he knows his business, to have a secretary who can take a certain grade of these Americans off his hands. These are the lower strata of the dinner people. Then there are Americans traveling without wives—or other ladies—young fellows. We turn those over to the assistant secretary. He is expected to show them the town. By dividing up the task we manage to get along very well with it. But it takes money, and for this reason experienced diplomatists try to have appointed as their secretaries and assistant secretaries young men who do not hesitate about spending more than their income."

   WALTER WELLMAN.

BREVITIES.

   —Dr. F. W. Higgins did an operation for strangulated hernia in Ludlowville last night, going over on his wheel.

   —John Sheehan was given a sentence of ten days in jail this morning by Police Justice Mellon for public intoxication.

   —The Cortland Milk union has added eight feet to its smokestack at the creamery at the junction of the two railroads.

   —N. H. Waters has been made happy with the present of a fine bicycle from his father-in-law, S. M. Benjamin.—Homer Republican.

   —New display advertisements to-day are—D. McCarthy & Co., Dress Goods, page 8; I. Whiteson, Winding Up Sale, page 6; Bingham Bros. & Miller, Clothing, page 8.

   —Attention is called to the article which to-day appears upon our seventh page upon the war in the East. A very clear statement is there given of the causes which led up to it and of the progress of the war so far.

   —M. A. Blakeslee and W. W. Rainey were in Cortland yesterday, and purchased a complete outfit of regalia for the encampment I. O. O. F. to be instituted in the DeRuyter lodge May 1.—De-Ruyter Gleaner.

   —Justice of the Peace E. C. Parker has handed down a decision in the case of C. H. Warren against W. A. Missell which was tried last week. The decision is in favor of the defendant and the proceedings were dismissed.

   —School Commissioner N. L. Miller is conducting examinations at the Normal to-day and to-morrow for teachers' certificates of the second and third grades. Eighty teachers and prospective teachers are trying the examinations.

   —Fred Fiske, a burglar who escaped from the Norwich jail a month ago, was arrested yesterday afternoon in Buffalo. He was recognized from a description sent out. He submitted to arrest only when a revolver was drawn upon him.

   —The magnitude of the bicycle industry outside of Cortland can be in part realized by an order recently received by the Carriage Goods Co., for 165,000  pedal forgings from one concern, 15,000 of them desired at once, the remainder as soon as possible.

   —The first ball game of the season occurs at the fair grounds to-morrow afternoon. It will be between the Normals and a team from Ithaca. The Normals have shown up well in practice and hope to give the visitors a hard fight. A good game is looked for.

   —The bicycle races of the New York state racing circuit will be held in Cortland under the auspices of the C. A. A. on Thursday, June 17. Some fast men are expected to be here as the circuit races are at Binghamton on Wednesday and at Utica on Friday and Syracuse on Saturday.

   —The special farmers' institute occurs at the courthouse to-morrow afternoon at 1 o'clock when Prof. S. A. Beach of the Geneva experimental station gives an address on "Cabbage Diseases and Recent Methods of Treatment,'' and also on "Recent Methods of Treating Oat Smut and Potato Diseases."

   —Tuesday was the coldest April day in New York on record, the thermometer standing at 24 degrees above zero at 7 A. M. In New Jersey acres of tomato and strawberry plants were ruined, while peach trees were badly injured. The damage would have been much greater had it not been for a high dry wind.

North Solon.

   NORTH SOLON, April 21.—Polly A. Reed was born at Roxbury, Delaware Co., N. Y., on May 19, 1832. She married Lewis C. Grenell at Roxbury Jan. 19, 1853. They resided in Courtwright, Delaware Co., for about two years, when they removed to Nanticoke, Broome Co., where they resided about four years when they removed to Newark Valley, Tioga Co., where they resided twenty-two years. From there they moved to Solon, Cortland county, where they have since resided. Six children were born to them, all of whom have grown up and married. Mrs. Grenell died very suddenly of heart disease, April 18, 1897, aged 64 years, 10 months and 24 days. She is survived by a husband, six children, Sherman R. and Ira W. of Newark Valley, Abram W., L. William and Mrs. Sarah E. Totman of Solon, and Gerome H. of East River, and seven grandchildren. She was a devoted wife and mother and will be missed by a large circle of friends. The funeral was held at her late residence Friday at 11 o'clock. Interment in McGrawville Rural cemetery. The family wish to express their thanks for the kindness of neighbors and friends during their great bereavement.