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| Empress Dowager Ci Xi. |
Cortland Evening Standard, Friday, August 24, 1900.
FIRES RAGING IN PEKIN.
Chinese Apply Torch to Buildings In All Sections.
COMMANDERS IN A QUANDARY.
Are All at Sea Regarding Their Future Action—Sentries Placed to Prevent Looting—Chinese Defeated In Manchuria—Empress Not Located.
LONDON, Aug. 24.—Fires, fighting and dissension are apparently following in the wake of the relief of Pekin. The Daily Mail publishes dispatches from the Chinese capital, dated as late as Aug. 17, declaring that a great fire was then raging in the imperial city. The Russian commander had declined to accept the decision of the other generals not to violate the imperial precincts, and street fighting was going on.
General Chaffee, so it is asserted, maintained that the Chinese had been adequately punished already, and that it would be unwise to take the imperial palace. This explains the withdrawal of the Americans after breaching three gates.
The Russian general, however, maintained that his government had declared war against China and that, therefore, there was no reason to prevent him carrying hostilities into the sacred precincts.
Judging from various and in many cases contradictory dispatches that have reached Europe this morning from Pekin, the commanders eventually adopted a middle course, for a Reuter telegram asserts that gentries were placed to prevent looting. Hence it is presumed that the imperial buildings, although captured, will not be destroyed.
The fires appear to be incendiary and to be caused by the Chinese themselves.
All the dispatches point to the fact that, when the latest message received here left Pekin, the commanders were somewhat at sea regarding their future action, all awaiting instructions from their governments.
The foreign residents appear to have been sent to Tien Tsin, although St. Petersburg correspondent of The Daily Mail says the ministers will not leave Pekin until negotiations for indemnity are under way.
Neither the commanders nor the diplomats were in communication with the Chinese government on Aug. 17. They were then searching for Prince Tuan.
Among the puzzling reports as to the whereabouts of the empress dowager is one from St. Petersburg that she is in the vicinity of Pekin, but surrounded. The emperor seems to have disappeared completely.
It is officially reported that the minister of the Netherlands, Dr. Knobel, was slightly wounded during the siege.
St. Petersburg dispatches announce good progress in the Manchurian campaign. The town of Mergen was captured Aug. 18, with trifling Russian loss, while the Chinese suffered severely, leaving 10 guns, 700 rifles and large quantities of ammunition in the hands of the Russians.
The reports of risings in Northern Korea are confirmed. It is believed that these are not due to ill will toward foreigners, but to local dissatisfaction. The Korean government is sending troops to the disaffected districts.
According to telegrams from Shanghai, considerable uneasiness is felt there over the fact that no dispatches have been received from Pekin since Aug. 20.
Other Shanghai reports locate Emperor Kwang Su as under the protection of the allies and the dowager empress as already captured by the Japanese.
Describing the engagement west of Tien Tsin, Aug. 6, a special dispatch says: "The Sixth United States cavalry worked with drill-like precision in the hand to hand fighting, and the Chinese only escaped through the bungling of General Dorward."
Berlin learns that there has been further fighting west of Tien Tsin, which creates the impression that the province of Pe Chi Li must be effectively occupied before peace negotiations will become feasible.
CAPTURE OF PALACE.
Chaffee and Conger Conferring on Diplomatic Features.
PEKIN, Aug. I5, via Che Foo, Aug. 22.—Captain Reilly was standing on the wall and directing his battery, when a bullet struck him in the mouth, killing him instantly.
The battery hammered at the gates until they fell.
In the meantime the infantry cleared the streets and walls, where the Chinese soldiers with a fine cover, stubbornly resisted. The fighting was close and sharp.
A French battery, while shelling the approaches to the palaces, narrowly missed the Americans.
General Chaffee and Mr. Conger are conferring regarding the diplomatic features of the situation.
The Americans killed thus far, in addition to Captain Reilly, are the following: Company C, Ninth infantry, Robert E. Walsh; Company E, Ninth Infantry, Daniel W. Simpkins; Company E, Ninth infantry, James O. Hall; Company K, Fourteenth infantry, Russell T. Elliot; Company M, Fourteenth infantry, James C. Wieber; Edward B. Mitchell, Company L, Fourteenth infantry, received wounds during the action, which subsequently proved fatal.
The privates were buried in the grounds of the American legation in the evening.
William J. Bryan.
PAGE TWO—EDITORIAL.
Bryan Snubbed by Labor Unions.
An effort has been made all over the country to entrap the labor man, more especially the labor unions, into the support of Bryan. An attempt of this kind recently took place in Cleveland, O. A press dispatch under date of Aug. 20, says the workingmen of this city have decided that they do not want William Jennings Bryan, the 16 to 1 candidate, to address them on Labor day, and a committee has been appointed by the Central Labor union to inform the Democratic committee that it will be wise to keep the Nebraska man away from this city and not intrude his candidacy upon their program.
The action of the labor men was the result of what was intended as a shrewd piece of politics on the part of the Democratic committee. For a week Thomas J. Dolan, a member of the Labor day committee, has been spending much of his time in company with the chairman of the Democratic committee. Yesterday notices were sent to the members of the Labor day committee calling a meeting for this afternoon.
The notices were written by the clerics of the Democratic committee and sent out from the Democratic headquarters. When the labor leaders assembled Dolan offered a resolution inviting Bryan to to address the laboring men of Cleveland on the occasion of the annual celebration of Labor day. The resolution was like a butterfly in a cold storage warehouse. Nobody seconded it. Seeing what a mistake he had made, Dolan attempted to apologize for the proposition. His explanation was received in silence.
When he sat down one of the members of the committee moved that a sub-committee of three be appointed to wait on the local Democratic committee and request that Bryan be not brought to Cleveland at all on Labor day. It was announced that Bryan's presence would be regarded as an interference with the program for the day arranged by the committee. This motion went through unanimously, Dolan having realized that he had been imposed upon by the Democrats.
Mr. Bryan and his managers will find before the campaign is over that the laboring men in this country do not want their pay in money worth only 50 cents to the dollar, and which dollars will buy only half as much as the present dollar, this year any more than they did in 1890. They are getting a large number of dollars now for their labor, more than ever before, and they all buy a dollar's worth of goods, and they are not to be humbugged by the cry of imperialism, or any other demagogic trick, to give up this good condition of things for any shadow or promise of Bryan,
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| Cortland County fairgrounds and race track near Wheeler Ave. |
LAST DAY OF FAIR.
THE BIG EXHIBITION DRAWING TO A CLOSE.
The Morning shower Laid the Dust and Made Things More Comfortable—The Driving Contest—Traffic on the Street Car Lines—Special Premiums Awarded To-day—General Notes.
The most successful fair in the history of the Cortland County Agricultural society is drawing to a close to-day. Wednesday and Thursday were, of course, the big days of the fair, but there has been a large crowd upon the grounds to-day. The shower this morning laid the dust and made it much more pleasant upon the grounds, but doubtless kept many away. Special premiums are being awarded this afternoon and the last races are in progress.
Mrs. Hovey won the special prize, a $20 silk dress given by Palmer & Co., in the ladies driving contest this afternoon.
Hon. O. U. Kellogg's herd of Holsteins won the special dairy test.
LADIES' DRIVING CONTEST.
The most spirited contest and the most exciting race on the grounds yesterday was Beard & Peck's ladies' driving contest which occurred at 1 P. M. The names of the winners as announced in yesterday's STANDARD were: Miss May B. Mullin of Dryden, first; Mrs. Fred Sherman of Como, second; and Mrs. L. C. Weaver of Cortland, third. But it was too late to give in detail yesterday afternoon the particulars of this event which was one of the leading attractions of the fair. The premiums offered were valuable and the contestants entered into the race for all it was worth. There were seven entries but only six started. One of the conditions of the contest was that ladies entering the contest must be bona-fide residents of the towns of Dryden, Groton, Summerhill, Peruville, McLean or any town in Cortland county. Under this condition a written protest was entered against Mrs. Dell Houser on the ground that she resided in the town of Locke instead of Groton. Mrs. Houser admitted that she did actually live in the town of Locke but part of their land is in Groton, their post office address is Groton and that is where most of their business is done. The judges decided that she was not eligible for the contest under the rules.
A protest was also entered against Mrs. L. C. Weaver of Cortland on the ground that she did not own the horse which she was to drive and that the horse was not owned in the town of Cortlandville. Mrs. Weaver declared under oath that she was the bona-fide owner of the horse and was allowed to enter the race.
The drivers were required to harness the horse, hitch to vehicle and drive one mile or round race track twice, the driver having privilege to trot or run her horse. The start was made with each driver holding her horse by the halter. At the word Go, the fun began and in just one minute and ten seconds May Mullen had her horse harnessed and hitched to the wagon. Down the track she started, whipping her horse into a dead run and was a quarter of the way around the track before any one else was ready to start. At the driveway on the north side the horse ran off the track, turned the wagon over and threw Miss Mullen out. She was up in an instant, righted the wagon, jumped in, whirled the horse around and was off again up the track, passing Mrs. Fred Sherman of Como, who had got second start and who drove past the gate while Miss Mullen was within the enclosure. From that time on the race was between these two for first place and each did her best to win. Men watched with eager interest and women almost held their breath as they watched those horses running at their utmost speed and still being urged on by their fearless and almost reckless drivers. Mrs. Weaver was the third to start but the lead gained by the other two in harnessing was too great and she could not close up the gap. As the winners came down the home stretch the second time around, the crowd surged forward into the track and almost blocked the passage way. Mrs. Weaver was slowing down her horse when Mrs. Alvin Haskins of Cuyler, who was behind, caught her rear wheel. Both wagons were overturned and both women were thrown to the ground. The horses were quickly stopped and very fortunately neither of the drivers was seriously injured, though both were badly shaken up. The accident would not have happened had the crowd been kept where it belonged and given the drivers room to pass.
OTHER RACES.
The Traction company carried 8,567 passengers Wednesday and 13,511 on Thursday. With one car short of last year the receipts for the first three days of the fair from passenger traffic was more than the corresponding days last year. All the cars are in use and special efforts have been made to give the best service possible. The Homer-ave. line has proved its usefulness at such times and aside from being a convenience to the public has been the source of a handsome profit to the Traction Co.
Three alleged pick pockets were arrested last night and arraigned this morning. The matter was put over till to-morrow at 2 o'clock.
The Japanese fireworks are all right. The parachutes are nicely balanced and the flags as they float in the wind make a very pretty sight.
CORWIN FAMILY REUNION
Held at Ross Park, Binghamton, Wednesday, Aug 22.
The Corwin reunion was held at Ross park, Binghamton, Aug. 22. About eighty were present. The dinner was served by the Sunlight Rebekahs and was worthy of the ladies who served it. Fine linen and silverware showed up in strong contrast with the usual spread at reunions. At the business meeting held after dinner resolutions highly complimentary to the Rebekahs were passed.
The business meeting was the most interesting ever held by the family. Letters were read from Rev. Edward B. Corwin of New Brunswick, N, J., author of the Corwin genealogy, from Selah Corwin of Middletown, Elsie Corwin Parkinson of Camden, N. J., Geo. W. Corwin of St. Louis, Mo., and others.
Mrs. Ciasta Bookstaver of Binghamton spoke in eulogy of George Corwin, deceased. Mrs. H. W. Edwards told of Alfred Corwin now living, 89 years old. Ezra D. Corwin of Cortland gave interesting history of Cortland Corwins. G. L. Mulloch spoke in eulogy of O. B. Corwin, late of Waverly. Mr. Methuseh gave interesting history concerning the family as also did Fred F. Corwin.
T. L. Corwin gave a brief history of the work of Walter G. Corwin, a trusted officer for forty-two years of the Erie R. R., who died last spring, aged 87. Dr. Elizabeth Corwin was the essayist of the day and in a carefully prepared paper spoke of the more liberal opportunities now offered to women in the way of education and work. At the present time 371 lines of work are open to women and there are now 8,000 women physicians in this country. She said that of the women who have taken up professions not the lowest position has been occupied by those of the Corwin family. The essay was of a nature to incite young women to take up a life work.
Officers were elected for the ensuing year as follows:
President—Mr. E. E. Corwin of Scranton.
Vice-President—T. L. Corwin of Marathon.
Second Vice-President—Dr. Elizabeth Corwin of this city.
Secretary—Miss Ethel Corwin of Hallstead.
T. L. Corwin, the retiring president, was then called out. He paid a high tribute to the G. A. R. boys of the Corwin family present. Mingling humor and pathos, roars of laughter at times broke out, while at the close when he feelingly spoke of the last grand family reunion almost every eye grew dim and every heart grew soft. Mr. E. E. Corwin, the new president followed and made a few timely remarks and the family reunion then closed by all singing "America."
ONE WHO WAS THERE.
Rev. O. A. Houghton, D. D.
FROM AMPERSAND.
DR. HOUGHTON RECUPERATING AT SARANAC LAKE.
Curious as to the Origin of the Name of His Hotel—Explanations by People He Met—The Correct One at Last—The Night Illuminations on the Lake.
AMPERSAND, N. Y., Aug. 20, 1900.
To the Editor of The Standard:
SIR—I drop this letter down to you from this great hotel located sixteen hundred feet above sea level. I wish I could send down with it one of these cool mountain breezes ladened with the arboreal perfumes of these regions to refresh and soothe all the weary ones of Cortland. Alas! I fear it is not in me even to write a "breezy" letter. And yet I am not so very far away. Get to Utica any day at 1:40 P. M. and take the New York Central special for the Adirondacks and you will arrive at Saranac lake about 7 P. M., and a bus ride of a mile completes the journey. There is plenty of fresh air up here, and it is so fresh and pure and invigorating that it makes one fully as frisky as a mountain goat after he has been here a few days.
Hotel Ampersand is located on the mountain side at the foot of lower Saranac lake. Many think this the most beautiful lake in the Adirondacks. The view of the lake and surrounding mountains from the verandas of the hotel is unsurpassed by anything that I have ever seen in this or any other country. The lake is enlivened with skiffs and canoes and naptha launches, that are at the service of guests for a reasonable fee. A trip up the lake means two hours of unalloyed pleasure to all lovers of beautiful scenery. The well equipped livery also furnishes facilities for drives though the most picturesque regions of this most justly famous summer resort. This magnificent hotel with its surrounding cottages accommodates about three hundred guests and is full to overflowing from the later part of July to the middle of September. The guests are mostly wealthy people from New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Pittsburg and other great cities of our country even to the far South. They are here for health and rest and such recreations as the place affords: viz. walking, riding, rowing, tennis, golf, baseball and the various indoor amusements for evenings and rainy days. Some of them are people of wide travel and broad culture whose acquaintance is pleasant and valuable.
A most excellent orchestra gives a delightful program of music every afternoon and evening. The following is a fair specimen which was given on the evening of Aug. 17:
Overture Orpheus, Offenbach
Waltzes Modestie, Waldteufel
Opera Selection Mignon, Thoma
Slavonic Dance, Dvorak
Young Werner's Parting Song, Nessler
The audience is respectfully requested to preserve silence during this number.
Festivity (from Six Tone Pictures), Hadley
But whence the name Ampersand, and what does it mean? This is one of the first questions that interested me. Evidently it is not an Indian name, I thought. I began to inquire. The boy on the bus said it was called Ampersand from the "kind of sand" dug out of the mountain side. The girl who waits on our table did not know as she "had never heard any one say." One of the bejewelled young ladies who queens it around the parlors and verandas kindly explained to me that it was made up of the ending "and" attached to the word ''ampere," which was a Latin word meaning the end, referring to the fact that when the mountain was first explored it was considered the last or the end of the route.
I smiled on the young lady my thanks but I could not recall any such Latin word and doubted her solution of the question. She doubtless had got this mixed with another legend which relates that near the mountain there was once an inn kept by a man named Ampere for the accommodation of guides and hunters who, when asked where they were going would respond, "To Ampers and —."
A young fellow volunteered the explanation that the sand of the river bed where the river empties into the lake is of amber color, hence the name, Ampersand. This is easy and seems plausible, but still I did not feel satisfied. However, I soon became acquainted with the bright, genial man from New York who sits opposite me at the table, and Yankee-like I asked, "What is your business?" "I am by profession a teacher," he said. "Ah!" said I, "then you can tell me something I want very much to know, for professors know most every thing. What does the word Ampersand mean and from what is it derived?"
And then he gave me the following explanation which he said was given by Rev. Henry Van Dyke in one of his letters from this region. The New England primer, from which many of our fathers and mothers learned to read, gave the letters of the alphabet with the name of each letter spelled out in full opposite, as A—aye, B—bee, etc. down to X, Y, Z, etc. The last character with the accompanying explanation was printed as follows: ''&, per se, and." That is, "A" by itself, or standing alone, reads "And."
The great nationalist Agassiz in one of his exploring trips through the Adirondacks stood upon the top of this mountain one day, and looking down upon its huge side saw a mountain stream that wound curiously about, something like the character &. "This," said he, "is &, per se, and," which rapidly pronounced with the necessary euphonic changes easily becomes "Ampersand." This is not an incredible explanation when we remember how curiously words sometimes originate.
On last Wednesday evening there occurred a most brilliant fete on the lake. It was a veritable Venetian night. There was a grand' flotilla consisting of eight naptha launches, one steam launch, and fifty or sixty row boats and skiffs, all profusely festooned from stem to stern with Chinese lanterns, that made the tour of the lake in a double column. From a float near the opposite side of the lake there was a continual display of brilliant fireworks filling the sky with rockets and bursting bombs of red, white and blue stars and radiating streams of varied colored fire.
The great hotel and cottages and camps on the shores and mountain sides were all illuminated with Chinese lanterns presenting a scene of unparalled beauty. The clear waters of the lake by reflection multiplied the thousand lanterns into ten thousands apparently. The people from neighboring hotels and camps and villages crowded the shores of the lake and the lawns and verandas of the great hotel, all contributing to the life and beauty of the fete as they were illuminated under the rain of fire. It was a great sight and awakened great enthusiasm. But the charms of this region are endless. They cannot be described; they must be seen to be appreciated.
O. A. HOUGHTON.
BREVITIES.
—Rev. Robert Yost has moved into the house at 89 N. Main-st. formerly occupied by Prof. J. E. Banta.
—Mr. C. B. Northrup of McLean was in Cortland to-day and favored the STANDARD office with a basket of his fine fall apples.
—Mr. and Mrs. Geo. A. Brockway of Homer entertained about thirty young people Wednesday evening in honor of Mrs. Brockway's sister, Miss Dunbar of Cortland.
—Many of the fire laddies, who had not already gone to Syracuse to attend the convention, started this morning on the special excursion train, taking the band with them. A large number of people from Cortland are also in Syracuse to-day reviewing the parade.
—Invitations have been issued for the wedding of Miss Carolynn Rene Kellogg, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. H. M. Kellogg of Cortland, and Mr. Walter Chandler Pearce of Troy, which will take place at the First Methodist church Wednesday, September 12, at 8 P. M.
—Another house on the Groton road entered by burglars Wednesday while the family were attending the fair was that of F. A. Blanchard, superintendent of cattle at the fair grounds. The work was evidently done by the same parties who entered other houses on that road the same day as the mode of entrance was similar. Some rings belonging to Mrs. Blanchard were taken and a small amount of money from the children’s banks.
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