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| William McKinley. |
Cortland Evening Standard, Thursday, May 9, 1901.
IN LAND OF FLOWERS.
McKinley Arrives at Los Angeles During Carnival.
SECRETARY LONG JOINS PARTY.
City Beautifully Decorated In Honor of the President's Coming—Governor Nash of Ohio and General Shafter There to Meet the Tourists.
LOS ANGELES, Cal., May 9.—The president and his party had their first taste of the hospitality of California yesterday. The introduction to the land of sunshine, fruit and flowers was like a dream of paradise after three days spent in the alkali deserts of Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. It was like passing into a fairyland. No words can picture the beauty of the rich sun-flooded valleys between snow-capped peaks, the orange groves of the Santa Ana and the trees and flowers which the president saw yesterday. Nature seemed to have adorned herself for the occasion in her brightest colors.
Governor Gage and the California congressional delegation met the president at Redlands in the San Bernardino valley and welcomed him to the state. It was here that the president got his first idea of the wonderful treat that awaited him. Through an avenue lined with palms and Venetian masts he drove over beds of roses, beneath a triumphal arch of flowers and fruit to the Casa Loma hotel, on the balcony of which the exercises took place. A drive through the orange groves and parks followed. All along the route of the drive ladies showered the president and Mrs. McKinley with flowers, and through the streets they bombarded him from the windows with confetti until the air was a perfect maze of color.
From Redlands down to Los Angeles it was a continuous ovation. Every station was crowded by children with wreaths of flowers in their hands, and by cheering men and women. Minute stops were made at Colton, Ontario, [Pomona], and at 2:30 o'clock in the afternoon the train drew into Los Angeles.
The approach to the city of Los Angeles was heralded by a terrific din, which could be heard for miles. Steam whistles screamed, cannon boomed, and as the train passed through the Chinese quarter of the city long strings of firecrackers, hung from awnings, exploded like the continuous rattle of musketry. The city had been beautifully decorated in honor of the president's coming. The fiesta is in progress here and the town was dressed like a queen to receive the coming of her lord. The colors of the carnival, red, yellow and green, representing the wine, orange and olive, predominated. The streets were avenues of masts festooned with yellow bunting and crowned with palm leaves and wreaths of laurel. At the station the party was met by the citizens' committee and many distinguished people from all over California.
General Shafter, commander of the department of the Pacific, with his entire staff, in full uniform, had come down from the presidio to greet his chief. Secretary of the Navy Long, who was to have met the party at San Francisco, also came here to meet the president and was at the station. The party was driven in carriages to the [Van Nuys] hotel. An escort of artillery and several companies of militia had been provided to escort them, but both the military and police had to fight their way through the enormous crowds that had swarmed into the city, drawn by the double attraction of the president's visit and the carnival. At the hotel the police were obliged to literally force a way to the entrance. There the president met Governor Nash of Ohio and the Ohio congressional delegation which had arrived by different routes an hour before. In the rotunda of the hotel the mayor of Los Angeles formally greeted the chief executive and extended to him the freedom of the city. The president responded in a happy speech.
The president then held a short public reception in the parlors of the hotel. Meantime Mrs. McKinley and the ladies of the party had been driven to the Woman's club in Figuro street, where they met the ladies of Los Angeles. Last evening President and Mrs. McKinley dined at "Bivouac," the handsome residence of General Harrison Grey Otis, and after dinner a private reception was held there in their honor. They spent the night at the Bivouac. Governor Nash held a public reception at the chamber of commerce.
Late in the afternoon some of the members of the president's party ascended Mount Low, 6,000 feet high, whence they had a birdseye view for 70 miles of Southern California and the Pacific coast, 20 miles out to sea. The members of the cabinet and other members of the party witnessed the brilliant illumination in the streets. The whole city blazed with fantastic colors, and the air was a blinding storm of confetti, thrown by the merry rioters.
The train will leave Los Angeles early Friday morning.
BUILDING MONSTER CANNON.
Government Working on a Gun That Is Effective at 21 Miles.
WASHINGTON, May 9.—A gun that weighs 130 tons and can throw a projectile weighing 2,370 pounds a distance of 21 miles is being completed at the Watervliet arsenal under the direction of the war department.
If successful this great rifle will be by all odds the most terrible engine of war possessed by any nation. It is an experiment, but there is every reason to believe it will be all its builders expect of it. It will be 18 inches in muzzle diameter and over 49 feet in length. Each shot will consume a charge of 576 pounds of smokeless powder. Captain Wheeler of the ordnance bureau has been ordered to inspect the completion of the gun.
The weapon when completed will be sent to the Buffalo exposition. If the tests are satisfactory the government will order 40 of them. Of this number [18] will be placed in New York harbor, 10 at San Francisco, 8 at Boston and 4 at Hampton Roads.
THE DAMAGES CLAIMED
By James S. Burgess and Others for Diversion of the Tioughnioga.
The Marathon Independent says in regard to the claim for $2,000 damages filed before the state court of claims last week by James S. Burgess of that place, owner of the milling privilege there, concerning which a news dispatch has already appeared in these columns:
This is one of several claims to be filed, and grows out of the fact that the state, in creating the canal feeder near DeRuyter several years since, dammed up and diverted to the north, waters that had formerly flowed into and formed a part of the headwaters of the east branch of the Tioughnioga river. At the time this damming was done, several owners of riparian rights in that section were settled with, but the owners of mill sites at a distance were ignored.
The fact of the water being diverted did not come to Mr. Burgess' attention until quite recently, and he at once took steps to ascertain what his rights were, and the above claim is a result thereof.
We understand that the mills at Blodgett Mills, Lisle and Whitney's Point are also affected by this same taking away of the water, and will file similar claims.
The millowners along the river and the west branch thereof, which rises in the lakes at Tully, also have their optics trained upon the Solvay Process company, who operate the Tully Pipe Line Co. This company is acquiring lands adjacent to the Tully lakes, and is using water from some of them in large quantities. The drainage of the Tully lakes is to the southward, and as stated, they are the headwaters of the west branch. It is believed that the lakes used by the Pipe Line company have a subterranean, if not a surface connection with each other, and that therefore water diverted from one of them affects them all, and consequently cuts off the flow of the water in the Tioughnioga. It is a fact that the water in the stream has been unusually low the past two or three seasons, and it is claimed that this use of the water is to some extent the cause of it.
It is expected that during the coming season it will be demonstrated if this is so or not, and if found that the company is depriving the mill owners of water that they need to use, they will probably be asked to settle therefore.
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| S. S. Knox. |
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| Main Street, Cortland, N. Y., circa 1900. |
PAGE FOUR—EDITORIAL.
Sidewalks in Cortland.
The board of public works of this city has turned its attention particularly to the question of sidewalks and is planning to follow this matter up systematically until a great improvement over the present condition is made.
It may be said, as a preliminary, that the name and character of the five men comprising the board is such as to preclude the possibility of any action being taken from any other motive than to attain the best results for the greatest number of people. The city of Cortland is exceedingly fortunate in having upon its board of public works such conscientious, honorable, energetic, efficient and practical men as Judge S. S. Knox, C. F. Wickwire, Hugh Duffey, C. W. Collins and F. H. Cobb. Few cities are thus favored, and that these gentlemen may be willing to accept reappointment for many years to come will be the earnest wish of every one having the welfare of the city at heart.
These gentlemen were first appointed to constitute the sewer board of the village in the old days and they have been instrumental in securing for Cortland one of the best systems of sewerage that could be instituted in a place as level as this city. When the city charter bill became a law they were legislated into office as the new board of public works. They have always been harmonious in their action because all were seeking the public good. It always proves impossible to undertake any improvements or to make any advance without inconveniencing some one, even though the interests of the greater number may thereby be served. But if this is the case, and some one is disturbed by the action of the board, as undoubtedly will he true in the sidewalk matter. It goes without saying that the board is animated by no other motive than to do its duty and to serve the city in the very best way possible.
During the last few years the village and later the city of Cortland has been the defendant in several actions for damages brought against it by reason of accidents sustained from defective sidewalks. The walks of Cortland, except on the business streets are as a rule built of plank. The life of a plank walk is but a few years. In about four years it needs repairs, and in as many more years it needs rebuilding. During the last few years of its existence it is a constant menace to life and limb, for planks decay and nails pull out, letting the planks come loose. It is unnecessary to state further in what ways these loose planks and defective walks become dangerous, for nearly every one has had experience with them. The board of public works set out last year to remedy this and to put a stop to the cause of these damage suits.
During the last half decade the art of laying cement walks has been greatly perfected until now it is possible for a skilled operator to lay a walk that is smoother and better than flagstone and that is practically indestructible. Cheap imitations of these walks have been laid which have cracked by weather and heaved by frost, but there are a considerable number of cement walks in this city which have been down for five years or more and which have never started a particle and which stand as a monument of skilled workmanship, and bid fair to last a life time.
The board of public works took preliminary action last year toward changing all the plank walks of the city to such cement walks as those last mentioned. It did not expect to be able to do this in a single year, but it did believe that in the course of five years all the plank walks of the city might be removed and in their place substantial and permanent cement or stone walks might be built.
To this end a resolution was last year adopted prohibiting the building of any more plank walks in the city and requiring that all future walks be constructed of cement or stone. In the face of this resolution a few people did presume to lay new plank walks. The board of public works took note of this fact and also recorded the date of the building. It may be a source of comfort or otherwise to those people to know that very soon they will probably be directed to remove them and to build cement or stone walks in their place, and that in the meantime if any accident occurs upon these walks the abutting property owner will be liable for it, and not the city, because he has not complied with the city's regulation. It is also true that at least one of those new walks has already been ordered removed and that a cement walk will be built there by the city and the expense be charged up against the property if the owner neglects to obey the notice served upon him.
But the board of public works was looking forward to assisting the property owners, in that it did not at once last season take official cognizance of the new plank walks that were building. It realized that the cement walks are at the outset a little more expensive than the plank walks, though in the end because of their permanence they are far cheaper. It also recognized the fact that every one in the city is indirectly benefitted by every new walk that is built.
During the last session of the legislature certain amendments were made to the charter of the city, and one of them has reference to sidewalks. Under its provisions the board of public works is authorized to offer a rebate of three cents a foot to be paid by the city to every property owner putting down a cement walk. This brings the actual cost of the cement walk to the owner to just about the cost of the plank walk. Several reputable firms in Cortland have been putting down cement walks and are prepared to put them down with a guaranty of permanence for 10 cents a foot. With a rebate of 3 cents a foot this brings the cost to the owner down to 7 cents a foot. A plank walk cannot be laid in good style for less money than that amount. The board of public works has reckoned, on the basis of damage suits which it has recently had to pay, that it can afford to pay this rebate to the property owner laying the cement walk and thus help him, and still be money ahead at the end of the year if it can avoid the damage suits. And of course this idea is entirely independent of the humanitarian thought of sorrow at the misfortune, perhaps resulting in a permanent disability, of every one who gets hurt.
The board of public works will very properly require that arrangements for this rebate be made in advance before the walk is built, and when it is to pay a rebate it will require the builder to give an acceptable bond to insure the permanence of the walk. This is to guard against paying out a rebate where a cheap and poor walk might be built by an unskilled workman which would need renewing in a few years.
The members of the board of public works are in earnest about this matter, and the people will stand by them. It is no trifling affair for busy business men like the five members of this board to give to the service of the city without compensation two or three evenings or more each month, to say nothing about the days when inspections of streets and work are made. But they are doing it and they are bound to improve the condition of our city. The streets are being put into good condition, and now the walks are to receive their share of attention, and the people are to be required to pay practically no more for them than formerly, if this work is continued, as the board purposes, for five years and every plank walk is removed from the city in that time, and in its place is laid such cement walks as are now to be seen about the National bank of Cortland, or on the west side of Main-st. in the block north of Court-st, or on the east side of Church-st. between the First M. E. church and Port Watson-st. or in some other places that might be mentioned, what an improvement it will be to the city and to the value of the abutting property itself. And that is just what is coming, and the people will without doubt endorse the action of the board in bringing it about.
STILL MORE DIFFICULTY
Between the Sidepath Commission and the Cortlandville Town Board.
The [Bicycle] Sidepath commission has notified the town board of Cortlandville that it does not accept its amendment to a previous resolution concerning the sidepath matters, in making the highway commission the judge of what is a suitable bed for a path. It has also notified the town board and the highway commissioner not to disturb any more paths till the matter is adjusted. The sidepath commission is in favor of making Supervisor A. R. Rowe and its superintendent Mr. Kirk, the judges of the beds for replaced paths.
Sig. Sautelle.
Sautelle on Saturday.
Search the wide world over and there can not be found a better one-ring circus than Sig. Sautelle's, which will exhibit in Cortland Saturday afternoon and evening. Without question this circus is the largest, grandest and best 25-cent amusement institution ever organized. Always prompted with the desire to excel, the owner has been lavish in his expenditures year after year with the result that he has season following season kept far in the lead of show managers. No attraction or feature has been too expensive for him and to this progressiveness is largely due his great success as a showman. All of his advertisements are truthful to the letter. The announcement that this season his shows have been greatly enlarged and improved must therefore be believed, and the amusement lovers in this vicinity can feel assured that the coming of the Sautelle show means a genuine holiday treat. Uniformed and gentlemanly ushers will be present at each performance to look after the comfort of ladies and\ children unaccompanied by escorts. The show ground will be on the Montague lot on Elm-st., where the circus was held last year.
W. C. T. U. PARLOR MEETING.
Mrs. H. B. Greenman Presented with a Telephone by Sister Members.
A W. C. T. U. parlor meeting was held at home of the president, Mrs. H. B. Greenman, last evening at 8 o'clock. The program opened with devotional exercises and those were followed by an interesting program consisting of recitations by Mr. B. B. Nichols and two very pleasing piano solos by Miss Helen Walker. Short articles on various phases of the W. C. T. U. work were read by different members. During the afternoon the local union ordered a telephone placed in Mrs. Greenman's house as a present to her and a token of appreciation. One feature of the program was the presentation to Mrs. Greenman of a year's receipt for the telephone, for which she expressed her thanks in well chosen words. Light refreshments were served. About thirty members and guests were present.
TO CURTAIL CREDIT
Of the Students of Cornell—Business Men Take Action.
The Ithaca News says there was a meeting of the Business Men's association of Ithaca on Tuesday evening, and one of the subjects considered was the curtailing of the credits now given to the students of Cornell university, the credits now being almost unlimited. The News says:
Mr. Clapp called attention to the fact that the college boys were allowed to contract a large indebtedness which he believed was as ruinous to the morals of the young men as it was unprofitable to the merchants. He said:
The greater number of the boys who come to this city are supplied with money by their parents for the purpose of purchasing their necessities. If the youths are allowed to procure their goods on credit they spend money in other ways and the parents must reimburse them to sustain their reputation.
It was proposed that the association draft a letter to be sent to the parents of the freshmen calling attention to the condition and asking them to either sanction or forbid the giving of credit. The chairman was requested to appoint a committee to investigate and report at the next meeting.
TO VISIT VIRGIL.
Cornell University's Civil Engineering Class to do the Town.
The civil engineering class of Cornell university, forty-five in number, with an instructor is to spend three weeks and three days in Virgil this spring, beginning May 23. This class always goes out to some locality each spring for practical work. It will find this, especially in the line of leveling among the hills of Virgil. The boys are to camp in a tent erected in an orchard on the outskirts of the town on the road to Cortland and will take their meals at the Virgil hotel. They will probably work hard by day and make the nights lively for the town.
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| Dunsmore's Park Trout Ponds, 1892 Sanborn Fire Map. |
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| Floral Trout Ponds (lower right), separated by two small arched foot bridges, located near East Ave., Cortland, N.Y. 1894 Panoramic Map of Cortland, Library of Congress. |
RUMOR NOT TRUE.
Floral Trout Park has Not Been Sold nor Negotiated For.
The rumor published in a morning paper that the Floral trout park had been sold to Ringling Brothers for a winter headquarters for a circus is without foundation. The park was enclosed and started thirty years ago by Hiram C. Blodgett, lately deceased. For a time it enjoyed great popularity, but the Traction company's park threw it in the shade and of late it has not been used for any purpose. It is in the hands of Prof. C. H. Van Tuyl, principal of the Hamilton High school, to be disposed of. Prof. Van Tuyl is the son-in-law of Mr. and Mrs. Blodgett. Mrs. Blodgett said she knew nothing about the rumored transaction. Prof. Van Vuyl at the telephone this afternoon said that the rumor was without foundation; that there had been no sale and no negotiations with any party for a sale. He said, however, they would like to sell it, and he would be glad to have such a rumor come true.
BREVITIES.
—Canton Cortland, No. 27, will hold a regular meeting at 8 o'clock this evening.
—New display advertisements today are—Baker & Angell, Shoes, page 7; Mitch's Market, Fish, page 5.
—The Sautelle circus will exhibit on Saturday of this week on the Montague lot on Elm-st., just where the show was last year.
—The Loyal circle of King's Daughters will meet with Mrs. A. A. Sprague, 144 Port Watson-st., tomorrow afternoon at 3 o'clock.
—The Woman's Home Missionary society of the First M. E. church will meet at the parsonage tomorrow at 2:30 P. M. An interesting program is provided. A full attendance is desired.
—The state senate of Michigan invited Mrs. W. H. Pound, formerly of Cortland, now of Lansing. Mich., to read a paper before that body on Wednesday evening, April 24, on "Sex, as a Factor in Life's Problem," and the invitation was accepted. This is the first time that a lady was ever invited to address the Michigan state senate.
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