The Cortland Democrat, Friday, July 12, 1901.
OUR NEW YORK NEWS.
CLIPPING TOE NAILS OF A CENTRAL PARK LION.
Corner Lots Going at High Prices—Pneumatic Tubes Service Stopped—Bank Failure—New Bridge to New Jersey—Female Thief.
New York, July 12.—Alice the blind lioness in the Central park menagerie had six ingrown toenails cut off one afternoon last week. She has belonged to the menagerie for ten years and has been practically blind in both eyes for the greater part of that period. For some time Alice has displayed a restiveness and has also limped so much as to make the keepers think that she had hurt one of her fore feet. Alice might have had to suffer without relief for a long time to come had not one of the ingrown nails caused a festering wound. That gave Director Smith of the menagerie the excuse he needed. Keeper Snyder and the main force crawled up on top of the cage armed with a noose made of a rope an inch thick. Alice could not see the noose, but her sense of touch was fine. Finally, however, while trying to dodge under the noose, she poked her head right into it. The noose had to be put over one of her shoulders and behind the corresponding foreleg, or the animal would have strangled to death when they tried to pull her off her feet. By stirring it with a long rake Snyder finally got the noose over Alice's left foreleg in the position he wanted. It took the whole strength of seven men to drag the lioness against the front bars of the cage. The next move was to get her front paws out through the narrow opening below the bars on the front of the cage. Each paw was then secured with a lighter rope. When Director Smith finally was able to examine Alice's paw he discovered that three nails on each forefoot had grown so long that they had turned and the points were growing into the pads, two of them so far that it was difficult to tell where the root of the claw was and where its point. The animal must have suffered terribly for a long time. A whole inch or more had to be cut off on each of the six nails. A pair of shears such as tinsmiths use were applied. Pain and anger and fear maddened her until she actually tried to bite the solid iron bars, teeth closed about them and wrenched and chewed until the ivory cracked and broke in fragments. After a while Alice sat up and then she took an experimental walk about the cage. It may be imagination, of course, but it really looked as if she felt satisfied with the result.
"Corner lots" and corner buildings have a high relative value in New York, for reasons which are more or less special to this city, though in all crowded communities there obvious advantage for many kinds of business gives them a preference which is expressed in their higher value as compared with other property. A corner has also special value for a lofty hotel or office building, structures which are now increasing in New York at a greater rate than ever before. Moreover, the building laws for the construction of theatres and hotels renders corners almost essential for such structures. In a city built on a longitudinal lines, with short blocks between the cross streets, and long blocks between thoroughfares, as is so much of New York as is on Manhattan Island, it is obvious that in a comparatively few years the supply of desirable corners must become so much less than the desire for them that their value will continue to appreciate at a greater rate than other property. As this movement goes on it will be more and more essential to a profitable use of such increasingly costly sites that there shall be put upon them the great and lofty buildings for which they offer peculiar advantages. A good corner in New York is good property to hold.
While it is supposed to be the policy of our government to advance and take no steps backward, the last congress has greatly crippled our mail service in this, the greatest commercial city of the nation. For some years there has been a pneumatic tube service in use by the post office department of this city which greatly facilitated the building of tons of our daily mail. The last congress turned down the appropriation to keen the tubes working hence they have been idle since last Sunday. Our Merchants association is keeping account of the now enforced delays in mail service and will endeavor to get an appropriation from the next congress to again put them in use.
The closing of the doors of the Seventh National bank here last week by Comptroller of the Currency Dawes brings home a good, strong lesson. For years it had been one of our most conservative institutions, but after the Spanish war it was reorganized and a politician came into control. Through his ''pull'' post office monies were deposited there and through the same source out-of-town business came its way. This way may not have been a cause to the end, but anyway the bank loaned over a million and a half of dollars to a Wall street firm on shady securities. The clearing house and the comptroller could not stand this and the doors were closed.
The Brooklyn bridge has long been an object of wonder to visitors, and was to New Yorkers when it was building. Another East river bridge is now in course of construction, to accommodate elevated and surface cars, trains, foot passengers and bicycles and now a still greater bridge is talked of. It is to be, as planned, a railroad bridge from the Jersey shore across the Hudson and all roads terminating there will use it. A firm of Wall-st. bankers has offered to finance the project and a few years will probably see the idea carried out.
A bold female thief has just been captured. Her method was to get employment in small stores or families, stay a few hours or days and decamp with what she could lay her hands on. She weighed 212 pounds and gave the two officers who arrested her black eyes before being hand-cuffed. She gives her name as Anna Ida Simmen and says she has $15,000 in the bank, the result of her stealings.
THE PAN-AMERICAN.
THE DEMOCRAT REPRESENTATIVE VIEWS THE GREAT EXPOSITION.
Not an Expensive Trip if a Reasonable Degree of Economy is Practiced—The Electric Display a Beautiful Feature—Lovers of Flowers Entranced--Thousands of Roses in Full Bloom.
As in ancient days "all roads led to Rome," so in this year of our Lord 1901 all roads lead to Buffalo, the objective point being the Pan-American Exposition. The Democrat has from time to time during the past few months given descriptions of special features of this great event, representing every nation on the American continent, but a representative of this paper has made a personal tour of the Exposition grounds during the past week, and doubtless many matters which came under his observation will not only be of interest to the readers of the Democrat, but will be of positive benefit to many who contemplate visiting Buffalo later in the season.
For convenience sake and to more clearly elucidate some of the special features, the article covering the trip is written in the first person, and for the purpose of enlightening the people as to the cost of the trip, our description, like the Chinese method of doing everything, is given backwards; that is, the finis comes first.
Contrary to the commonly accepted opinion, the expense of visiting the Pan-American is not great. Of course there is plenty of opportunity to spend an unlimited amount of money on the Exposition grounds, but my experience taught me that a five-day trip can be made by one person for the following figures: Fare round trip from Cortland $4.20; room four days $4; four breakfasts $1; three dinners on grounds $1.50; three suppers $1.50; lunches on days going and returning 50 cents; four admissions to grounds $2; liberal allowance on Midway $5; street car fare $1.
Here is a total of $20.70. All persons of limited means can, by eliminating the Midway indulgence, see everything pertaining to the Exposition proper, and live well for the sum of $15.70. I know this estimate to be within bounds from my personal experience, and give it to disabuse the public mind of the idea that a trip to the Pan-American will cost a fortune. Everything on the grounds, except admission to the Midway shows, is free to every purchaser of a fifty-cent admission ticket, and after spending a few hours strolling the length of the Midway, I can state that one may see a great many amusing features along the lengthy avenue without investing a penny; and there are many very meritorious features that can be seen for ten cents.
The Pan-American is a big thing, with a great big B. It is a city in itself—a city of magnificent scenery and of beautiful architecture. Within the confines of the grounds may be seen the great inventions of the present day, specimens of the mineralogical products of North and South America, fruits, grains and vegetables from every state in the Union, elegant flowers and hundreds of other features. The best band music obtainable greets the ear, and when becomes tired of the artistic he has but to repair to the Midway, where he can hear the bagpipe operated by the genuine Scotchman; or the horrible din created by a band of less than half-clad negroes from Darkest Africa, upon instruments that I could not describe were I to try; or the native Persian and his favorite "chikura;" or many other discordant sounds which natives of foreign climes probably style first-class music.
I left Cortland on the morning of Tuesday, June 25, and after a delightful ride over the D., L. & W. railroad arrived in Buffalo at 6:25 in the afternoon. (The trip can be made over the picturesque Lehigh road from Cortland at the same rate as over the Lackawanna.) Within a few minutes after leaving Binghamton I was reminded of the recent terrible explosion of dynamite near Vestal by observing the dilapidated condition of several houses and barns in that locality. This was my first trip to Buffalo, and I confess my surprise at the immensity of the city. Since Cortland put on city clothes I had become imbued with the notion that with its ten thousand people, the "Wagon City" was about the only place on earth worth mentioning, but after visiting Buffalo I must indulge in the light, catchy phrase, "there are others'' and the Bison city is one of the others. I found delightful rooms with Prof. and Mrs. N. P. Browning, 143 Lexington-ave., who, while not opening their doors promiscuously to Pan-American boarders, in my case consented to obey the scriptural injunction, "I was a stranger and they took me in."
I wish to say at this point that so far as my observation went, and I took special pains to make personal investigation that I might enlighten the readers of the Democrat, the people of Buffalo are ready and willing to furnish strangers visiting that city any information desired, and further that the proprietors of lunch counters and of hotels are not exorbitant in their charges. On Wednesday I dined on the Exposition grounds and the dinner was all that one could desire, the price being 50 cents which, considering the fee paid for the privilege, seemed quite reasonable. On Thursday I passed out through the gate and found plenty of booths near the entrance on Elmwood-ave., where tempting sandwiches could be secured for five cents, with pie and coffee the same. These figures compare with Cortland prices.
On the evening of my arrival I caught the Exposition fever in its worst form and a five-cent trolley ride soon carried me to the entrance. With all my years' experience in this great world of ours I have never seen such a gorgeous spectacle as greeted my vision upon entering the Elmwood-ave. gate. Thousands of electric lights turned the evening into day, the tower and several adjacent buildings being one grand illumination from the foundation to dome. Not far from this entrance are the flowers, where more than thirty thousand elegant roses, so I am told by a florist, were in full bloom. Huge beds of pansies, brilliant in all colors known to this flora, skirted the walks on every side. Thousands of cannas delighted the eye. Foliage plants were arranged artistically in every nook and corner. Surely the lover of nature could ask for no greater heaven on earth than this section of the Pan-American grounds. But this was not all. The inventive genius of man was brought into play to still further enrapture the eye. Under the designation of fireworks, sent up towards the heavens at a point some distance from the rays of the electric display, millions of stars of every conceivable hue presented a spectacle too grand for me to describe.
The two following days were spent "doing" the various buildings representing the various nations and the states of the Union. To properly describe these buildings and their contents would require at least ten entire issues of the Democrat, hence I am unable to give even a synopsis of what I saw. Every visitor to the Pan-American should spend some time in the United States government buildings especially that devoted to the fisheries. Here nearly every known variety of fish is shown, so arranged that fresh water is constantly forced through the tanks, and the finny tribes may be seen by the visitors. Several hours may be spent very entertainingly in this department.
The horticultural building is a very tempting spot, for here may be seen every variety of fruit, each state having a section by itself. California takes the palm for variety and for the many unique designs constructed from oranges, Los Angeles county alone displaying thousands of this fruit, besides apricots and many other specimens. In the Idaho section a plate of cherries attracted considerable attention for the reason that on every stem were two cherries grown together, a card bearing the following inscription being suspended over the plate: "What an Idaho cherry tree can do when she gets a hump on herself. Twins."
I would advise every reader of this article who may attend the Exposition to invest a dime in a ride on the canal in the Midway. What will attract your attention is a large overshot waterwheel, and by its side a swiftly running canal about three or four feet wide. In this canal was a boat which would hold eight persons. For the small sum of ten cents I was invited to enter the boat, and away we went around curves, through chasms or caves as dark as Egyptian darkness, suddenly coming to an illuminated wax scene, thence into darkness again, and finally reaching the starting point. The trip was worth the money invested, and I candidly confess that on the following day another dime changed hands for a like service.
But it is the electrical display upon which the Pan-American very justly boasts its superiority over all previous expositions. Imagine if you can, 235,000 arc lights grouped within a space of less than a quarter of a mile, all of a golden yellow, bursting forth gradually to the tune of "Star Spangled Banner'' from the celebrated Sousa's band, with several thousand people shouting themselves hoarse at the climax, and you have in your mind a reproduction of the scene witnessed every night at 8:30 o'clock. To add to the splendor of the picture, some twenty or thirty feet from the base of the tower a body of water at least fifteen feet in width is constantly pouring out from the side of the tower and goes—the spectator knows not where.
A large number of the states have buildings of their own, large, airy structures, handsomely furnished, and here hundreds of people go for rest after becoming weary in sight-seeing. And I want to say to the Democrat readers that ample provision is made for the comfort of the visitors to the Pan-American. Not only are the state buildings free for all, but thousands of comfortable settees are placed in shady nooks and in every conceivable spot where one can sit down and enjoy the breeze that comes from Lake Erie.
Next week I will speak of the miniature railway and other points of interest.
D.
A Remarkable Cat.
A Cortland young lady owns a cat which she considers about the finest in town, and for intelligence she thinks it stands several degrees above anything in the feline world. Each evening lately, about dusk, this cat takes its station on the top of a neighboring chimney and there catches chimney swallows and sparrows. It is considered quite a diversion to the family to watch the cat from the shelter of their porch, and nearly all the neighbors from their different houses are on the watch for the daily performance. When this cat was a kitten it had its meals placed on a newspaper, and now when it wishes a meal and wants to make it known it will drag down a newspaper and sit upon it, and will only take its meal from that newspaper. One feature worthy of note is that it prefers to take its food from a Democratic newspaper.
EARLY BOATING DAYS.
Cortland at One Time a Port of Entry for River Craft.
Standing to-day on the handsome iron bridge which spans the Tioughnioga river at Port Watson-st., one can hardly believe that only a trifle more than three-quarters of a century ago this truly magnificent stream was utilized by shippers to convey articles of commerce from this place and points above to the Washington and Baltimore markets, and while it would seem strange at this day to see loaded boats sailing down the river, yet there was once a time when this was done.
Perhaps many Democrat readers fail to appreciate the beauty and loveliness of the Tioughnioga valley. Descending as it does from an elevated point into the valley, one beholds a luxuriance of unrivaled richness that is equalled in but few parts of the country. Back in the early days the Tioughnioga river was much larger than at present, and its proportions made it possible to convey quite heavily laden boats downstream. That quite an extensive business was carried on is shown by the following quotation of departures, taken from the Cortland Democrat of date August 2, 1855:
Inland navigation—Port Watson—Highwater, Monday, 6th inst. Cleared.
Bark Reporter, G. Rice master, for Harrisburg laden with cheese and gypsum.
Bark Crazy Jane, L. Rice master, gypsum for Harrisburg.
Bark Dutch Trader, Shapley, gypsum.
Bark Navigator, Parsons, gypsum for Columbia.
Bark Brother Jonathan, Taylor, gypsum for Columbia.
Bark Bold Hunter, Sherwood, gypsum for Columbia.
Bark Indian Chief, Billings, gypsum for Columbia.
Bark Resolution, May, gypsum for Marietta.
Bark Perseverance, gypsum, Marietta.
Bark Phoenix, gypsum, Marietta.
Bark Enterprise, gypsum, Marietta.
Bark Lazy Tour, gypsum, Marietta.
Bark Sour Krout, gypsum, Marietta.
Bark Yankee Rogue, gypsum, Marietta.
Besides gypsum great quantities of whiskey, grain, potatoes and other products of this then wild country were sent down the river to Harrisburg and Baltimore. But the glory of the Tioughnioga has departed: the shipyard at Port Watson has gone to decay; the earth where those jolly barks were built is now under the supervision of the gardener. The raftsman's song has given way to the steam whistle, and the products are now taken to other markets at a greater speed than the river barge formerly traveled. Many an old ''cap'' has smoked his last pipe, while his descendants hover around the fire winter evenings and recount the hair breadth escapes caused by overladen boats going over dams, and other daily adventures incident to the life of the Tioughnioga river raftsmen in those early days.
TO BE OR NOT TO BE.
Prospects of Cortland Base Ball Team Hang in the Balance.
That base ball has been a decidedly losing venture in Cortland this season, more so than in former years so far as receipts from home games are concerned, has long been patent to those who continued to be regular patrons. That the team has, part of the time, put up a very ragged article of ball is also conceded, and here we question the economical policy of the management which allowed the same, feeling that winning ball would have drawn a little better here.
However, in the light of the fact that nearly $500 of stock that was subscribed to start things has not been paid, it is evident that a leader in the race would not have been able to pay expenses here. There have been twenty-two home games with average receipts of less than $44. With daily expenses estimated as follows: Visiting team $50, salary our team $50, umpires, advertising, balls and incidentals $15, or a total of $115, it is easy to see, with receipts of $44, that each game has averaged to cost at least $70 out of the treasury. On the road, with the Sunday games, the team has about ended even.
The players are now paid in full, our protection money and league dues are paid and the present association has no debts. They offer to turn everything over clear, and the $500 due and unpaid on stock subscriptions, to any parties here at home and throw in the July 4 receipts which should be with clear weather at least $500.
If no one is found here the team will be transferred to some other town, and that very soon, while it is out of debt. Thus the question, "to be or not to be?"
TELEPHONE LITIGATION.
The Home Co. Wins Its Case, and is Defendant in Another Action.
In the case of Wm. R. Huntington and others against the Cortland Home Telephone Co., the circumstances of which are familiar to our readers, a decision of the appellate division of the supreme court was received last Friday, reversing the decision of Justice Forbes and in favor of the Telephone company.
It will be remembered that an injunction was granted by Judge Forbes restraining the company from setting poles and stringing wires in front of the Randall property in South Main, Port Watson and Pendleton-sts.
The company then began condemnation proceedings, but Judge Forbes also denied the motion of the company in this proceeding. The cases were carried to the appellate division, which has decided both cases in favor of the company.
The motion for the injunction last September was based upon affidavits, no complaint having been drawn, and this form of procedure seems to have been fatal to the plaintiff's case, according to the opinion received on Saturday last.
On Monday Messrs. J. & T. E. Courtney, for Mr. Huntington and others, made another application for an injunction before Judge Forbes, who granted an order, returnable July 13 at his chambers in Canastota, for the defendant, the Home Telephone Co., to show cause why an injunction should not be granted, restraining them from setting poles, stringing wires, etc.
HERE AND THERE.
The past month is said to have been the warmest June on record. We believe it.
It is possible just now to have a pretty hot Fourth without burning any gun powder.
Cortland council Knights of Columbus is increasing in membership at a lively pace.
The second [bicycle] road race to Little York and return was run Monday evening, Baker coming in first in 47 minutes 55 seconds.
With a fair and a new [railroad] depot as outlined by our correspondent, Cincinnatus is fast becoming the metropolis of the Otselic Valley.
The grocery and meat firms have agreed to close their places of business at 6:30 o'clock p. m. during July and August, excepting Saturday evenings.
This country is certainly afflicted with extremes in the weather. From 20 or 30 below zero in the winter to 100 above in the summer ought to satisfy all conditions.
Those people who would like to be the ice man these scorching days should remember that 150-pound chunks must be lugged up four flights of stairs. It means something to be the ice man.
The intense heat which has prevailed throughout the country the past week is almost or quite without precedence for thus early in the season. In Cortland last Saturday afternoon, the thermometer indicated 100 degrees in the shade, and against the side of a building that had not been exposed to the sun's rays up to that time. A strange feature of the excessive heat is the fact that the highest point reached in the temperature—116—was way up in ''cool" New Hampshire.
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