Steamer Leaving Hawaii Orders More Bananas

1897

HAD A GOOD EYE

Sam Parker Bowls a Bunch of Bananas

There was an amusing incident on the Pacific Mail wharf Saturday afternoon, just as the O. & O. S. S. Belgic was hauling away from the Pacific Mail wharf. In this Sam Parker, Clarence Crabbe and a Chinese fruit vendor were concerned.

Just a few minutes before the steamer departed for the Orient Mr. Crabbe thought that he would like to see some bananas aboard. He called a Chinaman and told him to get three bunches from up town as quickly as possible. The fellow demurred, thinking it too late, but finally ran up town and brought down three bunches.

He arrived on the wharf just as the steamer was hauling away from the wharf. Grasping one of the bunches he threw it up toward the lower deck. It fell short and into the water. The second bunch met with the same fate. Just then Sam Parker went to the rescue, and, grasping the third and largest bunch, gave it a swing and sent it aboard without trouble. While the Chinaman was mourning the loss of the two bunches in the water, native boy swimmers were tying a rope to these, and in a short time they were hauled aboard. The shouts of the people on the wharf when Sam Parker threw the third bunch aboard were heard uptown.

—Hawaiian Gazette, Honolulu, June 8, 1897, p. 5.

"Hoochy-Coochy" Dances Seen Immoral, Performances Under Fire

Portsmouth, OH, 1897

OOCHY-COOCHY

Four Prominent Citizens Say It Is a Moral Dance.

The Mayor Ordered It Stopped and the Four Protested.

Agreed to Modify the Program a Little and Work In a Punch and Judy Performance— Three Suspicious Looking Individuals Who Will Keep Several Days.

One of the spectators at the Oriental dances at Eddie Burns' saloon Tuesday night was Marshal Schmitt. The marshal's opinion of the performance, backed by that of several other spectators, resulted in an order from the mayor next morning stopping the show.

When application was made for a license Monday it was represented to mayor as an ordinary skirt dance. Complaints were made the next day that it was an immoral show, and it was decided to investigate it officially, which was done, with the above result. The dance is an imitation of the Turkish "Ooohy-Coochy" dance introduced at the World's fair and attracted enormous crowds.

Mr. Burns, when sent for, insisted that the show was not an immoral one. The mayor had the opinion of a number of spectators to the contrary. Burns agreed to get six of the best citizens in the city to sign a statement that it is not an immoral or indecent performance. He left and returned an hour later with the signatures of four prominent business men who saw the dance. He finally agreed to modify the program, substitute a regular skirt dance, "Punch and Judy" performance and other similar innocent amusements for the naughty dance.

In the mayor's court Tuesday afternoon some of the parties engaged in the free-for-all fight Saturday night at Ray's saloon, on West Second street, were placed on trial. Five of them were found guilty. Huston, Appler and Shakespeare were fined $3.00 and costs; Justice and McDowell $1.00 and costs.

Two young men, with the appearance of confidence men, were run in Tuesday night by Officer Ingles and slated "on suspicion." They gave the names of Jarvis Lloyd and Ed. Hastings and claim to be from Chicago. They will probably "keep" several days.

Belle Medley 'fessed up to the mayor Wednesday that she used bad language in the presence of Edith Turner, Paradise alley. She was fined $4.80.

—The Portsmouth Times, Portsmouth, OH, July 31, 1897, p. 1.

Genghis Khan's Dominions

1897

Mrs. Mary Shears Roberts, in her series of "Historic Dwarfs" in St. Nicholas, writes of Casan, who was in the service of Genghis Khan. Mrs. Roberts says:

After the great Mongolian had conquered China, Persia and all central Asia his empire became one of the most formidable ever established. It extended from the Pacific ocean on the east to the river Dnieper in European Russia and was a wider realm than Egyptian, Greek or Roman conqueror ever knew. The kings of Armenia and Georgia, the emirs of Persia, the grand dukes of Russia and numerous other potentates were compelled to pay tribute to Genghis Khan, and they were all obliged to make the long journey to Karakorum in person or by their representatives.

This town, the capital of the largest empire that ever existed, was little more than a city of tents. It afterward became the residence of the famous Kublai Khan, as Marco Polo tells us, but every vestige of it has disappeared.

Genghis Khan at last retired from active service to lead a quiet life in the enjoyment of the wealth he had acquired at the expense of so much toil and blood. The numerous khans and generals were commanded to return, and they came back encumbered with the spoils of war. They all assembled on a vast plain some 20 miles in extent, and, according to one historian, even this great field could scarcely contain all the tents of the countless hosts. The emperor's quarters alone were six miles around. An enormous white tent capable of containing 2,000 people was spread over his throne, on which was carefully placed the bit of black carpet used at his coronation.

Boston Man Believes Eating Eggs When Angry Will Kill You

1897

ANGER AND EGGS.

A Boston Man Says the Combination May Result In Death.

"Never eat eggs while you are angry," said A. E. Stewart of Boston. "My attention was first called to this strange fact by the tragic and sudden death of a lady acquaintance in Boston several years ago. I accepted her husband's invitation to dine with them.

"Just as we were going in to dinner a servant did something that caused the lady to fly into a terrible rage. She had been irritable from some minor complaint for several days, and her husband calmed her ruffled feelings sufficiently for the dinner to be eaten in good temper. I noticed that she ate an unusually large amount of soft scrambled eggs. Fifteen minutes after we left the dining room she was a corpse. She died in frightful convulsions before the nearest doctor reached the house. The doctor was unable to ascribe the cause.

"A few months later I was visiting a brother in Connecticut, and one of his sons died under similar circumstances. Before breakfast one morning the boy, who was about 15 years old, had a fight with a neighbor's boy. Before his anger, had subsided my nephew was called to breakfast. He ate four soft boiled eggs. Had I known as much then as I do now I would have prevented it. In less than a half hour after breakfast the boy died with exactly the same symptoms that were present when my friend's wife died. This set me to thinking about the matter.

"It wasn't long after this before a Beacon hill friend of mine expired suddenly after a meal. The doctors, as usual, were divided in opinion on the cause of death. Some of them contended that it was heart failure, whatever that is, and others are still holding out that it was apoplexy. Inquiry by me developed the fact that my friend was very angry when he sat down at table and that he ate five eggs. With these developments I searched no further for the cause of his death. He was angry, he ate eggs, and be died.

"If these are not links in the chain of cause and effect, the human intellect is incapable of logical thinking."—St Louis Republic.

Another Male Victim for Seductive, Charming Mrs. McDermott

Ohio, 1897

ELOPERS

Left the City Early Yesterday Morning on Foot.

Harley Beckett Skips With Notorious Mrs. Joe McDermott

Leaving His Wife and Several Small Children In Destitute Circumstances—The Couple Chased Several Miles by Constable Sloan—Previous Escapades of Mrs. McDermott.

Mrs. Joe McDermott, a female whose escapades have more than once made her the subject of newspaper articles, has again sprung into notice. This time she eloped with a neighbor named Harley Beckett. The couple fled from the city Tuesday.

Beckett has been employed by J. B. Carter at his barrel factory on Chillicothe street. He is an expert cooper and makes good wages. He is married and has several children. For some time past he has been "rushing" the McDermott woman and spending his money on her. Tuesday they decided to skip, and early in the morning they left town.

Constable Frank Sloan was put on the trail yesterday morning by relatives of the eloping couple and was hot on their trail all morning. He traced them down across the Scioto bottoms and up the valley, but did not come up with them. It is thought they are about in this vicinity.

Mrs. Beckett called at the mayor's office that morning and told her tale of woe. She said she and her children had been left in destitute circumstances. She wanted warrants issued for the runaways. She finally left without causing warrants to be issued. The police are on the lookout for the couple, however, and if apprehended they will be locked up.

The McDermott woman is the female to whose seductive charms George W. Legg fell a victim several years ago. Legg was then treasurer of Pike county and was spending the money of Pike county tax-payers right and left. He came here several times to see the McDermott woman, and she and her confederates bled him out of several hundred dollars before he "tumbled" to the game.

—The Portsmouth Times, Portsmouth, OH, July 24, 1897, p. 1.

Pittsburg Boy Takes Boating Bet, Threatened by Tramp

1897

IN A SKIFF

A Pittsburg Boy Made a Trip to This City.

He Made the Trip In Eighty Hours Actual Working Time and Thereby Wins His Expenses and a $25 Wager—Exciting Experience Enroute.

There arrived in the city Wednesday a couple of young men—John Phin and Godfrey Nelson by name—who have led an exciting life for the past two weeks.

The pair left Pittsburg just two weeks ago Wednesday in a small pine skiff, and one of them—Nelson— rowed the entire distance—four hundred miles—to the Portsmouth wharf. It appears that the young men are employed in one of the Pittsburg rolling mills. They belong to an athletic club, and a wager was recently made that Nelson could not row from Pittsburg to Portsmouth in eighty-five hours, actual working time. If he succeeded in doing it he was to receive his expenses and $25. He took up the offer and two weeks ago started on his trip. Phin came along to represent the club and see that he did not shirk his work and tie onto a passing boat. They covered ground rapidly, and when they rounded into the wharf here the actual rowing time was just eighty hours. They immediately wired the result to their friends in Pittsburg. They spent the morning here and left this afternoon for Cincinnati. They expect to return to Pittsburg on one of the packets the first of the week.

Mr. Nelson, who is a very pleasant gentleman, said to a Times reporter that the trip was a pleasant one and at times exciting. At a point near Marietta a tramp endeavored to take possession of the boat and was for dumping Nelson and his partner in the river. Nelson pulled a gun and bluffed the fellow off, however. They also had some trouble with shanty boatmen. Nelson has been tramping about the country for several years in the summer time and working in the Pittsburg mills in the winter. He is an expert oarsman and a fine walker.

—The Portsmouth Times, Portsmouth, OH, July 17, 1897, p. 1.

Light Flashes — Saloon Fight Between Two Young Bloods

San Antonio, 1897

Light Flashes

— A man fell in the ditch on Water street, near North street, yesterday. He had on a large jag and it was with difficulty that he was pulled out of the water.

— A fight took place in Scholz's saloon yesterday between two young bloods, in which one was floored by a blow over the eye.

— L. Martin was fined $25 by the recorder this morning. He was arrested by Officer Bourn on Main plaza last night. He had a quarrel with John Naylor and pulled a gun on him.

— A delivery wagon and its horses got into a sewer trench Saturday night, on San Pedro avenue and the horses were only rescued after hard work.

— A freight engine and switch engine collision occurred at the Southern Pacific depot this morning. Small damage.

— Nearly all the shooters who were here last week have gone home.

— Mr. C. B. Hice is organizing a new gun club to have grounds north of San Pedro park.

— Mr. P. P. McManus, the well known steel and wire man of this city, is rejoicing today over the safe arrival of a fine new boy in his family this morning.

—San Antonio Daily Light, San Antonio, TX, Feb. 1, 1897, page 4.