Johnny Poe of the Black Watch

1915

Killed in the Fighting Near Ypres, Sept. 25, 1915

(Lines by a Princeton Classmate)

JOHNNY POE;
Stocky little chap, you know,
He'd no call to take in slack!
'Most too small for quarter back,
Made it somehow — played it, tho;
Johnny Poe.

Johnny Poe
More than twenty years ago —
Wasn't he a ghastly sight
When we'd fought the snowball fight?
Hardly had a face to show,
Johnny Poe.

Johnny Poe;
Freshman president? That's so;
Homely face and ready grin —
Lord — the veil of years grows thin!
Dead "somewhere in Flanders?" No!
Johnny Poe?

Johnny Poe.
Well, that's how he'd like to go.
Scrapper he was, first and last,
Never let a fight get past,
Hunted 'em through Mexico;
Johnny Poe.

Johnny Poe;
That's the Celtic strain, you know.
Soldier, miner, ranchman, he;
Trailed the land from sea to sea.
Couldn't let things get too slow;
Johnny Poe.

Johnny Poe
Dead in battle, laid so low,
Bearing in your burial place
Tartan of your Celtic race,
Bless you, Johnny, rest you so;
Johnny Poe!

— E. Sutton.

— Saturday Blade, Chicago, Dec. 18, 1915, p. 2.

Bets on Race; Nevah Again!

1915

Virginia Gentleman Is Bittah Because Mistah Millah Wins His $1,000

PHILADELPHIA. Pa., Dec. 16. — A peanut grower from Virginia placed a cool thousand dollars on a race horse in a well-appointed apartment and lost. He is now touring the central section of the city with a detective in an endeavor to find the apartment and two men who escaped with the money he lost.

"Nevah again will I visit youah city, suh," said the indignant plantation owner, T. M. Edwards of Rushmere, Va. Edwards says a chance acquaintance introduced him to a man named Miller.

"Mistah Millah was represented to me as being the gentleman who won back Judge Grinell's fortune by playing the hosses," said Edwards. "I was prevailed upon to go to New York to get $1,000, and returned here today. I put up the money and lost. So did my friend.

"Mr. Millah won all. My friend was very bittah against Mistah Millah and vowed he would shoot him and get my money back. Then he disappeared."


Pleas for Woman's Life Win

OTTAWA, Ont., Dec. 16. — The women of Alberta have won their fight to save the life of Mrs. Annie Hawkes of Macleod, sentenced to hang for the killing of her husband's affinity. Announcement was made that executive clemency has been extended and the sentence commuted to 10 years' imprisonment.

Hundreds of petitions protesting against the death sentence imposed upon Mrs. Hawkes were received here. The plea was made that Mrs. Hawkes while hysterical killed the woman who had been brought into her home.

Arctic Adventure to Lure Chicagoan

1915

Millionaire Sportsman Announces He Will Sail From Seattle, Wash., for Far North in April

John Borden, a Chicago sportsman and millionaire, will embark next spring on his third adventure. He went whaling to Bering Sea two years ago. He had his taste of war last summer on the French fighting front in Flanders. Next spring he will cease to be an amateur adventurer and become a professional whaler and fur trader.

Capt. L. L. Lane, a veteran of the Arctic, whaler, trader, and miner, will be his partner in the undertaking.

"We shall buy or build a schooner," said Mr. Borden, "and sail from Seattle, Wash., in April loaded with merchandise for trade among the Eskimos. Capt. Lane will be in charge of the expedition.

"I shall drop off somewhere up north — perhaps at Point Barrow — and return by steamer. Capt. Lane will continue the expedition until the ice drives him out in the fall. He expects, with good luck, to bring back a cargo worth a quarter of a million in United States markets."

Capt. Lane is fresh from the Arctic. He left Herschel island on Sept. 30 and traveled 1,100 miles by dog sled to Cordova. There he took a steamer for Seattle, where he arrived November 21. He brought the latest tidings from Stefansson, who has been in the Arctic two years at the head of the Canadian Government's exploring expedition.

—Saturday Blade, Chicago, Dec. 18, 1915.

Plunges Into Dark Shaft

Missouri, 1915

Mrs. Fred C. Pettis and her 13-year-old daughter, Gladys, were passing thru a patch of weeds near a persimmon grove at Chitwood, Mo. Suddenly a reptile writhed in front of them. Frightened, Gladys ran. The mother ran to where the girl had disappeared and found the mouth of an old deserted shaft. "Gladys! Gladys!" cried Mrs. Pettis, frantic with fear. No answer. The mother fled to a nearby mining plant for help. Soon several men with ropes were at the mouth of the shaft. They got busy at once to find the body of the child.

A rope was fastened around one of the men and his companions were in the act of lowering him into the dark hole when the frantic mother screamed and then fainted. Gladys had stepped out of the shaft and coolly remarked: "Gee, but its cold and wet down there."

Altho the shaft is said to have been 200 feet deep, it was filled to within twenty feet of the top with water. The child had doubtless hit the water head first, and when her mother called she didn't hear her, of course. When the girl had come to the top of the water her hand had grasped a piece of the cribbing which is placed two inches apart all the way up the shaft and, using this makeshift ladder as a hand and foot hold she had climbed to the top. She was none the worse for her plunge into the cold water.


Get Letter From Roosevelt

BONNER SPRINGS, Kan., Dec. 16. — Ex-President Theodore Roosevelt has just sent a letter from Oyster Bay to Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Smith, congratulating them on the event of their sixty-fifth wedding anniversary.

Boyhood Chum of Andy Carnegie Passes Away

1915

"Thirty" Comes to "Dode" Moreland, Veteran Telegrapher, Once Captured by Mosby.

PITTSBURGH, Pa., Dec. 16. — Theodore ("Dode") Moreland, aged 72, a patriarch among telegraphers here, and a boyhood friend and fellow-worker of Andrew Carnegie, the multi-millionaire, died in a hospital here as the result of an accident which occurred several weeks ago.

Mr. Moreland, like Carnegie, became an operator for the Western Union Telegraph Company and it was while following this work that the two renewed their boyhood friendship. Later they served as members of the Signal Corps during the Civil War.

At one time during the hostilities Mr. Moreland was captured by Mosby, the famous Confederate guerrilla leader. Mr. Moreland's mount was a better horse than that of Mosby, but the telegrapher was surrounded by rebels. Mosby, after detaining Mr. Moreland for some time, contented himself by "swapping" horses with the Northerner and then permitted him to ride his inferior mount back to the Federal lines.

After the war, Mr. Moreland and Mr. Carnegie drifted apart, Mr. Moreland continuing to make dots and dashes, while Mr. Carnegie made millions.

Several years ago, however, when Mr. Carnegie chanced to hear again of his erstwhile fellow-worker, he ordered that a pension of $50 a month be paid him. This was done for some time, tho the pension for some unknown reason ceased two years ago.

Mr. Moreland continued his work at the key until he had reached the maximum age of 70 years, when pensioned by the Western Union Company, being one of the first operators in Pittsburgh to be retired.

Young Bride in Jail Warns Girls of Drug

1915

Tells of Ended Romance and Fight Against Morphine

And so, this story of the tragic ending of a happy romance and a forlorn fight against the use of drugs, is a story with a moral.

LOS ANGELES, Cal., Dec. 16. — A little wanderer in the gray land of drugs tossed and turned on a cot in a cell at the matron's department of the city jail.

"Never take the first dose," she sobbed. "It's grip is terrible."

She was Mrs. James Dellarocca, 19 years old, and a bride of but three months.

In a separate cell on the floor below was her husband, facing a charge of forgery.

But even in the torment of her soul, that "little wanderer" sobbed that her next fight against the use of morphine would be a successful one, and with tears rolling down her cheeks told the story of her life in the clutches of drug habit.

How She Started

"When did I start?" she sobbed. "Oh, that is the worst part of the story. It was a woman who started me — a woman who said she was my friend. That was about four months ago. I knew that she was 'queer' — that is, she was a drug user.

"One day I was very sick. I had been ill for several weeks. I was suffering terribly. Then this woman came to me and told me she could relieve my suffering. I knew what she meant and I refused.

"She kept right after me. I was in agony. She said I could take it once and then not again. Finally I gave in. The pain was numbed.

"Oh, it's the same old story from then on. I could not stop.

"I was compelled to increase the dose every day. Inside of a few weeks I was taking a grain and a half.

She Meets Jimmy

"Then I met Jimmy" — Dellarocca — "it was love at first sight. I loved him. He asked me to marry him. I was foolish and told him yes. He did not know I was taking morphine. I decided it was best to tell him before we were married and I did so — two days before.

"I remember he put his arm around me and said, 'Never mind, little girl, you and I will fight it out together, you'll be all right in a little while.'

"We were married and we started to fight. We begun saving our money so that I could be cured. I could not stop, tho. I would take a little each day. But we fought hard and we smiled as we fought, because we were going to win.

"Then his business went broke. Our money went fast. He could not bear to see me in agony without morphine. He would buy it altho it hurt him to do it and give it to me.

"I became worse. The fight seemed hopeless. I was taking 2 grains three or four times a day. Then we were arrested.

"I am glad I have been arrested. I will have another chance to fight morphine. They tell me I can be cured and I am going to try, oh, so hard, for Jimmy's sake and my sake.

"Oh, tell girls never to touch drugs. Tell them to run from it. Tell them to stop their ears every time it is mentioned. Please do, 'cause it may do some good."

The "little wanderer" declared that her husband was innocent of the charge of the forgery of counter signatures to nine $100 checks.

"I will stay by him until the end," she sobbed as she turned her face to the wall.

Big Row in Boy Scouts Explained by Seton

1915

Says Officers All the Time Begging From Rich Men — No Connection With Lone Scouts

NEW YORK, Dec. 16. — The quarrel among the officers of the Boy Scouts of America is bringing out some interesting facts concerning the present policies of the organization and the men now at its head. Ernest Thompson Seton, who recently announced his resignation as Chief Scout of the organization, has come out with a statement that he did not resign because of opposition to the policy of "preparedness" for national defense.

"I am not opposed to preparedness," says the former Chief Scout. "My idea of preparedness is a little more inclusive than that of extreme militarists, as I see that we must prepare for peace as well as for war; but if life, as it is, leads to war we must be prepared for that, too.

"It is not because the Boy Scouts took up military training that I resigned my commission; it was because, while pretending to be non-military and collecting funds from those who were opposed to military training, they neglected the non-military activities which seemed to me so fundamental. I resigned a year ago; resigned quietly. I did not mean to injure the organization. But I protested, and brought on all this publicity, against their use of the manual I had written, a manual which emphasized the non-military activities, when the organization was being given over to drills and military discipline."

In nearly all cities where there are Boy Scouts, campaigns are being made to raise funds for the Boy Scout movement.

Ernest Thompson Seton, who is noted as a naturalist and writer of books on nature, charges that militarism comes first in the Boy Scout training, and woodcraft, the original purpose of the movement, is now second.

When Mr. Seton announced his resignation, officers of the Boy Scouts here issued a statement denouncing his action as "unfriendly and selfish" because it came on the eve of a campaign to raise funds to finance the Boy Scout work in New York for the next three years.

Later the National Council of the Boy Scouts held a special meeting and announced that Mr. Seton had not resigned, but was deliberately dropped when his term as Chief Scout expired, because he had only taken out his first papers for citizenship in the United States. He had been connected with the organization nearly all the time since was started.

Other men connected with the Boy Scout organization have objected to the policies pursued by the officers in charge and indications are that the fuss with Mr. Seton will he followed by others.

No Connection With Lone Scouts

The Boy Scouts of America was incorporated by W. D. Boyce, publisher of The Saturday Blade. who had made a study of the Baden-Powell Boy Scout organization in England and brought the plan to this country five years ago. Mr. Boyce had intended the organization for every boy. After it was well started he went to South America to write articles and get photographs for the Blade. On his return a year later he found that the Boy Scouts of America had grown to nearly 200,000 members, but he was surprised to find that its members were nearly all clubs of city boys and that they were put to the expense of buying hats, uniforms, badges, books, etc. He then planned an organization for boys in the smaller country towns and out on the farms, so they could operate alone or with each other, and without any expense. In January, 1915, he had incorporated in Washington, D. C., the Lone Scouts of America. At the first meeting of the incorporators Mr. Boyce was elected Chief Totem of the organization.

The Lone Scouts of America has no connection with the Boy Scouts of America or any other organization. It is not dependent on contributions from wealthy men, but is entirely supported by the sale of its weekly magazine, "Lone Scout," which is sold at a price within the reach of every boy. There are no fees or dues for members to pay. All instructions and badges are given free. It is not a military organization in any sense. The motto of the Lone Scouts of America is "Do a Useful Thing Each Day." Along with woodcraft and scouting and other play, the members acquire useful knowledge and training, are shown how to be helpful to themselves and others and are taught things which will be of value to them all their lives.

Other information concerning the Lone Scouts of America and directions for joining the organization are given in "Lone Scout," which is sold by all agents for The Saturday Blade, Chicago Ledger and the Farming Business.

—Saturday Blade, Chicago, Dec. 18, 1915, p. 4.

Mystery of 'Poison Farm' Deepens As Two More Die

1915

Visit to Place Brings Out Peculiar Story

SPRINGFIELD, Ill., Dec. 16. — "There y' be," said the guide. "Y' see that stretch o' woods? It's past them. Nobody's ever been in them woods. Y' can't get thru. Well, we go round 'em and then down the hill and then we come to the poison farm. Giddap. Beautiful day, ain't it?"

The rig jogged over the unfrequented road that ran away in loops to meet the sky.

"There ain't many people as comes out here," went on the guide. "It's only a mile and a half from Marseilles but the woods there ain't very hospitable, and the poison farm ain't the sort of place people gets too curious about.

Two More Just Died

"Y' know, two o' them died last week, both together. Everybody dies or gets sick. It's the most mysterious thing. Now, y' take the people as lived on it five or six years ago. I don't recall how many died, but I know they was durn sick, and it always comes on 'em at the same time of the year — almost a certain day. It's something to do with them woods there, I'll betcha, altho the doctor's been working down there for two weeks now, ever since the little girl took sick. Giddap.

"You wouldn't think on a beautiful day like this as there was a poison farm right around the bend, would y'?"

For a few minutes the rig rattled along without any obligato from its driver. The country which on leaving the village of Marseilles had become typical Illinois farm country was now assuming the aspect of a broken wilderness against which pioneers were still struggling. To the west stretched the "poison" wood in which, according to the gossip of the countryside, "no foot had ever trod."

"Poison House" Looms Up

"Now we're comin' to it," called the driver, flickering his whip. "There she is. Y'see that little house. That's the house. That's where the two died last week. Giddap! Come on, there!"

The veteran village charioteer was growing excited. He had straightened in his seat and was leaning forward.

The rig drew to a stop in front of a pretty farmhouse that lay in the shadow of the river hills around it.

"Hello Doc," called the guide, and a serious looking man approached. He introduced himself as Dr. A. J. Weirick of Marseilles.

"Let's not bother the folks," he said. "You can look over the place, and I'll tell you what little we have been able to find out about it."

A tour thru the farm revealed nothing unusual. Apparently the farm differed in no way from the farms which adjoined it. The same road cut thru it, the same pastures surrounded it, the same growths covered it. Only in the pretty farmhouse sat the lone figure of a man, the farmer, who had lost his wife and child a few days ago.

An hour later Dr. Weirick told the medical and scientific side of the strange story which has aroused superstition and fear in the neighborhood. The farm has been tenanted by various families. Before the present tenants lived on it two other families were the occupants.

It was many years ago that something strange about the farm became apparent. In October one or two of the people in the place would get sick. There were deaths but no attention was paid.

The next tenants came on the farm and again the strange fact was noticed that in October sickness came and death. One after another the family fell ill during that month of the years they were there and they finally moved.

Mother, Then Daughter, Stricken

The first year the present occupants were there the wife became ill — in October. She was saved by medical treatment. The second year the daughter became ill — in October. She, too, was saved. The third year the father was stricken and saved as the others had been.

A year passed, during which the peculiar illness was absent and then in October the daughter fell ill. The father also began to "feel bad," and doctors were summoned from Ottawa and Marseilles. While the doctor was caring for the girl and her father the wife began to complain of dizziness and nausea. A nurse was sent for. She had no sooner arrived than the older woman succumbed. Her death was followed in a few hours by the death of her daughter. The husband, who appeared to be also dying, was taken to the hospital.

"It's some form of poison," went on Dr. Weirick. "What it is we don't know. The State Board of Health has taken a hand. The coroner at LaSalle long ago gave up the case. He said there was nothing he could do.

"There is something strange and perhaps unknown to our science lurking in those dense woods or in the pastures. We're as far from a solution of the various deaths and illnesses as ever."

"Giddap," cried the guide, leaving the hospital, whither Dr. Weirick had gone. "I tell y' what, young fella. If y' want the real story o' this poison farm y' go ask Looie over t' Marseilles. He knows. It was he as came thru them woods one night after celebratin' in Ottawa, and while I ain't got no faith in what he says an' no belief in them kind o' things, y' just go and ask him if y' want the real story about why everybody dies in October sudden when they lives on that farm."

Governor Gets Shock With Each Handshake

1915

Iowa Executive Puzzled Over the Repetition of Sensations — Discovery Is Made

DES MOINES, Iowa, Dec. 16. — Governor Clarke's dynamic personality was much more so than usual the other day, so much more so that the Governor shocked himself and kept on shocking without knowing what was the matter.

As visitors came and went during the afternoon, every time one received the gubernatorial handshake, the executive winced a bit and drew back his arm. Finally he decided it was time to see what was wrong.

"Say, Gus, what's going on here?" he demanded of A. C. Gustafson, his secretary. "Every time I shake hands with somebody I get a shock."

A brand new thick velvet carpet had just been placed on the floor in the Governor's office.

"Ah," exclaimed the secretary. "I'll bet that's it."

Gustafson dragged his feet over the heavy carpet as children used to do in the evening in the parlor before the gas was lighted. From the ends of the secretary's fingers the sparks of static electricity shot out.

"That's it," the secretary announced. "This new carpet is dried thoroly now with the radiator heat and all you have to do is walk across it to stir up the current."

Visitors in the office experimented and succeeded in making vivid electric flashes come from their fingers on contact with some other individual or with something leading to the ground. In the course of an argument arising from the Governor's experience, one man in a downstairs office succeeded in lighting a gas jet with a spark which came from his fingers after dragging his feet over a heavy carpet.

Girl Twice Bade Suitor 'Shoot' in Suicide Pact

1915

Town Gossip is Blamed for Maryland Tragedy

The town gossiped about them. The story spread and the morsel of scandal was rolled 'neath many tongues. So they made a pact. They went out into the woods, kissed each other good-by and then there were shots. So much for gossip.

CRISFIELD, Md., Dec. 16. — Dying as the result of two bullet wounds in her lung, Miss Hilda Sterling told painfully but graphically of the part she played in a suicide pact. Her partner in the tragedy, C. Clifford Reese, a druggist of this city, was buried the other day. His widow is in a critical condition as the result of shock.

The coroner's jury rendered a verdict of death as the result of a gunshot wound, self-inflicted, and made an ineffectual effort to suppress three letters, two of which Reese had written before his death. One was written to Reese by Miss Sterling, who had been in his employ. In it she said that because of gossip she no longer would come to the store, tho she could speak to him on the street and still be friendly.

The Suicide Pact

The other notes were written by Reese and professed true love for Miss Sterling. They announced the purpose of the pair to commit suicide on account of the town gossip.

Miss Sterling told of their decision to commit suicide. She said they secured a blanket and went to a woods in an isolated part of the county. After wrapping up in the blanket together each took six grains of morphine, which Reese had brought, and lay down to die together. They went to sleep, expecting never to awaken, but both recovered, chilled and dazed.

Reese then drew a pistol and asked the girl if he should shoot. Upon her replying in the affirmative, he pulled the trigger; but the pistol refused to work. He then declared he would go to Crisfield and get a pistol that would shoot.

Kiss Each Other Good-by

After he had gone she decided to leave the woods, but found she was too weak and dazed to move. Upon Reese's return they talked for a little while and then agreed to complete the pact.

After kissing each other good-by, Miss Sterling sat upon the ground. "Shoot, Clifford, shoot!" she begged. He fired three shots into her body, of which two pierced her lungs. He then shot himself in the chest and this not proving fatal, put the pistol into his mouth and fired.

The two lay there for several hours. Finally the girl recovered sufficient strength to crawl to his lifeless body. She wrapped the blanket about the corpse, brushed leaves up over the lower part of his body and placed her own coat upon it.

She fell across his body unconscious, but regaining a little strength, crawled to the side of the road where she was afterward found numbed with cold and dying.

Must Face His "Gold Brick"

1915

Also Victims Who Claim to Have Been Fleeced

PITTSBURGH, Pa., Dec. 16. — E. A. Starkloff, an alleged "gold brick" king, recently arrested in Altoona, is accused of defrauding wealthy French and English persons of considerable cash. Starkloff's alleged scheme was uncovered in 1910, when he was arrested, placed under a cash bond of $22,000 and, after securing his release, jumped the bond. He has now been returned to Philadelphia, where a big brick, apparently of gold, which figured in the indictment, has reposed in the safe in the postoffice building since 1910.

According to Inspector Calvert of Altoona, who made the arrest, Starkloff would address letters to English and French people who had visited this country, but who had since died. The letters, written as tho the writer was ignorant of the person's death, would fall into the hands of the heirs. The letters always referred to "Frank Thomas," a prospector who had staked out a claim in Wyoming gold fields, had struck it rich and advised the purchasing of an adjoining claim.

Sees Glare in Thug's Eyes; She Humors Him

1915

Felt He Was Insane, so Lay Still to Be Bound — Summons Police by a Moan

Suppose you were all alone in the house —
And the back door bell rang just about the time the grocer's boy usually came around for morning orders —
And instead of the grocer's boy a man stood there pointing a gun at you —
What would you do?
Scream? Run? Bang the door shut? Become paralyzed with fear? Try to grab the gun? Pray? Let the thief in?

CLEVELAND, Ohio, Dec. 16. — Pretty Lucille Hoyt, a 17-year-old high school pupil of this city, opened the door in her home to find a man pointing a gun at her.

Lucille says she just backed slowly away.

"As soon as I reached the dining-room door I intended to run and lock myself in the upstairs room," Lucille said.

"But the thief caught me in the dining-room. My impulse was to struggle, but as the burglar grabbed me by both shoulders and shook me, I knew by the glare in his eyes he was insane.

Lay Perfectly Quiet

"It flashed thru my head that some one had said the quieter you were with insane people the less violent they would be.

"So when the fellow threw me on the floor and grabbed a couple of card table covers to tie my wrists and ankles with, I lay like a dead person.

"Then he gagged me with a napkin. The knot was loose and the gag slipped down.

"But the man didn't notice. And he stepped right over the telephone that had fallen to the floor, and ran upstairs.

"I wriggled over to the phone, and just as I got it into my bound hands it buzzed.

Moans "Send the Police"

"It was my cousin, Mrs. B. A. Gilliland. I heard the thief coming down the stairs, so I just had time to say 'Send the police,' when in he rushed.

"He ran past me, cursing. Then I heard him lock the back door as he went out.

"I lay there waiting for the police and I kept thinking 'Where have I seen that face before?'

"Then I remembered he was the same man who had come to the back door to ask for a drink of water Monday. I was all alone, then, too. But he didn't try to get in that time."

The police broke thru the window to release the girl.

Tallest Man Reported Ill

1915

Captain Bates, Aged 70, Is Nearly 8 Feet in Height

SEVILLE, Ohio, Dec. 16. — The tallest man in Ohio is ill at his home near Seville. He is Capt. M. V. Bates and is 7 feet 11½ inches tall. Bates' wife, who is caring for him, is slightly over five feet.

Being ill is a new experience for Capt. Bates. Until a few weeks ago he worked daily on his 150-acre farm here.

Capt. Bates quit the circus sideshows in 1880 and settled on his farm. He is now seventy years old.



Bullet Kills Rat; Also Man

Glances Off Rodent's Body, Hitting Spectator in Stomach

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn., Dec. 16. — The bullet which killed a rat in the restaurant at 239 Cedar avenue, claimed its human victim when Daniel Golden died at the City Hospital.

Tuesday night Thomas Christo, employed in the restaurant, took a shot at a big gray rat. The bullet killed the rat, glanced and struck Golden in the stomach.

Runaway Returns Home

1915

This is going to be a Merry Christmas at the Mohr home, 10 St. Mark's place, New York City. For Sophia has returned. Her voluntary return cleared up her mysterious disappearance. She had been working as a "stripper" in a cigar factory at Hartford, Conn., while the police of the country were searching for her.


Miss Snow Elopes With Mr. Blizzard

PHILADELPHIA, Pa., Dec. 16. — It has just been learned that Miss Bessie Snow, 25 West High street, Germantown, eloped with George Blizzard. The bride is 19 years old, the bridegroom 27.


Troubles

Making light of your troubles is the best way to dispel darkness.

Mine Fire Burns 25 Years

1915

Blaze Thought Conquered, Rages in Remote Gangways

HAZELTON, Pa., Dec. 16. — The Lehigh & Wilkes-Barre Coal Company is fighting a mine fire at Honey Brook No. 1, that was believed to have been extinguished twenty-five years ago. Stripping operations at the west end of the basin of anthracite fuel uncovered the flames, which were eating up measures which were flooded in the eighties.

In 1906, when the water was tapped from Honey Brook, nine men were choked to death by white damp found in the workings of a residue from the mine fire twenty years ago. No further trace of the blaze was encountered, but it is now believed that it continued to rage in remote gangways cut off by falls of rock from the body of coal that was being worked.



"Didn't Know It Was Loaded"

Pugilist Killed While Fooling With Man's Rifle

NEW BRUNSWICK. N. J., Dec. 16. — George Reed walked into a lunch room here and placed his rifle in a corner and sat down to eat breakfast. In a few minutes Severin J. Kucinsky, a pugilist, 25 years old, came in.

He greeted everybody cheerfully. Then he walked over to the rifle, picked it up and placed the muzzle against his heart.

"Now," he said to Reed, "pull the trigger!"

Reed did so. Kucinsky died two hours later in St. Peter's Hospital. Reed was arrested. He said he thought the gun was empty.

Atlanta Women Meet; Flash Their Pistols

1915

Summoned to Police Court, They Give Different Versions of the Exciting Occurrence

ATLANTA, Ga., Dec. 16. — Uptown Atlanta had a shock from an encounter between Mrs. W. L. Bishop, formerly of New York, and Mrs. J. Walter Ware, both prominent socially, in which a pistol played a part.

The two women met in the center of the city in the morning. Both were in their automobiles, and when they saw each other, Mrs. Ware pulled a revolver and pointed it at Mrs. Bishop.

Speaking for his wife, Mr. Ware stated later that Mrs. Bishop was unreasonably jealous of his wife, had been following her and that he had given her a pistol to defend herself. Mrs. Bishop jumped out of her automobile and approached Mrs. Ware's automobile, he said, and his wife then drew her revolver. Mrs. Bishop declined to talk of the affair.

Mrs. Ware accompanied her husband to the courthouse the next morning and swore out a peace warrant against Mrs. Bishop. She explained to court officials that Mrs. Bishop was "jealous of her without the slightest cause," and that for this reason she feared the latter might harm her.

Why She Drew the Pistol

Mrs. Ware reiterated her statement that she drew her pistol in her automobile only after Mrs. Bishop had leaped from her auto and run toward the Ware car in a threatening manner.

"I feared she was armed, and simply wanted to protect myself," she said. Mrs. Bishop vigorously denied the charge of the Wares that she is jealous of Mrs. Ware.

"I'm not jealous of her, either reasonably or unreasonably — that's all bosh," she asserted.

"If Mrs. Ware and her husband wish to assume that attitude in this affair, they are privileged to do so, but they certainly are wrong about it. There's no jealousy in it at all."

Mrs. Bishop's Version

Mrs. Bishop declined to divulge the cause of the trouble from her point of view.

As to the pistol incident she completely reversed Mrs. Ware's version.

"I was unarmed and had no thought of trouble," she said. "I was driving along in my car peaceably when this woman, from her auto, saw me. Before I knew what she was about, she had drawn a pistol and pointed it at me. I never left my car until she had done this. Then I did get out and go to her car and rebuke her for her conduct, telling her I was unarmed. She did not draw her pistol on me at this time, but simply cried out, 'Oh, Mrs. Bishop, can't we settle this among ourselves?' I replied to her that I was going to have her arrested."

Ah-h-h! Two-Hour "Soul" Kiss

1915

"Her Lips Met Mine and I Couldn't Get Away," Says Rich Lawyer

NEW YORK, Dec. 16. — "Soul kisses" that lasted for more than two hours were described by Everett P. Ketchum before Supreme Court Justice Blanchard in testifying in the suit for separation brought against him by Mrs. Ada Brown Ketchum on the ground of cruelty.

Ketchum told how, when he was first introduced to his wife, she was described to him as "a girl who had never been kissed before in her life."

"She said," he testified, "that a kiss was such a sacred thing that she had saved it all her life for the man whom she was going to marry. I thought it a very beautiful idea."

Ketchum said he proposed exactly five days after they had been first introduced.

"Tell us about that first kiss she gave you, Mr. Ketchum," said Mr. Levy of Mr. Ketchum's counsel.

"Well," said the witness, "it was like this. We were seated on the sofa in the parlor. She put her arms around my neck and drew me to her and said: 'Everett, darling, this is what they call a soul kiss. This is because of my extraordinary love for you. I never knew before that a kiss lasted so long. I don't know how the ability to kiss came to me, but—'

"She leaned into my arms. Her lips met mine. She grabbed me. I tried to take my head away because I could not breathe, but—"

"How long did that kiss last?" asked Mr. Levy.

"Two hours," was the reply. "I could not get away."

Armless Judge Going to Europe to Aid Crippled

1915
Click Photo for Bigger

There He Will Arrange Plans to Help Allies' Maimed

Photo Caption: With only his mechanical arm — designed by himself — Judge Quentin D. Corley dresses and shaves himself, handles his own food, writes his own opinions and handles his own records in the County Court of Dallas County, Texas. He drives an auto, bowls, plays billiards, carries bundles and even helps his wife with the housework.

Over in Europe there are many armless men who feel they are hopelessly helpless. So the Dallas judge is going abroad to do what he can to aid war victims "for humanity's sake," as told in another column on this page.

The top picture shows Judge Corley completing his dressing operations. A contrivance, attached to a suit case, permits him to put on his collar and tie. With an almost similar machine he shaves himself. Below is a photograph of the judge bowling.

DALLAS, Texas, Dec. 16. — Quentin D. Corley, the "armless judge" of this city, will soon take up the burden of the maimed in the European conflict. On Dec. 22 he will leave for Washington, D. C., to confer with an official whose name is not known and who had told the Belgium ambassador to America that Judge Corley, the armless, does the work of a man in everyday life.

It is expected that the judge will sign a contract with the Allies to teach armless soldiers to be happy and to be useful.

The judge says any work he may do will be for the sake of humanity and not for money. "I shall only accept the same salary. I am getting now, and expenses," he says. "If they see fit to honor me if I do their men a service, I shall be glad of that, too."

Story of the Judge's Career

Judge Corley's story is a strange one. He was of a roving disposition when young, and took no qualms at satisfying it as a guest of the railroads. He was riding thru New York State on a freight train when a burly brakeman's head showed over the far end of the car. He slipped and fell as he tried to flee. The trainmen picked him up a poor, mangled youth. One arm was gone at the shoulder and the other just above the elbow.

As he lay in the hospital fighting for life, he began figuring how he would use that life once he was out again.

"I strove to invent and picture in my mind a mechanical hand, but of course I could not get anything but the open and shut movement; no one has," he says. "Then I thought that if I made an arm with an elbow joint in it, and so rigid that it would have both lateral and perpendicular movement, I had the problem solved."

A youth of 23, seemingly handicapped for all time and yet doomed by a healthy body to live a long life, Corley came home to his parents in Dallas with only his idea of a mechanical arm — and a deathless ambition to conquer the terrible odds against him.

How His Plans Worked Out

For four years he studied law with all the mental force of his brilliant mind, and at night he spent hours upon the plan for his mechanical arm. When completed, it was a steel hook made of two steel flanges, which opened and shut on cogs, a little handle which turned them being worked by his teeth. In this way he gripped things tightly, and with the hook he could handle almost anything he could lift.

From then on it was easy. He soon learned to write and then passed the bar examination. He began to practice law and to practice the use of his arm, and study means by which he could use it. His progress was wonderful. He invented other machines, to be used in dressing and sport, until today he can do almost anything a normal being desires to do.

He has a desire bordering on passion to aid the soldiers who have lost both arms in battle. There were more than ten thousand of them in the Allies' armies alone at last count.

Wants to Make Them Useful

"I know I can teach them to use my inventions within a short time, and I want to do it," he says. "I want them to get away from the terrible feeling that they are burdens upon the state and upon their families. If they'll put these men in my hands I can teach a thousand in three months to use this arm and take their places in life and seek happiness."

His friends say he can do it, too. He has pupils all over Texas who are learning from him the secrets. They invariably make good when he turns them loose.

Judge Corley has the inventions he uses patented, but does not sell them. "I have them for humanity," he says.

The plan on which the Belgian ambassador is said to want Judge Corley to work will be a school under his supervision, at which armless men will be equipped and trained by him. It will take him to Europe about four years, if the war continues a year or so longer.

—Saturday Blade, Chicago, Dec. 18, 1915, p. 5.

Advice to Outdoor Sleepers

1915

Two of the light-weight army blankets are warmer than a single six-pound blanket. On a cold night the camper sleeps in fresh underwear and socks, trousers, sweater, Mackinaw, German socks and moccasins. (It is no hardship, then, to get up and replenish the fire.) With the half-ax a regular backlog fire can be built and plenty of night wood laid in. Don't use wood that snaps and shoots out embers. If a snowfall is anticipated, cover the tent-frame with evergreen boughs and thatch with browse (evergreen twigs). This will also effectively screen the tent from sparks. Then build the fire as close to the tent as safety permits. If you know how to manage one, it may be within four feet.


1900

A Curious War Relic

W. C. Freeman, a commercial traveler, whose home is at 811 Mulberry street, has presented to Robert M. Scranton a ring that carries with it a realistic suggestion of the civil war. Mr. Freeman, who was a member of the Seventh Pennsylvania cavalry, took it from the finger of a dead confederate in front of Petersburg, Va., in 1863. The ring is made of hardwood, is fashioned handsomely, and has a gold top in semblance of a sunburst. — Scranton (Pa.) Republican.

War in 1915 Predicted in 1760

1915

The following prophecies about the war are taken from a book printed in Turin in 1858 entitled "A Collection Of Some Remarkable Prophecies and Vaticinations."

A Swiss hermit who died in St. Gall in 1760 predicted there would be "famine, hunger, devastations and considerable mortality thruout Europe in 1915."

An anonymous French monk wrote toward the end of the eighteenth century that "in 1915 the Turks, Heretics, Schismatics, Catholics and Idolators of foreign nations will go against each other with anger and fury," adding:

"The first spark of the great war will start from the north. The war will last about two years and the armies of the enemies will not invade the apostate empire, but they will surround and wait until the rebels return to their duty. They (the rebels), however, will not make any act of submission or of repentance, but continue their excesses, so that all the powers of Europe will be allied against them."

This prediction ends with a description of Te Deums and thanksgiving services in all churches and temples "for the victory of the Allies."