Mrs. Andrew Craig's Death

New York, 1895

Two Flushing Negroes Arrested for Being Responsible for It.

Mrs. Andrew Craig left her home in Flushing on Thursday evening to call on her daughter, residing in another part of the village, and returned late in the evening. As she approached her residence two negroes called out to her in an insulting manner. She was frightened and started to run. The negroes pursued her and threw stones at her.

Mrs. Craig was 59 years of age, and when she reached home she was barely able to stagger into the house, where she fell unconscious to the floor. Her husband carried her upstairs to bed, and in a little while she recovered sufficiently to describe the assault and to name Daniel and William Howlett as her assailants.

As she seemed to show signs of improvement, her husband did not call a physician. He was afraid to leave her long enough to notify the police.

Mr. Craig remained awake after Mrs. Craig fell asleep. At 1 o'clock his wife awoke, and after a few minutes' conversation fell asleep again. Mr. Craig noticed nothing alarming in her condition, and decided to retire also. Two hours later he was aroused by sounds from his wife as though she was choking. He spoke to her, but received no reply. She was dead.

Mr. Craig went before Judge Smyth and charged the two negroes with the responsibility for his wife's death. A warrant was issued and they were arrested.

—The Long Island Farmer, Jamaica, NY, April 19, 1895, p. 1.

Children's Ideas of Death

1895

The Ingenuity of Some of Our Youngsters to Avoid the Inevitable.

Like the beginning of life, its termination, death, is one of the recurring puzzles of childhood, writes Professor Cully in The Popular Science Monthly. This might be illustrated from almost any autobiographical reminiscences of childhood. Here indeed the mystery is made the more impressive and recurrent to consciousness by the element of dread. A little girl of 8 years asked her mother to put a great stone on her head, because she did not want to die. She was asked how a stone would prevent it and answered, with perfect childish logic, "Because I shall not grow tall if you put a great stone on my head, and people who grow tall get old and then die."

Death seems to be thought of by the unsophisticated child as the body reduced to a motionless state, devoid of breath and unable any longer to feel or think. This is the idea suggested by the sight of dead animals, which but few children, however closely shielded, can escape.

The first way of envisaging death seems to be as a temporary state like sleep, which it so closely resembles. A little boy of years, on hearing from his mother of the death of a lady friend, at once asked, "Will Mrs. P—— still be dead when we go back to London?"

The knowledge of burial leads the child to think much of the grave. The instinctive tendency to carry on the idea of life and sentience with the buried body is illustrated in C——'s fear lest the earth should be put over his eyes. The following observation from the Worcester collection illustrates the same tendency: "A few days ago H——, aged 4 years and 4 months, came to me and said, 'Did you know they'd taken Deacon W—— to Grafton?' I, 'Yes.' H——: 'Well, I s'pose it's the best thing. His folks (meaning his children) 'are buried there, and they wouldn't know he was dead if he was buried here.' " This reversion to savage notions of the dead in speaking of a Christian deacon has its humorous aspect. It is strange to notice here the pertinacity of the natural impulse. All thoughts of heaven were forgotten in the absorbing interest in the fate of the body.

Vice President King

1895

He Took the Oath of Office Abroad, but Did Not Live to Serve.

William Rufus King, born April 6, 1786, died April 18, 1853, was a vice president of the United States who never served in that capacity and one who took the oath of office on foreign soil, something which can be said of no other executive officer who has over been elected by the people of this country. King was an invalid, but his friends urged him to take second place on the ticket with Pierce in 1852.

Both were elected, but Mr. King's health failed so rapidly that he was forced to go to Cuba some two months before inauguration day. Not having returned to the United States by March 4, Congress passed a special act authorizing the United States consul at Matanzas, Cuba, to swear him in as vice president at about the hour when Pierce was taking the oath of office at Washington.

This arrangement was carried out to a dot, and on the day appointed, at a plantation on one of the highest hills in the vicinity of Matanzas, Mr. King was made vice president of the United States amid the solemn "Vaya vol con Dios" (God will be with you) of the creoles who had assembled to witness the unique spectacle. Vice President King returned to his home at Cahawba, Ala., arriving at that place April 17, 1853, and died the following day. His remains wore laid to rest on his plantation, known as Pine Hills. — Chicago Times.

Farmer Henryer Meant Well, but He Didn't Deserve a Good Wife

1895

Old Ripley Henryer is a well to do farmer with skinflint tendencies whose life has been passed without an emotion except what may have been engendered in getting money together and holding fast to it.

When his father died a quarter of a century ago, his mother concluded she could not get along without him, so she quickly followed the same way, and Ripley, coming into possession of the homestead, felt the necessity for a good cook and washerwoman. Then he prevailed upon Hetty Mercer, an affectionate and pretty girl of the neighborhood, to assume those duties, first making her his wife.

It is possible he said nothing to her of the obligations attendant upon the wifely relations, but that made no difference as to results. Ripley was strong as an ox, and, a hard worker himself, he had no use for lazy people and no excuses for those who were weaker than himself.

As time passed little Henryers, one, two, three, five in all, came into the family fold, each one adding to the wife's cares, and meantime Ripley added to his acres.

The number of hired men increased, but in all the years it never occurred to him that the mother of his children might need help in her department. Hired girls were "scarce and awful high," as he put it when one of the neighbors reminded him of his remissness.

Hetty bore her yoke in silence and might have been contented even but for the man's utter lack of sentiment or affection. She had never felt the gentle pressure of his hand in soft caress, and he had never kissed her in his life. She grew old fast, faded and drooped, and finally even the stolid, sordid husband saw the necessity of calling in a doctor.

When the latter was leaving the house, he called Ripley aside and said:

"Suppose you show your wife a little kindness. I think a bit of affection will do her more good than medicine. She's in a bad way and may die."

The selfish fellow was frightened at the prospect of losing his cook and faithful housekeeper, and after some deliberation he entered her bedchamber and awkwardly approached her side, then stooped over and kissed her pale, cold brow.

The poor woman, who for 25 years had been dying for sympathy and love, was so startled at this exhibition of feeling on the part of her husband that tears of thankfulness gathered in her eyes and then rolled down her cheeks.

The lubberly fellow started back at sight of this evidence of weakness and blurted out:

"Gosh! Hetty, you needn't mind it. I didn't mean nothing by it. Doc, he said it mebbe'd make you feel better."

Then the tears dried quickly enough, and the woman turned her pallid face toward the wall.

When Ripley came back an hour later, all the kisses in the world could not have brought moisture to her eyes. The office of cook and laundress was vacant in his house. — Chicago Tribune.

Death of Jacob W. Titus

New York, 1895

Jacob W. Titus, clerk to one of the committees of the legislature, died at his home in Glen Cove Wednesday afternoon of pneumonia. He served as clerk to one of the committees of the constitutional convention last summer. He was 35 years old, and leaves a widow and a young daughter.

—The Long Island Farmer, Jamaica, N.Y., Jan. 18, 1895, unknown page number.

Sudden Death of a Farmer

New York, 1895

Abram Bennett of Queens dropped dead yesterday morning from heart disease. He was a well known farmer and an exemplary citizen. He went to the breakfast table in good spirits and ate as heartily as usual. As he arose from the table he fell to the floor and died in a few seconds. He was about 52 years of age and leaves a widow and one daughter.

—The Long Island Farmer, Jamaica, N.Y., Jan. 18, 1895, unknown page number.

Choosing Their Own Caskets

1895

People Often Express Their Preferences In the Matter of Style.

"I never actually knew anybody who kept his coffin in his house," said an undertaker, "but I have read of such things, and I have no doubt they are true, just as I believe the stories of some women keeping in the bottom of bureau drawers their own grave clothes, which they made themselves. But men sometimes choose, if not the particular casket in which they want to be buried, the style of coffin that they prefer, and I know of one man who drew the plans for the casket in which he was buried.

"He had his own ideas of what was most suitable, and we made a casket in accordance with the drawings which he furnished and then boxed it up and stored it for him. He was a man advanced in years. It is interesting to note that the casket so planned had square ends and perfectly straight sides and ends. In fact, in shape it was precisely the same as the present most advanced style of modern burial casket, which was not introduced until some years afterward.

"It is not at all unusual for men to look at caskets, express admiration of some of them and say that they would like to be buried in such or such a style. These men might be simply friends who had come to see me, or they might be here on business, but not with regard to a funeral. Some of the modern burial caskets are very costly and beautiful and as unlike the old fashioned coffin as could be imagined. It is no wonder that men should admire them, but it doesn't follow at all that they expect soon to need one.

"A few months ago there came in a man and his wife, people of perhaps 50 years, and I should say well to do, who wanted to look at the caskets, or rather he did. They came to a very beautiful casket of mahogany, one of modern style, with square ends and straight sides and ends and carved a little, but not overelaborately. Evidently he had heard of such a casket before or had seen one, and so was familiar with it, and he admired it greatly.

" 'There,' he said to his wife, calling her by her name, 'that is the kind of casket that I would like to be buried in,' and it was clear that it seemed to him very beautiful, as it certainly was. But, bless us, he is like everybody else almost. I have no doubt he expects to live for a hundred years. I saw him at the theater the other night with his wife. They had dined comfortably, and they were in the fullest on enjoyment of life, and I fancy that it will be many years before either of them comes to the end of life, but I venture to say that if he dies first his wife will faithfully see that he is buried in a mahogany casket such as he admired. — New York Sun.

Man's Death Due To Fright

1920

Acute Indigestion Sets In When His Horse Runs Away.

COLUSA, Cal. — Louis Zeisler of San Francisco died at Wilbur Springs, near here, as a result of being scared by a horse. Zeisler had been riding when the horse became frightened and ran away. Zeisler became ill and died. The inquest jurors decided death was due to acute indigestion brought on by "a scare from a horse soon after eating a hearty meal."

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Aug. 7, 1920, p. 3.

Collapse of Quebec's World's Greatest Bridge

1916

Quebec, Que., Sept. 11. — The span of the world's greatest bridge collapsed into the St. Lawrence river today with a loss of life variously estimated.

The Company erecting the structure placed the number of deaths at upward of 25, but H. P. Borden, a member of the Quebec bridge commission, expressed the opinion that only three persons were lost. Several hours after the accident happened, at 10.30 o'clock, a special train into Quebec brought 20 men who had been injured.

Nine years ago a similar accident at the same spot took a toll of 70 lives. Today 90 men were carried into the river when the 5,000 ton span, being raised from pontoons in an engineering feat designed to complete the $17,000,000 cantilever suspension for transcontinental railway traffic, plunged a distance of fifteen feet into the water and sank 200 feet below the surface perhaps never to be recovered.

Contradictory stories were told regarding the collapse. The pontoons had been removed and the span was being lifted by massive hydraulic jacks when, according to some of the spectators, the northern end of the span fell with the breaking of girders. Frantic efforts were made to plate a chain rope around the tottering structure, but with reports like shells exploding the remaining supports snapped and the span disappeared with a spectacular splash.

Some of the observers said that the structure buckled at the center as it fell. Groups of men at work slipped off into the water and others were knocked into space by flying debris. Scores of craft containing spectators went to the rescue and their endeavors prevented a larger loss of life.

Toronto, Sept. 11. — The property loss resulting from the Quebec bridge disaster will be about $600,000, it was stated here today by George L. Evans of the Dominion Bridge Company. The accident will delay the completion of the structure for ten months, he said.

—The Fryeburg Post, Fryeburg, Maine, Sept. 12, 1916, p. 6.

Two Brothers Die Together

1916

One Soldier Killed Giving Dying Kin a Drink.

LONDON, England. — The death of two brothers in each other's arms at the front is related in private dispatches. They were Corporal Tom and Private Henry Hardwidge of Ferndale, Rhondda Valley, both members of a Welsh regiment.

An officer writes: "The eldest, Tom, was hit by a sniper's bullet and lay in the open under a scorching sun, when Henry, at the risk of his life, hastened to him with a pail of water. Just as he reached him and as he was offering the water, a sniper shot him. He clasped his brother as the latter rose to take the water, and they died in each other's arms." A third brother remains in action in France.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Sept. 16, 1916, p. 2.

Wire Fence Inventor Dead

1916

ADRIAN, Michigan. — J. Wallace Page, known as the "father of the wire industry," died at his home here, aged 73. Fifty years ago Page first conceived the idea of a wire fence.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Sept. 16, 1916, p. 2.

Two Husbands Killed by Same Rattlesnake

1916

Woman Made Widow Second Time — Reptile Is Then Captured and Slain.

HATTIESBURG, Mississippi. — W. C. Cole, Hattiesburg grocer, has just received a dead rattlesnake which he says was responsible for the death of two husbands of a woman in the logging camps of Mississippi.

"I do not want to mention the woman's name," said Mr. Cole, "as she begged me not to. Some two years ago her husband was killed by a snake while logging. He was bitten, the fangs of the snake penetrating a high top boot.

"After his death another lumberman married the woman. Being poor, she offered him her dead husband's high top boots. He accepted them. He died a few days later from snake poisoning. It was found that the fang of the snake was imbedded in the boot and had penetrated the flesh of the second husband, also poisoning him."

Mr. Cole says this is the first case of the kind he ever heard and that several hunters captured and killed the snake.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Sept. 16, 1916, p. 7.

Gem From Mouth of A Corpse

1916

Dentist Removes $100 Diamond From Dead Man's Tooth.

ALTOONA, Pennsylvania. — Just before the funeral of Caramel Bave, a jewelry salesman, his $100 diamond which he had set between his two upper front teeth some years ago was removed by a dentist. His family had not thought of disturbing the gem in his mouth until it was suggested that grave robbers might attempt to recover it.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Sept. 16, 1916, p. 4.

Killed in Ensilage Cutter.

1916

DANVILLE, Illinois — Charles Kenton, a farmer of Chrisman, south of here, was instantly killed when he fell into an ensilage cutter. He was 60 years old.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Sept. 16, 1916, p. 3.

Makes Odd Funeral Request

1916

Wealthy Man's Ashes Buried With His Two Wives.

WASHINGTON, Pennsylvania — James S. Stocking, 77 years old, former legislator, county clerk of courts, Civil War veteran and one of the wealthiest men of this city, was buried under the provisions of his will, which are extremely unusual. The portion of his will relating to his burial follows:

"I direct that my body shall be cremated, and no religious services shall be held on my body, ashes or grave. I direct that my ashes shall be divided in two parts and placed in two strong and air and water tight urns, one to be buried in my first wife's grave and the other in the grave of my second wife."

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Sept. 16, 1916, p. 11.

Dies On 70th Day of His Third Fast

1916

FAILS IN FIVE ATTEMPTS TO TAKE FOOD.

Fasting, Weapon With Which Doctor Fought Death, Finally Turns Against Him.

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — Dr. H. G. Huffman, faster, died at City Hospital on the seventieth day of his fast. He was unconscious before he died. His wife was at his bedside.

Dr. Huffman began his fast June 30. He tried to eat on August 9, but found food would not agree with him.

"Nature has not yet eliminated the poisons from my system," said Huffman. "When that is done, I will be able to eat."

Again on August 20 Huffman tried to break his fast with the same result. But Huffman was not worried. Then on August 22, September 1 and September 2, he tried to eat. Each time he found his stomach refused to take food.

Wife Shares His Confidence.

Dr. Huffman's wife, who was with him thruout his fast, shared her husband's confidence that he would recover. She respected his wishes that no doctor be called to treat him.

When Huffman lapsed into unconsciousness Mrs. Huffman began to fear for his life. She called his brother and they had the doctor removed to Dr. C. A. Davey's nature sanitarium at Youngstown. Davey was the only man Huffman would allow to treat him.

Later Huffman's brother had him removed to City Hospital. Doctors there tried to give him nourishment but failed.

Fasting, which killed Huffman, was the weapon with which he believed he was fighting death. Two years ago doctors told him he had not long to live. He went to a lonely spot on the Grand River, near Geneva, and set up his camp, which he named Camp Phoenix. There for 47 days he went without food.

When Dr. Huffman returned to his practice as an oculist in Youngstown he became apparently strong and well in a few months.

Doctor's Bride Fasts, Too.

The next year Huffman returned to Camp Phoenix and fasted 30 days. Again he came thru feeling "like a new man."

Then a few days after his fast Huffman was married under the spreading trees of Camp Phoenix, where he had won back health.

"I shall fast with my husband next year," the bride said after the wedding. "It has helped my husband and it will help me."

True to her promise, Mrs. Huffman joined her husband on his third fast. She went sixteen days without food. She broke her fast August 9, the day of her husband's first unsuccessful attempt to take food.

Mere Skeleton When He Dies.

Then while Dr. Huffman lay on a cot of pine boughs Mrs. Huffman busied herself about Camp Phoenix canning wild berries.

"My husband is not eating now, but he does in the winter," she merrily told visitors.

The Huffmans left Camp Phoenix as they had lived in it, with the rows of fruit jars arranged on shelves.

Huffman was a mere skeleton when he died. Doctors said that only remarkable strength and faith in his final recovery kept him alive for nearly seventy days.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Sept. 16, 1916, p. 11.

The "False Alarm Fiend" and His Deadly Joke

(Click graphic for bigger.)

Chicago, 1916

More Firemen Killed and Maimed Responding to Calls of Mischievous Adults and Children Than in Going to Real Fires — St. Louis Fire-fighters Find One in Eight Alarms Are Fictitious — How Jack O'Connor Was Killed

The practical joker is always with us, and while the world may sometimes cry, "The joker is dead — long live the joker," it has long been acknowledged that the human zero in chronic deviltry is the chap who sends in a false alarm just to see the boys or "hosses" run. These hopeless boneheads are constantly bobbing up in nearly every community in our land, with results that sometimes land them in deep trouble or cause them to part with more or less of their precious dollars as penalty for their indulgence in a foolish and sometimes tragic amusement. However, a good, stiff monetary fine, or a term behind jail bars, seldom fails to cure the city or village cut-up of all further desire to "monkey" with fire alarm box, telephone or any other means of sending the fire lads on a hazardous run when no reason for it exists further than the silly joker's ambition to startle the public.

A St. Louis paper has found it quite necessary to take up this subject, and with good reasons, as the "false alarm fiend" seems to have carried his deadly joke far beyond the limit of tolerance in that city, with the result that lives have been lost and much human and mechanical energy expended for naught.

At 11:15 o'clock on the night of Aug. 8 some person, perhaps bibulous and certainly with a perverted sense of humor, observed a fire alarm box at Natural Bridge road and Sophia avenue, says the Post-Dispatch. At once he conceived the outlines of what appeared to be a brilliant joke. He walked up to the box, broke the glass in its front and pressed on a lever. Then, perhaps, he chuckled and walked to a safe spot and waited to see the fun.

Most of the firemen of Engine Company No. 31 were in their bunks when the alarm came in. They sprang to their places. The horses flew to their positions and, when the automatic harness fell, pawed impatiently to be away.

John O'Connor, a fine, stalwart, courageous man. sprang to the driver's seat and reached for the reins. One of them dropped. As he tried to recover it, the horses lunged and he fell headfirst to the floor, where he lay all crumpled up. Somebody pulled him to one side, another driver took his place, the engine went on its way.

Then a doctor came and looked at Jack O'Connor. Jack was dead, with a broken neck.

It is interesting to wonder whether the man who pulled the hook enjoyed his joke. It is interesting also to speculate on the nature of the mental make-up of such a man — whether it permits him to feel that he is guilty of Jack O'Connor's death.

"Hooks" in Bad Wreck.

It was a similar "joke" that sent Hook and Ladder Company No. 15 to Euclid and Cote Brilliante avenues on the night of July 4. The truck collided with a street car at Euclid. Captain Farrell and Firemen A. Gradell and J. Haberstroh were thrown to the ground and so cruelly mangled that they are not yet able to return to duty.

Capt. John Detwiler lay on a bed of suffering for 67 days, early in 1914, with both arms and his nose broken and his back badly wrenched because another idiot turned in a false alarm from Klemm street and Flora boulevard. Fireman George Harbaugh was out of service for 53 days with a fractured skull and Fireman E. Sedivec was out 30 days with a wrenched back from the same accident, a collision between their truck and a street car.

On the night of Nov. 7, 1915, Edward A. Murphy, a citizen, was run over by a fire truck responding to a false alarm, and was sent to the city hospital with both legs broken.

On the night of Dec. 5, 1915, Lieut. William Haas of Engine Company No. 11 was thrown from his wagon when responding to a false alarm and was severely injured.

On the night of July 27 last, G. Wadsack, a fireman, was badly hurt when the truck on which he was riding, after a false alarm, struck a tree.

In every one of these affairs, honest, decent, law-abiding men, trying to do their perilous duty for the public, were hurt because of a quirk in the brain of some other person. It is part of a fireman's job to take risks, but he has risks enough, heaven knows, in his regular work without having these added to them.

When Firemen Get Sore.

"You see, it is this way," one of them said to the writer recently. "We know we are taking chances all the time. You never hear a holler from us, tho, when we get hurt at a fire or going to one. It's when some fool turns in a false alarm and an accident smashes up some of our fellows that we get sore. Whoever sent Jack O'Connor to his death, for instance, is a murderer, pure and simple, in our eyes. It'll go hard some of these days with one of those guys if the boys ever get him dead to rights."

Every man from the Chief on down to the newest hostler in the department believes that there is a strange and especial danger in going to false alarms. They declare that their records prove it. It is comparatively rare, they say, that there is a collision or an upset in going to an actual fire.

The number of false alarms turned in is simply amazing. The total from Jan. 1, 1913, to Aug. 1, 1916, was 1,934, an average of a little more than 45 a month. Last year one out of every eight alarms recorded was a false one. The smallest number in any month was 20 for August, 1914, and the largest was 72, for November, 1913. Thus far in the current year the smallest number was 35, for April, while January and February each had 41.

There is a popular impression that most of these alarms are turned in by children. This is not true, according to Chief Henderson. Most of them, the Chief says, are turned in by men and particularly by men who drive various kinds of delivery wagons late at night. One of these sees a box, the Chief declares, turns in an alarm, drives on a block or so and waits to see what happens. The streets usually are deserted at the time, they are not detected at their work and consequently escape all punishment. The law provides a maximum penalty of imprisonment in the penitentiary for this offense, yet it is rarely inflicted because it is hard to obtain evidence for an arrest, to say nothing of conviction.

Children Sometimes "Jokers.”

Children are caught more frequently. They are invariably turned over to the Juvenile Court and an official of the Fire Department takes a hand in the prosecution. Whenever it is found to be a case merely of prankishness, the matter is usually ended by a stiff reprimand and by a recommendation that a parent of the child administer a sound spanking. This recommendation is generally followed and the result, Chief Henderson says, in most cases is salutary.

"It is with adults that the real trouble comes," the Chief added. "If we could only get the public to realize the enormity of the offense and to look upon the man who turns in a false alarm as an individual dangerous to the public welfare, who ought at once to be surrendered to the authorities, we could soon break up the practice.

Most of the serious accidents to trucks going to fires come from collisions with street cars. City ordinances require that when the bells of the fire engines are heard, motormen must stop their cars and drivers of all vehicles must draw up to the nearest curb and stop. Most of the motormen do this, the Chief says. Some of them do not but try to beat the engines across a street intersection.

"The United Railways, as a corporation, invariably cooperate with us," the Chief explained. "Some of the individual motormen do not. They usually advance the plea that, shut up in their vestibules, they did not hear the bells. It is often hard to disprove this. When we can do so, the street car company always fires the man and he cannot get his job back again. As a general thing, we have little trouble with motorists. They nearly always give us right of way when they can."

Want Better Traffic Regulations.

Most firemen believe that the traffic regulations of St. Louis for such emergencies are antiquated and insufficient. Altho our ordinances require all cars and autos to stop when the fire engines are coming, they are not rigidly obeyed as they are in other cities — in New York for instance. There the law says that traffic shall stop and it does stop. However, there are three or four traffic policemen on all corners in congested districts to see that it does.

Kansas City and other towns also have an admirable arrangement to stop traffic in congested districts. There on downtown corners are electric gongs. As soon as engines are started these gongs begin ringing, much like the bells at block signals on certain railroads. This is a signal to clear the thorofare, and the fire engines have an open road for minutes before they actually appear.

Chief Henderson has tried to get a similar arrangement authorized by the St. Louis Board of Aldermen. It would cost about $30,000 if electricity is furnished free by public service corporations, and our city lawmakers have not seen fit to incur the expense.

"If we had such gong signals, tho," the chief declared, "I would rather put them at places outside the downtown district. Really we have very few accidents downtown. They usually happen out in the quiet neighborhoods, late at night.

"I'll tell you what our worst trouble is, tho, and it's going to cost St. Louis a big conflagration some day. It is the congestion of traffic on downtown streets, where autos are parked. Some of these days we are going to have a fire on a street where it will take us half an hour or maybe more to get these cars out of our way, and by the time we have got a place cleared to work in the fire will be out of our control. A loss of five minutes getting to a fire is likely at any time to mean two or three additional hours getting the fire under control."

Some Motormen Are Reckless.

Curiously enough, many of the drivers of fire wagons believe that most collisions are really unavoidable accidents. "The bust-up usually comes so quick you don't know what has happened or how," one of them said, "until somebody is pouring water in your face and bringing you to. We always try to get the horses under control when we approach a street car crossing and most of the motormen do the best they can. But sometimes you are going along at a good clip and a street car is going at a good clip and before either you or the motorman realizes the danger — zowie!

"We are always afraid of the motorman who tries to beat us to the crossing. Maybe he is a minute or two behind schedule or is trying to get to the end of the line a minute or two before so he can stop for a bit of lunch. There is usually a bunch of excited people on the corner. Some of them motion to us to come on and maybe some of them motion to the motorman that he can make it. The law says he oughtn't to try to make it, but he goes ahead anyhow — there always are a few fools like that — and then it happens!

"The public could do a lot of good and save a lot of danger in these cases if it could only be properly educated. If a few of these reckless motormen were reported to the street car company once in a while, it would stop such foolishness. Understand, we haven't any quarrel with the motor men in general. Most of them try to obey the law and help us out all they can. It's the occasional fellow that takes a chance who makes all the trouble.

Public Should Help, Say Firemen.

"Maybe I feel pretty strongly about this, but it's a serious matter for us fellows. You just put it into your paper that if the public will cooperate with us in this matter and, above all, help us put the false alarm fiend out of business, we'll be satisfied."

Policemen, as a rule, cooperate with firemen in every way possible. Chief Henderson says he has never made a request of one at a fire without getting immediate and satisfactory response. However, strict enforcement of the rules requiring street cars and autoists to stop at the approach of a fire engine has always been lax and there have been few arrests and prosecutions.

The new parking ordinance for automobiles is proving helpful in keeping some of the downtown streets clear, altho the fire fighters would like to see it extended until no autos were left in the streets without drivers in charge of them.

They Had Better Watch Out.

Ten times in the last five days false alarms of fire have been sent in from the alarm box at Fifty-eighth street and South Wabash avenue. Last night, says the Chicago Journal, when Engine Company No. 51 arrived at the corner, its members questioned a little girl standing at the curbing.

"'Stubby' McGovern and 'Billy' Barry did it," she said. "They do it most every day and then they run away and hide.

"Stubby" and "Billy" are 8 or 9 years old. A policeman will talk to them today.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Sept. 16, 1916, p. 12.

A Voice From The Tomb

1901

More of Marie Bashkirtseff's Interesting Confessions Printed.

Once more Marie Bashkirtseff and her "confessions" are leading topics of interest in the literary world. The last of the "confessions" have just been issued in book form, and they are attracting almost if not quite as much attention as those which preceded them several years ago.

Readers familiar with the literary ideas of 12 or 15 years ago scarcely need be told who Marie Bashkirtseff was. To younger readers the name of the brilliant, erratic young Russian artist, scholar and authoress is not, however, very well known. Although she left no permanent impress on the world of art or letters, her diary, which reveals with fidelity the workings of her heart and mind, will always possess an interest for the student of human nature.

Marie Bashkirtseff was born in Russia in 1860 and died in Paris on Oct. 31, 1884. She was well born and well educated, possessing a knowledge of Greek and Latin as well as of the more important modern tongues. She was a talented painter and in 1878 went to Paris to study. In 1880 she exhibited a picture at the Salon, and from then until her untimely death she worked eagerly at her art. One of her pictures was purchased by the French government.

During her brief career in Paris Marie Bashkirtseff mingled with the brilliant life of that period and numbered among her acquaintances many famous people. She frequently wrote anonymous letters to famous literary men, and the charm and brilliance of the epistles induced those to whom she wrote to sustain the correspondence. The letters which passed between her and Guy de Maupassant, the brilliant romancer, form the most interesting phase of the last "confessions."

Marie Bashkirtseff was a genius in many ways, a painter, a musician, a writer and, above all, a woman of the most intense emotion. It may well be held, as it is by some, that the world lost much by her premature death.

Shock of Near Beer Kills Inebriate Dog

1919

Booze-drinking Animal Succumbs After Losing Wet Rations.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa — "Booze" was a bulldog, owned by Cal Harris of this city. Until July 1, last, his daily fare included a small quantity of beer. He was a visitor at several barrooms during the day, and as he came under the swinging doors during the summer or scratched and whined at the door in winter, the bartenders in the thirst emporiums which he frequented would "draw" a small beer, which would be consumed by their friend. With a wag of his tail as a silent "thank you," Booze would continue on his rounds.

When the saloons of Council Bluffs, Iowa, which was Booze's home, were closed, the owner of this famous canine laid away a supply of beer, but a few weeks ago, following nation-wide prohibition. the supply ran out. Booze was then forced to live on near beer. He could not stand it for many meals and the sudden shock from the sublime to the ridiculous was too much for him. He died a martyr to the cause of beer.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Jan. 3, 1920, p. 11.

A Dead Face In the Window

1901

Crockford, the proprietor of a well known London gambling house, was made to play a queer role after he was dead. When one of Crockford's horses was poisoned just before the Derby, the misfortune brought on an attack of apoplexy, which proved fatal within 48 hours. Now, many of Crockford's friends had staked large sums on another of the gambler's horses, which was a favorite for the Oaks and which was disqualified by the death of the owner. Only the people in the gambling house knew of Crockford's death, and it was resolved to keep it a secret until after the race.

The servants were bribed and sworn to secrecy, and the conspirators on the day after the night upon which Crockford died had the body placed in a chair at a window, so that people returning from the track could see the gambler sitting there. He was fixed up to look as lifelike as possible and through the window and partially concealed from view by the curtains looked so natural that no one of the great crowd which came cheering by the house when on their return from seeing Crockford's horse win the Oaks suspected the trick.

The nest day it was announced that Crockford was dead, but it was years before the true story leaked out.