Mrs. Bergen Has Few Arrested.

New York, 1895

Frank H. Few, of Smithville, was arrested on Tuesday by Constable Ashmead, on the complaint of his mother-in-law, Mrs. Sarah Bergen, upon a charge of grand larceny. Mrs. Bergen says that several years ago she gave Few $2,500 with which to purchase a house and ten acres of land at Smithville South for her, Some time ago she engaged Counselor Stanford to make an abstract of the title from the records at the county clerk's office, and it was found that the title to the farm was in Few's name. She says he has since neglected to correct the matter. Few was arraigned before Justice Hendrickson at Jamaica on Wednesday, and gave bonds in $2,000 for examination.


Construction Train Accident.

There was a big smashup on an unballasted section of the new Long Island railroad at Easthampton Thursday morning. An engine, six platform cars, four freight cars and the caboose were overturned.


1895 Advertisement

A healthy appetite, with perfect digestion and assimilation, may be secured by the use of Ayer's Pills. They cleanse and strengthen the whole alimentary canal and remove all obstructions to the natural functions of either sex, without any unpleasant effects.

—The Long Island Farmer, Jamaica, NY, June 14, 1895, p. 5.

A Valuable Old Meadow

1895

An ancient document was recorded in the register's office in New York the other day which will tend to show the rapid growth of the city and the advance in the price of real estate. The document in question is a conveyance executed July 15, 1817, by Samuel Watkins of the city of New York, physician, to Isaac and Michael Dyckman, sons of Jacobus Dyckman of Kingsbridge, and conveys a piece of land, being salt meadow near Kings bridge, containing five acres, adjoining land of John Nagle and Blazo Moore, Jr., for the sum of $56.25. As now laid out the property is bounded by Academy street, Harlem river, Sherman avenue and Dyckman street, and comprises six full blocks in section 8 on the land map of the city of New York. The present value of this property must be between $300,000 and $500,000.


A Domestic Conversation

Her Father — So you have had a proposal, my daughter?
Herself — Yes, papa, several. An iceman proposed to me.
Her Father (breathlessly) — Did you accept him, my dear?
Herself — Nay, nay, papa.
Her Father — Ingrate!
Herself — After him a plumber proposed to me, dear papa.
Her Father (excitedly) — And him — did you accept him?
Herself — Not for jewels and precious stones, papa mine.
Her Father — Fool! Idiot!
Herself — I had a third proposal, papa. The gentleman is an iceman in the summer time and a plumber in the winter.
Her Father (on the verge of apoplexy) — Madeline —
Herself (calmly) — I accepted him, father.
Her Father — Fall on my neck, my angel child. You are the rarest rose of them all. — Milwaukee Sentinel.

Peggy Young's Real Estate

New York, 1895

A sheriff's jury Tuesday morning decided that Peggy Young, of Quogue, was incompetent to manage her business. She is an old colored woman who owns considerable real estate which has lately become valuable. Last November, it is alleged that Isaac Arch, also colored, prevailed on Aunt Peggy to dispose of a $500 lot for a handful of change amounting to $2.64.

—The Long Island Farmer, Jamaica, NY, Jan. 25, 1895, p. 1.

Wouldn't Sell the House

1901

The house in which Joan of Arc was born is still faithfully preserved in pious veneration at Domremy, where it is looked upon almost in the light of a shrine. Passersby invariably cross themselves and utter a prayer for protection as they go by.

The story goes that a rich and eccentric Englishman tried hard to buy the place in 1837. It was at that time the property of a farmer named Girardin. The Englishmen offered to let him name his own price, but the old man held firm. "No, no, no," he cried. "I would not sell it even to a Frenchman, much less to a foreigner and especially an Englishman. People here would call me a traitor and a coward were I to part with the house from which Joan of Arc set out to serve France."

The Englishman convinced himself that further bargaining was useless and went his way.

Soon after an officer from the king's household arrived in the village and asked to speak with Girardin. Before the whole village, assembled in the street, he said: "Girardin, the king has learned that you have refused to sell your house to an Englishman. He desires to reward you, but not in coin. He knows that you no more want the money of the French than of the English, therefore has he commanded me to present you with the cross of the Legion of Honor."

Is It A Home You Want?

1902

If so, we have an unusual bargain for you. $100 cash and the balance of $750 in payments of $12 per month will buy a fine new cottage on Lincoln street. Choice lot on Park road at $375 and will take jewelry or other personal property as part payment, balance cash or time.

It is worth the money and if you doubt it call and we will gladly show you the lot and convince you what we say is true. For particulars call on Waterloo Stock Exchange.

—Waterloo Daily Reporter, Waterloo, Iowa, March 6, 1902, p. 3.

Ignore Them — Mosquitoes

1910

The best way to get rid of the mosquito, says the Brooklyn Eagle, is to get the habit of not minding him, like the natives. No native or resident of a few months in a mosquito section minds mosquitoes any more than he does flies. But this method is slow in its appeal to the man who finds the pests attack him with more zeal than they do the natives.


He Knew About Ice Cream

The first time three-year-old Ray noticed a rainbow he shouted: "Oh! That looks just like ice cream in the sky!"


Money Well Spent

"I suppose to educate your daughter in music costs a great deal of money?"
"Yes; but she's brought it all back for me."
"Indeed!"
"Yes; I'd been trying to buy out my next door neighbor at half price for years, and could never bring him to terms until she came home!"

New York Land Comes High

1910

Space on Manhattan Island Quoted at Some Hundred Dollars a Square Foot

Space on Manhattan island which is a sure-enough tight little island if ever there was one, is distinctly at a premium. The record price for real estate in New York, according to Alcolm, was $583 a square foot, obtained four years ago for the southeast corner of Broadway and Wall street.

On March 13 last the Fourth National bank acquired the building adjoining its own home at the southeast corner of Cedar and Nassau street, a plot measuring 73.1 feet on the latter street and 73.2 on the former.

The average price a square foot was close on $307, which figure has been beaten by only three other sales of real estate in the city — the corner already mentioned, and two small plots the southwest corner and the southeast corner of Broad and Wall streets, which sold over 30 years ago for $330 and $348 a square foot, respectively.

A 30-foot lot on Fifth avenue at Sixty-ninth street, is reported as being sold to E. H. Harriman for a million dollars — and such price is by no means rare in that section. Fifth avenue values, indeed, have been bounding upward, and will soon be rivaling those of the financial section. — New York Sun.

Women and Property – Advice for Handling Estates, 1878

1878

There can be no question that for women good registered bonds are specially desirable, being less troublesome than any other securities. But it often happens that women inherit real estate, and a few remarks on its management may be useful.

A very wise man of fifty years' experience in taking care of property, especially for women, once said to me: "If a woman is left with a house at all suited to her condition, I always advise her to keep it. A woman with a house of her own — a home — will usually get along even on a very small income; and she and her family, if she has one, will be much happier if they have a home than they could be without it. Without a home of their own, they are usually unsettled and subject to many discomforts."

And so, if a woman inherits other real estate, and it yields her a moderate income, it will scarcely be wise to part with it, especially if it is situated in a village or city that is growing. The mere retention of real estate in these circumstances has made thousands rich. Avoid incurring a debt for the improvement of such property. A lady recently called on me for advice. She inherited $50,000 of real estate, which yielded her a fair income, equal to every want. But not contented, she borrowed money to make costly improvements and to erect new buildings. Now, with the decline of property, her rent roll hardly pays her interest and taxes, and she is liable to heavy losses by foreclosure.

Of course good securities, of whatsoever sort, should be kept, that is, not exchanged for others for the sake of a little hoped-for gain. While it is not wise to carry all one's eggs in one basket, it should be remembered that eggs are liable to break in handling. It is easy to loosen up property, but not easy to re-establish it. — Bazar.

Flagrant Pension Fraud: She Married A Corpse

1895

One of the Most Flagrant Pension Frauds Ever Perpetrated

Fraudulent pension claimants receive a considerable share of the money obtained from the government in a dishonest manner. The pension office to protect itself employs men as examiners who ferret out these evildoers, find the weak spots in their claims and finally bring the offenders before the law.

"One of the strangest cases I ever handled," said an ex-examiner, "was that of a woman who married a corpse.

"It was while I was engaged in another matter that I got wind of this case, and it was sometime before it was concluded, but the story, as finally revealed was this:

"An old soldier, drawing a pension, lived in Maine, at the home of a gentleman who was a magistrate. One winter the old soldier fell ill and became so weak that the magistrate and his wife concluded that he must soon die. The thought of his death did not distress them, but they could not think of the loss of his pension with equanimity. They received his bounty as payment for board, and of course would lose it at his death. To obviate this they conspired with a young woman, a relative of the wife, to marry the old soldier. This was made possible by the fact that the veteran was not only debilitated physically, but mentally weak and completely under their control.

The programme then was for the soldier to die, his widow to draw his pension and, incidentally, divide it with the magistrate and wife. After some correspondence the bride-elect, who lived in a neighboring city, started to the magistrate's home. There was a heavy snowstorm and owing to this she was late in arriving, so late, in fact, that the intended groom had departed this life a short time before. They did not allow so small a matter to stand in the way, however, and the magistrate, by virtue of his office, performed the ceremony at the bedside of the corpse, and afterward swore that he had made them man and wife."

Another instance in which a dead man figured as performing the actions of a living one occurred in Kansas. It was about twenty years ago when the Pottawatomie Indians had been given lands in severalty, with the privilege of selling them. There was a class of white men then, as there always has been on the frontier, who took every advantage of the red man, often going so far as downright robbery.

One of these gentry appeared at St. Mary's one day with a deed to a parcel of land, formerly the property of White Horse. It was regularly drawn up and signed with White Horse's mark. As the Indian had been missing for some time, its authenticity was doubted, but as the document was regularly witnessed it seemed as if the deed would stand. But a traveler came to town the next morning, who said he had seen White Horse's body frozen in the river, with one hand protruding through the ice. It bore a scar which fully identified the body as that of the Indian. As the river had been frozen two weeks previous to the date of the deed, it proved that document fraudulent. But the white men said that what they swore to was literally true, and it was. The document read:

I hereunto, with my hand, place my mark,

his
WHITE X HORSE
mark

They had placed the pen in the frozen fingers and guided it in making the mark. — Washington Post.

The Dream Came True – Story of George Washington

1916

But Washington Warned "Light Horse Harry" to Dream No More

The relations that existed between General Washington and his younger friend, "Light Horse Harry" Lee — the father of General Robert E. Lee — were exceedingly close and tender. It is an authentic tradition in the Lee family that Washington regarded the brilliant young cavalry officer almost in the light of a son.

Lee was inclined to be a spendthrift and his lavish use of money often brought on him the paternal reproof of his older and more discreet friend — and the reproof was often followed by affectionate assistance in extricating him from his embarrassments.

Mrs. Washington was almost equally fond of the young officer, who often made long visits at Mount Vernon. During one of his sojourns there, Harry Lee remarked to his host at the breakfast table:

"General, I had a singular dream last night, which I must tell you. I actually dreamed that you made me a present of your Westmoreland place."

The next day, at the dinner table, Harry Lee found under his plate a document — nothing less than a deed to him of the Westmoreland estate. For some moments, dazed with astonishment, he stared at his friend.

"Now, Harry," said Washington calmly, "take good care not to dream Mount Vernon away from me!"

—Stevens Point Daily Journal, Stevens Point, Wisconsin, July 29, 1916, page 3.