Jamaica Personals

New York, 1985

Mr. and Mrs. Walte S. E. Ludlum celebrated the 60th anniversary of their marriage at their home on Monday.

Mrs. Wilson Palmer, who has been the guest of her daughter in Arlington, Mass., for several months, returned home on Saturday.

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

Surprised by the Woodhull Boys

New York, 1895

A surprise was tendered Mr. and Mrs. George W. Stoddart of Highland avenue, Jamaica, on Monday evening, by members of Woodhull hose company, it being the occasion of the tenth anniversary of their marriage. A pleasant evening was spent in dancing, singing, etc., and a collation was served.

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

Married 60 Years

1916

Fifty-year wedding anniversaries are frequently heard of, but Mr. and Mrs. Josiah Boyer of Elizabethville, Pennsylvania, have just celebrated their sixtieth anniversary. They have spent the entire sixty years of their married life on the same farm. Mr. Boyer is 85 years old and his wife is two years younger. Three of their four children are living.

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

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.

Growth of the Telephone in Thirty Years

1906

By John Vaughn

"Hello, Central," was first heard in 1878. Today the exchanges are numbered by the thousand, the telephones by the million. Various industries, unknown thirty years ago, but now sources of employment to many thousands of workers, depend entirely on the telephone for support. Numerous factories making lead sheathing, dynamos, motors, generators, batteries, office equipment, cables, and many other appliances, would have to close down and thus throw their operatives into idleness and misery if the telephone bell should cease to ring. The Bell Companies employ over 87,000 persons and, it may be added, pay them well. Many of these employes have families to maintain; others support their parents, or aid younger brothers and sisters. It is safe to say that 200,000 people look to the telephone for their daily bread. These figures may be supplemented by the number of telephones in use, (5,698,000), by the number of miles of wire (6,043,000), in the Bell lines, and by the number of conversations (4,479,500,000), electrically conveyed in 1905. The network of wire connects more than 33,000 cities, towns, villages and hamlets.

Such tremendous growth as these statistics show would imply not only steadily increasing appreciation of the telephone, but would also suggest improved instruments, more skillful operators, and better service. There would be no flattery in such suggestion. Electrical science has undergone radical reformation since 1876. Telephony has raised the utilization of electricity to the height of a profession. Of course such advances have not been won without cost. Fortunes were spent in experiment and investigation before a dollar came back. Communication by the first telephone was limited to a few thousand feet. Now, conversation can be carried on by persons 1,600 miles apart. Tomorrow long-distance lines will span the continent; and the day after oceanic telephony will be a commonplace of mercantile routine. But science and money had to collaborate for years before they could work the trade of enabling Boston and Omaha to talk together. — From the "Thirtieth Anniversary of a Great Invention," in Scribner.

The Pied Piper's Anniversary

1915

Recently occurred the anniversary of the visit to "Hamelin Town in Brunswick," in 1876 of him "who, for the fantastical coat which he wore being wrought with sundry colors, was called the Pied Piper."

Old Verstegan told the story in prose of how "the Pied Piper, with a shrill pipe went through all the streets, and forthwith the rats came all running out of the houses in great numbers after him; all of which he led into the river of Weser, and therein drowned them."

It is to Macready's young son that we are debtors for the poem, for it was he who persuaded Browning to weave the prose into poetry to amuse a sick child. Its preservation was due to a lucky accident, for in Browning's next collection of poems was a blank page or two to be filled, and "The Pied Piper of Hamelin" was just big enough to do it. So if in his life the Pied Piper destroyed hundreds of children his biography has amused thousands. — London Chronicle.

Willa Cather's Parents' 50th Anniversary Celebrated

1922

RED CLOUD, Neb., Dec. 6. — On Tuesday. December 5, Mr. and Mrs. Charles F. Cather of this city celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of their wedding. Mr. and Mrs. Cather were married in their old home near Winchester, Va., in 1872. They were born and grew up in a country township in Frederick county, near Winchester.

In 1883 Mr. Cather followed his father, William Cather, and his brother, George Cather, to the west. The father and brother had moved to Nebraska some years before. In the spring of 1883, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Cather came to Nebraska with their four small children, Willa, Roscoe, Douglass and Jessica. They lived for two years on William Cather's homestead in Catherton township, Webster county. On his son's arrival, William Cather and his wife, Caroline, gave up the responsibilities of the farm and moved into Red Cloud. After two years on the farm, Charles Cather and his wife also moved in to Red Cloud, in order to provide schooling for their growing family.

Their three children, James, Elsie and John, were born in Red Cloud — making in all a family of seven children. Mr. and Mrs. Cather brought this large family of seven to manhood and womanhood in Red Cloud, and the children were all educated in the Red Cloud public schools. Of these children only two reside in Red Cloud, Jessica, now Mrs. William Auld, and Elsie Cather, who is teaching in the high school in Lincoln. Every child of this widely scattered family, however, still calls Red Cloud "home," and to each of them it is the home town.

Roscoe Cather, the oldest son, is in business in Casper, Wyo. Douglass Cather is in business in Los Angeles, Cal. Willa Cather, the author, lives in New York City; James Cather and family live in Holyoke, Colo., and John Cather, whom we all know as "Jack," lives in Smethport, Pa.

All of the Cather children but two came home to Red Cloud for their parents' golden wedding, and the glorious mild winter weather, the brilliant sunlight and wonderful moonlight of this week, have given a golden atmosphere to this unusual celebration. Mr. and Mrs. Cather have never lost a child, and their family circle has never been broken by death. Thru this long stretch of years, their children have been healthy, active men and women. They have attested their loyalty to their home town by coming back to it from distant states and countries on every possible occasion.

The country about Red Cloud, our Republican river, our beautiful autumns and sunny winters and fertile fields, even some of our amusing "local" characters have been made known to the world thru the novels in which Willa Cather lovingly describes the country of her childhood.

—Nebraska State Journal, Lincoln, NE, Dec. 10, 1922, page 1, second section.

Beginning of World War To Be Observed

1922

"No More War" Meeting Will Be Held Saturday In Music Hall

The anniversary of the beginning of the World War will be celebrated by the University of Wisconsin in connection with the world-wide demonstrations on the day, by a "No More War" meeting Saturday at 8:00 p.m. in Music hall.

The program will be opened with the showing of a one-reel film of the Educational corporation entitled "What's the Limit?" This 15 minute feature is an imaginative film of cartoon type, illustrating the havoc of war. The film was shown a few weeks ago before several members of the Woman's club by Prof. H. M. Dudley of the Extension division with pleasing results.

Justice M. B. Rosenberry of the Wisconsin Supreme court, who will act as presiding officer, will present the theme of the evening. Miss Zona Gale will deliver a short address. Miss Gale is a member of the Wisconsin Peace society.

Prof. Carl Russell Fish, the other speaker of the evening, will speak upon the "Possibility of Peace."

"This meeting," says Dean Goodnight, "should be interesting and timely, coming as it does upon the heels of Will Irwin's talk upon the late war."

—The Capital Times, Madison, Wisconsin, July 27, 1922, page 8.

Surprise Party

About twenty of Mr. and Mrs. George Barofsky's friends gave them a pleasant surprise Monday evening, Jan. 9th, the occasion being their Fifth wedding anniversary. They were presented with a nice rocking chair, which they were justly proud of. Progressive high five was the order of the evening. At a late hour a dainty lunch was served which was enjoyed by all. Those present were Mr. and Mrs. Kuhn, Underhill, Odell, Hamilton, Connelly, Shoemaker, Baumer, Morton and Messrs. Leach, Underhill.

New Year's Reception
The Epworth League gave a New Years reception at the Methodist parsonage Saturday evening, January 6. There were about eighty present.

The reception committee were clad in Japanese costumes, two rooms were decorated in Japanese festoons and lanterns, another room was trimmed in orange and black for the High School, and the house was lighted with large candles. A guessing game and recitations were part of the program. Lunch was served a-la-Japanese, with this menu:

Salad, Waldorf Astoria and wafers, Stuffed potatoes, Riced dates and tea.

--The Ellis Review-Headlight, Ellis, Kansas, January 1911.