Reward for Stolen Clothing.

New York, 1895

John Quincy Adams, of Riverhead, whose daughters, Nettie and Sadie, aged 19 and 16, respectively, had their clothes stolen while bathing at Wildwood lake, posted the following notice:

$100 reward is offered for evidence that will lead to the arrest and conviction of the party who stole clothing belonging to my children while in bathing at the great pond, Riverhead, June 1895. JOHN Q. ADAMS.

The theft is believed to have been the work of a practical joker. The clothes have not been recovered.

—The Long Island Farmer, Jamaica, NY, July 5, 1895, p. 1.

Left His Watch Behind

New York, 1895

Frank Verner was arrested at Hempstead early Sunday morning for being drunk and disorderly. Verner was taken before Justice Seaman at Wantagh and sentenced to ten days in the county jail. The prisoner was taken back to the lockup at Hempstead where he told the officer that he had lost his silver watch and some money. Later in the day it was learned that the residence of Surrogate Weller had been entered Saturday night. Nothing had been stolen, but a pair of mittens were found on the table and on the piazza was found a silver watch and chain which Verner afterward identified as his property.


The Bribe Takers Must Stand Trial

Judge Garretson has decided the demurrer interposed by Counselor Weller to the indictments charging Thomas Holcraft and William Goeller, Jr., of Jamaica, with accepting bribes for their votes in the last Democratic county convention. Judge Garretson sustains the indictments and Holcraft and Goeller will have to stand trial. This judgment will make the Standard feel sick.

—The Long Island Farmer, Jamaica, NY, Feb. 22, 1895, p. 1.

Note: The Standard was a bitterly despised competitor of The Farmer, often accused of corruption and nastiness.

Left Horse and Wagon Behind

New York, 1895

A poorly dressed stranger drove into the sheds of the Fountain House at Flushing on Thursday with a bay horse and road cart, and requested the hostler to feed the animal. He then disappeared and nothing has been heard or seen of him since. It is thought that the rig had been stolen.

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

Horse and Wagon Stolen

New York, 1895

A horse belonging to Adolph Otto, attached to a wagon owned by Alfred Carter, both of Whitestone, was stolen Monday night. Otto and Carter were driving from Woodside with a load of iron pipe. They stopped at Sands' hotel in Flushing at about 8 o'clock to get supper, leaving the horse and wagon under the shed. When they came out of the hotel the rig was gone.

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

Airplane Is Stolen, Then, Given Up by Two Flying Burglars

1920

The first airplane theft in Chicago has occurred at Checkerboard Field.

The field hangars are not extensively guarded. So there was no interference to the two men who arrived at the flying field at daybreak and opened a hangar where a Standard plane was housed.

The pair trundled the plane around so that its nose pointed into the wind. Evidently both understood flying. One climbed into the pilot's seat, while the other turned the propeller and primed the motor.

Then at the shout of "contact" the switch was on and the blades spun into action.

The man who had cranked got into the forward cockpit and with a roar the Standard sped across the ground and skimmed into the air.

Two or three sleepy mechanics who had watched the take-off suddenly realized what was taking place. A telephone call was put in for officials of the field.

An hour afterward several ships had taken the air and from extreme altitudes the pilots were searching with glasses for the stolen plane.

But later in the day the missing machine was found. The would-be thieves had been forced to land four miles from Checkerboard Field. The men had stripped the plane of instruments, valued at several hundred dollars.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Aug. 7, 1920, p. 1.

Stolen Tapestry Sold

1916

New York, Sept. 18 — A Beauvais tapestry presented by King Louis XV. of France to Emperor Kien-Lung of China in 1766 and looted from the palace in Pekin at the time of the overthrow of the Manchu dynasty, has been sold by a New York dealer to a collector in Cleveland for $200,000. The name of the buyer was not revealed.

This tapestry is said to be one of a set of six designed by the French painter Boucher for the emperor of China at the king's behest. The subject is "the Chinese fair." The other five works still form part of the treasures of the Pekin Museum. The work sent to Cleveland is ten feet, seven inches high and ten feet, three inches wide.

Restitution After Thirty-One Years

1916

MAN REPAYS MONEY HE WRONGFULLY TOOK.

Aged and Needy Recipient Made Comfortable With $200 Gold and $400 as Interest.

SOMERSET, Pa. — William Speicher, of Kantner, a news agent on the Somerset & Cambria Branch Railroad, received a letter from an aged resident of Quemahoning Township, in which is told how a man with a troubled conscience returned, with interest, $200, the theft of which enabled him to grow well off while the owner of the money was made poor for life by the loss of it.

"On May 31st, thirty-one years ago," wrote the aged man, "I started for Stoyestown with a pocketbook containing $200 to make the first payment on a home that I had purchased. When I arrived there the package was missing. I returned home at once, but could find no trace of it. It was money that I had earned by hard labor. I was much broken up over the loss, ill health followed and I never had a home of my own.

"A few days ago there came a rap at my door. I opened it and a stranger stood there. I invited him in and he seated himself. He sized me up, but spoke but little. After inquiring about my identity he took from his pocket $200 in gold and counted it out to me. He said it was my money and asked me to accept it. 'I owe you interest on it for 31 years,' he went on. 'Here is $400 more to cover that. Thank God, I am free once more,' he said. I was amazed. I could not understand his actions and asked an explanation.

"'Thirty-one years ago,' he replied, 'I was on my way from a part of Somerset County to Johnstown to take a train for Kansas. I had but a few dollars in money. I was walking on the road behind you while you were driving to Stoyestown and saw you drop the money. I picked it up and stowed it away in my pocket. At the latter town I got your name and went out West. I took up land near Leavenworth, Kansas, and fortune came my way. I took up more land. Returning to my native county I got married. I grew wealthy and I can now count my wealth by many thousands of dollars, but having your money in my possession always worried me, so I decided to return it to you and confess that I took it.'

"He said that he found out that his conscience, was worth more to him than his wealth, then he bade me good-by."

From almost destitute circumstances at 75 years of age, the old man has been placed in comparative comfort.

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

Gamblers Trim Rich Indian

1920

"Little Feather" Is Arrested as Vagrant After His Plucking

LINCOLN, Neb. — "Little Feather," a member of the Osage Indian tribe of Oklahoma, whose royalties from oil lands he claims are $1,000 a month, was arrested here as a vagrant.

The Indian says he left his home with plenty of funds to see a little of the world, but fell in with white gamblers who got his money, and when he reached Lincoln he was penniless.

The police were convinced of the truth of his story and he was discharged when means were supplied to send him home.


Origin of "Horse Chestnut"

It is said that the name horse chestnut was derived from the fact that when the leaves of the tree fall there is a scar left on the twig in the shape of a horseshoe that bears marks resembling the nail of a shoe.


First Paper From Wood

It is just fifty years since the method of grinding wood as raw material for paper was introduced in the United States.