Kentucke Gazette Editorial Discusses Kentucky's Separation From Virginia, 1787

One of the earliest surviving newspapers of Kentucky is The Kentucke Gazette, which actually predates the Commonwealth itself. (This newspaper is available on the Kentuckiana Digital Library.)  This article, printed August 18, 1787, raises several questions about whether Kentucky would benefit or not by breaking away from Virginia.  The Commonwealth of Kentucky joined the Union five years later, in 1792, as the 15th state.

I have changed the long s' (f's) to short s' for easier reading.  Other antiquated spellings are left unchanged, while typos are changed and denoted with brackets, or are also left unchanged.  I primarily provide transcriptions of clippings on my blog here so that the articles I post can be found by search engines.  So although I know it is customary to transcribe documents exactly as they are written/printed, I decided to makes these changes so it is easier for people to find online.  You can view a scan of the original article beside it, as usual.

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[August 18, 1787] -

To the PRINTER of the Kentucke GAZETTE

As I expect your paper will be employed at first in discussing political subjects, and as I suppose that of a separation from the state of Virginia to be the most interesting at pr[e]sent; I hope our politicisns will be pleased through your press to give us their sentiments on both sides of the question; and I hope they will write, and we shall read, with that coolness and impartiality, which becomes men who have the real interest of this Country at heart; and that in the end we may hit upon that policy which will best secure life liberty  and property to us and our posterity.

As the most of us are farmers and unskilled in policy (altho' we are anxious to do for the best) we are able to give but a random guess at the propriety of a separation--we can see difficulties on both sides, and would wish to avoid the worst.

I beg leave therefore to propose a few querries to the Gentlemen on both sides of the question; and will begin with asking those who think a separation necessary[.]

1st. By what probable means can a new State support Government, defend itself from the savages, and pay its quota of the foederal and state debt, without a free trade of the river Missisippi?

Secondly.  What probable prospects can a new State have of obtaini[n]g a trade down the Missisippi; and what pr[o]fits can we derive from such a trade?

Thirdly.  will not a separation lesson our importance in the opinion of the savages, and cause them to fall on us with greater vigour?

Fourthly.  What are the great evils we suffer for want of a new government; and how could a new state remedy those evils?

And I would ask those who are against a separation

First.  How shall we defend ourselves against the savages under the present laws; and how shall we get paid for doing it?

Secondly.  How can we pay the taxes now laid on land, tithes, horses, cattle, alienations, process etc.

Thirdly.  How can we take any steps toward promoting and regulating a profitable trade down and up the rivers? and will the Assembly regulate such trade to our advantag[e]?

Fourthly.  Is it not our true interest to become a manufacturing people now in our infancy; and what power have we to encourage Arts and Manufactures, and discourage luxury, without a new government?

Fifthly.  How can we encourage learning and science in our present situation; and will not the next generation suffer greatly for want of it.

Sixthly.  Would not a government within the district have a tendency to correct the practices of the disorderly and licentious; and refrain the abuses of power practiced of late by some of those in Authority?

Answers to the above queries will oblige and perhaps instruct many ignorant citizens as well as

A FARMER.

Reminiscences of a Handwriting Expert

This is such a long article, instead of including a screenshot of the entire text as usual, here is a link to a PDF of it instead.

From The San Francisco Sunday Call, October 29, 1905:

Reminiscences of a Handwriting Expert

By Major Jno. B. Jeffery

The contest over the codicil of the will of the late Samuel Davis has brought to San Francisco the dean in the East of handwriting experts, Colonel Edwin B. Hay of Washington City, whose fame has spread far and wide, and who is known in his peculiar art from ocean to ocean, at home and abroad.  Being at the capital of the nation, his opinion has been sought in all departments of the Government wherein questioned documents have been the issue; and in the noted cases at court he has been called to assist Judge and jury in forming opinions upon both spurious and genuine writings; so that his advent upon the coast is a matter of some concern to those interested in the subject of the comparison of handwriting from a scientific standpoint.

Colonel Hay's experience, extended over a quarter of a century, very naturally would bring to one of keen observation as he possesses many interesting incidents wherein his art applies.

In the year 1877, when Simon Cameron was at the zenith of his political glory as the leader of his party in the State of Pennsylvania, being its senior Senator, he occupied the position of a central figure in the United States Senate, having been also the first Secretary of War in the great Cabinet of Abraham Lincoln.  He was brought into the brilliancy of a new light of notoriety when one Mary Oliver began a suit against him for breach of promise.  His immense wealth, public position, good reputation and high standing made him a shining mark for the arrows of any assailant of his character along any line of attack.  Whether he had in the mellow maturity of his age yielded to the subtle blandishments of fair women under the cloak of fascination made by stolen sweets was a subject that caused the social and political world of those times to put on its thinking cap, and very naturally the name of the venerable Senator was upon the lips of very scholar in the school for scandal and was tossed about for the time being unmercifully upon the vacillating sea of politics in both parties at the national capital and in his own big State.  The Senator with a feeling of indignation quickly said:  "Not one cent for tribute, but millions for defense!"  He made no offering to soothe Mary's bleeding heart.  "Blackmail!" was the word he used.  General Butler, the most hated relic of the war in the South, the most popular politician in Massachusetts and the most astute and able lawyer of his time, was the senior counsel to defend the Senator in the cause, which was tried in the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia.  It was the most noted trial of those days, second only to the famous Sickles trial, where the well known general was arraigned for killing Philip Barton Key, and the trial of the Surratt conspirators for the assassination of our beloved Lincoln, which trials were held in the same court.  Mary Oliver based her cause upon a letter, which she claimed was written by Cameron, in which he, it is alleged, said "will you be [m]y wife?"  The question, therefore, turned, as in the Sharon case, the Fair will case and the Samuel Davis codicil, upon the question of handwriting.

Article Describing Types of Petticoats, 1897

 The following article and illustrations come from the section "For Women and Home" in The Princeton Union of Princeton, Minnesota, September 9, 1897.  A scan of the article is viewable after the jump.

FOR WOMAN AND HOME

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ITEMS OF INTEREST FOR MAIDS AND MATRONS.

All About the Petticoat.

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The petticoat is quite as important a part of one's costume as the gown itself, for upon it depends "the hang" of the outside skirt.  Even the flannel 

petticoat, which in the opinion of so many people needs be but two yards of material seamed together, must be carefully gored.  The best flannel skirt is two and a half yards wide, gored and made with a muslin yoke fitted to the figure.  Colored flannels are used much more than white.  For traveling black is also used.  These flannel petticoats are quite short, ending just below the knee with a flounce embroidered in scallops.  Laces gathered behind the scallops, and a feather stitching heads the ruffles.

Cambric skirts are once more popular, probably because they are the best that can be worn under the light weight dresses which fashion advocates.  Indeed, to so great an extreme is the idea carried, that mull petticoats are worn under the thinnest of summer gowns.  They are made umbrella shaped, fitted with darts over the hips, and are fully long as the gown itself.  Lace is considered the prettiest trimming, but embroidery appears quite as often, more especially on the cambric spirts.  Silk petticoats are numerous, a fact due undoubtedly to the number of remarkably cheap remnants of silk to be had.  Any color is considered in good taste, although black for street wear is the greatest favorite.  For evening all the delicate colors are worn, trimmed with lace and an endless amount of ribbons.  

A silk petticoat should be two and a half yards wide--no more, no less--to make it hang properly.  Of course additional width is secured by the use of a flounce, making the upper skirt stand out better.--The Latest.

William H. Vanderbilt Earned $3.66 Per Minute in Bond Interest

 This article was originally printed in The Times Dispatch of Richmond, VA on July 20, 1911.

The Times Dispatch, Richmond, VA, July 20, 1911

RECEIVED $3.66 A MINUTE

William H. Vanderbilt Once Owned $48,050,000 in Government Bonds.

Washington, July 19.--Proof that the elder William H. Vanderbilt once owned $48,050,000 in government bonds, upon which he received interest at the rate of $1,922,000 a year, has been found in the old Treasury records.  The old interest checks made out to Mr. Vanderbilt show the government paid to him $160,000 a month.  One of the department statisticians calculated that he received $220 every hour of the day and night, and $3.66 every minute.

Nine-Year-Old Pickpocket, 1911

From The World of New York City, NY, August 12, 1911:

9-YEAR-OLD GIRL PICKS 13 POCKETS AS SLEUTHS WATCH

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Detectives Follow Little Concotta Ingloso for Two Hours Before Arresting Her.

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The youngest girl pickpocket ever seen at the Children's Court pleaded guilty to-day before Justice Hoyt, and was remanded to the care of the Children's Society until August 19th, for further investigation. She is Concotta Ingloso, nine years old, fair-haired, pretty, with mild blue eyes, and diminutive in size for her age. 

When the child took the stand she admitted that she was a pickpocket, under the tutelage of a man whose name and description she has furnished to the police.  She said that a fourteen-year-old boy acted as a go-between, and relieved her of her spoils, for which she usually received about forty-five cents a day. 

Detective Wertheimer of the "Strong Arm Squad" and Detective Wittenberg of the Central Office were out yesterday looking for "big game," when they were startled to see a little girl deftly put her hand into the pocket of a woman's apron on Orchard street and withdraw a pocketbook.  This she put into a large handbag.  Thinking they would eventually trail her confederate, they followed her.  The trail led through Orchard and Houston street, through a section of First avenue, to Rivington, to Stanton, to Broome streets.  They followed her for two hours and saw her go through the pockets of thirteen persons before they arrested her. 

The little girl's father, Franceson Ingloso, of No. 222 Chrystie street, was in court before the little girl was arraigned. 

"I would rather see you dead than alive," he said to the child.  "You are not fit to bear the name Ingloso." 

Justice Hoyt showed great sympathy for the little girl, saying that she was far too young to realize her acts, and that the only person who was actually responsible was the man who had taught her to steal.  She has been a pickpocket for five weeks.

(That father was a tad bit harsh, don't you think?)

Gold-Aluminum Alloy For Coins?

From The Columbus Journal of Columbus, Nebraska, December 12, 1894:

To Stop Counterfeiting.

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A scientist suggests the use of an alloy of gold and aluminum for the making of money.  He says that counterfeiting would be almost impossible, as the only alloy which can be made successfully consists of seventy-eight parts of gold and twenty-two of aluminum.  The product is said to be of a beautiful purple color, with ruby reflections that cannot be imitated.


Here is a link to an 1899 article available on JSTOR about Gold-Aluminum alloys: http://www.jstor.org/pss/90757

But as cool as it sounds (I can't find a photo!), it would be a poor medium for coins.  According to this webpage, the alloy is very brittle.  I suppose this scientist was focusing solely on trying to find something difficult to make, and not on whether it would  be able to withstand general wear and tear (Oops).

False Claims of Travelling Salesmen

From The Columbus Journal of Columbus, Nebraska, December 12, 1894:

A Churn Peddler Outwitted.

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That the shrewdest of churn peddlers sometimes meets defeat is again in evidence.  One of the verbose pedestrians recently called at a farmhouse in Lewiston.  The lady said she had a patent churn already, but the man insisted that his was so much better that he could get two pounds more butter from the cream than she could from her churn.  She said: "If you can I will buy it." So he left the churn, promising to come and prove it the next morning.  The lady put her cream into her churn and brought her butter, took it out and poured the buttermilk into the vender's churn.  He came the next morning and churned and churned, but no butter, exclaiming at last: "There's no butter in this cream." "I know it," said the lady, "for I've churned it in my churn, but I wanted to see you get the other two pounds."  There was no sale and no further conversation.

My Painting of my Great-Grandparent's House in Somerset

This is a photo of my great-grandparent's farm house on Hwy 27 in Somerset, Kentucky.  My grandfather and a few of his siblings were born in this house, and my great-great grandfather died in the back room of this house.  I'm not sure when it was built, but it was already built when my great-grandparent's purchased the farm in the 1920s.  My family's cemetery is also on this property.

This is my painting of it I just finished a few weeks ago...
















Previously:
Click here for a list of my other Pulaski/Rockcastle/Laurel County KY articles

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Disposing of Old Government Bonds, 1911

From The Times Dispatch of Richmond, VA, July 20, 1911:

The Times Dispatch, Richmond, VA, July 20, 1911

DESTROYING OLD BONDS

More Than $2,000,000,000 of Civil War Issue Fed to Furnaces.

Washington, July 19.--More than $2,000,000,000 in redeemed bonds, representing the major part of the government's Civil War debt, is being fed gradually to the furnace in the Bureau of Printing and Engraving.  The engineers estimate that the immense sum in old securities will generate about as much steam as two tons of good coal. 

All the government securities issued and redeem between 1860 and 1898 are being thus destroyed, including nearly $1,000,000,000 in the famous 7-30 bonds, which are made in the size of greenbacks, and passed as money at the highest rate of interest the government has ever paid.  More than 1,500,000 separate bond coupons, which represent a large portion of the government's interest payments for fifty years, also will be burned.

The usual process of reducing old securities to a pulp by macerating them was at first attempted, but the job proved too great.

Raising, Slaughtering, and Preserving Hogs, 1839

This is from a book entitled The Kentucky Housewife by Mrs. Lettice Bryan, originally published in 1839.  This appears on pages 92 and 93.  (The diagram appears in the index.)  The entire book is available for free on Google Books.