Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 35, Number 126, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 October 1903 — THE WEEKLY iOJJSTORIAn [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

THE WEEKLY iOJJSTORIAn

One Hundred Years Ago. The French Agricultural Society recommended the planting of Italian lombardy poplars around grain fields to keep away insects. n The city of Funchal, Madeira, was swept into the sea by a cloudburst, and all the inhabitants hut one infant were drowned. Over 200 business houses failed in France because the British had blockaded the coast. Thomas Jefferson advised his countrymen to follow the pursuit of agriculture instead of commerce, nnd that it was time to “plow the ocean” when there was no more land to be plowed. Seventy-five Years Ago. John Downing of . Lexington, Ky., made affidavit that he had often met Henry Clay, Secretary of State, on the stairs leading to the attic of John Jordan’s house, where Aaron Burr was concealed. Ex-President James Monroe was given $1,200 by an unknown friend in New York to pay the interest on his mortgaged home in Virginia, which he was in danger of losing. 0 The New York City postofflee had twenty-four employes, who handled 150 mails daily. Henry Clay, Secretary of State, was accused by a Pennsylvania campaign circular with having kidnaped a free negro of that State into slavery in the South.

fifty Years-Ago. - Thomas Childs, a distinguished officer of the American army, died at Tampa Bay, Florida. WilTiam Lloyd Garrison’s nose was pulled at a Cleveland (Ohio) woman’s rights convention because he refused to retract statements concerning a delegate named Nevins. The New York clearing house began business with a membership of fifty-two banks. France began negotiations with Sweden and Denmark for an alliance against Russia in the event of war with Turkey. Buenos Ayres seceded and formed an Independent State, with Dr. O. P. Obligatoas governor. _i Forty Years . Ago. Gen. Meade decided he had been too hasty in ordering the army of the Potomac to retreat across the Rappahannock, and ordered the return of three corps to oppose Gen. R. E. Lee. The army of the Potomac retreated across the Rappahannock river in Virginia, Gen. Meade, its commander, having discovered that the rebels under Gen. R. E. Lee had secretly turned his flank. The army of the Potomac under Gen - ". Meade and the rebel army of northern Virginia under Gen. R. E. Lee began a race northward from the Rappahannock, the latter trying to cut off Gen. Meade’s line of retreat. Thirty Years Ago. The Chicago City Council, being unable to decide on a plan forithe present city hall, voted to hang the designs in the lake front exposition building and give the public a chance to choose* Ex-President Andrew Johnson, who was supposed to be seeking a plaee on the Supreme bench, arrived in Washington to clear his record in connection with the execution of Mrs. Surratt. The President of Mexico issued a proclamation separating ehiffrflj and state, making mnrringe a civil contract, and barring religious institutions from possessing property. President U. S. Grant declared that the Black Friday panic, then just subsiding, was due to a senseless stampede among the “money corporations,” which had in turn stampeded the business interests of the country. Twenty Years Ago. V Rumors were circulated that William K. Vanderbilt had “gone under” as the result of an attempt to “bull” Lake Shore and other stocks. The State of Arkansas laid claim to a share of the national treasury surplus divided aipong the States by President Andrew Jackson in 1830. The pacing record for one mile was lowered 1% seconds, to 2:10, by Johnson nt the Chicago Driving Club. Fifty divorces were granted by the Chicago courts, and the newspapers called attention to the allfrming growth of the “habit.” ' V 0 Ten Years Ago. President Grover Cleveland's plans for the country’s financial relief were finnlly upset by the adjournment of the Senate and the announcement that unconditional repeal of the silver purchase law was impossible. A movement was started in Chicago to purchase the Cjrelornma of the great fire of ’7l as a nucleus for the Field Columbian rpusenm. Fifty thousand visitors to the Chicago world’s fnir slept in the streets because of the lack of hotel accommodations. Chicago' day was celebrated at the World’s Columbian Exposition, 713,040 persona buying admittance * to" ’ the grounds. The American yacht Vigilant defeated Lord Dunravest’s boat, Valkyrie, in the third and deciding race for the America rap at New York. ‘ - - /