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ALHAMBRA BOYS SAVE LIVES ON
TRAIN
Source: The New York Times, New
York, NY, July 19, 1903
Two boys averted a terrible
wreck with the probable loss of dozens of lives by flagging
the early morning express on the Illinois Central before it
ran on the bridge across Silver Creek, which had been
partially burned away, three miles north of here yesterday.
The boys John and William Bilf, twelve and fourteen years
old, respectively, who live on a farm near the creek, were
on their way to a neighbor’s when they saw smoke issuing
from the bridge some little distance from them. About middle
way out they discovered that forty feet of the structure had
been burned away and the bridge was still in flames. They
knew that the fast express would be along in a few minutes,
and if it were allowed to run on the bridge it would surely
go down in midstream, with great loss of life. It must be
stopped, they both knew it, and they set about their
important task. They had no flag, but that trifle was soon
mended. John tore up his shirt and tied it to a staff. Then
together they ran to the track to meet the train. About half
a mile from the bridge they heard the oncoming train, so,
taking their position in the middle of the track they began
to wave the flag as the train came in view. The engineer was
quick to perceive the signal and threw on the brakes
stopping the train within a few yards of the bridge. The
engineer, conductor, and many of the passengers thanked the
boys for their heroism. The two boys are members of a family
of thirteen children. It is supposed that the fire was
caused by coals from the firepan of a passing engine.
*********************************************
ALHAMBRA - FARMER STABS NEIGHBOR
Source: Ogdensburg, New York
News, September 13, 1907
Sept 12.—Charles W. Hosto, a
farmer living near Alhambra, walked into the office of
Sheriff Jones here and surrendered himself, saying he had
killed Charles Heal, who lived on a farm adjoining his.
Hosto's story was not believed at first, but was found to be
true. Hosto was arrested on the charge of manslaughter and
released on bond pending his preliminary hearing. The two
men quarreled Monday. Hosto declared he cut Heal with a
pocket knife in self defense. He put the man in a wagon and
drove him home. Heal died that night.
ALTON CHOLERA
Source: The
Evening Journal, Albany, New York, July 9, 1833
(Extract of
a letter from a merchant at Alton, Illinois, dated June
21rst, 1833.)
“The first
case of cholera that occurred here was one quarry man, a
moderate drinker. He died in 12 hours. Second case, a quarry
man, intemperate, died in a few hours. 3rd, Mrs.
Elijah Haydon, after premonitory symptoms, take at noon,
died at night. 4th, Mrs. Pierre, wife of the
Representative for Greene co., taken at noon, died in four
hours. Mr. Wilson, a temperate man, lingered several days
and then died. A German, intemperate, remained two days in
collapse, and died. Child of J. Thomas, and Mrs. David
Miller, died in a few hours. The last death was our highly esteemed friend, Dr. Barrett, formerly of Massachusetts. His
was the most violent case I have seen. In three quarters of
an hour after he was attacked, he was speechless – and died
in three or four hours. In all these cases a diarrhea
preceded the attack. Doctor Barrett, though not well, had
been out all night with the sick, fatiguing himself very
much. We have had several cases which have been found
manageable. There are now three or four cases on the
recovery. So we think the worst is passed. Confidence is now
partially restored."
*************************************************
ALTON CHOLERA
Source: The Evening Journal,
Albany, New York, June 30, 1835
The Alton (Illinois) Spectator
says upwards of 20 deaths have taken place in that town
within two weeks. The disease, however, was taking a milder
form, and hopes were entertained that it would soon take its
departure. The Spectator adds that Cholera prevails to a
greater or lesser extent in Edwardsville, the American
Bottom, through the towns on the Illinois river, and various
other places in the State.
****************************************************
ALTON - DANIEL WEBSTER VISITS IN
1837
Source: Rochester, New York
Democrat Chronicle, March 22, 1890
A correspondent of the St. Louis
Globe-Democrat, in giving an account of the visit by Daniel
Webster to the city of Alton, Ill. in 1837, says that there
being no cannon in the place from which a salute could be
fired, his father had a large hole drilled into the bluff on
the bank of the Mississippi, into which four kegs of powder
were poured and well tamped. When the steamboat with the
great orator and a distinguished party on board arrived at
the Alton wharf, a man stationed on the bluff fired the fuse
and a tremendous explosion followed, making a noise that
could be heard many miles, and dislodging many tons of rock
and earth. This was the heaviest and biggest gun fired off
in honor of Daniel Webster on his whole tour.
***************************************************
ALTON EXPLOSION OF POWDER MAGAZINE
Source: Centennial history of
Madison County, Illinois, and its people, 1812 to 1912,
1914, page 222
The most serious stirring-up the people of Madison county
have experienced was occasioned not by an earthquake shock
but by the explosion of the powder magazine at Alton, on the
20th of June, 1840. The explosion was described in the Alton
Telegraph, by Judge Bailhache, as “incomparably louder and
far more destructive than the discharge of a hundred pieces
of the heaviest artillery.” The powder magazine was situated
on the bluffs, a few rods west of the penitentiary, and
contained at the time six tons of powder. Judge Bailhache
writes: “To describe with some degree of minuteness the
damage done by this explosion would require columns of our
journal; suffice it therefore to remark that scarcely one
single building within the thickly settled part of our city remains uninjured, and that some of those nearest the site
of the magazine have been literally reduced to heaps of
ruins; chimneys demolished, roofs started and nearly blown
off, windows and frames shivered to atoms are among the
results of the explosion. But although fragments of stone of
which the magazine was built were hurled with resistless
force in every direction, some of them to the distance of
nearly a mile, perforating houses and overthrowing
everything in their way, no life has been lost so far as our
information extends, nor any serious injury done to the
person of anyone.” The writer proceeds to narrate a series
of hair-breadth escapes that were so remarkable as to be
almost unbelievable. The belief was universal that the
explosion was the work of some villain, but for what object
could not be conjectured. The offender, or offenders, were
never discovered although the common council offered $500
reward for their apprehension. The damage done to buildings
was estimated at over $25,000.
***********************************************************
ALTON DUEL
Source: The Evening Journal,
Albany, New York, 1841
The Cincinnati Republican states
that a duel was fought at Alton, Illinois on the 4th inst.
between Judge Smith of the Illinois Supreme Court, and Mr.
McClernard late Secretary of State of Illinois. They fought
with rifles, distance fifty paces. Judge Smith was the
challenger, and was killed on the spot. The St. Louis
Gazette contradicts the above statement, and says the
parties were arrested before they reached the ground.
***************************************************
ALTON ELECTION
Source: Religious Recorder,
Syracuse, New York, 1845-1849
The free soil Van Buren ticket
succeeded at the charter election in Alton, Illinois,
yesterday by 284 majority.
***********************************************
ALTON'S NEW MAYOR
Source: Syracuse, New York
Onondaga Standard, October 1, 1845
At an election held in the city
of Alton, Ill., on Monday the 7th, G. T. M. Davis, Whig, was
elected Mayor by a majority, over T. M. Hope, late Tyler U.
S. Marshal, and now one of the Loco Foco (sp?) editors of
the papers in that city. This Davis was once a resident of
this place, a flaming democrat, and receiver of salt duties
when he but his pocket book, etc. Now he is full of whiggery
as a dog is of fleas. So the world wags.
*************************************************
ALTON - CHOLERA
Source: Albany, New York Evening
Journal, August 8, 1849
At Alton, Ill. there were but
five deaths from cholera last week.
**********************************************
ALTON - LARGE RAFT FLOATS DOWN
MISSISSIPPI
Source: Amenia, New York Times,
1852
A raft floated by Alton, Ill. a
few days since, which contained 800,000 ft of lumber,
besides 200,000 lathes, and 160,000 shingles. It was the
largest raft that ever floated down the Mississippi.
***********************************************
ALTON - STEAMER GENEVA WRECK
Source: The Quincy Daily
Whig, Illinois, December 9, 1852
From the most authentic information it seems that the
explosion on this ill-fated boat was from powder and not the
explosion of the boilers. The engineer and clerk both state
that there was a large lot of powder stowed away in the hold
of the boat, forward of the hatch; the planks forming the
gangway to the shore being wet and slippery, large
quantities of hot ashes, mingled with coals, were brought
from the furnace and strewed upon them, to enable the men to
keep their footing while ascending to the bank and
descending with the wood. It is thought that some of the
coals or sparks were blown by the wind into the hold,
causing the powder to ignite and blow up the boat. Some of
the surviving officers say that they saw the boilers after
the explosion, and that the flues were not collapsed. The
body of Capt. Deane was found on Saturday, on the wreck
of the cabin, about eight miles below Alton, and taken to
St. Louis for interment. It was greatly disfigured, but
there was no difficulty in recognizing his face, and his
watch and papers were found upon his person. His funeral
took place on Monday.
Capt. J. J. Perry, Master of the Geneva, died on Sunday
morning, from the injuries he had received. His remains are
to be taken to Pittsburgh, where his wife resides, for
interment.
**********************************************
ALTON - RAIL TRAVEL FROM NEW
YORK TO ALTON NOW OPEN
Source: Oswego, New York Daily
Times, November 7, 1853
The public will rejoice at the
announcement that a continuous railway track is now open
from this city [New York] to Alton, Illinois, on the
Mississippi, twenty miles above St. Louis. These two great
cities are thus brought within about forty-eight hours of
each other, traveling time, and passengers are ticketed
through from New York to Alton and St. Louis, at the
Michigan Southern Railroad office in this city. We
congratulate our friends at the that the "close of
navigation" will no obstruction this winter, to travel.
********************************************
ALTON - COTTONWOOD STAVES
Source: The Daily Standard,
Syracuse, New York, August 18, 1854
One of the greatest triumphs of
the invention for cutting staves out of solid, blocks of
timber that could be split, is the use of cotton
wood—hitherto considered one of the most worthless, yet most
common tree of the west, and one that grows more rapidly
than any other. The wood is sweet and sufficiently strong
for flour barrels and all dry casks. It is considerably used
in the neighborhood of Alton, Illinois.
**********************************************
ALTON - ANTI-NEBRASKA BILL
SENTIMENT
Source: Evening Chronicle,
Syracuse, New York, June 16, 1854
We copy the following notice of
an Anti-Nebraska meeting held at Alton, Illinois, on the 2d
inst., from the Telegraph, a leading paper published in that
city :
"The mass meeting of the citizens of Alton and the vicinity,
on last Friday evening, to express their sentiments against
the recent passage of the Kansas-Nebraska bill, was one of
the largest and most enthusiastic which has been held in
this city for many a day. The meeting was composed of all
classes: and Democrats, Whigs and Free Soilers, Germans,
Irish and Americans, met together with one common impulse,
and, forgetting all other considerations, seemed to be moved
only by a strong and deep-seated indignation against the
authors of the repeal of the Missouri Compromise. The utmost
unanimity prevailed throughout; and if we may judge with any
accuracy of the sentiment upon that subject, from what was
said and done on the occasion, four-fifths of our entire
community are opposed to Judge Douglas and his bill.
*******************************************
ALTON - 500 KANSAS EMIGRANTS
ARRIVE
Source: Syracuse, New York
Evening Chronicle, March 28, 1855
Last week, 500 Kansas emigrants
reached Alton, Ill. An equal number were expected at the
same point on Saturday last. Last Thursday, 130 Germans
marched through the streets of Cincinnati, headed by a band
of music, and took passage, with their families, for the
same destination. 600 others in the same city were waiting
for a boat. A Kentucky party (200) had chartered a boat, and
were to have left on Friday. Others of the same
associations, would soon follow. Five hundred families are
enrolled in Indiana, and thousands are preparing, on their
own boat, to leave during the summer. There is a movement
for Kansas also in this city. One or two meetings have
already been held, and a company is being formed for
emigration. To balance these northern movement we have word
that ten thousand emigrants will go from Missouri and stay
long enough to settle the coming election in favor of
Slavery. The election takes place on Friday of this week.
*******************************************
ALTON - STEAMERS
Source: Albany, New York Evening
Journal, April 9, 1856
A committee from Kansas is in
St. Louis, delegated by a number of the businessmen of that
Territory to take steps for the establishment of a line of
steamers from Alton, Ill. to Kansas for the transportation
of northern emigrants and merchandise. The committee will
proceed to Chicago, Cincinnati, and Pittsburgh for the
purpose of perfecting the arrangements.
*******************************************
ALTON - DOUGLAS SPEECH
Source: The Evening Journal,
Albany, New York, October 9, 1856
Douglas was brought out to speak
recently at Alton, Illinois, after much parade, preparation
and drumming up recruits. He spoke adjacent to the Fair
Ground,—in the best possible situation to draw a crowd—to a
little squad of people, variously estimated at 300 to 600
persons.
The "Little Giant" has lost his power in Illinois.
********************************************
ALTON PLAINING MILL FIRE
Source: Syracuse, New York Daily
Courier, April 19, 1857
A fire occurred at Alton, Ill.,
on the night of the 15th, which destroyed the plaining mill
of Messrs. Morrison, Beale & Co., the adjoining Methodist
Church and three dwellings. Loss twenty-five to forty
thousand dollars.— Insurance small.
********************************************
ALTON LARD TANK EXPLOSION
Source: The Daily Palladium,
Oswego, New York, November 13, 1857
The slaughter and packing
establishment of John Smith, of Alton, Illinois, was
completely destroyed on the 3d instant, by the explosion of
a tank of lard! Steam being let' into it by the engineer, it
exploded with such force as to throw it up perpendicularly,
through two floors and the roof to a considerable height
above the building, whence it fell again, nearly as
perpendicularly as it rose and struck the ground not more
than ten feet from the place originally occupied by it. Of
the bricks composing the walls, not five hundred were left
one upon another; the roof was broken into innumerable
pieces; the stone foundation was so racked that it was
rendered totally useless, in short the whole building was an
entire ruin. What won't explode, now?
************************************************
ALTON TORNADO
Source: Vincent's
Semi-annual U. S. Register, Jan-Jun 1860, pages 486-489
This day, a dreadful storm broke
out over the town of Alton, Ill. The Alton “Courier,”
describing it, says - The most destructive storm in this
section of the country that has occurred within the memory
of anyone, broke upon our city Saturday evening and in a
matter of minutes destroyed property to the amount of scores
of thousands of dollars. The track of the storm through the
business part of the city lies between Belle and Henry
streets. On and west of State street the damage done to
building is very slight, confined to the throwing down of
two or three chimneys and one or two stables. Here as well
as elsewhere the shrubbery, fruit-trees, shade trees, etc.
suffered to a considerable extent. The “Courier” office, for
which so much apprehension was felt, escaped uninjured. Our
loss is confined to the bindery, and is but slight,
occasioned by the tearing open of a trap-door in the roof.
Farther up the street, beyond the Piasa Foundry, was the
principal scene of disaster on Belle street. Here, in the
creek-bottom, are about twenty small houses, occupied by
twenty-five or thirty families, mostly Irish. At sunset
there was scarcely enough water in the creek to make a
current; when the storm was at it’s height the water must
have been at least ten to twelve feet deep, tearing on with
almost resistless force. Some three or four of these houses
were torn in pieces, three or four more swept from their
foundations, and all of them filled with water and mud. The
affrighted families fled with what they could carry, in very
few cases saving more than three-quarters of their household
effects, and in some instances hardly escaping with their
lives.
Still farther up the road in the neighborhood of the toll
gate, some damage was done by water, but very little done by
hail or wind. The road is very much washed in all places,
all the way to the Buck Inn.
In the insurance office neighborhood, the traces of hail first
began to be much apparent, the insurance office having very
many panes of glass broken out, and other houses having
suffered in this respect to some extent. We remarked two or
three chimneys down, also a stable near the house of Dr.
Wood. The main damage hereabouts is upon the shrubbery and
fruit and other trees, and it is very severe, not to be
estimated in dollars and cents. Dr. Wood, Mr. Kellenberger,
Mr. Moses Atwood, Robert Smith, John Atwood, Judge Billings,
Capt. Adams, H. I. Baker, Mr. Wade, Dr. Marsh, Mr.
Metcalf - all these, and, in fact, everybody in this
neighborhood, have lost much in this respect. Mr. Smith's
yard and garden particularly are very much damaged. The
house building for cashier Caldwell lost it’s chimney and
part of its roofing.
In Hunterstown, the German Catholic Church, corner of Third
and Henry streets, built last year at an expense of about
$6000, is almost a complete wreck, the basement and part of
the front wall alone standing. From the two story brick
building standing directly opposite, belonging to Mr.
Coppiner, the roof was partially lifted, and a small frame
building near it was damaged by a falling tree.
Farther up Henry Street, opposite the German Protestant
Church, a frame story-and-a-half house, about finished, for
John Callacombe, was torn completely to pieces. Lower
Middleton suffered considerably, both by hail and by wind.
Captain James Starr's house lost a couple of chimneys. James
Newman lost a chimney and a stable. J.C. Underwood lost a
stable, and had both gables of his house blown out, damage
say $800. A new story-and-a-half frame house opposite Mr.
Dimmock's was badly wrenched, but not blown down. A story
brick house, also opposite, occupied by Mr. Spreen, is a
wreck: loss $1000.
Seth T. Sawyer's house lost it’s roof and part of the back
side-wall: $500. Mr. Johnson's house lost a couple of
chimneys. Joseph Spray, porter of De Bow & Son, living back
of the African church, had the upper story of his house
taken off, and a part of it carried two hundred and fifty or
three hundred feet: loss $350. A small stable near by was
wrecked. A small frame house in front of, and a short
distance from, the church building for Mr. Waples by Mr.
McCorcle, was blown from it’s foundation and badly sprung.
Thomas S. Coffey's house suffers, by loss of it roof and
other wise to the amount of $500. Mr. Coon's house has
damage, $150. Mr. Waple's home has a chimney and one corner
down. Dr. Hope's stable was scattered over an acre of
ground.
All through this section of the city there is no small loss
of trees and shrubbery, very few property owners escaping.
There are also several houses damaged to the amount of from
$20 to $50 or $60, by falling limbs or parts of other
houses.
In Second Street, the residence of Dr. De Leuw, a short
distance above Henry Street, has a chimney down and also the
front of a one-story wing. Arnes's new brick store and
residence has the lower gable-end out. Kohler's seed-store
has part of its front down. One of the old shells in Cary’s
Row is demolished. The lower gable-end of Joerges's fine
brick house is out. One of the back gable-ends of the Alton
house is out. The Baptist Society were burned out but a
short time ago, and now are out again. Ryder's three-story
building lost its upper story, in which the society have
been worshipping for several weeks. It is said that this
building was struck by lighting.
The city building lost more than half of it’s tin roof. The
front firewall of the building occupied by Blair, Ballinger
& Co., Adams & Collett, and Ferguson & Gawley, was
partly blown off. The river gable-end of the store formerly
occupied by Adams & Collett was blown out. Part of the
river front of Pickard's store is down, as is also, one
gable of Malachi Holland's Liquor Store. The steeple was
blown off of the Episcopal Church. It is said that the
church is almost a total loss, the walls being very much
sprung and cracked. The church cost about $12,000. The organ
is ruined. The steeple was also blown from the Methodist
Church. The roof was considerably hurt by it’s fall, and the
interior is also somewhat damaged. The loss cannot be less
that $3000. The house of D. Simms was also completely
crushed by the falling steeple of the Methodist Church. It
was worth $1800. The back end of the Depot is blown in. The
destruction of awnings, signs, &c., in the entire business
part of the city is very great. A dozen houses or more in
this part of the city, the names of whose owners we did not
learn, lost chimneys. The front gable-end of the Illinois
Iron-works is blown out, and the building is slightly
damaged otherwise. No loss in the city is commented
upon with more and warmer expressions of sympathy than that
of “The Democrat” office. The building was new, yet hardly
finished, and Mr. Fitch
moved into it only a week ago, just a week ago on Saturday
evening, opening it with a gathering of his friends. And it
is now all gone, the most complete wreck we ever saw. We
know how Mr. Fitch has labored early and late in his
profession here and elsewhere for many years, through what
discouragements he had attained his position as head of the
leading Democratic paper in this section of the state; and,
knowing all this, and appreciating the public spirit which
led him to put up so fine a building in these times, we
share the general sympathy felt for him.
The building, presses, engine, and stock, and all is
completely wrecked: the entire loss must be at least $8000.
The Geo Bachter Office was moved into the building on
Saturday, as was also the German Bindery; and of course the
entire stock of these establishments is a complete loss.
**************************************************
ALTON - WAREHOUSE FIRE
Source: Poughkeepsie, New York
Daily Eagle, April 8, 1863
A fire occurred at Alton, Ill.
on Wednesday night, consuming a warehouse on the levee
occupied by Simpson & Ketchum, filled with hay and other
produce, besides besides the adjoining buildings occupied by
Wipping Bros & Co., hardware dealers, and Calvin & Rissale,
auction store. Loss about $100,000. Insured for $60,000.
***********************************************
ALTON TOBACCO FACTORY BURNS
Source: The Evening Courier and
Republic, Buffalo, New York, February 21, 1866
The tobacco factory of Meyers &
Drummond, Alton, Illinois, and one or two adjoining
buildings were burned last Saturday. Loss about $30,000.
Insurance $14,000.
*************************************************
ALTON - PRESIDENT GRANT STOPS IN
ALTON FOLLOWING END OF CIVIL WAR
Source: Buffalo, New York
Evening Courier, September 8, 1866
ALTON, Ill., Sept. 8. The party were received here by a
dense mass of persons, many of whom were from the
surrounding country and from St. Louis and other cities.
Salutes were fired and the greatest possible excitement
prevailed. The excursionists were conducted to a stand
previously erected, where the President. Gen. Grant, Admiral
Farragut, Secretary Seward, Secretary Welles were
introduced. The Mayor of Alton extended a cordial welcome to
the President and the statesmen, and he accompanied him, in
a neat speech. The President responded briefly. He was
frequently interrupted by applause. Mr. Seward was then
vociferously called. The party was then squeezed through a
dense mass of human beings to the deck of the steamers Andy
Johnson. Cheers were frequently repeated by the excited
multitude. The President was formally introduced to Mayor
Thomas and escorted to the steamer Ruth, when the bells
commenced ringing for the fleet to turn their heads
homeward. The steamers Andy Johnson, Ruth and Olive Branch,
lashed together, made the first move forward, closely
followed by as many other boats us there were original
States in the Union. As soon as the fleet of steamers was
under wav, the Presidential party crossed over from the Andy
Johnson to the Ruth, and passed up to the cabin escorted by
a detachment of Knights Templars, At this point Captain Bart
Abel suggested that as the boats were about to pass the
Missouri River the party should be escorted to the upper
deck. The President and party were then escorted to the
hurricane deck of the Ruth where they passed an hour in a
most agreeable manner. Gen. Grant was kept busy in
acknowledging the congratulations that were heaped upon him.
***********************************************
ALTON - CHARTER ELECTION
Source: Utica, New York Daily
Observer, September 28, 1866
The charter election of the city
of Alton was held September 13. Notwithstanding the fierce
resolution of the Radicals, and their efforts to rule and
ruin, the Democratic Conservative ticket was triumphantly
elected. It was a perfect Waterloo victory. The Mayor and
Common Council are Democratic; the register, collector,
treasurer, attorney, marshal, harbor master, commissioner,
and assessor, are all Democrats.
***********************************************
ALTON FLOUR MILL FIRE
Source: New York Times,
New York, March 19, 1867
The flouring mill of Church & Coffey, at Alton, Ill., was
burned Saturday morning. Loss, $12,000. Insurance, $8,000.
***********************************************
ALTON - STEAMBOATS COMPETE FOR
FASTEST TIME
Source: New York, NY Clipper,
June 29, 1867
The steamer Robert E. Lee,
running on the lower Mississippi trade, which recently made
the trip from Memphis to Cairo in the unequalled time of 17
hours and 12 minutes, has just eclipsed this performance,
making the run between those points in nearly two hours less
time than any other boat. She left Memphis on Saturday, June
15th, at 10 o'clock A. M., arriving at Cairo on Sunday at
2.43 AM. The quickest run ever made by any steamer between
the two points before the Lee made her first quick trip was
made by the City of Alton in seventeen hours and fifty
minutes, winning the horns from the Mollie Able, which made
the run in 19 hours 10 minutes. The horns are a large pair
of elk horns, finely gilt, supporting a Union shield,
bearing the inscription "Time from Memphis to Cairo 19
hours 40 min." Bearing this message upon the horns, "Steamer
Mollie Able" on the other side, "Time from Memphis to Cairo,
17h. 50m. Beat this and take back the horns, Steamer
City of Alton." The Lee sports the antlers.
************************************************
ALTON FLACKENECKER'S GROCERY
STORE FIRE
Source: The New York
Times, New York, February 19, 1868
Feb. 18. Flackenecker's
grocery-store, and three or four adjoining buildings in
Alton, Ill., were burned on Sunday night. The loss is about
$15,000. The insurance has not been ascertained.
************************************************
ALTON WOODEN WARE WORKS FIRE
Source: Alton Weekly
Telegraph, Alton, IL, May 1, 1868
About half-past five
o’clock yesterday afternoon the brick “drying house” of the
Wooden Ware Works was discovered to be on fire. The alarm
was at once sounded, and in a few moments the Alton engine
was on the ground, and was vigorously at work. A large
number of men were, also, engaged in deluging the house with
water from buckets, but no amount of water seemed to have
the slightest influence on the flames.
The house contained six separate compartments, or kilns
(each of which was filled with staves and headings) and the
walls were with out windows, hence it was found almost
impossible to get at the fire, so as to play upon it
effectually. In about an hour from the time of the first
alarm the Washington engine arrived on the ground, and was
station at the pond near the Methodist Church, where it
rendered efficient service. But although three streams of
fire were kept playing upon the fire constantly, still the
dense volumes of smoke and steam issuing from the building
showed that the flames were but little effected by the
deluge of water. At nine o’clock the roof of the building
fell in, after which time the firemen were able to play with
more effect upon the dense mass of fire within. But it was
not until after twelve o’clock that the flames were so far
subdued as to render it same for the engines to leave their
posts.
At one time it was feared that the fire would be
communicated to the main building, but owing to the wind’s
being from the south and to the great exertions of the
firemen and citizens, this great calamity was obviated.
Too much praise cannot be awarded to the firemen, and the
citizens who assisted them, for the perseverance and energy
they manifested throughout. Hour after hour the brakes went
steadily up and down without a moments cessation, until the
labor was no longer necessary. And there was no excitement
about this “manning of the brakes,” but it was hard,
monotonous work, where grip and grit were alike needed. We
take pleasure, also, in testifying to the efficiency and
zeal of Chief Engineer Pfeiffenberger and his assistants in
directing the operations of the firemen and citizens.
It is a difficult matter to ascertain exactly the amount of
the loss, as it will be mostly, indirect. The building was
divided into six kilns, and in each kiln were 2,000 feet of
prepared, or 12,000 staves in all, almost ready for use. The
value of this material was about $1,200. The building cannot
be replaced for less than $2,500. There was no insurance.
The great loss, however, is in the suspension of business
which will be necessary on account of the disaster. Very
nearly all the dry material that the factory had on hand was
consumed, and consequently no work can be done until a new
“drying house” can be built and new material prepared. This
will require at least a month, all of which is a dead loss
of time.
The company have the sympathy of the community in their
loss, especially as it is the third time the have suffered
in a similar manner. They have won the reputation of making
the best wooden ware in the west, and the entire trade will
regret to learn of their misfortune.
*******************************************************
ALTON COMB FACTORY
Source: Courier and Union,
Syracuse, New York, October 14, 1868
A comb factory, said to be the
finest in the West, has just been started at Alton,
Illinois.
**************************************************
ALTON TORNADO, May 1871
Source: Chicago Tribune,
Chicago, IL, May 14, 1871
The Alton Telegraph of the 10th
says:
"The tornado that desolated East St. Louis on Wednesday,
swept northward through the county, inflicting immense
damage on the farming community. Everything in its path was
swept away, or destroyed. The main track of the tornado was
about midway between here and Edwardsville. The house of Mr.
John W. Kendall was struck by the tornado, the roof blown
off and carried a distance of 300 yards, and the whole
building completely wrecked. The furniture was broken to
pieces: clothing and bed coverings were blown away and lost.
A pocketbook containing $100, which was in a wardrobe, was
blown away and lost. All the outbuildings on the farm were
torn to pieces and the fences carried off: a valuable peach
orchard was reduced to a pile of brush. The residences of
Mr. Cox, Mr. Roesch, and Mr. Morrison were all unroofed and
badly damaged, and their stables, outbuildings, fences,
granaries, hay-stacks, stock, etc., utterly destroyed. The
loss is extremely heavy. Where the tornado struck, nothing
was spared. Strange to say, none of the inmates of
residences named were seriously injured. About the most
startling statement is yet to come: Mr. Kendall informs us
that his premises are strewn with fragments of steamboats,
strips of tin roofing, and pieces of boards torn from
buildings, which had evidently been blown from East St.
Louis. As Mr. Kendall's house is no less than eighteen miles
north of St. Louis in an air-line, the fact seems almost
incredible, but is none the less true. These fragments of
buildings were found by Mr. K, three miles north of his
farm."
******************************************************
ALTON FRANKLIN HOUSE DINNER TALE
Source: Waterville, New York
Times, February 20, 1873
The Missouri Republican
is responsible for the following:
"Once on a time there dwelt in
our sister city of Alton a worthy but rather irritable
gentleman, who was the host of a famous hotel there, known
as the Franklin House. Numerous citizens daily drew their
rations from his liberally furnished table, and not a few
visitors from the rural districts preferred the substantial
fare of the Franklin House to the more pretentious board of
the Alton House. One d a y, in addition to all the good
things with which the dinner table was loaded, there was at
the lower end a nice roast pig that would have tickled the
palate of the gentle "Elia," who discourses so eloquently of
that savory visited. At the conclusion of the meal, this
roast pig remained intact, when along came a belated drover,
who sat down beside it, and having a good, wholesome
appetite, soon devoured the whole of it. The landlord looked
on amazed, and was puzzled to see where his profit was to
come in after deducting a dollar and-a-half-pig from a fifty
cent dinner ticket. Giving vent to his disgust, he said very
sarcastically to the drover, "Isn't there something else you
would like to be helped to?" "Wal—yes" drawled out the
drover, "I don't care if I take another of them little
hogs.'' This was too much for the equanimity of the
landlord, and to keep himself from "spontaneously
combusting," like Dorothea, he was compelled to rush out in
the open air, where he could give vent to a few unorthodox
expressions without being overheard by the elect, of which
he was one.
************************************************
ALTON SHOE STORE FIRE
Source: New York Times,
New York, February 28, 1873
A fire at Alton, Ill., on
Tuesday night, destroyed the shoe-store of Smiley brothers,
the dry-goods store of Richard Flagg, and the drug-store of
H. W. Chamberlain. The loss is from $40,000 to $50,000, and
the property is mostly covered by insurance.
***************************************************
ALTON - A WESTERN WHIRLWIND
Source: Utica, New York Daily
Observer, 1874
About 6 o'clock the sky was half
obscured by the dense mass of clouds; then, what seemed to
be lighter clouds were detached from the upper mass and
swept through the air with inconceivable rapidity, while the
atmosphere on the surface of the ground was almost perfectly
still. At 6:10 a heavy cloud, in the shape of a
funnel, fell, apparently from the great mass, swept across
the river as quick as a flash of lightning, the small end of
the funnel dragging along the surface of the water. In a
second the cloud struck the river front, swept by in
flash, bounded like a ball, passed over the hills, toward
the northeast, rose again, and broke into fragments. When it
struck the buildings, a terrible rambling; crash resounded,
which was distinctly heard a mile distant, then came the
rush and roar, of the tempest, blinding rain and rattling
hail; the air seemed ail in a swirl, almost total darkness
closed in and hid the scene of destruction. The time
occupied by the passage of the whirlwind from the river
through the valley was not over two seconds, and all the
damage was done within that time. The only part of the town
touched by the tornado was the main business part, directly
in the valley. The coarse of the storm-cloud was most
erratic. It was, as we have said, funnel-shaped, small end
down. Whatever object that small end touched was smashed to
atoms. It rose, fell, darted here and there, and finally
rose up and broke into fragments. The diameter of the small
end of the funnel was only a few feet. The storm cloud, as
it swept over the river, was of a greenish-white tinge, but
when it rose again into the air it was densely black, like a
column of ink.
**************************************************
ALTON CIRCUS - SOUL DESTROYING?
Source: The Daily Observer,
Utica, New York, September 14, 1874
Boys will be boys - at Alton,
Illinois, a teacher asked Sunday School scholars to stand up who
intended to visit the wicked, soul-destroying circus. All but a
lame girl stood up.
***************************************************
ALTON DRUG STORE AND NEWSPAPER
OFFICE FIRE
Source: The New York
Times, New York, NY, January 23, 1880
Alton, Ill., Jan. 22.-Flames were seen issuing, about 2:30
a.m. to-day, from the cellar of the wholesale drug store of
Robert E. Smith, on Second-street. The store was a large
double brick structure. The east half and the third floor of
the west half were occupied by Mr. Smith, and the second and
third stories of the west half by Holden & Morten,
proprietors of the Alton Telegraph, and Beall & Denvers,
job printers. Owing to the oils and large amount of
inflammable material stored in the building, the flames
spread with great rapidity, and soon the entire interior was
burning. The fire department was on the ground promptly, and
after several hours’ hard work subdues the flames. The walls
only are standing. Nothing of any value was saved from the
stock. Mr. Smith's store was the handsomest and most spacious
drug-house in the West.
The total loss is about $110,000. The total insurance is
$89,000. R. B. Smith is insured as follows: Imperial, of
London, $5,000; London Assurance, $2,500; London and
Lancashire, $5,000; Manufacturer’s, Boston, $2,000; Amazon,
Cincinnati, $2,500; Farmers’, York, Penn., $1,000; North
British, $2,500; Commercial Union, $2,500; Glens Falls, N.
Y., $2,500; Franklin, Philadelphia, $2,500; Phoenix,
Hartford, $1,000; American Central, St. Louis, $1,500;
British American, Canada, $1,000; St. Paul, $1,000; German
American, $1,000; North American, Philadelphia, $2,500;
Hartford, $2,000; Western Assurance, Toronto, $2,000;
Scottish Commercial, $1,500; National, Hartford, $2,000;
Springfield, Mass., $2,000; Phoenix, Brooklyn, $5,000;
Pennsylvania, $2,000; Meriden, $500. In addition Mr. SMITH
had $30,500 insurance divided among the following companies:
Fire Association of Philadelphia, Lamar, North German,
Orient, Connecticut, La Caisse Generale, Westchester, Board
of Underwriters, People’s of Trenton. Holden and Morten, of
the Telegraph, had $13,000 in the Springfield, Mass., and
$13,000 in the Hartford. Their loss is total and not half
covered by insurance. Beall & Denvers had $10,000 insurance
in the Continental, $1,000 in the North American,
Philadelphia, and $1,000 in the Girard of Philadelphia,
which will not cover their loss. The Telegraph appeared as
usual this evening. In reduced form, printed on the type
obtained at Malcolm & McIneay’s job office. The files of the
Telegraph for over 25 years were destroyed.
********************************************************
ALTON - COAL FAMINE
Source: Oswego, New York Daily
Times, May 5, 1884
The coal famine has reached this
city. The flour mills and glass factory may be compelled to
shut down.
******************************************************
ALTON GLASS WORKS
Source: Oswego, New York Daily
Times, June 20, 1884
ALTON, Ill., June 20.—Factories
Nos. 2, 3, 5, 7 and 9 of the Illinois Glass company have
resumed operations. A good supply of coal has been secured,
and will be pushed to catch up in orders. It has also been
decided to operate one-half of the factories all summer in
order to make up for the frequent stoppages caused by the
strike. This will be the first time in the history of the
Illinois Glass company when any of its factories have been
operated in the summer.
******************************************************
ALTON - BARREL FACTORY BURNED
Source: Auburn, New York Daily
Bulletin, September 19, 1888
The barrel factory of H.
Schapperkotter was burned yesterday. Loss $25,000.
******************************************************
ALTON
TRAIN WRECK
Source: Watertown, New York Daily Times, August 16, 1890
A
wreck occurred last evening on the St. Louis, Alton and
Springfield railroad, near Clifton Terrace. The company is
building an extension from a point seven miles above Alton
to the village of Elsah, on the Mississippi. The men working
on this extension go out from here on a construction train
every morning and return in the evening. It has been the
rule to leave a man stationed at the switch when the
construction train goes up in the evening, to watch for the
passenger train which is due to pass there at six o clock.
This precaution was forgotten, and when the work train
returned, as it was past time for the passenger, the men
supposed it had passed, and the work train started toward
Alton. The passenger train was half an hour late, and the
two trains, running at the rate of twenty miles an hour,
collided on a curve on the bluff. It is miraculous that both
trains did not go over into the river. Both engines were
completely wrecked, as was also the car on the wreck train
and mail car of the passenger train. The passengers all
escaped with nothing more than bruises, but others fared
worse; both engineers jumped and saved themselves.
The
following were killed: Peter
Smith of Springfield;
Charles McGee of Alton, (water carrier of construction
train.);
James Murry of St. Louis, laborer.
Wounded: Frank Lee. Springfield, engineer on passenger
train, leg badly crushed; Joseph
Daly. Alton, conductor, hips dislocated and back sprained,
can not recover; M. S.
Seymour, Alton, superintendent of St. Louis, Alton &
Springfield railroad, face badly cut and left leg injured; H. W.
Cassady, Alton, legs badly cut, back sprained and internal
injuries;
Patrick McCullagan, Alton, leg and ribs broken.
Serious: John King, Jerseyville, newsboy on passenger train,
contusion of left hip and right temple; B.
Powell, severe internal injuries, may die;
C. J. Owens, mail messenger, internal injuries; Henry
Unterbrink. Alton, fireman on construction train, foot badly
hurt, and legs cut;
Michael Cantrill Alton, foreman hurt very badly, may die; John
McCuffery, head and legs cut and shoulder dislocated; George
German, Delhi, shoulder dislocated;
Richard J. Lessin, leg bruised and spine injured;
Charles Foss, leg cut and internal injuries.
*************************************************************
ALTON TRAIN WRECK
Source: The Daily Journal,
Syracuse, New York, August 16, 1890
A wreck occurred last evening on
the St. Louis, Alton & Springfield railroad near Clifton
Terrace. The company is building an extension from a point
seven miles above Alton to the village of Elsah, on the
Mississippi river. The men working on this extension go out
from here on a construction train every morning and return
in the evening. It has been the rule to have the men
stationed at the switch when the construction train goes up
at night, to watch for the passenger train which is due to
pass there at 6 p. m. This precaution was forgotten, and
when the work train returned, as it was past time for the
passenger, the men started toward Alton. The passenger train
was half an hour late, and the two trains, moving at the
rate of twenty miles per hour, collided on a curve on the
bluff. It is miraculous that both trains did not go over the
embankment into the ruin. Both engines were completely
wrecked, as was also the car on the work train and the mail
car of the passenger train. The passengers all escaped with
nothing more than bruises. Others fared worse. Both
engineers jumped and saved themselves. The list of killed
and wounded is as follows:
Killed—Peter Smith of Springfield;
Charles McGee of Alton, water carrier on construction train;
James Murray of St. Louis, a laborer.
Wounded—Frank Lee, Springfield, engineer on the passenger
train, leg badly crushed;
Joseph Daly, Alton, conductor, hips dislocated and back
sprained, may not recover;
M.S. Seymour, Alton, Superintendent St. Louis, Alton &
Springfield railroad, face badly cut and left leg injured;
H. W. Cassody, Alton, legs badly cut back sprained and
internal injuries;
Patrick McCullagan, Alton, leg and ribs, broken, serious;
John King, Jerseyville. newsboy on the passenger train,
contusion of left hip and right temple;
B. Powell, severe internal injuries, may die;
C. J. Owens, mail passenger, internal injuries in right
side;
Henry Unterbrink, Alton, fireman on the construction train,
foot badly hurt and legs cut; Michael Cantril, Alton,
foreman, hurt very badly, may die;
John McCaffeny, head and legs out and shoulder dislocated;
George German, Delhi, shoulder dislocated;
Richard J. Lesson, leg bruised and spine injured;
Charles Foss, leg cut and internal injuries
************************************************
ALTON - FAMILY FEUD
Source: Auburn, New York Daily
Bulletin, November 25, 1892
An old grudge and family feud
terminated fatally here yesterday afternoon. Lawrence Farley
shot and killed his brother-in-law, Mitchell Mimnaugh. Both
are glass blowers. There were formerly in the saloon
business together. About a year ago, they became enemies and
yesterday Farley went into Mimnaugh's saloon and began
shooting at him. Mimnaugh fired one shot in return. The
murderer was arrested.
***********************************************
ALTON TRAIN WRECK (THE WANN
DISASTER)
Source: The New York
Times, New York, January 22, 1893
9 Killed, 12 Fatally Burned, Nearly 100 Injured.
The Catastrophe Followed a Bad Wreck on the Big Four-The
Victims Were Watching Cars Burn When a Tank Car Exploded.
Alton, Ill., Jan. 21.-Nine persons killed outright, twelve
fatally injured, and nearly a hundred more or less seriously
injured is the appalling result of a series of accidents at
Alton Junction today.
An open switch on the Big Four main track was the cause of
the disaster. A Southern Limited ran through the switch into
a freight train standing on the siding, and Engineer Webb
Ross of the Limited was instantly killed. The wreck took
fire, and, while a great crowd was watching the spectacle,
an oil tank car exploded with terrible force, enveloping the
spectators in a sheet of burning oil. Nine of them
were instantly killed, and scores of them were frightfully
burned, a dozen of whom at least, will die.
Killed: Engineer Webb Ross; Hiram Cornelius, student of Shurtliffe College, from Iowa;
Edward Miller, of Alton Junction;
Six other bodies not yet identified and burnt to a crisp.
Fatally Injured: Otta Hagarman, Alton Junction; Willie MCCarthy, boy, Alton;
Edward Maupin, St. Charles, Mo; George Staples, boy, Alto;
John Suttrell, Alton; Joseph Herrmann, Alton; John Williams, Alton;
John Fritz, Edwardsville Crossing; Frank Bartel, Stamford, Canada;
A. Frazer, San Francisco; Lewis McIntosh, Alton; William McIntosh, Alton.
Severely Injured:
E. M. Caldwell, Alton; Henry Pilgrim, Alton; Nathan Richardson, Alton;
Henry Priney, Alton; Charles Harris, Alton; John Henry, Alton;
John Sack, Alton; Patrick O’Mear, Alton; John Ziegler, Alton;
James Montgomery, Upper Alton; James N. Murray, Upper Alton;
----- Monogham.
There are besides not less than seventy people more or less
severely scalded who will be laid up for weeks.
Alton Junction or Wann, is two miles east of this city, and
is a watering, transfer and feeding station for the
Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis and the
Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroads. The latter road
joins the Big Four at this point, running into St. Louis
over the same track. The fast through train, known as the
Southwestern Limited, was coming out of St. Louis at 9
o’clock this morning thirteen minutes late, and making up
lost time at a forty-seven-mile-an-hour speed, when it ran
into a switch and collided with a long freight train
consisting mostly of loaded tank cars. Engineer Webb Ross of
Mattoon, saw the danger too late, but he threw on the air
brake and staid (sic) with his machine, being buried in the
wreck and burned to a crisp. Fireman White jumped and
escaped uninjured. The passengers were fearfully shaken up,
but none was seriously hurt. An eyewitness of the collision
says that the shock was such as to split two loaded tanks
wide open, and the oil immediately caught fire, the flames
shooting fifty feet into the air. The locomotive and baggage
car were totally wrecked, but the remainder of the passenger
train was removed beyond the reach of the flames. In an
incredibly short time the freight train was a mass of
flames. Fear of an explosion prevented any attempt to save
it. The wrecking train came up from East St. Louis at 11
o’clock, but could do little and half a dozen switch engines
were run out from here to clear the yards. Traffic on the
two roads was entirely suspended and a special train was
made up on the Chicago and Alton to carry belated passengers
through to St. Louis. Hearing of the wreck hundreds of
people from this city and vicinity were attracted by
curiosity to the scene. And then occurred on of the most
awful disasters on record. A few minutes past 12 o’clock
there was a slight explosion of one tank, which scattered
the debris on all sides, setting fire to the stockyard’s
enclosures. This produced the impression that the danger of
explosions was past, and the throng of bystanders rushed in
to save the stockyards from destruction. A minute later
there was a deafening report that shook the earth for one
minute and spread one sheet of seething, burning oil in all
directions. For those within the circle of 100 yards there
was no escape. Their clothing was burned and literally fell
from their bodies. In a moment those who were not disabled
began running hither and thither, waving their hands and
screaming for help. Some went to the nearest water and
others ran into the fields and are missing yet. Panic
reigned for a short time, until the uninjured recovered
there presence of mind to care for the afflicted. Two
barrels of linseed oil were taken from a grocery store and
applied by several physicians who happened to be on the
ground. Every house in the little village was turned into a
temporary hospital, and every doctor in Alton and its
vicinity was summoned. As soon as possible a train was
made up and twenty of the sufferers were brought here to St.
Joseph’s Hospital. The loss was total. It included the
engine of the limited, baggage car, and seven tank cars full
of oil, eight box cars and half a dozen flat cars, all of
these being completely destroyed. No accurate estimate can
be made at present, but it will reach at least $100,000.
Webb Ross, the brave engineer, who
lost his life, left a wife and six children in Mattoon. No
attempt to fix the blame for the fatal wreck has yet been
made, and nothing further will be known until after the
investigation of the Coroner’s jury tomorrow.
***********************************************
ALTON
- PRESIDENT CLEVELAND'S COUSIN DIES IN ALTON
Source: Syracuse, New York Evening Herald, March 15, 1893
Miss
Lucy Cleveland died here suddenly yesterday afternoon at the
home of her sister, Mrs. A. C. Britton. She was a cousin of
President Cleveland.
**********************************************
ALTON
- BLOOD SPILLED OVER POSTMASTERSHIP
Source: The New York Auburn Bulletin, December 2, 1893
A Consultation Over the Postmastership of Alton, Ill., End
Disastrously
Dec. 2.—While Congressman W. S, Forman, of this district;
John H. Coppinger, consul to Toronto, and
Col. A. F.
Rodgers, president of the Piasa Bluff association,—the
Western Chautauqua—were in consultation yesterday over the
postmastership, an old feud between the consul and Rodgers
broke out. The consul struck Rodgers in the head and Rodgers
floored the consul with a cane. The consul, in spite of
Forman's efforts to restrain him, shot Rodgers in the thigh.
The wound is serious. The belligerents were arrested.
*******************************************
ALTON
- RAILROAD BRIDGE OPENS
Source: Poughkeepsie, New York Daily Eagle, February 23,
1894
Formal
opening of the big railroad bridges at Alton, Ill., and
Bellefontaine, Mo., took place today.
*******************************************
ALTON, ILLINOIS TRAIN WRECK,
April 1895
Source: The News Frederick
Maryland, April 6, 1895
Four Killed in a Freight Wreck.
In a freight wreck on the Chicago and Alton cut off at Wood
River bridge, half a mile north of East Alton, four men were
killed outright and two were fatally injured. A long and
heavy train was coming down the grade when the middle of the tain bulged out and fifteen cars were piled on top of each
other.
The men killed were:
DAVID HAFFLEY, of Watertown, Wis.
FRANK HAREMAN, of Philadelphia.
CHARLES BELL, of Springfield, Ills.
HENRY BLITZ, of New Orleans.
Fourteen men were injured more or less seriously. All who
were killed or injured were tramps.
FOUR TRAMPS DEAD
The Hamilton Daily Republican Ohio 1895-04-06
A Freight Train on the Chicago
and Alton Road Wrecked.
Four tramps were almost instantly killed and fifteen others
badly injured in a freight wreck on the Chicago & Alton
railroad, near here, Friday morning. It is believed the
wreck was caused by a broken truck, which allowed a dozen
cars to pile up in a heap. It is estimated that over
seventy-five tramps were stealing a ride on the train. When
taken out four of them were dead. The injured men were
brought to the hospital in this city, and the inquest held
at East Alton.
At the inquest Friday afternoon the names of two of the men
killed were found to be David Haffley, of Watertown, Wis.,
and Frank Hariman, Philadelphia, Pa., Charles Bell,
Springfield, Ill., Henry Blihts, Kansas City. Fourteen of
the tramps were injured. Their names are Charles
Custard, Lima, O.; Otto Schroeder, Argentine, Kan.; Theodore
Hunt, St. Paul, Minn.; Thomas Cope, St. Louis; Harry
Williams, Toledo; M. Hickens, Chicago; W. Willets, Dallas,
Tex.; Ed Aulbeisht, Albany, N. Y.; Harry Glass, Chicago;
James Hart, no residence; James Martin, Fall River, Mass.;
John Howard, Cincinnati, O.; Robert Sell, New York; Winifred
Garrison, Martinsville, O. Several of the injured are not
expected to live.
**********************************************************
ALTON LIQUOR STORE (KENT & CARR)
FIRE
Source: Oswego Commercial Times,
January 7, 1901
A fire at Alton, Illinois Friday
night destroyed the liquor store of Kent & Carr, destroying
that and nine adjoining buildings, embracing the whole block
bounded by Short, Stato and Levee Streets. Loss $50,000;
insurance $25,000. A German, whose name is unknown, was
burned to death.
****************************************************************
ALTON STANDARD MILL FIRE
Source: The Daily Review,
Decatur, Illinois, October 3, 1901
Entire Business District of
Alton Was Threatened.
Alton, Ills., Oct. 3.-- The fire which Wednesday swept
five-sixths of the block in the city of Alton bounded by
State, Second, Plaza and Front streets threatened the entire
district occupied by the main business houses with
destruction for two hours. The loss is estimated at $300,000
and the insurance will amount to $250,000. The greatest
damage is done to the plant of the E. O. Standard Milling
company, the property destroyed being worth over $210,000.
The fire broke out in the fourth floor of the Standard mill
and is supposed to have been caused by an explosion of mill
dust. It had been burning a few minutes when discovered. A
general alarm was turned in and within five minutes after
the fire was discovered every available piece of hose in the
city was playing on the flames. The fierce heat and the
highly combustible nature of the contents of the mill made
the work of the firemen almost without avail. Adjoining the
Standard property on the west is a brick building belonging
to the Ryder estate and at this building the firemen made a
stand. The wind was blowing a gale from the northwest and to
this circumstances alone is due the fact that the main
business part of Alton was not destroyed. The flames spread
eastward, and when the firemen gave up their efforts to
extinguish the fire in the Standard mill and devoted their
efforts to saving the adjoining buildings, the conflagration
extended to the elevator property. In the meantime the heat
had become so fierce that the business houses on the north
side of the street, which is narrow, were repeatedly set
afire and were extinguished by the good work of volunteer
firemen. Windows in the buildings opposite were broken by
the heat and the occupants of the stores were moving their
goods to places of safety. From the Standard mill the fire
went to the packing department and the big elevator. Within
the elevator were 100,000 bushels of new wheat and in the
packing department were 4,000 barrels of flour. When the
elevator took fire the firemen were forced to retreat. In a
few minutes the whole elevator was a seething furnace. At
this time the firemen feared that the whole downtown part of
the city was about to be burned, and urgent messages were
sent to Mayor Wells and Chief Swingley for assistance from
the St. Louis fire department. At 11:05 a. m. notice was
given to the Chicago and Alton office in St. Louis by Chief
Swingley that a special train was needed to carry the hose
companies from St. Louis to Alton. The run was one of the
fastest ever made over the Alton from St. Louis. The time
made was forty-two minutes. The Terminal railroad gave the
special train a clear track, and orders were issued to give
it the right of way all along the road. The train consisted
of four flat cars and an engine. It carried fire companies
Nos. 18 and 29 (unsure of numbers : transcriber) under
Assistant Chief Basch and Ron Swingley, son of Fire Chief
Swingley. The train arrived in Alton at a time when the
Alton firemen nearly had the fire under control. Streams
were soon secured by the engines, which were stationed at
the river, and pumped water direct from the river through
four lines of hose laid across the Alton levee.
While the St. Louis companies were on their way to Alton the
fire spread from the Standard elevator to the George D.
Hayden Machine company shop, which was destroyed, and the
machinery within is badly damaged. The next building
attacked by the fire was that of the Alton Electric Roller
Mill company. The building was filled with grain and hay,
and the damage was heavy. The building owned by John C.
Meehan was nearly destroyed. Two buildings owned by Matthew
Wilkinson were badly damaged and are almost half a loss. The
fine building at Second and Plaza streets, owned by H. G. McPike, and valued with its contents, at $75,000, was
threatened, and it required the utmost exertions of the
firemen and the volunteers to save it.
When the high brick walls fell there was the greatest danger
to the firemen because of the crowded quarters, the street
being very narrow. No injuries were reported. At one time in
the early part of the fire the high stack on the Standard
mill fell almost without warning. A corps of firemen were
working near by, and the stack fell upon the spot where they
had been standing, the men escaping barely in time.
In the engine room of the Standard mill John Edgar, the
engineer, bravely stood at his post of duty while threatened
with instant death. When he realized that the mill was
doomed he rushed to the engine room, impelled by a thought
that the new battery of boilers might be saved. His plan was
to keep the boilers filled with water so that the heat would
not damage them. He started the pumps and despite the
firemen's entreaties to flee for his life he stood at the
throttle until the boilers were filled and the engine shut
down. By that time the engine room was burning. Edgar left
the room just in time to escape being burned to death.
****************************************************
ALTON - FLOOD
Source: Rochester, New York
Democrat Chronicle, June 30, 1902
Nearly all in-bound trains were
greatly delayed today as a result of the storm, arriving
from forty minutes to five or six hours late. Several
washouts were reported and telegraph wires were down, so
that the trains could not be located. One of the most
disastrous floods in the history of Alton, Ill., and
vicinity, resulted today from the heavy rains of Friday and
Saturday. At 4 o'clock this afternoon, it was estimated that
10,000 acres have been covered by the overflow of Wood
river, which m three to six miles wide. Most of this land is
either occupied by manufacturing interests or planted in
crops. The greatest single disaster caused by the flood was
the destruction of the plant of the Stoneware Pipe Company
at East Alton. The loss is estimated at $40,000. In East
Alton the residents were compelled to use skiffs to get
about the principal streets today. The station of the
Chicago, Burlington & Quincy railroad was carried away by
the flood to a field a quarter of a mile distant. The flood
produced the worst railroad tie-up in recent years in the
vicinity of the Altons.
***************************************************
ALTON FATHER, DAUGHTER AND
PLAYMATES DROWN IN MISSISSIPPI
Source: Syracuse, New York Post
Standard, August 6, 1904
While bathing in the Mississippi
river tonight, Michael Riley, his daughter and six of the
latter's little girl friends were drowned. One child was
rescued. Riley lived near the river in the southern part of
the city and was accustomed to bathe on the beach in front
of his home after his return from work. Tonight his little
daughter begged to go with him. and Riley took her and seven
of her girl friends to the beach with him. When they entered
the water, Riley bade the children join hands and they all
waded Into the river and walked along a sandbar which
stretches out into the stream at that point. They had gone
some distance from the shore, when suddenly the whole party
disappeared beneath the water, having in the darkness
stepped from the sandbar, into the deep channel. The
children struggled and screamed, fighting desperately to
reach the sandbar, where the water was only a foot or so in
depth. Riley who is said to have been a good swimmer. Is
thought to have been made helpless by the girls clinging to
him and hampering his efforts to save them. The only one in
the party to regain the sandbar was Mary Timiny, 8 years
old. The child is unable to tell how she saved herself.
Riley was 32 years old, and the ages of the children drowned
ranged from 8 to 14 years. Four of the bodies have been
recovered.
****************************************************
ALTON WILDCAT
Source: Auburn, New York
Citizen, January 20, 1906
A large wildcat that has been
filling the night air with hair raising sounds and the
people in the vicinity with terror on the bluffs between Hop
Hollow and Alton, was killed early yesterday morning by
Henry Schwallensticher, an Alton stone mason, whose dogs
treed the cat on Haskel Hill. Schwallensticher had gone coon
hunting Sunday night and was returning home when the dogs
started the wild cat inside the northern limits of the city
of Alton. After a sharp chase, the animal ran up a large
tree on Haskel Hill and the dogs howled and barked furiously
until their master came up. The figure of the animal was
outlined against the limb of the tree upon which it crouched
and the hunter, thinking it was a coon, fired at the dark
object. The aim was true, and the animal, giving a scream of
pain, came tumbling to the ground. Dying as it was, the
trained dogs had a hard fight, and many bad wounds from the
cat, which is said to be the largest specimen ever seen in
the vicinity.
***********************************************
ALTON - SMALLPOX EPIDEMIC FEARED
Source: Syracuse, New York Post
Standard, May 7, 1909
Beds and furnishings of the
Alton pest house were stolen yesterday by burglars who broke
into the unoccupied building. The city authorities now fear
an epidemic of smallpox, as it is expected the beds and
coverings will be sold.
****************************************************
ALTON - NEW PRODUCT CALLED
'PETROL' TAKES PLACE OF BUTTER
Source: Savannah, New York
Times, July 16, 1909
A new product called "petrol,"
is to be manufactured at Alton, Ill. It is deigned to take
the place of cow-butter, is made from petroleum, is brown in
color, and has all the qualities of good dairy butter, lasts
longer and does not become rancid. The continued high price
of dairy butter should make "petrol" popular with the
average epicure, the days of the cow as a butter machine
seem numbered. The Standard Oil Company is behind the
manufacture of "petrol " which guarantees its success
as a business enterprise.
********************************************************
ALTON -
HORSES INJURED ON PAVING AT 2ND & HENRY ST.
Source:
Alton Evening Telegraph, December 5, 1910
The Noll Baking and Catering
Company has been compelled to turn its stables into a horse
hospital as it has been the past six weeks, according to
manager George Geoken, and he says he has given all
employees of the company orders to avoid driving on the
south side of Second street between Alby and Cherry streets
until the street is made safe for horses. Three horses of
the company have been disabled by falling on the paving at
the corner of Second and Henry streets on the Klinke market
side, and Dr. Hooker has had charge of two of the animals
for the past six weeks. Dozens of horses fall on the street
weekly, either at that corner or at other places where the
paving slopes too much and several wagon shafts and lots of
harness are broken daily it is said. There is an ordinance
requiring drivers to keep to the right, but Mr. Geoken says
this ordinance will not be observed by his drivers until the
city does something to make driving on that side safe. He
thinks a dozen loads of sand would remedy matters greatly if
spread on the worst places. Complaint of the condition of
the street at Second and Henry street is general among
drivers and owners of horses but Mr. Geoken is the first to
order his drivers not to use that side of the street coming
or going.
*************************************************
ALTON - EVANGELIST THREATENED
AFTER PREACHING AGAINST LIQUOR AND EVILS
Source: Watertown, New York
Daily Times, February 1, 1915
Biederwolf Gets Second Threat.
Warned to Leave Alton
Biederwolf has been campaigning
as an evangelist in the city of Alton, Ill. His life has
been threatened and he has received a "black-hand" letter,
warning him to get out of town. With his customary dash and
fire, Dr Biederwolf read the letter from the tabernacle
platform and defied the writer. It seems that Rev. C. W.
Reese, another enemy of vice and the liquor traffic in
Alton, had previously received a letter written with the
same hand. The letter to Dr. Biederwolf is as follows:
"You __________ we will give you until Saturday night to
leave town. You are trying to run out men who support the
town, and you come here without any license, and take
hundreds of dollars away. We will give you fair warning and
that is moor than you wood do for us. We will get you if u
don't moov. This is not bluff, so the sooner you get wise to
the game the sooner you will be safe. If you don't make a
holler about this letter, know one will no why you left, if
there was any just laws in this country we would sign our
name but as it is we will have to fight in the dark like you
do. One Who Wants To See Alton Grow." Dr. Biederwolf said
after he had read the letter from the platform that he would
like to "see the color of the man's hair who could make him
hunt the city limits of any town." When he was threatened
some time ago in Alton, Dr. Biederwolf said that he was so
near to heaven from Alton as any other town, and he was not
afraid to die, and concluded with the one familiar request
that if he was murdered, the people should skin him, tan his
hide, stretch it over drum heads, and march up one side of
the country and down the other singing, "This is the remains
of a man who died fighting the liquor traffic and other
evils."
**********************************************
ALTON EQUITABLE POWDER COMPANY
EXPLOSION
Source: Syracuse, New York Daily
Journal, April 1, 1915
Five men were killed and a sixth
is missing as the result of an explosion of dynamite in the
wheel house of the Equitable Powder Company, five miles from
here, today. The dead are: James A. Coburn, superintendent;
Elmer Koltkamp, Gustave Miller, Clyde Davis, Louis Murphy.
***********************************************
ALTON - A RIDE TO JAIL WILL COST
YOU
Source: Syracuse, New York Daily
Journal, September 16, 1915
Any one who gets too drunk to
walk to the Police Station in Alton when arrested hereafter
will be required to pay for the privilege of being
transported In Alton's new patrol wagon. The fare will be,
$2 a ride, whether it is one block or twenty. The tariff was
announced by Police Magistrate McGuire. Two men were before
him charged with intoxication. The one who could walk to
jail drew a fine of $2 and the one who could not got $5. The
judge, remarking that the difference represented what he
considered a fair fixed charge for patrol wagon service.
*************************************************
ALTON - TYPHOID - HOUSEBOAT
QUARANTINED
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph,
November 7, 1923
A houseboat housing a family,
the mother of which is ill with typhoid fever, is at the
Alton levee. The houseboat came here from Grafton, where it
had been quarantined. Members of the family told officials
they left Grafton because they wanted to place the woman in
the hospital here. It was doubtful, however, if officials
would permit taking the woman to the hospital because of the
danger of an epidemic. The houseboat bore a quarantine sign,
placed on it at Grafton. An effort will be made to send the
houseboat and the quarantined family back to Grafton, it was
said.
***********************************************
ALTON'S "MISSISSIPPI DRAGONS"
Source: The Fulton Patriot,
February 13, 1924
Two devil-like monsters painted
and carved on the face of a cliff 80 feet above the
Mississippi River near Alton, Ill., were discovered by the
French Explorers Marquette and Joliet in June, [unreadable].
They were known as the "Piasa petroglyph" to archeologists,
and were commonly called the Mississippi dragons. They were
ranked as the finest example of early Indian art, and many
legends were told to account for them. Marquette described
them as being "as large as a calf, with horns on the head
like a deer, a fearful look, red eyes, bearded like a tiger,
the face somewhat like a man's, the body covered with
scales, and the tail so long that it twice makes a turn of
the body, passing over the head and down between the legs,
and ending at last, in a fish's tail." The painting was in
an almost inaccessible place on the cliff and remained there
until 1856 or '57, when limestone workers quarried back into
the bluff and destroy it.
*************************************************
ALTON CITY HALL BURNED
Source: Buffalo, New York
Morning Express, April 23, 1924
Alton, Ill., April 22 (A.P.).—The
Alton city hall, scene of the Lincoln-Douglas debate in
1868, today was destroyed by fire, which officials said they
believed was of incendiary origin. Considerable objection
had been expressed, they said, to plans for the remodeling
of the building, which was vacant. The cost of the work was
to be $50,000 more than the sum provided in a bond issue.
Firemen said that the odor of burning oil was strong.
***************************************************
ALTON CITY HALL FIRE
Source: Utica, New York
Observer, April 26, 1926
In 1924 fire destroyed the city
hall in Alton, Ill., where Lincoln and Douglas debated in
1853.
***********************************************
ALTON SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL "OLD
GRADUATES"
Source: The Telegraph, June 19,
2008 (as written in June 19, 1933)
"Old graduates" of Alton Senior
High School were to present the commencement program at the
school. They were Bertha Ferguson, former assistant
principal of the school, class of 1878, address; Edison
Campbell, 1928; Georgia McAdams Clifford, 1899, readings;
Mildred A. McDow, 1907, vocal solo; piano duet by Helen
Green and Lorraine Schnell, 1930; and J. H. Ruckerman of
Godfrey Township, class of 1927.
***********************************************
ALTON - PLACE PICKED FOR
LINCOLN'S DUEL ERASED
Source: Utica, New York
Observer, June 30, 1935
McPike's Island Cut Away in
Mississippi River Work - A Mississippi River island which
once was shown as a dueling ground for Abraham Lincoln and
later was the cemetery for Confederate victims who died of
smallpox while in the military prison at Alton during the
Civil War, is being removed piecemeal from the Missouri
shore of the river to provide as base of operations for the
federal government's work on a dam across the river at
Alton. About 40,000 cubic feet of earth has already been
removed from the piece of ground. It is no longer an island
in reality, having been joined to the Missouri mainland by
the action of river currents. The earth is being removed
from a point about 200 yards from the dam. When Lincoln was
supposed to have gone there for a duel, the land was known
as McPike's Island. It was chosen as the site of a duel
between Lincoln, then a country lawyer, and James Shields,
brigadier of the Mexican War. Shields challenged Lincoln
after the latter wrote an article which offended him.
Tradition has it that Lincoln, given the choice of weapons,
picked Calvary broadswords, a selection which his challenger
did not particularly favor. The day of the duel, Lincoln
"warmed up" by by slicing off a small willow tree with his
immense weapon, at which Shields burst out laughing. Before
they returned to the Illinois shore, their quarrel was made
up, without the duel having been fought. During the Civil
War, its use as a cemetery followed an outbreak of smallpox
at the prison camp at Alton, where numerous Confederate
soldiers were confined. After that episode, it was known as
Smallpox Island. The dam now under construction by the
government is one of many being built along the length of
the river to control the effects of river currents and aid
navigation.
***************************************************
ALTON - STATELY MANSION OF O. J.
MILLER DESTROYED IN FIRE
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph,
January 29, 1954
Assistant Fire Chief Warren
Grable was injured early today as fire virtually destroyed
the interior of the ornate 17-room residence which had been
the home of the late O. J. Miller, president of Gately
stores. All four Alton fire companies and an off-shift crew
fought the blaze that was discovered at 3:20 a.m. by six
women who reside there. Another crew stood by at Upper Alton
station. Fire Chief Lewis said this morning a broken pipe to
an oil furnace in the basement under the front hall had
loosed oil, apparently, which had become ignited. The flames
whipped up through dumb waiters and vent areas in the
midsection of the house, to burst from the peak of the roof,
accompanied by clouds of heavy black oil smoke. The women,
who had stood huddled in the front hall and then left the
house as firemen arrived, escaped injury. But Asst. Chief
Grable was not so fortunate when he descended a stairway to
the spacious front hall, the fire-charred floor crashed
through into the basement. Grable fell through to the
basement, along with the splintered wood which tangled
around pipes. At St. Joseph's Hospital today, it was said he
had suffered a laceration that had extended internally.
After the bleeding was stopped and he received surgical
attention, the assistant fire chief was reported to be
"doing fine." From the exterior, the extensive damage to the
house cannot be seen. Inside, the rooms, all luxuriously
finished in expensive fashion, with items such as oil
paintings, ornate chairs, and heavy carpets, were a scene of
chaos, either damaged by fire or water.
The home was perhaps the
costliest home in Alton. The house, at Fourth and George
St., was erected 50 years ago by Benjamin L. Dorsey, member
of a well-known Alton family of business men. Not a house in
the Alton area at that time had such fancy interior
appointments. Viewed from the outside in its setting, on a
high hill overlooking the Mississippi River, the house had
much that seemed to indicate it was a spacious palace, with
its imposing terra cotta columns setting off the front. The
builder, in choosing his plans, prepared by a celebrated
architect, omitted no details that would serve to give
special distinction inside as well as outside. A basement
ballroom was a luxury of the days long before the not
uncommon racket room of today. Every bedroom was equipped
with separate bath room, another special mark of distinction
that could be shown in this one house in Alton. The
bathrooms were equipped with tile furnishings and of a
design that was to await the passing of many years before
the other houses in Alton would be shown with such
equipment. Bathing in a tub was like bathing in a china
dish. Financial reverses of the builder forced sale of the
property after his death in Colorado, where he had owned a
large area of semi-anthracite coal fields in Rout county.
Mr. Dorsey had invested his all in the house and in the
western coal fields, after making a fortune in Macoupin
county's bituminous coal fields. The house ultimately passed
completely from the hands of the Dorsey family following
financial reverses of the builder, beginning while the house
was in course of construction. A series of changes in
ownership ended at last when O. J. Miller of the Gately
chain store system bought the place. He transformed it for
the use of his family household and the families of those
employed in the Gately store. He had envisioned the creating
of a community home where the Gately store people could have
a comfortable, attractive place to live together. The
tragedy at the opening of the history of the house when it
was passed from the hands of the ambitious builder had a
second chapter when Otto J. Miller, the dynamic head of the
Gately Stores, died and his funeral was from the stately
mansion where he had been residing at the time of his death.
*************************************************
ALTON - PRESIDENT OF
SWITZERLAND'S SON ATTENDS ALTON HIGH SCHOOL
Source: Utica, New York Daily
Press, July 29, 1972
ALTON, IL. (AP) - His classmates
knew him as Peter Gnagi, an American Field Service exchange
student, and his neighbors in this southern Illinois
community knew him as a "nice boy" who helped carry trash
cans to the curb on garbage collection day. Only Mr. and
Mrs. Leroy Fritz and their children knew when he arrived in
Alton in September 1971 to live with them that Peter's
father was the president of Switzerland. Peter had sworn
them to secrecy as to his VIP status before be arrived to
begin the school year. Peter left Alton after the
Independence Day holiday to return to his home in Berne,
Switzerland, and only then did the Fritz family admit that
an international dignitary had been living incognito with
them for nine months. Peter almost gave the secret away
himself one day, when a classmate asked him what his father
did for a living. Peter replied, "My father is the president
of Switzerland," then realized what he had said and laughed.
Everyone passed the answer off as the kind of a joke any
high school senior might make. "He wanted us to keep it
confidential that his dad was the president of Switzerland
during 1971," said Ruthie Fritz, 12. "When he applied to be
an exchange student, he asked that he be treated just like
everybody else." And he was. He took the same courses as
other seniors at Alton High School, including French and
calculus; managed the lighting for the school musical
"Brigadoon;" washed the dishes and fed the dog, and joined
in family musicals, with his specialty the piano. Peter's
father and mother came to Alton to visit in April, several
months after Rudolf Gnagi's presidential term expired. "We
wanted Peter's parents to see what we really are," said Mrs.
Fritz, a substitute music teacher in the Alton schools.
Fritz is employed by the Alton Board of Education. Peter
laughed at the suggestion that his father might be addressed
"Mr. President'' and his mother called "the First Lady."
"We're just people," he said. "We live in Berne just like
other people."
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