The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1882-04-14
THE GREAT sCRAPBOoK MAKER
a Col0red Janator'a Unique Lfbrnry-Oue
Hundred Rocks OF Clippings.
Iphiiadeiphia Times

- EDA4WNe
Philadelphia Times.I
4 bad memory and desire to preserve
the good things he read IN the news
papers led Joseph w. III. Cathcart
twenty-five years ago to begin scrap
book making. Now he has library of
one hundred volumes, made up entirely
Of clippings and covering a great variety
of subjects, showing at once the broad
range of the collectors tastes and the
wide scope Of the journalism of the past
quarter Of a. century. Cathcart is iani-
tor of the building SOB Walnut street,
and has held that position for half his
lifetime. In his room is large book
case filed with neatly-bound volumes
each with the character Of its contents
stamped In gold upon the back, with the
name of the compiler, followed by the
mysterious letters &C. s. B NJ, which,
as translated by Mr.. Cathcart, means
ssGreat Scrap-Book Maker" In proof of
his bad memory the collector was unable
to tell without consulting his books VIXEN
he first began his work. An examine
ton of his first collection of clippings
furnished the date, December 16, 1866,
and the first clipping was found to be an
advertisement offering reward for the
capture of runaway slave The last
book compiled is q pamphlet, which
when bound will bear the title, g Mayor
King andgHis Black Policemen. It is
made up of all the newspaper articles
relating to the appointment Of colored
men on the police force.
The titles of some Of the volumes will
give an idea Of the subjects covered.
Three large volumes are devoted to
"China and Japan" and are made up of
more than a thousand clippings. " In
cidents in the Life of Jefferson Davis
fill two volumes, which are followed by
four bulky books, entitled "Anxious In
quirers." Then come four good-sized
volumes of s Sermons and Religious
Scraps, next to which ''The Assassina-
ton OF Lincoln and Trial and Execution
Of the Conspirators.p is given placein q
book of many hundred pages. ssOdd
Fellows and Good Templars are repre-
sented next in single volume, as are
also Men and Women of 1868 and 1869. !"
Three large volumes, among the neatesti
in the collection, are devoted to t'Colonel
Forney's Letters and European Core
spondence. Next to Colonel Forney's
letters is volume inscribed 'Life and
Death of Charles Sumner" and another
'tComic Sketches. One of the most IN
teresting books in the collection and,
perhaps, the most valuable, is Poetry
of the Rebellion" which contains about
one thousand war songs. Another in
teresting volume and the largest in the
library is 'The Colored People and the
Passenger Railroads and Railroad Mat,
tiers of the United States" This book
contains 682 pages. No less than eight
bulky volumes are devoted to ''Wescott's
History Of Philadelphia. I" Three vol
umes are filed with masonic Scraps
ard five with clippings concerning EN-.
Embellishments Last Chapter, the Fiji
teenth Amendment" and four volumes
suffice to accommodate sFThe Black Man
After the Passage Of Civil Rights Bill. :"
Five volumes contain the doings of
"The Freedmen's Bureau" and the
same number of books are made up of
clippings relating to- Slavery" tsJohn
Browns Insurrection" finds place in
single volume, next to which are two i'm
mense Scrap Book of the Rebellion.
A fat book, measuring four inches across,
contains 'EThe Trial of Mr.. and Mrs.
Twitchell for the Murder of Mrs. Hill,
and another volume is a record of MUIR
ders and executions and miscellaneous
criminal matters Three volumes now
under way the scrap book maker takes
great pride in, being no less than "The
Crimes of Ministers. !"
Mr.. Cathcart sets great store by his
library and reckons its value In sordid
dollars very high. To him it represents
twenty five years Of work, and he says
that man to make another such collec-
ton must start young and wait until all
his hair has turned gray before it will be
as complete.