davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Connecticut western news., 1902-05-01
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Quite often we see in papers outside of the order accounts of the oldest Odd Fellow in the world" and gravely stating that the person named has been in the order for fifty years" While 1t is true that fifty years membership Is a most honorable record and worthy of every respect. yet fifty years in membership does not constitute the oldest member. for the reason that there are a large number of brethren living who have been in the order a much longer period In the Veteran Odd Fellows association of California alone there are now four members who have each been in the order 50 years. for 51 years. s for 52 years. 8 for 54 years. 2 for 55 years, 2 for b6 years, l for 57 years, for 66 years and l for over 61 years, the latter being Past Grand Charles L. Parent of San Fran cisco, who is frequently present at the meetings of lodge and encampment.- New Age.
 Forty new members have been added to the A. J. Drexel lodge of Philadel- phia in the last three months.
 COlOruuO T6pOEt6 LOurte3n IOu&eb lh- stituted during the year closing Oct l.; total membership, e,S64, a net gain of ITO.
 Georgia reports an increase of mem bership since last May of 1.500. and Tennessee reports an increase since last July of 1887.
 In Minnesota druggists have been ex- cluded from Odd Fellow membership.
 The German Odd Fellows home, To- cated at Unionport, N. r.. is support ed by an organization composed of eighty-flve subordinate lodges and four teen Rebekah lodges. 1t is well man. aged and is in a dourishing condition.
 Already the order Is beginning to ar range for the eighty-third anniversary of American Odd Fellowship. Many lodges are planning big celebrations.
 Odd Fellowship strives to make men happier by making men better, and in this work 1t has enlisted a great army of hopeful workers. and year by year the work Is moving forward toward the goal of its brightest dreams
Connecticut western news., 1902-05-01
OLD FASHIONED.

What has become of the old fashion ed woman who said, "Oh, now you hushT
 What has become of the old fashion ed man who had his picture taken in lodge regalia7
 What has become of the old fashion ed woman who wore long gold chain around her neck7
 What has become of the old fashion ed woman who did things in three shakes of a lambs tail7
 What has become of the old fashion ed woman who referred to the best room in her house as ''the roomr
 What has become of the old fashion ed home where the children sat with their noses at the window every night watching for their father?
 What has become of the old fashion ed girl who, as soon as she became en- gagged, got out her crochet needle and began to make her own trimmings l-- Atchison Globe. :
Connecticut western news., 1902-05-01

drin, are the best for the purpose, but the dark bronze foliage of Bihorelli purpurea, with brilliant crimson flow CTS, and the canary yellow blossoms of Austria, borne on taller stems, make a grand show also behind the rest.
 With these richly colored plants a few hydrangeas may be grouped. The white hydrangea Is one of the very best, being compact and highly horifer- ous, blooming even in q tiny pot during its first year.
 Hydrangeas are most accommodating plants, only requiring a shift Into a pot two inches larger in diameter after blooming. unless of large size, and a rich top dressing just as they start into growth in the spring.
 An abundance of water and biweek- ly supplies of soot water should be given directly the plants begin to grow. In fact, when in flower they can scarce ly have too much water. and any fail. ure in the supply will cause the floral bracts, which are naturally of snowy whiteness, to turn brown, thus spelling the beauty of the plant
 A special point In the cultivation of these flowers is that they should stand all the summer after blooming in the full sunshine to ripen their wood, for without this they do not bloom we'll
Connecticut western news., 1902-05-01
UNITED WORKMEN.
Growth of the Order Since Its Organ
 iHation-Lodws Notes.

Growth of the Order Since Its Organ
 iHation-Lod1s Notes.
 Organized in Meadville, Pa, on Oct. 27, 1868, with but fourteen members, the Ancient Order of United Workmen today numbers 10000 members, all holding certificates in the sum of S1.- 900 or $2,0O0 payable at their death to their families or dependents. The or der Is nonpolitical and nonsectarian and in no sense interferes with any political or religious belief. It Is not trade or labor organization, as many are led to believe by its title. Its membership comprises men from all walks of life-business, professional and labor.-Protector.
 In several states the number of ap- plications in January for membership in the Ancient Order of United Work men was almost double that of Decem- Der.
 The field worker often meets with a man who objects to membership inthe order on the ground that he must die to win. says The Overseer. He does not realize that membership in the or der brings him the benefits Of social and fraternal relations to his fellows. which are in a large measure compen- sation for the money he pays while he lives, besides which he is given the ad- ditional satisfaction of knowing that in case of his death his loved ones will not be consigned to the poorhouse. Ts a rightly constituted man this is not dying to win.
 Our Canadian brethren, both in Que bee and Manitoba. are doing 6 splen- did business. In Quebec an excellent growth has been maintained ever since the system was changed.
Connecticut western news., 1902-05-01

Federal fleet was known to have an- chored in front of the city of New Or leans. Porter hailed Fort Jackson to CT, General Duncan, replied that he must first hear from New Orleans. Porter suggested that Farragut was looking after New Orleans, but to save all dispute he would put a few thou sand more bombs into the defiant forts. He kept on firing until April 2S, when Duncan concluded that New Orleans had left him to his fate and hoisted the white flag.
 The officers who were to arrange terms of equalization met on board the historic little steamer Harriet Lane, which had played a part at Fort Sum ter. After Porter had signed, Com mander Wainwright of the Harriet Lane took up the pen. Just at the mo- ment he was called from the cabin by an officer. and he quickly returned with the startling news that the Confeder- ate ironclad Louisiana was in flames, drifting down stream into the group of Federal vessels anchored before the fort, and she was liable to blow up at any moment. Porter said to the Con federate officers who were yet to sign: "If you can stand the explosion, we can. Let us go on and finish the capit- ulation." Duncan next took the pen and was followed by the second in command. As the last name was affix- ed the party were lifted from their seats by an explosion which threw tho ship over on her side. The Louisiana had blown up moment too late to cut short the equalization.
 Some of the Confederate ships fought valiantly nt New Orleans, especially the Governor Moore. commanded by Lieutenant Beverly Kennon, an ex-offi- cer of the United States navy. Farra- gut's attack was not surprise after the weeks of deliberate preparation within sight of the lower forts. But the rush in the darkness past the guns and through the Confederate fleet was a stunning surprise to the defenders on the spot and to the world.
 GEORGE l.. KILMER.
Connecticut western news., 1902-05-01
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tcopyrisht. 1sO2. by c. L. Knmer.I

ICopyright. 1so2. by O. L. Knmer.I @ARRAGUTS fighting ships weighed anchor soon after mid
 night April 24. 1862, and by 2
 o'clock a. m. were making the first dash toward carrying out the or ders to proceed up the Mississippi river" A French admiral and British captain had sailed up stream the even. ing before and talked with the Confed- crate commanders In Fort Jackson and Fort Philip. the heavy armed cltadels which guarded the channel They told Farragut that 1t would be impossible for his wooden ships to pass the barri. CTS of obstructions the enemy had plac- ed In his way and live through the fire of the forts.
 Farragut had 192 guns mounted on seventeen wooden war sloops and gun boats. The enemy could bring to bear 126 guns on land and forty in batteries afioat. Below Fort Jackson, the first fortress, a line of anchored hulks bound together with iron chain cables had completely obstructed the channel un- til the night of the 20th, when Farra- gut's chief of stan, with the crews of a couple of gunboats. had cut a pas sage through them under fire. Through
Connecticut western news., 1902-05-01
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oo rnsE We have no men left, and Tn be = if stand here to be murderedr The gallant fellow was already wound ed, and Kennon made no protest when he slapped the helm about to go up stream out of danger.
 When the Moore put about, the near est enemy was the Pensacola. Think ing the Moore was aiming to ram her, Pensacola planted broadside into the nckless Confederate. About the same time the Oneida came up and opened completely crippled. One gun had been dismounted in the last fire. Her boats, her wheel ropes, the head of her rud- der, portion of the engine and a large section of the walking beam had been shot away. The cylinder head had been cracked by falling debris, and the engine room was untenable owing to escaping steam. Several shots had penetrated below the water line, and she was filling with water.
 Kennon ran his ship into the bank above the Varuna. She had fought three hours and taken the fire of five war sloops mounting thirty guns. Ken non had picked up his crew at the New Orleans wharfs. Out of ninety-three sixty-one were killed and thirteen wounded. This was, without excep- ton, the heaviest loss by fighting sus- tained on any single ship during the war.
 Four of the five vessels fought by the Governor Moore belonged to the ad- vance division of Farragut's fleet, led by Captain Theodorus Bailey. Captain Bailey's flagship, the Cayuga, deliver ed her fire in the first contact with the Moore at thirty yards distance. The Oneida raked the ram with her broad side at distance of few feet, and at the same time the Pensacola cleared out twelve men at the bow gun of the Moore with shrapnel from howitzers in her tops. The Pinola, which at the same time closed on the Moore, belong ed to Farragut's third division.
 The Varuna, also of Bailey's fleet, outstripped them all in the race. but the Cayuga, Pensacola and Oneida reached the scene of the last battle be- tween the Moore and varuna soon aft CT the Varuna was beached. Kennon set fire to his own ship and was the last to leave her. He was taken on board boat from the Oneida, and in the captain of that sloop, s. F. Lee, he met an old friend and comrade. After ward he was taken on board the flag ship Cayuga and soon encountered Ben Butler, commander of the Federal troops in the New Orleans expedition. Seeing Moore. Butler pointed to him and asked of the ship commander, "Where did you catch himT Loud
Connecticut western news., 1902-05-01


 this" The old sailor knew what he was talking about, for he had been one of Andrew Jackson's military posse in the suppression of the Charleston null liners in 1888. 2 Farraxut had never applied for active service in the civil war, but had sim ply reported himself ready for duty. The navy department was in doubt whether he would go to sea to fight his old comrades. Captain Porter believed that his friend would fight and was finally delegated to visit Farragut's. home on the Hudson and tender him the command of the New Orleans ex- petition in the name of the govern ment. Without asking for particulars he accepted the offer. and on Jan. 20, 1062, was formally ordered to take charge of the fleet yet to be created and push things. One important clause in his written instructions was open to double interpretation or at least to reservation. After citing the outfit. armament and 90 on at his disposal tho order saia, You will proceed up the Mississippi river and reduce the dafenses which guard the approaches to New Orieans." Herein was no hint that the southern Confederates might show open hostility to the progress of . Yankee fleet up the Mississippi riv- er." But they did.
 The SOutherners appreciated the 'tbackbone' importance of the Missis- Gippi for the purposes long before Preoident Lincoln coined the term. In ApE!l 1891, while the buGiness of aedz-
Connecticut western news., 1902-05-01

passed the Brooklyn close on the port side would have been sent to the bot tom by broadside, but at the moment of firing voice on the deck of the sloop called out; Don't shootl It's the IroquoisT The order was obeyed. and thus the Confederate Runboat MeRae. whose captain had just been killed by a shot from the Iroquois, got q short lease of life. This incident ended the stirring adventures of the Brooklyn. She had been struck seventeen times in the hull and lost thlrty-nve men. The wooden ships of the Federal fleet nel- ther avoided the Confederate ironclada nor rushed Into collision with them. Farragut ordered the big stern wheeler Mississippi to try to ride down the ram Manassas, and the ram promptly sheered and ran ashore. Then the Ms sissippl stood on and riddled her with shot until her cables were cut. and ahe drifted helplessly down the river. Anal ly exploding in midstream.
 While Farragut was ''procceding up the Mississippi" through fire and smoke and blazing guns Porter continued to lombard the water batteries at the forts. At noon of the 2oths when the
Connecticut western news., 1902-05-01

A D. AVSAL- In Virginia with more than 1000 members. MT. Foutx is 33 years old and an Ohioan by birth and education, but for the past seven years has resided in Washington. As a fraternal society worker he has few equals. He is the founder of the or der in his territory.
 The order closed the year 1901 with a total membership of 635, ,000, divided as follows: Supreme tent membership, 271, 800; great camp of Michigan, 102,- GOO; supreme hive, Ladies of the Mac cabees, e6,6OO; great hive of Michigan. 65, 900 members.
 During the year 1901 there was re- turned to the members and their bene- hciaries over $2,406,OOO as follows: Death claims paid, SPOTS, 900; total and permanent disability claims paid, $91. 900; sick and accident claims paid, $42, 900.
 Reports from various tents in Mis- souri show that Maccabees in that state have made a good start for 1902.
 The order has progressed well throughout the country during the year 1901, and the prospects are bright for 1902.
Connecticut western news., 1902-05-01

this opening the leading division of sloops and gunboats, under Captain Theodorus Bailey, steamed cautiously. In passing Fort Jackson the noises on shipboard alarmed the Confederates on shore, and they were ready to wei come Farragut's second division, head ed by his flagship Hartford, with a fusillade from the batteries on the beach and from the lofty parapets of the fort. Bailey's ships passed on to Fort Philip, on the opposite bank. The gunners of this fort were driven from their posts by a hot fire of grape and canister before they could cripple the leading ships. Above the fort the Cayuga, Varuna and Oneida dashed into the enemy's fleet, already moving down stream to meet the invaders. The noise of paddle wheels and the firing of the forts had summoned them to the scene.
 Farragut's flagship Hartford alone made the first heavy fight at Fort Philip. Her consort, the Brooklyn, had attempted to pass the gap in the Instructions and keep in line, but ow-
 
 hulks by one of her own dangling ca bles under the fire of Fort Jackson. Some unknown hero ran out and cut tho hawser with an ax, and then she swung through the gap into & nest of fire rafts.
 The Hartford soon after passing Fort Philip encountered a blazing fire raft which was pushed against her side by a tugboat. Farragut called away his firemen and stood by until they put out the fire, which climbed half way to the tops. On the burning side the flames drove the Hartford men from their guns, and Farragut shouted: Don't finch at that fire, boysl Give that ras- cally little tug a shot! Don't let her escapew The tug was sunk. Already the Hartford had thirty-two shot holes In her hull and rigging.
 While Farragut was fighting fire the Brooklyn lay for a time dead In the current under the guns of Fort Jack son. She would have been blown out of water had the enemy fired low. But their beach guns were out of range, and those on the parapet could not be depressed enough to strike a ship near shore. The Brooklyn open ed with shell and shrapnel on the fort and kept 1t up until the Hartford was clear of the fire raft and her flames ex- tinguished. Then she steamed up the river and headed for the ironclad Lou. isiana, which lay moored to the bank above Fort Philip. Lhe Louisiana fir- cd a couple of shots at the Brooklyn, then closed her port shutters to receive the Brooklyn's broadsides.
 of the Louisiana's nine tnch shells, large enough to blow the sloop out of water landed in the Brooklyn's timbers, but did not explode because the Con- tederate gunners in their hurry had failed to remove the lead patch from the exploding fuse. Passing on and leaving the Louisiana, the Brooklyn got blow from the ram Manassas and at the same time a shot from the ram which smashed through the planking and lodged in a sand bag barricade. The ram lay so low in the water that the Brooklyn's guns could not strike her.
 It was still dark and the river yelled iL smoke. One strange ship which
Connecticut western news., 1902-05-01

LCopyrtght, 1SOz, by e. L. kllmer.1 ~ARRAGUTS naval expedition,
 fitted out during the winter of
 1882, to attack New Orleans
 came as an afterthought in Washington. The first plan adopted for prosecuting the war on the water was to blockade every important har- bor on the southern coast. But the feet of new ironclads built on the up- per Mississippi In the fall of 1861 was looking for more sea room. which could only be had by seeking 1t down stream. Now, if ships could blow one way they could the other. and in spite of the woe ful unpreparedness of those times the contract was given out on the spur of the moment to open up the lower Aississippi and cut the Confederacy in two.
 MT. George w. Cable. the author, who sometimes speaks fo~ Creoledom, 1862 didn't worry the Confederates blockaded in the Crescent City. Moth Ing that walks can cross the swamps," was the cheerful cry Of the populace on the levees.
 When Lincoln was appealed to by CAptain D. D. Porter, who had been on blockade duty in the gulf, to send ships and soldiers to New Orleans, he said: This should have been done before. The Nississippi is the backbone of the COnfederacy."
 The plan put down on paper was to send at once . war fleet mounting POO -l~.l army of 10000 soldiers to raze the forts at the mouth of the Mississippi, capture New Orleans and fortify the river blufns as far up as vicksburg. At the 0ama time the ironclad gunboats hem med in around St. Louis and Cairo and never yet under fire would fight their way down the river and unite forces around vicksburg.
 Captain Porter created out of raw materiAl0. almost. the mortar fleet, a pc culiar adjunct of the navy, designed to fight against land forts. The required vessels were not yet owned by the gov ernment when the expedition was plan ned. They were to number twenty, each carrying 13 inch mortar and two 02 pound cannon. The mortars and the 10000 bombshells to be thrown at the New Orleans defense were not yet cast. Warships for convoy of the nor tar bOats and transports for the troops were far away on distant stations.
 NcClollan allotted 10000 soldiers from new regiments, and Ben Butler was appointed to lead them. In Janu- ary and February the troops were transported to Ship island, near New Orleans. for rendezvous, the warships nO follow as fast as they could be gath cred and fitted out. The next step was the choice of a commander for the great neet. Captain Porter said that he personally suggested his fathers protege and the friend and shipmate of his boyhood. Captain David Glasgow rArragut, then over sixty years of age and on waiting oriers.
 Farragut was a southerner by birth and breeding. At the time of the fir ing on Sumter in April. 1881, he lived 1t Norfolk. Va. surrounded by south ern officers who were tinctured with the doctrine of states rights." In discussing the future of the country he 0Aid to his fire eating comrades: Mind what tell you. You fellows will get the devil before you are done with
Connecticut western news., 1902-05-01
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BALCONY PLANTS.

Large Foliage Plants, Cannna and
 HydranEeas Are Effective.
 The floral decoration of the balcony Is growing custom, and truly hang, Ing gardens" are refreshing to the sight of city dwellers. Vines for this purpose 70 without saying. but there are othet plants which may be added to give dis. tinction to balcony, porch or piazza
 Large foliage plants such as Ricinus gibsoni (the bronze castor oiD, Japan. ese maize and palms are some of these. while other foliage plants, producing, too, handsome flowers, are also desira- ole.
 For the central group. or those ar ranged opposite the windows, cannas are very effective, for their foliage Is handsome and distinct, while their glowing blossoms in crimson and gold make fine display of color. The dwarf large lowered cannas. such as Queen Charlotte, Egendale and Hypolite Elan