davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1909-03-26
Model Homes to Be Built by Mrs. SAGE

THE name of Mrs. Russell Sage has
! again become linked with philan-
thropy through the purchase of large
tract of land in Jamaica, county Of
Queens, New York, on which model
houses are to be built for those who
are unable to live in sanitary and COM
Portable quarters nearer the heart Of
the city.
While no official announcement has
been made, it is understood that Mrs.
Sage will spend several millions Of
dollars in this latest plan to make her
vast fortune do the most good and
reach the farthest among those who
are in need. Several other persons
have become interested in the scheme
and have agreed to contribute to the
expense of building the tenements and
keep them up.
The buildings are to be patterned
after those recently built in England
for poor persons. They are to be as
large and roomy as possible and every
effort is to be made to do away with
the uncleanliness of those occupied by
the poorer class in the city. Baths,
many of them, are to be the features
of the model tenements, and ventila-
ton will amount to almost a craze
with the builders.
The site of the buildings includes
more than forty-eight acres just out
side the Polish and Italian sections of
Jamaica.
If the experiment proves successful
and the poor tenants of the squalid
The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1909-03-26
Like the Polar Niqhts.

The polar Eskimos, the most north.
erly dwelling people in the world, are
said to exist only by the exercise Of
great ingenuity and the practice of
social virtues. The cheerfulness, kind.
linesa and practical socialism Of the
Eskimo from eastern Greenland to
Alaska may be regarded as much due
to their environment as is the neces-
sity for eating large quantities of fat.
The Eskimo hail the first dark even
ing With the same glee as the first
daylight after the polar night.
- When a whole summer through the
eyes have been long bathed in light.
day and night, they long to see the
land vanish into darkness again. And
with the idea of a change they as
sociate all the good things the win
ter will bring, the frozen sea and the
hunting on the ice, the swift sledge
drives, far from the sweltering houses,
after bears. ''Ha! now the dark nights
are coming. soon the ice will close in
the sea-" the men cry as they meet
toward evening, or BE glad, for soon
the blubber lamps shall light those
who go out to fetch meat from the
flesh pots!" Others call out: "And
windows and fires shall light far into
the night, and hasten the tagging pace
Of late returning sled9es." j. Id
The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1909-03-26

They are finding that in addition to
Alaska's possibilities in the way Of
mineral and agricultural production
certain animals may be acclimated and
domesticated there. Ernest Thompson.
Seton suggests that portion Of Alas
ka be set aside as a range for the
woolly yak, the animals to be imported
from Tibet, their natural habitat. The
yak Is hardy beast, valuable for car
rying burdens and as a milk and butter
producer, while the flesh is excellent
for food. In 1891 Rev. DR.. Sheldon
Jackson, the United States educational
agent for the territory, introduced 16
head Of reindeer into Alaska. These
deer, as is well known, are highly USE
1ul as draught animals and for other
purposes similar to those for which the
yak may be used. So successful was
DIR. Jackson's plan that at the latest
accounts the imported reindeer had in
creased to more than 10000. A great
deal can be done in a country sup.
posed to be practically of no account,
remarks the Troy Times, provided the
right course Is taken.
The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1909-03-26

this, as all other large affairs, the
services Of caterer are required. All
luncheons and dinners of less than 40
guests are managed by the regular do.
nestle staff at the White House.
There are on an average three a week.
At each state reception the guests
invited to the blue room, generally
about eighty in number, are enter.
tanned at supper at the close of the re.
ception. These affairs cost about $500
each.
The dinners of courtesy to visiting
foreigners and important government
officials depend largely upon the rank
of the visitor. The expense of all
these is borne by the president.
The presidents secretary has the
entire charge of the Office and the
clerical staff. The chief usher keeps
close watch on the caretakers of the
entire first floor, no tourist visitors
being admitted until the morning dust
ing is finished.
The steward purchases all supplies
and looks after the basement. There
are COOK, assistant cook, butler and
pantry men.
The laundry is charge of Uncle
Sam, likewise the furnishing and care
of the linen, china, silver and flowers.
President Roosevelt brought his
own riding horses from Sycamore Hill,
likewise his carriages. The service at
the White House Is government ex.
pense and is sufficient for all practical
purposes. There are always personal
attendants for the family, who are
paid by the president.
The appropriation of $4,000 for
travelling expenses has been necessary,
since president cannot travel as a
private citizen, alone or alone with
his family, but he must be accom-.
panied by large retinue of secret
service men, his secretary, stenog.
rapher and personal friends.
The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1909-03-26
Changes Are Proposed in New Charter

THE report of the New York Charter
commission. r2ade public the other
day. proposes few fundamental changes
In the old charter, but perhaps among
3the most interesting is the recommen-
sdation' that no person shall be eligible
for the office of mayor unless he shall
have been resident of the city for at
least ten years preceding his election"
and that the salary be increased to
$4,000 year. The revision commits.
sion provides for q uniformed superin-
|tendent Of police appointed from the
ranks of the force, and the age limit
itor entering the police department is
raised to Is years.
/ 1t is proposed to abolish the board Of
aldermen and in its place create a
council of 80 members to serve with
out pay. The council will have large
ordinance-making powers, but will have
no control over the administrative bus.
mess of the city or over franchises. It
The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1909-03-26

cision of the committee was approved
by Joseph H. Choate, the company's
special counsel in the litigation, and
by James McKeen. general counsel of
the company, and was duly reported
to the board and approved.
THE result of the settlement is that
all OF the claims in dispute by and
against the company have been settled
and released, and the company has re-
ceived the equivalent in value of $685.
OOO."
1t is understood the Mutual got
$4,000 cash. The balance of the
$4,000 was represented by a claim
against the company for supplies.
The suits included actions against
former President McCurdy, his son,
Robert H. McCurdy; son-in-law, Louis
A. Thebaud, and Charles H. Raymond,
who with Thebaud formed the firm of
Charles H. Raymond & Co., metropoM-
tan agents for the Mutual Actions
were also begun against vice-presi-
dents under the old regime, Robert A.
Grannis and DR.. Walter r. Gillette,
and L. w. Lawrence, stationer, who
for years supplied the company with
stationery and SUPPLIES.
The largest claim against an indi-
vidual was that against Mr.. McCurdy,
from whom the Mutual sought to col.
lect 1891, 341.
The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1909-03-26

will have the right to veto specific ap-
preparations in the budget and will
make the tax levy. Altogether much
broader grant Of legislative power is
vested in the council than the board
Of aldermen enjoyed.
A good deal will be accomplished.
the commission thinks, toward simpli.
flying the, complex financial system of
the city and doing away with much ex-
travagant and unnecessary expendi-
ture by making the board of estimate
and apportionment the great business
executive committee Of the city, with
complete control of the city's financial
affairs. This board will continue to be
made up of the same official members
as before, including borough presi-
dent to be elected from each borough.
The department of street cleaning
will be abolished and the entire con-
troll of streets and sewers and street
cleaning will be vested in a depart
ment of street control. for which the
mayor will be responsible.
The board of education will cease to
be a separate corporation and will be
reduced to Is members.
The Office of coroner is abolished and
all the duties he performed turned over
to the department of health. Other
minor changes are recommended.
The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1909-03-26

In accordance with their regular an
nual custom, the merchant tailors, in
national convention, have again con-
sidered the problem of relieving the
evening dress. g1sdti 81 gentlemen of
Its somber and funereal aspect. Their
notions are purely aesthetic, of course,
and the suggested: changes have in
view the showing of more white.
Among the specific recommendation
are broader view of the white waist
coat, pocket in the coat for the dis
play of the edge of a white handker-
chief, a white silk fob and white silk
stockings shown above the low cut
pumps. 1t is rather enhancing pic
ture, remarks the Boston Herald. but
1t may reasonably be doubted If it ef-
fects the Punishment Of the old pattern
of the shiny swallowtail and the sup.
Elementary habiliments that have
done yeoman's service for 10, these
many years. Their status is as immu.
table as the laws of the Modes and
Persians
The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1909-03-26

NEW YORK.-Another old landmark,
~ the famous lighthouse building
which has stood on the southwest cor
ner OF Vesey and Greenwich streets for
more than hundred years-some say
That 1t is the Oldest structure in Man.
nattan-will soon be RACED.
The occupants Of the little knick-
knack and fruit stalls, some of whom
have been in and about the building for
tnirty-five and forty years, were told
recently that they would have to va
cate, and now the walls are papered
with notices Of bargain removal
sales.''
AS to the building itself, everyone in
the district was willing to swear that
century ago and more it had served
as lighthouse to guide mariners on
their way up and down the river. This
has always been the tradition attached
to the place, color being lent by the
fact that in former days Greenwich
was the river-front street, Washington
and West streets having been laid out
on made land.
The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1909-03-26
Mutual Life Gets Big Sum from M Curdv

THE Mutual Life Insurance Company
l has settled suits aggregating near
ly $6,000,000, brought in 1906 against
its former president, Richard A. Nc
Curdy and others. 1t received from
the defendants, it is said, a total of
$4,000.
The suits were brought for the re-
covery of money alleged to have been
obtained by the defendant officers and
agents Of the company, or improperly
expended by them.
proposals looking to an adjustment
of the litigation pending between the
Mutual company and certain Of its
former officers and others had been
under negotiation for several months"
said President Charles A. Peabody.
They were referred by the board
Of trustees some time ago to COM
mittee which carefully examined the
situation and decided that in view of
all the conditions and circumstances
it would be wise to settle the contro-
versy on the terms proposed. This de-
The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1909-03-26
To Rae Vesey Street Light House,

This tradition has been disputed. 1t
never was a lighthouse, some say, and
they add that the story that it was
arose from the fact that in the eigh-
teenth century, or perhaps early in the
nineteenth, the place was a tavern
known as THE Lighthouse"
And so all that may be said definite
ly of the building is that it is old and
that in the minds Of all who live in the
district, or who have their places of
business there, the conviction that at
one time the building served as light
house to warn vessels against collision
with Manhattan is firmly intrenched.
The Vesey street front of the build
ing is of masonry, uneven, irregular,
like that found in the less finished
stone structures of colonial days. The
east and west sides are of wood. Inside
there are the heavy floor beams Of that
period. The floors have all been used
as lofts In the past so years, and as a
consequence are bare of all fittings.
The roof has the usual Dutch angles,
and the openings for the gables which
used to appear therefrom still remain.
The garnet is very dark. full Of cob
webs and, probably, rats. The floor
creaks as you walk; in all, a place
than which no better setting for
ghost story or a grisly tale of New
York in the revolutionary period could
be found.
The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1909-03-26
Cabinet Social Set

Reed, is named after his fathers for.
mer partner in Pittsburg.
Mrs. MacVeagh, though perhaps the
oldest of the cabinet wives, will add
interest to Washington society. She
is a woman of culture and attractive
presence, 4 lavish entertainer, deeply
interested in economic. subjects, and
possesses an acquaintance that ex.
tends around the world. :,
She is the daughter Of Henry 8.
Eames, a former banker; of Chicago,
and for many years she has, taken a
prominent part in the social affairs Of
that city.
Mrs. Dickinson, wife of the new sec.
rotary Of war;, ts q southern woman,
Nashville, Tenn. being her home, al.
though for the last ten years she has
passed most of her time in Chicago,
where her, husbands legal business
required his presence. Her two eldest
sons are settled in distant cities, but
her youngest, now a student at Yale.
will DO seen later in Washington.
Mr.. Ballinger, wife Of the secretary
VI IAO AAISAAOA, u0A d yO1l SApSIC
ence in Washington official life re-
Gently while her husband was com,
missioner Of public lands, a subor.
dinate position in the department
which he now heads. She is a New
England woman transplanted to the
far northwest:
The Ballinger family consists of
two sons. The elder, Edward, is fol-
lowing in the footsteps of his father
at. Williams college. The younger,
Richard, lively youngster, will prob.
ably be a com panion for the energetic
Charlie Taft.
The new secretary of commerce and
labor, Charles Nagel of St. Louis has
been twice married. The present Mrs.
Nagel was Miss Anna Shipley of st.
Louis, whom the secretary married in
1895. They have four children, all
quite young-Mary, Edith, Charles
and Anne. Mrs. Nagel is devoted to
her children and her home.
The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1909-03-26

Italian thrift, which has long been
known, was brought prominently to no.
tice by the great earthquake and the
generous contributions from the poor
est OF Italian laborers in this country
The amount of money sent by money
orders from this country to Italy has
been steadily increasing for 20 years.
In 1906 it reached the enormous total
of sixteen and a quarter million dol
lars. A New York banker in relations
with Italians says that of 100 laborers
earning IA cents an hour at railroad
grading or similar work, IS will save
from $25 to- $27 a month, after paying
for food. shanty-rent and clothing.
The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1909-03-26
Helen Taft, New Belle of White House

HELEN HERON TAFT has fol-
III lowed in her fathers footsteps in
choosing her most intimate friends in
Washington from the army SET"
What Gen. Bell and Gen. Clarence Ed
wards are to the new president, young
ladies like Miss Ayrshire and Miss
Webster are to his only daughter.
At the same time she has formed
many close friendships at school, and
these ties are bringing Miss Taft an
ever-increasing number of invitations
to devote her vacations to house par
ties, and will result In the presence Of
many youthful residents of many Diff
ferent cities when the time comes for
Miss Taft to make her debut in the
White House-something for which
Mrs. Taft has as yet planned but ten
tatively.
The newly-chosen first lady of the
land expects her only daughter to be-
come White House debutante, of
course, but she has also expressed the
hope that this social inaugural can
be deferred for year or two, prin-
cipally because the new president,
who is vastly proud Of his brilliant
and studious daughter, will be disap-
pointed If she does not fulfill the
promise made at her entry, when, as
mentioned, she won the prize for high
est honors in the entrance examina-
lions.
The new White House belle is, like
her mother, a member of the Episco-
pal church. She was reared in this
atmosphere of that denomination, al
most her first schooling, save for that
of German and English tutors, having
been obtained at the Cathedral School
for Girls.
The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1909-03-26

She was confirmed by the late
Bishop Satterlee in class that also
included Miss Ethel Roosevelt and the
Misses Julia and Alice Won Meyer,
daughters Of the present postmaster
general At Murray Bay, Miss Taft
attended the Union church-represent.
ing fusing of all the denominations in
the little Canadian church, and now
she and her mother will become occu-
pants of the presidential pew, vacated
by Mrs. Roosevelt and Miss Ethel in
st. Johns, the quaint, old-fashioned
and exclusive court church" which
rears its red tower directly across the
park from the White House.
The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1909-03-26
practical business man. He is thu

practical business man. He is the
head of one of the largest wholesale
grocery firms in Chicago and the
west, and is also prominent as bank.
er. AS a citizen he has always stood
for independence and has taken a
great interest in popular movements.
Except for his age (he is now nearing
20, which may or may not be handi-
cap, according to the point of view,
he seems peculiarly fitted for the
place, for he has thorough knowledge
of and sympathy with the west, while
as a business man he has always been
in close touch with the east.-Water.
bury American. ~< .$:7=..... r. -,
The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1909-03-26
Mrs. Meyer to Lead

Observation-Disclosures to cabinet
w ministers the most interesting
and influential phase Of administration
life in Washington concerns the cabi-
net wives.
The social leader of the cabinet un-
doubtedly will be Mrs. Meyer. She
and Mrs. Knox have had much expert
ence In oficial life and their homes
In Washington are already established
as gathering places of exclusive So
ciety.
The years that Mrs. Meyer spent
abroad while her husband was am
bassador at Rome and St. Petersburg
gave her wide acquaintance in CONT
mental society,". with the result that on
going to Washington two years ago
she welcomed In her home the diplo-
matte corps and many foreign visitors.
The Misses Julia and Alice Meyer
are very attractive and charming
young women, whose society is sought
by many admiring men. There will be
many social functions in the Meyer
home during the Taft administration.
Mrs. Knox, by virtue of her hus-
bands position, takes precedence at
the head of the cabinet women. Her
home in X street is one of the fine
homes Of Washington. having been
built by the late George w. Childs
and purchased several years ago by
the present secretary OF state.
Before her marriage Mrs. Knox was
Miss Lillian Smith, daughter of A. D.
Smith, president of one Of Pittsburg's
steel companies.
=. The three Knox. boys are named
Reed, Hugh and Philander, Jr. They
are active young men. The eldest:
The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1909-03-26

Probably the Eskimo banquets last
longer than any others, and the guam
tity Of food swallowed is also proper.
tionately greater Ross records that
seven of his party Of natives once ate
continuously for 80 hours, during
which time they consumed 200 pounds
of seal meat.
The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1909-03-26

In spite of these accessory helps,
however, the salary proper has proved
a scant subsistence with the scale Of
entertaining demanded by present
standards
The state dinners, of which there
are three each year, cost more than
$4,000. The cabinet dinner, beginning
the season, averages between $500 and
$500. The diplomatic dinner, the
most pretentious Of all, averages
about $1,000. The dinner to the su.
preme court, for which, like the cab
met dinner, there are about forty per-
sons invited, costs about the same
amount.
At the diplomatic dinner the num-
Der is usually about ninety, and for
The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1909-03-26

In the magnificent palace, near
Paris, where lived the late Victorien
Sardou, playwright, was a huge chest
that contained numberless little boxes,
duly labeled. In these cardboard
receptacles were notes jotted down at
any time, in any place; newspaper cut
tings, epigrams and aphorisms of. his
own-a chest of ideas and plots.
The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1909-03-26

him salary
money
spect confidence in
This to Of city where
years $18
as in most
1t
OF
OF the end OF there editor
the
aided
inches be taken He called
u OF type threw Another
lay the
The
hope didn't spoil the continuity o
Continuity
as he FORM.
when Mr. Oliver this
night editor who proaney the mails"
and at high salary The managing editor
The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1909-03-26

The desire to be clean will not be
daunted nowadays. The story comes
from an apartment-house district in
New York that on Sunday: the friends
Of the tenants visit them in hordes to
use their bathtubs. The charge is two
cents for fine hot wash" and five
cents If towels are provided.
The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1909-03-26
The Value Of Publicity.

nc V0IO0 OF oUOJSCIys
This is the age Of advertising. Not
only do the merchants and the manu-
facturers advertise their wares, but
municipalities and states and entire
sections Of country have enlisted under
the banners Of publicity and exploita-
ton, maintaining press agents and en-
gasing the potency of printers ink.
Dixie land has gone into the field in
centralized form. A large building 10
to be erected in Washington, to be
used in part AZ 'a-clubhouse for south
erners and in part as headquarters for
a systematic propaganda of the advan-
tages of the south. The scheme is Of
unquestionable value, remarks the st.
Joseph News-Press, and there is no
doubt about the results. There is also
noted a revival of the project enter;
ta1ned some years ago of erecting 4
great states building at Washington,
to be maintained jointly. and to be
used as sort of permanent exposition
of the products and advantages of the
various states. The original plans pro.
vtded for exhibition rooms for each
state, post Offices for each state, where
visitors from that state could get their
mall; information bureaus for such
visitors, a species of headquarters for
the transient and permanent people in
Washington from the several states.
1t was comprehensive affair and yet
one involving but comparatively little
expenditure on the part of each state