davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-01-01
MRS. VAN WYK
 CLAIMS RECORD

Pretona, December S1.-The Transvaal claims a record for Mrs. Theila Van Wyk, aged 7S. She has 50 children who called her mother and 27O grandchildren. Born on October 20, 1892, Mrs Van Wyk, nee de Beer, began what was to prove an eventful matrimonial career at the age of IS. when she married Petrus Ja- cobus Lubbe.
 At the end of two years she became a widow with one child. After being a widow for 10 months she married Nicho- las Marthinus Pretorious, a widower with four children. After living with him for year and five months he also died, leav- ing her with five children. After five months she married for the third time David Stephanus Pieterse, a widower with seven children.
 With him she lived Il years and had seven children. when he also died t.'9e five years widowhood she married, for the fourth time, Daniel Lodewil<us Cronje, a widower with eight children With him she also lived Il years and had four children, when he, too, died. Five years later she married, for the fifth time, Hendrix Hopper.
 With him she also lived Il yeSAS and had 10 children, when he also died. After two years she married for the sixth time on this occasion with Conrad Hendrix Van Wyk, a widower with five children, and with him she had four children
 After having lived together for Il years he also died. She had thus 50 children who call her mother and about 270 grand children
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-01-01
GRUESOME FIND
 BY WORKING MEN

Paris, December 31E(Special. )-Grue- some was the discovery made by some laborers at Theix as they were going to their work the other morning. In the road was lying the partly carbonized corpse of younw woman, with match box and a hottle which had contained petroleum and purse had not been taken the police at first thought that she had committed suicide, but an examination of the body at the morgue showed that she had pre- yiously been strangled. There was no diff ficulty in identifying her, as in pocket book was a scrap of paper with her name, Anne Knoll, her age, 34, and mention of the fact that she was born in Bavaria, and was a governess.
 An officer in whose family she had been employed as nurserymaid having acci- dently heard of the sad affair, went to the prefecture of police and stated that she had been looking after his children from the month of June until last Thurs day, when she left to take another place. His soldier servant carried her trunk down to the street door ,and she drove off in a cab that had brought the cap tain's sister to the house. which is sit uated in the Rue de Vaugirard. As the young woman could not speak French she handed paper with the address to which she W1Shed to be conveyed to the driver, who read it aloud before he started The officers wife says that she was sorry to lose the nurserymaid, and had done all that she could to dissuade her from leav- ing. Efforts are now being made to find the cabman, as the nurserymaid was never seen at the address which she had given on starting, and he may be able to explain how she came to change her mind. Pending the result of the investi- gation which has been instituted, it is thought that the unfortunate woman must have been murdered in Paris and her corpse conveyed during the night to the spot where it was found and there burnt The affair is all the more mysterious as she had no acquaintances here, and was extremely steady.
 Problem in Belgium
 Brussels, December 31.--(Specal.)-Th Belgian government has a rather difficult
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-01-01

ested the duty of maintaining this state of affairs. Unless the Dutch government agrees to this contention, and gives a sol emn pledge to allow free passage to forces entering the Scheldt for the defense of Belgium, the latter will probably propose to refer the matter to the arbitration court of The Hague, meanwhile fortify- ing Zeebrugge to enable Great Britain to land forces there instead of at Antwerp, in case of a German invasion of Belgium during a Franco-German war.
 report is current here that Herr Won Dernburg. the ex-colonial secretary who has just returned from the far east, has accepted, or is about to accept, a seat on the board of directors of the General Elec-
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-01-01

3690,995 souls. The figures require to be formally confirmed, but they are believed to be approximately correct There has been an increase of, 59S,504 inhabitants since the last quinquennial census in De- cember, 1905, or fraction over 19 per cent. Greater Berlin,' in it's commend able anxiety not to lag too far behind London Paris and New York, has reached ont and taken to it's capacious bosom no less than 57 outlying cities, towns and vll- lages lying within a radius of 15 miles or the center of the capital. Some of them are so remote and deeply imbedded be- tween intervening stretches of forests and farms that the average "Grossberiiner' has never heard of them, and could .oniy find them with the aid of guide ana map.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-01-01

tric company (Allgemeine Electricitats Gesellschaf). the largest electrical firm in the world, with view of becoming It's president when the present occupant, Herr Emil Rathenau. who has over 70 years of age, retires. It is also stated that Herr Won Dernburg's programme as controller of this gigantic concern would include the gradual substitution of cleo tricity for steam as the motive power on all the German state railways.
 Herr Won Dernburg himself and all other persons connected with the pro- 1ected arrangement maintain complete reserve, but the story is regarded as au- thentic in well informed financial ana industrial circles.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-01-01

Napoleon, who was Princess Clementine, is, it appears, not only settling in Brus- sells, but also seizing the excuse of her position as wife of a Napoleon to sur round herself with French ladies-n- wait ing, recruited from the French nobility. It is feared that such a menage might easily cause offense to the French gov ernment, with whom Belgium is now very friendly, and though Prince Victor Napo- leon is forbidden to issue manifestoes, or otherwise to further his cause on Bel gia.n territory, it is nevertheless being pretty plainly hinted that it might be better if the pair would settle, say, in Italy, instead of Belgium.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-01-01

Problem in Belgium
 Brussels, December 31.-(Special. 1.-The Belgian government has rather difficult problem on it's hands. Princess Victor
The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-01-01

Greater Berlin" claims a population of
The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1911-03-16
DEATH OF MRS. r. H. sLossoN.
Wife of County Judge Died on Sunday
at Her Home on Ashland Avenue.

Mrs. Lucretia Emeline Slosson, aged
"a years, wife of the Hon. Russell H.
Slosson Judge of the County court of
kenosna county, and one of the best
known women of the city died at the
family residence on Ashland avenue
just before four o'clock Sunday after
noon after long illness from a com
pllcation Of diseases. Mrs. Slosson had
been i'll for more than a year and for
the, past few days she had been failing
rapidly Her death was not unexpect-
ed to those who had watched at the
bedside.
Mrs. Slosson was a daughter of the
late Horace and Emeline Chittenden
Rossiter. She was born at Richmond,
Mass, November %, 1886. She was
married to Judge Slosson at Richmond,
December 81, 1861, and the following
month she came to Kenosha, where she
had since resided. She was a woman
of many noble traits of character and
her death will cause great sorrow in
many homes in the city. Mrs. Slosson
is survived by her husband and three
children, Miss Belle Slosson a teacher
in the schools of Chicago, Martin H..
slosson of Chicago and Mrs. Clark N.
HOLSTER of Kenosha.
The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1911-03-16

the company and the men who had been
working at the plant insisted that
there could be no doubt as to the por-
tions of the body found and they in
sisted tbat there was no one else miss
ing from the plant. Steinbach declar-
ed that he had noticed the clothing and
was certain it had the powder
clothes which had been worn by
Thompson when he went to work for
the night.
1t was expected that many other wit
nesses would be examined at the in
quest but the jury seemed to think that
the evidence given by the three was
sufficient until it retired to consider
the verdict. The Coroner claimed that
there was a possibility that other por-
tions of the body could be found lat
er and for this reason that the burial
of the remains should be held over. 1t
was stipulated that any demand for
further investigation could be set by
exhuming the remains.
The funeral of Thompson was held
from Park Avenue M. E. church on
Sunday afternoon and the church was
clled with people from Pleasant Prai-
rie and Kenosha. Nearly every EN-.
ployee of the powder company includ-
inc MANY of the officials of the Common,
were present at the simple little ser
vice which was conducted by the Rev.
Perry Millar the pastor of the church.
The remains were inferred at the Ken
osha city cemetery and monument to
the memory of Thompson win be erect.
ed on the site by the company.
The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1911-03-16
HEADS STATE BOWLERs.
Al Ebert Former Kenosha Bowler
Heads State Organization for 1911.


Heads State Organization for 1911.
Alexander Ebert, former Kenosha
bowler and a member of the Elks bowl
ing team was elected president of the
Wisconsin State Bowling Association at
meeting held in Oshkosh on Saturday
afternoon and he will be at the head of
the Bowling Congress to be held in Ra-
cine in 1912. DR.. c. C. Ryan of this
city was elected one of the directors
of the association and Kenosha bowl
ers will be expected to aid materially
in making the plans for the big meet
ing a success. The date for the Racine
tourney viii be set by the executive
committee later in the year but it is
planned to hold the big meet shortly
after the National Congress is held in
Chicago. Racine will make elaborate
preparations for the event and special
alleys viii be put in for the use of the
state bowlers.
The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1911-03-16
HARD LUCK FOLLOWS HESS
Man Shot on Sunday Evening Has
Right Ear Severed by BEoken Glass

Hard luck seems to be following
George Hess, the Truesdell section
foreman who was shot on last Sunday
night by an Italian, as when the ex-
|plosion occurred Thursday evening
Hess who was at his home in Trues-
dell was one of the most seriously in
|jured. He was sitting near a window
in his home and when the shock from
the explosion shattered the window,
the right ear Of Hess was al but sew
erred by the falling glass. He was al
$50 cut on the face by the glass. Hess
was brought to Kenosha in an auto
mobile and DR.. Munroe and DIR. Nc
Cracker took fourteen stitches to close
up the wounds.
Joseph H. .Beland, the station agent
at Truesdell, also met serious injuries
one of his eyes being pierced by a
piece of glass. 1t is thought however
that the eye will be saved.
The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1911-03-16

Residents of the demolished village
of Pleasant Prairie may have long had
a lurking misgiving that the vicinity OF
a powder mill was not an eligible place
Of abode All doubts on that point
must have been removed when the
powder plant a mile away blew up,
wrecking the little town and bending
the earth s crust in Kenosha county.
The present marvel of this tremen-
dous flying asunder Of elemental case
Gus forces is that only one man was
killed by an explosion which could have
oblitcrated half cityful.
The common and obvious precaution
of isolation seems to have been fairly
we'll observed, although the destruction
wrought four miles away indicates that
plants of that sort should be located in
remote and undesirable districts, where
they can blow themselves up without
devasting anything in particular but
themselves.
The manufacturer of explosives must
be carried on. But if there is any re-
spectacle reason for carrying it on in
generally attractive and hence populous
districts where it is perpetual men
ace, we are not aware OF it.
The vast potential peril, or perilous
potency, in this huge store of powder
and dynamite would make any explana-
tory hypothesis of carelessness incred-
ible, were it not for the fact that men
do grow careless under just such CON
ditions. Familiarity with the danger
breeds contempt
We are not, of course, jumping at
any conclusion of carelessness in this
Kenosha county catastrophe; but the
investigation should be directed to dis
covering whether there was any fault
of omission in the arrangement of this
plant, or Of commission in the manufae-
ture, storing and handling Of its ter
rible product.--Sentinel.
The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1911-03-16
SEE MORAL OBLIGATION TO PAY
Portions of the Plant Destroyed in the
Explosion May Never be Rebuilt but
Officials Give no Positive Statement
of Company's Intentions.

Claims of people who sustained dam
ages as a result of the explosion at the
plant OF the +. I. Dupont Powder COM
pany at Pleasant Prairie on Thursday
night will be paid in full by the COM
pany. This fact was made certain this
afternoon by the statement of Judge J..
Z. Latfey of Wilmington, Del, into
whose hands the settlement of the trou-
bles arising from the explosion has been
placed by the company. Judge Laffey,
General superintendent George Patter-
son and a half a dozen other officials
OF the company came to Pleasant Prai-
RE this morning and after looking over
the ruined plant came to Kenosha and
Judge Laffey at once announced the in
tention of the company to pay all rea-
sonable claims against it.
The question of the rebuilding of the
plant is still to be decided but it is
certain that portion of the plant des-
troyed will be abandoned. Superintend-
emit Patterson was not quick to talk for
publication, insisting that the matter
was in the hands of Judge Laffey but
when pressed in regard to the future Of
the plant he said: "One thing is GER
tain we will never use the machinery
that was in the houses where the ex-
plosion occurred again. We have been
completing a large plant at Hibben,
Mimi, and we had already planned to
abandon part of the Pleasant Prairie
plant. However, the damages at the
plant have been many times exaggerat-
ed and we could begin making powder
there next Monday. In fact l plan
to ship car load of powder on Mon
day After these statements the Gen
eral Superintendent said that all in
formation would have to be secured
from Mr.. Laffey.
Judge Lafey said: "First of all I
want to say that the officials of the
company are very, very sorry that this
explosion took place. The explosion
was of an exceptional character end
there has been nothing like it in the
business in the past. It is not account,
ed for in any Of the past experiences
in powder making. 1t is possible that
the company will be able to learn many
lessons from it and for this reason we
can not talk fully of the future of the
Pleasant Prairie plant. That will be
matter for the executive board. It is
very gratifying to us that there was
no greater loss Of life in the explosion
and that outsiders did not meet with
serious injuries. What is to be done
will depend entirely on the attitude of
the executive committee of the COM
pany. In regard to outside losses it
has always been the policy Of the COM
pany to recognize the moral obligation
to pay. We are expressing our sorrow
for the troubles that it has caused out
siders and we will express them not
only in words. :"
When pressed for positive state
ment Judge Laffey stated that he did
not think that there was any doubt but
that the company would pay all outside
losses and he referred to the fact that
the policy of the company in the past
was to meet all such losses promptly
and without bubble.
The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1911-03-16
THOMPSON FUNERAL IS HELD
Powder Makers Giving Evidence at In
quest Declare that Explosion May
Have Been Caused by Broken Shaft
in Glaze Room.


That broken shaft may have caus-
ed the disastrous explosion at the Pow
der Mills on last Thursday night was
the only matter of interest brought out
at the coroner s inquest over the re-
mains OF the late E. S. Thompson the
one victim of the explosion. This was
not given as the positive cause of the
explosion but powder men VINO had
been long in the business by their tes-
timony eliminated the consideration OF
all other causes and left this possibil-
ity as the only solution of the mystery.
1t was admitted that accidents to ma
chinery had caused such accidents in
the past and that it might have been
responsible for the "blow up' on
Thursday night. All of the witnesses
declared that the only person who
could have told Of the accident was
"1he Old Man, "-E. S. Thompson.
Joseph Steinbach, foreman of the
mills and a man who has had long ex-
perience in the making of black pow
der was the principal witness. He tes-
titled that the first explosion took place
in the glaze mill and that "they kept
a coming" until the plant had been
virtually destroyed. His evidence was
that the first explosion took place at
STA and that the others followed
about four seconds apart. He told of
how the first explosion occurred in the
glaze mill and that the explosions in
the magazine No. 2, magazine No. 1,
the sporting powder magazine and the
dynamite house followed in the order
named. His description of the plant
after the explosion was that it was
"riddled up little T. H. Smith,
the engineer Of the plant and Frank
Bowe the fireman were the only other
witnesses examined and their testimony
was along the same lines and about of
the same tenor as that given by Stein
bach. Judge j. P. Laffey, of Whining
ton the general counsel for the COM
pany made a statement to the jury
showing the amount of powder in the
plant as shown by the records of the
company. This included about $4,000
kegs of black powder of % pounds each
a quantity of sporting and rife pow
der, the exact amount unknown, and
10000 pounds of dynamite. All of this
powder was exploded in the series of
five explosions.
After the testimony was completed
the jury considered the matter but
failed to return verdict holding that
it was possible that the portions of the
body found was not portions of the
body of Thompson. Both Steinbach
and Smith testified that they had seen
the remains of the body found and that
they could identify them as portions
OF the body Of Thompson. The jury,
however, was not satisfied and the OPP
en- verdict was returned with the I'M
derstanding that the jury is to be call
ed on Tuesday evening to further con-
slider the matter. It looked for time
as if the funeral of Thompson which
had been arranged for Sunday after
noon would have to be put over until
a future date but Sunday morning af-
ter consultation with the district at
torney Coroner Stanton decided to sign
the death certificate and allow the flu
neral service to proceed. Officials of
The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1911-03-16
TO EMPLOY VISITING NURSE
Associated Charities Decide to Arrange
For Permanent Services of Nurse

At a meeting of the board of direct
ors Of the Kenosha Associated Char
tiles held on Thursday evening it was
decided to arrange for the permanent
employment of a visiting nurse to look
after the worthy poor of Kenosha.
The nurse will go into, service at the
same time Miss Louise Cottrell of Chi
cage comes to Kenosha as the perman-
ent secretary of the Association.
The recent work done by Miss Ry-
der in Kenosha has given the directors
of the organization an assurance that
the visiting nurse will be able to ac-
complish great deal of good in Ke-
nosha. 1t is expected that the nurse
will be selected so that she will be
able to begin her work on April LIST.
The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1911-03-16
DIED AT ABERDEEN.
Police Of the City Seek Facts in Re-
gard to Kenosha Man in S. Oak.

Chief of Police o Hare this morning
received Telegram from Aberdeen,
South Dakota asking that he make
some effort to discover the identity Of
Theodore Miller a man supposed to be
from Kenosha who died in Aberdeen
on Thursday. In the pockets of the
dead man letters were found indicating
that he had some sisters in Kenosha.
No statement is made in regard to the
details of the death Of Miller and his
identity has not as yet been solved by
the police. The remains are being held
at Aberdeen pending some orders from
Kenosha relatives of the man.
The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1911-03-16
MAY ASK REHEARING,
Judge Turner to be Asked to Give City
Chance to Show It's Claims.

SAd11C6 W ol1OW 1GS Cld1lIlS.
Attorneys of the city may appeal to
Judge Turner for a rehearing in the
Elizabeth street paving suit as it is
declared that Judge Turner has not
rendered a decision on some of the most
important points advanced by attor-
neys for the city and the contractor.
In addition to this efforts are being
made to have the members of the city
council agree to drop the fight over
the paving of the street and advertise
for new bids. Many of the members
of the council have signifed willing
ness to take this course but it is pos
sible that the property owners may
raise the objection.
The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1911-03-16
DEPUTIES ARE WITHDRAWN.
Sheriff Stshl Finds no Further Use fol-
Deputies at Powder Plant.


Deputies at Powder Plant.
Sheriff Andrew Stahl has withdrawn
all deputies from the village of Pleas
ant Prairie the last of the men giving
up his patrol after the crowds had left
on Sunday evening. 1t is not believed
that there will be any further need for
the assistance Of the deputies. Since
the explosion Sheriff Stahl has had
more than seventy men on duty at the
plant and at other points about Pleas
ant Prairie. The officials of the E. I.
DUPONT de NeMours company notified
the sheriff that all claims for the SER
vices of deputies would be paid by the
company. The bill for services of de-
puties will amount to more than $500.