Evening star., 1949-03-27
Fifty Years Ago

Front page space was accorded in The
Star dated March IS. 1899, to chropicle
painful accident suf-
Dr.. Whiteheods fered by DR.. Cabell
Accident Whitehead, assayer Of
the bureau Of the Mint.
HE was making powerful compound, one
of the ingredients of which was nitric acid.
While shaking large glass bottle contain
ing the acid named, it broke and the con-
tents fell over both legs of DR.. Whitehead
from the waist down. 1t is probable that
he would have burned to death had not two
of the employees been present. They seized him
and took him to sink. where his burned
clothing was torn from his body and bicarbo-
nate of soda applied to the flesh DR.. White
head, it was added. was recently offered the
position of director general of industries IN
Turkey He recovered from his injuries
left the government in 1901 and spent the
last seven years of his life in banking and
mining In Alaska.
Half century ago the Dreyfus case was
constantly under discussion. Practically
every day there was some de-
Drevfus velopment in the scandal.
esnso+;on The Star of March is, 1899,
for example, announced that
the London Evening News had let it be known
that "the former Russian ambassador.
Count Won Mohrenhein, is the real culprlt
who sold both Russian and French secrets to
the German government, adding that the
Russian government itself is convinced OF
his guilt" No proof was offered. The whole
case even now is mystery. Capt. Alfred
Dreyfus eventually was released from Devils
Island, restored to his rank in the French
army and given the Legion of Honor Who
wrote the letters he was accused OF writing
&c y,,ch nuestj0n now as it WAS so wears
back.
Front page space was allotted in The Star
on March 10. 1899, to lengthy report OF
the execution Of Mrs. Martha
Mrs. Place Place, the first woman ever to
Exeeuted die in an electric chair. She
had been confined in Sing
Sing Prison, New York, from the previous
July IL, and had hoped that her sentence
might be commuted to life imprisonment.
When the Governor-Theodore Roosevelt
decided not to intervene, she said she was
ready to go" and added: Il will put my
trust in God" At last she was led to her
fate by the warden wearing black dress
which she herself had made for the occasion.
Prison personnel had expected that she
might stage scene at the end, but she
conducted herself quietly A few minutes
after she entered the death chamber, she
was finished with her ordeal. Nothing ever
was done at Sing Sing 50 rapidly before"
\ i
At the Arthur School on March o. 1899,
teachers and pupils gave an entertainment
which was reviewed in The
Arthur School Star of the following day
E.t. with the explanation that:
What is described as an
artistic fad is now going the rounds OF the
local public schools, the idea being to culti-
vate the taste of the children in the direction
indicated. The proceeds from the enter
tainments given are devoted to the purchase
of statuary, pictures, vases and palms as
we'll as reference books, encyclopedias ana
the like" Public support for the rad was
evident from the fact that "the attendance
was 50 large Yesterday that many failed to
gain admittance to the building" The pro-
gram included selections by an orchestra.
songs. recitations, fencing, dancing and