'North Carolina News' March 1, 1895

“North Carolina News” from the Charlotte Democrat, Charlotte, N.C., published Friday, March 1, 1895

Mr. William Parker, Lanes Creek township, has a calf 18 months and 15 days old which weighs 656 pounds gross. The calf is just a common cow, no fine blood coursing through its veins, Mr. Parker wants to know who owns a larger calf, age considered.—Monroe Enquirer

Some interesting money is shown by Mr. L.L. Jenkins. It is the fractional paper currency of a quarter of a century and more ago. Some of it he has had in his possession 22 years. There is about $10 of it in 5, 10, 15, 25, and 50-cent bills. It looks like what we used to see other people have in old times.—Gastonia Gazette

On last Tuesday Mr. T.M. Brown of this place undertook to separate two game cocks that were fighting. One of the fowls made an attack upon Mr. Brown and stuck a spur into one of his legs twice, inflicting right painful wounds. We have never heard of another such incident.—Monroe Enquirer

One of our good Democrats said a few days ago that the little blank book that Rev. C.H. Martin showed on the stump during the last campaign and to which he gave the title “What Congress Has Done” can be put to good use now showing what the fusion* Legislature has done.—Monroe Enquirer

Several new firms have recently been organized at Matthews. McLaughlin and Warlick, Barrett and Grier, and Stevens and Stevens have all begun under the new firm names since the first of the year. The latter firm is composed of Messers. J.A. and W.F. Stevens, the latter having recently moved from Stevens’ Mill in this county to Matthews.—Monroe Journal

A Rich Mine—Mr. Daniel Jarrett who lives above Belwood, this county, has discovered a very rich monazite mine on his farm. He has been offered $20,000 for 30 acres of land but has not accepted. Mr. Jarrett has a farm of 87 acres, which was incumbered, and was a comparatively poor man until the mine was discovered. The quality is said to be very good.—Cleveland Star

Bessie, the 5 year old child of W.F. Jetton of Lowesville, caught on fire on the 12^th. Marvin, who was in the house with Bessie, threw her down and rolled her over in the snow and piles snow upon her till her mother arrived. Bessie is severely, but not dangerously, burned. Marvin, who worked so faithfully to save his little sister, had his hands badly burned. Marvin is 7 years old.—Lincoln Courier

Burned to Death—An awful death overtook a young man named W.F. Gladden at Mr. A.P. Froneberger’s distillery last Monday night. Gladden was tight. He had lost some sleep and was sitting over the fire nodding. When the distillery closed about dark, Gladden was left there for the night, as he was not in a condition to be sent away. There was about a hatful of fire in the fire place. Next morning about daylight Gladden was found dead out in the floor, with all his clothing burned off. His tongue and lips and nostrils were burned by the fire and smoke he had breathed. There were signs of his having crawled around in the room in helpless distress. He was a young man of about 25 years of age but was not considered altogether bright-witted. Nobody knows how or at what time of the night he caught fire. A negro woman not far away says she heard cries of someone in the night but as it was a common thing she paid little attention to it.—Gastonia Gazette

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*Fusion Legislature--Frustrated by Democratic domination of nearly every election since 1876, the Republican and Populist parties decided to combine forces in an effort to gain control of the state government. The coalition was dubbed "fusion" by the Democratic press. Instead of running competing candidates on separate tickets, state Republican and Populist leaders divided the offices and ran on a single ticket. The parties first combined in 1894, successfully taking control of the state legislature. They joined forces again in 1896, claiming control of the legislature and several prominent offices in each election. Populist spokesman Marion Butler was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1894, while Republican leader Daniel Russell was elected governor in 1896. Similar attempts at fusion were made in other Southern states, but nowhere was it as successful as in North Carolina.

Sources: William S. Powell, North Carolina through Four Centuries. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1989; Helen G. Edmonds, The Negro and Fusion Politics in North Carolina, 1894-1901. Chapel Hill: UNC Press, 1951. 

http://www2.lib.unc.edu/ncc/1898/glossary.html