Big parties and hives of Macabees

Women knew how to entertain back in 1902 ... In one column of "In the Social Whirl" in the Sept. 26, 1902 Tribune there were three parties described at which the women entertained over 60 guests at each. One of these local gatherings was called a "Card and Pencil" party and a four-course luncheon was served.

There were three "at homes" gatherings. My favorite was at Mrs. Bosworth's house with "about a hundred" ladies attending from 2:30 until 5:30. The three hostesses were in the receiving line in the parlor, that was done in green and white with white carnations. The punch-room, with two ladies providing piano music all afternoon, was elaborately decorated with white and yellow chrysanthemums. Three other ladies were in charge of the dining room. It was decorated in red and white carnations with color coordinated refreshments. "Ropes of smilax festooned from chandelier to the corners of the refreshment table."

Now, if that isn't enough...in the den or tea room, three women were dressed in Japanese costumes serving tea. This room was decorated all in red for "an attractive Japanese effect".

Another "at home" party on October 15, 1902, was attended by about two hundred ladies at the home of Mrs. A.P. Bonnot. The usual amazing fresh flowers, food and activities in the many rooms of the house were present at this festivity too. I don't know where the Bosworth nor the Bonnot house was located, but I wish I did.

This has nothing to do with McCook, but I found in that same issue of the Tribune that Denmark offered "old maids' insurance." If the women married before they were 40, what they had paid into the insurance fund went to the less fortunate, meaning the women who hadn't married. These less fortunate women were then pensioned for the remainder of their lives.

I don't know how the women of 1902 got as much done as they did and still had time for clubs and organizations of all kinds. I ran across the tenth anniversary of the Ladies of the Maccabees of the World. They had their celebration in the Menard's opera-house (204 Norris Ave. now) at 8 o'clock in the evening. There was a Maccabee Chorus that sang several selections, Lady Mills gave greetings from Supreme Commander and Lady Hanks of Stratton Hive No. 43 played a selection on guitar. Lady Gunn gave a recitation, "Ad Astra Per Aspera". Ending the evening was a ball with an orchestra providing the music. Tickets for the ball were $1.00 with extra ladies costing 25 cents.

"The McCook Electric Light Company is busy making its steam connections on Main avenue in anticipation of cold weather."

A downpour of from 3-7 inches of rain near Trenton September 20, 1902, caused trains to be diverted. At Elm Creek a few miles west of Trenton the flooding "ran over the grade, washing ties, rails and some of the embankment into the ditch for a distance of some 60 to 70 rail lengths." Between Trenton and Stratton the grade was washed out in places, some bridges were taken completely out. Engineer Sharkey on train No, 14 ran into the flooding and got stopped in time...good thing too, because they had already gone through Stratton and the sectionmen from the Trenton side were unable to get across the flooding to notify them of the track's condition.

A round trip ticket on the Burlington to Washington, D.C. from McCook was $32.45. This rate was good for area Civil War veterans wanting to attend a Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) encampment in Washington D.C.

I was reading in that same Tribune about a tragic event in Birmingham, Alabama. Booker T. Washington had just finished his address in the Shiloh Negro Baptist church during the evening session of the national Baptist convention. Some 1,500 delegates were crammed into the church which had a seating capacity of only 400. A conflict between two of the delegates at the rear of the church escalated into a fight but the cries of "fight" from some was misunderstood by member of the audience as "fire." In the wild rush to reach the doors 78 people were crushed to death or suffocated with 80 more near death from injuries. Bodies were piled 10 feet deep at the doors.

William Roder and his gang were busy putting in the concrete foundation for the enlargement of the round-house at McCook's Burlington yards in October, 1902. "A ten-foot extension will be added to the north side of three sections of the round-house. This includes fifteen stalls or one-half of the completed part of the round-house, which only lacks five stalls of the complete thirty-five. This enlargement will necessitate taking down and rebuilding the brick wall on the north side for the entire distance of the fifteen stalls and the extension of the roof on the north side to cover the addition. When completed the new stalls will be 75 feet deep, which will easily accommodate the largest locomotives now in the service as well as the still larger ones expected in a few weeks."