This is the July 17, 1869 issue of HARPER’S WEEKLY newspaper.  Harper’s was one of the most successful newspapers of the time.  Other publishers in the late 1800’s included Frank Leslie, in New York, and Gleason’s and Ballou’s Pictorial, and Every Saturday in Boston.  All of these publications were highly illustrated with wood engravings.  This issue is in good condition, except for a few some spots, but the issue is still very readable.    This issue gives good insight into life in the 1800’s, with articles on politics, literature, and art.  Additional pictures are available upon request.  Please include your e-mail address.

ARTICLES:

UNINVITED GUESTS – A rather humorous engraving, drawn by J.C. Beard graces the cover page.  It depicts a horse with a feeding bag tide to his face, placing his head into the hen house, to the surprise of the chickens and ducks that are within.  

AMERICAN AND ENGLISH NEUTRALITY - The London Star, the paper of the most radical American sympathies in England says that America stands in relation to Cuba exactly as England did in relation to the Southern Confederacy.

NEW ISSUES - In the unprecedented political calm, which has fallen upon the country it is only natural that issues should present themselves of a different kind from those that have engaged the public mind during a generation.  The issue of Temperance is now coming to the forefront.  

OUR SUPPLY OF WATER - Doubt having been expressed as to the capacity of the Croton Valley to supply the future population of New York City with water, the question is an interesting one whether it is well founded, and what means are required to secure the city against such a contingency.  The population may surpass that of London very soon, and the commissioners must take up this question of a contingent water supply to satisfy the growing population.

THE PERSONAL INFALLIBILITY OF THE POPE - Rooms are already engaged in Rome by of persons thousands of miles away who hope to reach the city in time for the Ecumenical Council next winter.

INSULTS TO GENERAL GRANT – Andrew Johnson has made some inflammatory remarks towards President Grant.  It is the fate of the greatest benefactors of their country to be subject to slander.

THE EMPIRE – A comparison between the French Empire under the rule of Louis Napoleon, and the happiness and liberty of the French, is made to the United States.  The article also points out how quick the French Emperor is to imprison anyone who opposes his rule.

THE CASE OF Mr. WARREN - It is telegraphed from Paris, that Mr. J. Q. Warren, an American citizen, has made a formal complaint to our Minister of arrest and ill treatment by the French authorities during the late riots in that city, and demands compensation.

SUMMER – A full-page engraving depicting farm workers taking a brake from the daily work in the hay fields, and spending a moment with their wives and children.  A very peaceful scene, meant to show how life has returned to some normality, just a few years after the end of the Civil War. (See picture)

HON. GEORGE M. ROBESON - SECRETARY OF THE NAVY - The Hon. George M. Robeson, lately appointed Secretary of the Navy, in the place of Hon. A. H. Borie, who resigned, is a native of New Jersey, and a son of Judge William P. Robeson, of Warren County.  An engraved portrait is presented from a photo by Brady.

CAPTURE OF COLONEL BYRON’S CUBAN EXPEDITION - Learning from the United States Marshal and the United States District-Attorney that a filibustering expedition was on the point of starting from this port, carrying man, arms, and other war supplies for the aid of the Cubans, he ordered the revenue cutters Mahonning and M'Culloch, on the 29th of June, to proceed up Long Island Sound in pursuit of the Cuban expedition which was reported to have left this city for Gardiner's Island, on the Long Island coast, and within a short distance of the ocean. An engraving of the “Capture of the Cuban Expedition in Long island Sound” from a sketch by W.M. Cary is presented.

THE “WELCOME STRANGER” – The largest gold nugget found to date was unearthed in Australia about eight miles from Donolly.

SO RUNS THE WORLD AWAY - EVE EATS HER APPLE – A fictional story

MY FIRST PROPOSAL – A poem

GEOLOGICAL CHANGES - Far inland, on the Atlantic borders of the Southern States, immense beds and reefs of coral show clearly that the sea once occupied the regions of dry land where these tokens of geological changes are found.

THE GETTYSBURG MONUMENT - On the 1st of July the Monument erected by the loyal States to the memory of those who perished on the battlefield of Gettysburg was formally dedicated.  A full-page engraving of the monument, and four smaller engravings of the celebration are presented. (See picture)

MY NAMESAKE AND I – A fictional story - My name is Murray Menteith, and I wish it wasn't.

A DUEL – AFTER THE SPAT – A full-page engraving by Thomas Nast. (See picture)

THE DISTURBANCES IN PARIS - The election in France have been attended with unusual turbulence in Paris and in some other of the more populated cities.  An engraving depicting the “Disturbances in Paris – Calvery Clearing the Boulevards on the Night of June 10, 1869” is presented.

“THE ARAB STORY-TELLER” - It is needless to say that the art of more or less fictitious narrative is everywhere cultivated throughout the East, and among the allied nations of the northern seaboard of Africa. An engraving of “The Arab Story Teller” is presented from the painting by J.E. Hodgson.

DEATH, THE GATE OF LIFE – A poem by Newman Hall

SOR PATROCINIO - This strange woman, whose name has become famous, or rather infamous, over the civilized worlds, is now verging of seventy years of age.  She was a nun in the Roman Catholic Church who was befriended by Queen Isabella of Spain, and enjoyed certain liberties and comforts because of this relationship.

ORE FISHERIES OF SWEDEN - Among the various industrial pursuits of Northern Europe none are more singular than the lake fisheries of Sweden that take place usually in January, or about mid-winter, and in which the fishers are miners and the fish a species of iron ore known as lake ore.

CURATIVE POWERS OF ANIMALS - One William Ellis published a curious book in 1750, in which we find a charm for the cure of the king's evil.

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