BOUND VOLUMES, February 20, 2014

200 YEARS AGO
Excerpts from a letter written by Marringui Velaverde, a woman residing at St.Sebastian, Cuba, regarding atrocities committed by British and Portuguese troops who ransacked the city: “On the 31st of August, (1813) at 4 o’clock p.m., the Anglo-Portuguese troops took possession of the city. The inhabitants who at first had appeared at their windows and upon their balcony’s to hail the arrival of those whom they considered as their deliverers, were no long before they perceived the unhappy consequences of their error, and they had some reasons to prognosticate the evils which awaited them. They were obliged to shut themselves up in their houses, to avoid the incessant fire which their new guests were pouring upon them as a grateful return of the kind reception they met with. On the following day, the troops were quartered in the several houses, and on that day they contented themselves with robbing them of everything worth taking. On the first of September, a general frenzy seemed to have seized them; in an instant, rape, murder, and desolation spread themselves over all parts of the city. The houses were filled with dead bodies. The woman who dared to oppose a resistance above her sex was sure to meet with immediate assassination and, neither infancy nor old age, were able to find mercy.”
February 19, 1914

175 YEARS AGO
Abolitionists – A portion of the Massachusetts Abolitionists have recently resolved to get up a political Abolition press; and another portion of them in this State, have resolved to introduce Abolitionism into our churches. So we go. With Abolitionism, Total Abstinence-ism, Anti-Masonry-ism and Amalgamation-ism mixed up with, and made test questions in our religion and our politics, we shall soon be in a most delectable situation.
February 18, 1839

150 YEARS AGO
Compensated labor in Louisiana – By the steamer Mississippi from New Orleans on the 4th inst. we learn that General Banks had issued a long general regulation on the subject of compensated plantation labor, fixing the rate thereof, interdicting flogging and the sale of intoxicating drinks to plantation hands, and stating that the enlistment of soldiers from plantations will not be resumed without further orders from the government, &c. Laborers will be permitted to choose their employers, but when the agreements are made they will be held to it for one year. Laborers will be permitted on a limited scale to cultivate land on their own private account. A free labor bank will be established as a safe deposit for savings. The transportation of Negro families to other countries is disapproved.
February 19, 1864

100 YEARS AGO
The blizzard of 1888 has met its match at last and the blizzard of 1914 will go down in history as the equal if not the superior of that famous storm of 26 years ago. According to the official figures the fall of snow on Friday and Saturday last was exactly equal to that of the 1888 blizzard which was 32 inches. In 1888, it snowed 44 hours, while the storm of last week succeeded in depositing the same amount of snow upon Mother Earth in 18 hours. All glory to the blizzard of 1914!
February 19, 1914

50 YEARS AGO
A Cooperstown insurance agent and real estate broker, Arthur T. Peevers, made a safe emergency landing on the New York State Thruway near Schenectady Sunday night after unusually high tail winds had blown his light aircraft miles beyond its scheduled landing point at Utica. Mr. Peevers brought his Cessna 172 down on the westbound lane of the Thruway near the Guilderland service area shortly before 10 o’clock just before his gas tanks ran dry. Mr. Peevers, who has logged more than 1,500 hours in more than 20 years of flying, including a stint with the U.S. Army Air Forces during WWII, came down without incident and taxied the aircraft to a crossover between the two Thruway lanes. It was later pushed and towed to the nearby service center. Late Monday afternoon, with a detail of State Police holding up traffic, Mr. Peevers took off from the eastbound lane and landed at nearby Albany airport where repairs to his radio equipment were addressed.
February 19,1964

25 YEARS AGO
After a one-year derailment, trolleys will most likely return to Cooperstown this summer. “The village is planning on operating the trolleys if nothing unforeseen happens that would make this intention totally impractical,” said Village Clerk Douglas Walrath. Along with a contribution of $8,000 to $10,000 from the Village of Cooperstown, financial commitments from various organizations will make up the estimated $80,000 operating cost.
February 22, 1989

10 YEARS AGO
Paul R. Leonard and Suzanne Clarvoe have been named Presidential Scholars by Clarkson University for the fall 2003 semester. Leonard, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Brent Leonard, is a sophomore majoring in interdisciplinary engineering and management. Clarvoe, the daughter of Paul and Martha Clarvoe of Hartwick, is a sophomore majoring in business and technology management. Clarvoe is one of 24 Clarkson students involved in Revolution 24 Inc., a ground-breaking, student-run corporation actively participating in the field of federal bidding.
February 20, 2004