Local Brevities

Mrs. George W. Cropsey, who has been ill, is convalescing.

Reuben Hoffstetter has accepted a position with the Puritan Shoe Co.

St. Thomas choir will sing Marzo's Mass at the 10:30 service next Sunday.

Miss Etta Saunders is able to attend to her school work again after her accident.

The Campus Press owned by S. A. Moran has been purchased by Parker & Schneider.

Mrs. H. Brang of Detroit is spending a few days with Mrs. W. D. Goodell of Willard street.

Mrs. Lucy Nash sang a solo at the Methodist church Sunday evening in a very excellent manner.

The case of Dr. Lee, of Dexter, vs. Thomas Rabbitt was settled Wednesday by the payment of $222.

Ann Arbor Commandery Knights Templar will attend Easter services at St. Luke's church, Ypsilanti.

At the board meeting of the Ladies' Library held Monday afternoon five new books were ordered.  They will be received soon.

The Ann Arbor lodge of Knights of Columbus expect to be represented at a full degree meeting to be held in Bay City April 20.

The Knickerbocker club enjoyed a banquet on Saturday evening.  Plenty of good things to eat and smoke made the evening pass enjoyably.

Rev. Frederick Pitts, curate of St. Andrew's church of this city, will conduct services Sunday in St. Paul's Episcopal church of Jackson.

Fred Besimer has purchased property on W. Huron street, opposite the motor line waiting room and will open up a saloon there on May 1.

The ladies of the Congregational church will give their regular monthly tea Thursday, March 13.  A good musical program will be given.

The gas company is hunting a frozen main on Liberty street near the Ann Arbor railroad crossing.  Their men found the frost from six to eight inches deep.

Ann Arbor Commandery, Knights Templar, will present Director Kempf with a full uniform in recognition of his services in the production of Pinafore.

L. O'Toole has recently received his diploma which was awarded him at the last Washtenaw County fair for the excellence of the White sewing machine.

Koernke & Bucholz have the contract for a fine new residence for Fred Stimson.  It will be built on the corner of Huron and Twelfth street and will cost about $6,000.

Eugene J. Helber says that he is contemplating buying or building a store near the corner of Main and Liberty streets and will fit it up for a printing office.

Co. I has decided to invest some money in gymnasium apparatus to be placed in the Armory and this will be made one of the features of the social side of the organization.

Mr. and Mrs. B. F. Watts entertained very pleasantly a few of their friends Monday evening.  Progressive pedro was indulged in and light refreshments were served.

The manufacturing firm of Harkins & Willis recently sent a large consignment of "Jim's Toasters" to Australia and are now preparing a large order which will be sent to California.

Charles Major, Jr., was before Judge Kinne Wednesday and withdrew his plea of not guilty to the charge of larceny in a store in the day time, and pleaded guilty.  Sentence was suspended.

Michael Staebler, landlord of Hotel American, has returned from Chicago where he attended an automobile show.  He was on the street when Prince Henry was there and saw him.  He says the Prince looks just like his picture.  The streets were packed with such a crowd as Mr. Staebler never before saw in his life.

Mrs. C. Martin was surprised by about twenty of her friends last evening.  The evening passed very pleasantly, cards and dancing were indulged in.  A dainty supper was served at midnight.

The supervisor of Sylvan sent in a list of 134 dogs in the township and said that the taxes had not been paid on the canines.  As the dogs are not described the sheriff refuses to go out and shoot them.

Chaplain Orwick, of the Jackson state prison, will speak at Newberry hall Sunday afternoon at 4:15 on the subject, "The ex-Prisoner--what can be done for him."  At this meeting, Miss Stretch will sing.

Miss Hintz returned from New York city Wednesday, where she has been spending several weeks at the wholesale houses.  It took her three days to make the journey on account of the floods in Pennsylvania.

Miss Grace Evans entertained a number of her friends at a progressive flinch party Monday evening.  It was a most enjoyable affair.  Miss Eva McMain won first prize and Miss Holmes carried off consolation prize.

Rev. R. B. Balcom, rector of St. Paul's Episcopal church at Jackson, will make an address at the Saturday evening service at 4 o'clock  in Harris hall,  and also preach in St. Andrew's church Sunday morning and evening.

The case of Frank Ortman vs. the Ann Arbor Brewing company was settled Wednesday out of court.  Ortman sued the Brewing company for a rebate on the bottled goods he had disposed of and the company paid him $100 today.

Fred R. Fenton, the new president of the League of Republican Clubs, has selected the following advisory council in the second congressional district:  W. W. Wedemeyer, Ann Arbor, George A. Chapman, Hudson.--Adrian Times

Three township treasurers were in the city yesterday and settled with George F. Mann, county treasurer, all having clean rolls. They were George F. Walz of Dexter township, W. D. Crippen of Superior and W. R. Lehman of Lyndon.

The King's Daughters of the Baptist church met at the home of Miss Bertha Eldert Monday evening.  The meeting was well attended.  Members held a rehearsal of a play which will be presented by them at Newberry Hall in the near future.

The Ann Arbor Music Co. will give a concert at the Chelsea opera house, Wednesday evening, March 12, for the benefit of the Maccabee piano fund.  To the two people who sell the most tickets the Music Co. will give a gramophone each as prizes.

Chas. H. and Warren Lewis have purchased the great Kentucky show ring stallion "Golden Era."  He is said to be at one time the handsomest styled horse in Kentucky.  Golden Era came to Michigan from Dr. Herr's famous stock farm at Lexington, Ky.

An orchestra of about ten pieces will play for the patients at the regular hospital next Saturday afternoon at 2 o'clock.  The music will be under the direction of Miss Rose French, violinist.  The patients enjoy the music very much and are very appreciative.

The Y.M.C.A. Fencing club exhibits a vigorous infancy.  The club with its instruction by an expert fencer, is one of the privileges of membership in the association.  The only expense is for a foil and mask.  Some who were not members are now joining the Y. M. C. A. to get into the club.

Still another electric railroad is billed for Brighton.  A South Lyon committee has asked Brighton business men to meet a Northville and South Lyon committee  in Brighton in regard to the Northwestern electric road running from Northville to South Lyon and Brighton.

After all that has been said and written for years, friends of the newspapers still continue to send items on post cards and letters without signing their names.  Editors are very glad to receive such favors, but they must know as a matter of good faith not for publication, who sends them items.

"The Historical Jesus:  Who He Was and What He Does For Me," will be the first of a short course of sermons to be given by Rev. Mr. Crooker Sunday morning next at the Unitarian church.  The subject will be "The Original and Essential Christianity; How Much is Left in the Twentieth Century?"

The old Goodyear store is a busy spot these days.  The floors have been lowered and today there were carpenters, painters, paper-hangers, plasterers, plumbers and steam fitters all working in the store at the same time.  Such extensive improvements in such a short time necessitates a deal of hustling.

In the new postoffice building at Chicago, which has been in course of construction for years past, there is to be erected a dome which will be one of the wonders of the world.  It will be made of glass and gold which will be fused together, and it is stated that when the sun is shining this dome will be seen by the naked eye for a distance of 20 miles.

G. Frank Allmendinger of the Ann Arbor Milling Co. says his company is paying the highest market price for beans.  The market quotations are followed and any stories that higher prices are paid at other points in the county is a mistake.  It may be true, however, that sometimes country dealers do not hear of a falling market as soon as they do, or the beans may be bought to fill a contract, which, in either case, might cause the country dealer for a few days to pay a few cents more. 

The Hod Carriers and Mason Tenders Union, No. 9542, of Ann Arbor, organized last December, has elected the following officers:  President, Gottlob Gross; vice president, Gottlob Maulbetsch; secretary, Julius F. Schulz; financial secretary, August Pommerening; treasurer, Al. Zemke; inside guard, Cas. Weier; outside guard, August Winter.

Webster township is becoming a great sheep feeding country and something of an idea of the excellence of the lambs fed there can be gained from - the fact that last week Dorr Queal sold 50 lambs that weighed 107 pounds apiece.  On Tuesday of the same week Otis Cushing sold Dan Sutton 190 lambs that averaged 105 pounds.--Dexter Leader.

James Bonnell died in Milwaukee, Wis., Sunday afternoon, aged 89.  He was the father of Mrs. C. H. Helmer, formerly a resident of Ann Arbor, on N. Ingalls street.  He was an uncle of Mrs. George R. Haviland who was the only one at his bedside when he died, his daughter being sick in Chicago.  Mr. Bonnell had been a wholesale dry goods merchant.

Considerable interest is manifested in the outcome of some surveys, which it is claimed were recently made through Webster township.  There is a belief that the  Boland line may go northeast from Dexter, touching Whitmore Lake, South Lyon, Plymouth and Detroit.  It is asserted that the people in that section want the road and will put up both cash and right-of-way to get one.--Dexter Leader.

It is stated that a proposition has been made to the post office department that the rural carriers reverse their routes, going one way one morning and the other way the next morning.  By doing this, all patrons will be served alike.  The authorities are seriously considering the matter.  If it can be done in one case, we don't see why the rule might not be made to apply in the city delivery.

The many friends of Mr. and Mrs. Hector Drake, of Lodi, will be shocked to learn that their son Clarence A. Burd, died Monday after an illness of only five days, of pleura-pneumonia.  The deceased was 19 years of age.  The funeral services were held at the residence of Albert Clark, 513 Felch street, Thursday at 1 o'clock; the Rev. W. L. Tedrow officiating.  The interment took place at the Lodi cemetery.

An entertainment was given at Newberry hall Tuesday afternoon at 4 o'clock which was largely attended by school children of the city and was greatly enjoyed by them.  It was a good, clean entertainment, it consisted of magic, ventriloquism, etc.  The Punch and Judy show, as usual convulsed the children with laughter.  After the performance, each child was presented with a souvenir of the occasion.

The members of the congregation, Sunday school and the Christian Endeavor Society of the Northside church tendered a reception to Rev. H. E. Bell Monday evening.  The affair was a very pleasant one and was well attended.  A few closing remarks were made by Mr. Bell on the relationship of these three organizations and their co-operation in the work that had been done.  The reception lasted from 8 to 9 o'clock.

The Misses Whitman gave a progressive pedro party Tuesday evening which was a most enjoyable affair.  There were four tables and eight games were played, after which a dainty lunch was served. Music helped to make the evening pleasant.  Harlan Briggs sang several solos which were greatly enjoyed by the other guests.  Miss Mamie Beck and L. Canfield carried off first prizes and Miss Reynolds and Mr. Nuff won consolation prizes.

"The Original and Essential Christianity" is the title of a short course of sermons to be given during the closing Sundays of Lent at the Unitarian church by the pastor, Rev. Joseph H. Crooker.  The effort, it is announced, will be to state briefly and clearly the answers that may be made to the question, "How much of the original Christianity is left at the beginning of the Twentieth century?"  Mr. Crooker will begin next Sunday morning with the special topic:  "The Historical Jesus---Who was he and how he helps me."  The following will be discussed:  "The Primitive Gospel----What did the 
Apostles teach" and "The Christ of Dogma, or What the Philosophers did with Jesus."

John Allmand, the horticulturist of Jackson Avenue is the owner of a rooster that is a rare avis.  Instead of the bird using the ordinary everyday crow when he expresses his feelings he whistles.  The bird was raised by Mr. Allmand.

News has been received in this city of the death of Mrs. William Voorheis, Feb. 6, at Grand Rapids.  Her late husband was a well-known hardware dealer many years ago in Ann Arbor.  They resided in a house just north of the residence of Mrs. Christian Mack on S. Fourth Avenue until Mr. Voorheis built the brick house on W. Huron Street, afterwards owned by John Gott and now by Dr. W. J. Herdmann.

One of the electric railway promoters who was in Marshall recently stated that work would be commenced on the line between Battle Creek and Jackson about April 1 and pushed as rapidly as possible.  The company expects to have the line between these two cities completed in time for the Fourth of July business.  It is expected that the overhead bridge at Albion will be completed by June 1.  Mechanics are now at work repairing the working train at Marengo.

Poet Showman's farewell concert promises to be a grand success.  The advance sale of tickets is large and both his colored and white friends will give him an adieu that will inspire new success in England.  The Detroit singers on the program are Mrs. Frances Barnes and Douglass Marshall.  Mr. Marshall, bxasso-cantante, is a pupil of the late Heydon Tilla and Frederic Warrinton and represents the New World School of Vocal Art.  Newberry Hall, this evening.

Little Miss Eunice Smith entertained seven of her little friends Wednesday, the occasion being her seventh birthday.  A Jack Horner pie, from which the children drew different toys afforded great amusement for the little guests.  The table where the lunch was served was very dainty with its pink decorations.  A birthday cake with seven candles formed an attractive centerpiece.  The children spent a merry afternoon and were escorted home by mammas and papas at 8 o'clock.

The Michigan Supreme Court Wednesday decided a case that will interest Ann Arbor and all other cities where sidewalks are built by the corporation.  The decision holds that the legislative body cannot impose a duty upon a citizen, give him an insufficient time in which to perform it, and then authorize someone else to perform the duty for him, and impose a tax upon him for the cost. "The duty to construct a sidewalk," says the court, "is purely statutory, and when such a duty is imposed upon a citizen he is entitled to a reasonable time in which to perform it."

"David Harum," the most successful comedy of the year, taken from the most successful and widely read novel of the decade, is the welcome announcement made by Charles Frohman to be presented by his best company at the Athens Theater on Thursday, March 13.  One can readily see the opportunities for clever comedians in the many lifelike hits in the novel as they are so natural and "common" in their characteristics that they are familiar types to all.  While the novel was a novelty in that it was a disconnected series of incidents, yet it needed only a skilled dramatist to choose the more dramatic and humorous episodes and weld them into three acts of continuous movement from start to finish.  That success has fallen to the comedy is a good sign of the times, as it is, after all, pure and homely.

For the last two years the Michigan Central Railroad Co. has recognized the necessity of double-tracking its main line between Jackson and Niles, and each spring rumors that it is to be done get afloat.  It is quite likely from all that can be learned that a start may be made this year, and perhaps some 25 or 30 miles of new track laid, but until President Ledyard approves or vetoes the proposition the question will be undetermined.  It is known positively that President Ledyard has not yet considered the matter fully.  By building a portion of the road each year for three or four years, the work could be best and most economically be done, and this course will probably be pursued.  Such new bridges as have been built in the last two years have been provided with a double strength girder on the north side in anticipation of a double track.