For Historic Trenton’s Day in the Life, we’re looking back through newspapers from the beginning and seeing what everyday problems, solutions, and needs were met during historic Trenton’s past. Today we go back in time to Nov. 18, 1895, a busy Monday edition packed with interesting advertisements including a full-page section featuring Southwick’s, a seller of dry and fancy goods formally on 37 East State Street and East Southwick.
On the front page, we learn that Trenton Public schools in the area were maintaining good health following an epidemic of Diphtheria, an acute highly contagious bacterial disease of the time, that was making its way through the city. The year prior, the epidemic had disastrous effects on Trenton Schools, but this year was different when it came to sanitation within the schools.
In other news, the Bergen Arson Case was underway in the Mercer Court as counsel addressed the jury in summing up the case of John Bergen, a Hopewell farmer charged with setting fires to barns of another local farmer.
Trenton Naval Reserves were headed to Philadelphia to take formal possession of the United States Monitor Ajax, a naval ship on loan to New Jersey and one of the old single turreted monitors built during the civil war according to Navsource.org.
In the city notes, many Trentonians were set to attend the Princeton Vs. Yale football game at Manhattan Field, NY. The Naval reserves was set to hold the first white Duck Dress drill in the evening and the State school team lost against the Cannon club of Princeton 16 to 0. On top of all of this, the Pennsylvania railroad was starting its Christmas deals.
From the best peach cream on 185 S. Broad Street to velvet corded chinchilla coats for under $9 to a Syrup of Figs laxative promising “the most gratifying results,” the visions of a past city are vivid as we continue to take the journey down Historic Trenton’s Day in the Life.
