19th Century Luzerne — Let the bridge go forward

A revote was held on constructing a bridge across the Hudson River, and this time the turn-out was strong.

Supporters of the proposed bridge project apparently mounted an aggressive get-out-the-vote effort, unlike the previous defeat when just 14 people voted.

“At the special meeting held in Luzerne on Tuesday the proposition to build a bridge between that place and Corinth was carried by a majority of twenty-five,” The Morning Star reported Dec. 4, 1894.

But the controversy was not over.

Supporters and opponents alike made the trek to Glens Falls to comment at the meeting when the Warren County Board of Supervisors voted to approve the bridge project.

“When the argument was at its height, Armorer Brown stepped quietly out of the room and, returning with a pair of boxing gloves, dropped them on the floor at the feet of the disputants. None enjoyed the joke more that the debaters,” The Morning Star reported on Dec. 13, 1894.

In other 19th century Lake Luzerne news collected from historic newspapers of the region:

• It was fair time at Lake Luzerne.

“There was a good attendance at the Luzerne Fair yesterday, considering the weather,” the Luzerne correspondent reported in The Morning Star of Glens Falls on Aug. 31, 1894.

The bovine entries were few.

“Among the attractions at the fair this year is a spotted four-legged calf and a two-year-old heifer, which comprises all of the cattle on exhibition,” the Luzerne correspondent reported on Sept. 3.

• “J.S. Burneson is selling out his stock of groceries at cost, when he will retire from that business,” the Luzerne correspondent reported in The Morning Star on Aug. 25, 1894.
• “Judge Green, assisted by Harry Peckham, gave a humorous entertainment at the Presbyterian Church on Monday evening,” the Luzerne correspondent reported in The Morning Star on Sept. 3, 1894.
• “The Wesleyan Sunday School went to Clothier Hollow, Corinth, to picnic on Thursday. … The Methodist Episcopal Sunday School enjoyed a picnic across the lake on Thursday,” the Lake Luzerne correspondent reported in The Morning Star on Sept. 7, 1894.
• “’Sweet Lotus’ is the name given a new club recently organized and composed mostly of young men who meet evenings at their parlor to read and discuss issues of the day,” the Luzerne correspondent reported in The Morning Star on Dec. 8, 1894.

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