Happenchance: a fluke or a coincidental event, occurred as I googled Wannaskan Almanac, just now. I typed Wannaskan, as Wanaskan, and the first site that came up was this: https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85042373/1906-07-28/ed-1/seq-4/ocr
It included these lines: "HE liS THE Man Arrested at Mekinock Indicted for Crime by Roseau, Minn., Grand Jury. The grand jury of Roseau county, Minn., has returned an indictment against Alexander McKenzie, charging him with the murder of William Stuart at Wanaska ..." which immediately caught my eye, of course because I am so familiar with it.
Because the print was tiny and in columnar form, I had to scan a number of entries including:
A Drawing Card.
"Jim writes home," said the old man,
"that he has drawed on me for $20
ag'in."
"What's up now?"
"College dinner. Last time he draw
ed $20 for breakfast."
"Yes?"
"An' $20 fer supper."
"You don't say?"
"Fact. Run an' hitch up the bay
hoss quick!"
"Whar air you a-goin' to?"
"I'm a-goin' to throw myself into
the han's of a receiver, an' take the
bankrupt act before Jim draws on
me fer lunch!"
"When is a joke not a joke?"
"When you try to sell it to a comic
paper."
Finger Crashed.
Myer Gilbert, the hustling news boy
for The Evening Times, received a
badly bruised hand last evening by
having the finger on that member
caught in the cogs of the folder in the
mailing room. The finger was badly
lacerated but will not have to be am
putated as was at first feared. Dr.
Campbell dressed the wound and
Myer showed good nerve during the
operation. He is selling papers for
"the new paper" today as usual.
Reading further, I found the story which I sought, continued:
" ... last December. McKencle, it will be remembered, was arrested at Mekinock, this county, In June by a Minnesota sheriff.
He is firm in his statements of innocence and says that when he is put on the stand he will disclose the name and present address of the murderer, who is now in hiding in Dakota. The parents of McKenzie in Prince Edward island, are convinced that their son is Innocent and will in all probability be in attendance at the trial. R. H. Medicraft is the attorney for McKenzie."
The coincidence is this murder occurred in our township of Palmville, in Roseau County, Minnesota four miles east and about one south of where I reside. We published this story, "Murder in Palmville", in 1995, in THE RAVEN: Northwest Minnesota's Original Art, History & Humor Journal, as a reprint from the Roseau Times-Region archives and the Minnesota Historical Museum records. It's also in a book titled "Outlaw Tales of Montana" by Gary B. Wilson, published that same year.
Okay, I sort of get the premise that everything you enter on a computer and utilize the Internet is swept into this 'vortex' of information and thus everything you enter afterward is then inter-connected and 'happenchance' connectivity, is no longer a fluke or coincidence. For an old guy, it's still weird.
It included these lines: "HE liS THE Man Arrested at Mekinock Indicted for Crime by Roseau, Minn., Grand Jury. The grand jury of Roseau county, Minn., has returned an indictment against Alexander McKenzie, charging him with the murder of William Stuart at Wanaska ..." which immediately caught my eye, of course because I am so familiar with it.
Because the print was tiny and in columnar form, I had to scan a number of entries including:
A Drawing Card.
"Jim writes home," said the old man,
"that he has drawed on me for $20
ag'in."
"What's up now?"
"College dinner. Last time he draw
ed $20 for breakfast."
"Yes?"
"An' $20 fer supper."
"You don't say?"
"Fact. Run an' hitch up the bay
hoss quick!"
"Whar air you a-goin' to?"
"I'm a-goin' to throw myself into
the han's of a receiver, an' take the
bankrupt act before Jim draws on
me fer lunch!"
"When is a joke not a joke?"
"When you try to sell it to a comic
paper."
Finger Crashed.
Myer Gilbert, the hustling news boy
for The Evening Times, received a
badly bruised hand last evening by
having the finger on that member
caught in the cogs of the folder in the
mailing room. The finger was badly
lacerated but will not have to be am
putated as was at first feared. Dr.
Campbell dressed the wound and
Myer showed good nerve during the
operation. He is selling papers for
"the new paper" today as usual.
Reading further, I found the story which I sought, continued:
" ... last December. McKencle, it will be remembered, was arrested at Mekinock, this county, In June by a Minnesota sheriff.
He is firm in his statements of innocence and says that when he is put on the stand he will disclose the name and present address of the murderer, who is now in hiding in Dakota. The parents of McKenzie in Prince Edward island, are convinced that their son is Innocent and will in all probability be in attendance at the trial. R. H. Medicraft is the attorney for McKenzie."
The coincidence is this murder occurred in our township of Palmville, in Roseau County, Minnesota four miles east and about one south of where I reside. We published this story, "Murder in Palmville", in 1995, in THE RAVEN: Northwest Minnesota's Original Art, History & Humor Journal, as a reprint from the Roseau Times-Region archives and the Minnesota Historical Museum records. It's also in a book titled "Outlaw Tales of Montana" by Gary B. Wilson, published that same year.
Okay, I sort of get the premise that everything you enter on a computer and utilize the Internet is swept into this 'vortex' of information and thus everything you enter afterward is then inter-connected and 'happenchance' connectivity, is no longer a fluke or coincidence. For an old guy, it's still weird.
For this weird guy, it never gets old.
ReplyDeleteI beg to remind you that I strongly suggested "Wannaska Chronicle" for the name of our writing adventure. And there it is in your first internet reference. Harumph!
ReplyDeleteInaways, your post tells a good, local tale, ripe for the reading. I esp. resonate with your final paragraph wherein you speak of the great matter of inter-connection. The internet of which you speak is simply one of the more recent manifestations of the noble truth of interdependence, better known as dependent origination, or even conditioned genesis. In short, you've targeted one of the great truths of our existence. Way to go, Dudearino!
The world is one big Wannaska.
ReplyDelete