The Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo was ending, not with a bang, but a whimper. The Bath & Hammondsport Railroad canceled its twice-weekly special, though the Erie Railroad kept on. Pan-Am commemorative stamps were discontinued after the 31st. Germania Wine Company’s Grand Imperial Sec won the only gold medal for champagne, and Harry Champlin from Pleasant Valley Wine Company got a gold medal for his two-year-old stallion Star Chimes at the horse show. But the spectacular world’s fair was winding up its business at a loss, plagued by appallingly hot weather, the assassination of President McKinley, and its own astronomical expenses.
October was kind of a dreary month for a lot of folks. Sheep worrying was a problem around Hammondsport—dogs killed 13 at M. H. Dildine’s farm, two at L. Ward’s, and six at Abe Depew’s. A hundred people got food poisoning at a party in Cass Corners, requiring the speedy services of every doctor in the southwestern part of Steuben County. A Mr. Crinton broke his arm while working on the new Opera House in Hammondsport, then developed sciatica and had to go to the county farm. His daughter was sent to the Davenport Home for girls in Bath, but the son proved more difficult to place.
Grasshoppers and tobacco worms ruined 30% of the crop in the Southern Tier. Fred Shults, apparently intoxicated and asleep on the tracks, was killed by the B&H locomotive at the Erie yard in Bath. British troops in South Africa suffered a sharp defeat. A U. S. Infantry company in the Philippines was attacked at breakfast and nearly wiped out, suffering 48 dead and 11 wounded out of 72 officers and men. Over in London, King George had surgery for throat cancer. In the America’s Cup Race, Columbia beat Shamrock II in three straight. But the losing yachtsman, tea baron Sir Thomas Lipton, was such a good sport that he remained a hero on both sides of the ocean.
Of course, there was also plenty of pleasure to be found as fall slipped toward winter. The Hammondsport Band played October 12 in warm sunny weather (the first snow fell on the 23rd). Nationally-known cartoonist Sidney Smith gave a chalk talk at Hammondsport High School. Pleasant Valley Grange held its last dance of the year on Halloween. Back in the village, at the Presbyterian Church, the King’s Daughters hosted a 95-cent dinner that night, serving up rolls, escalloped oysters, salads, donuts, cheese, coffee, and pumpkin pie.
Speaking of pumpkins, the first ones came to Market in Hammondsport on the 17th. Chestnuts, which were “large and abundant,” sold at $2.50 a bushel, cabbage at $8 to $10 a ton. Hay was getting $10.50 a ton around Pulteney. Fifteen to 25 boxcars of grapes were shipping out of Penn Yan every day. But Hammondsport Preserving Company had too few apples to process, although it still had apple and other juices from the 1900 season. Speed and Snyder, cigar makers in Hammondsport, increased their work force – wonder how much they paid for tobacco with the crop so bad?
All this agricultural activity meant big business. H. M. Champlin invited farmers to take advantage of his Hammondsport Steam Roller Custom & Flour Mills and the Hammondsport Box Factory and Lumber Yards. This impressively-named institution offered new sheds for teams, new scales for weighing in, and up-to-date equipment, including “All the modern machinery for Buckwheat custom milling.” W. E. Cook offered much of the stoneware you would need for preserving your yield, including butter crocks at eight cents for each gallon of capacity and meat tubs at 10 cents a gallon. L. D. Masson had shears, picking boxes, covering slats, corn knives, stencil brushes, paste, rubber stamps, pads, and inks. At Smellie’s Pharmacy you could get feed that would keep your hens laying, bringing in $5.00 worth of eggs for every 25 cents spent on poultry food.
At W. T. Reynolds, fall footwear was in. Mr. Reynolds carried boots, shoes, and rubbers, “Not a scrimpy little lot in a few different styles, but big, generous assortments that make you feel sure you have come to the right place to be satisfied.”
In Buffalo a group of visionaries formed the Frontier Telephone Company. Over in Bayonne, France, bullfight promoters replaced the picadors’ horses with motorcars. All seven bulls ran away, and that was the end of that.