From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for Nov. 26, 1913:

• “The parcel post system, grown to such enormous proportions as to be a wonder of the business world, has thus far failed to meet the expectations and hopes in one respect, the bringing out of co-operation between the farmer and city man, and the elimination of the ‘middleman.’ The amount of food products shipped from agricultural districts by parcel-post was declared today by Postmaster Campbell to be hardly worth considering. Occasionally a turkey, a few chickens, a carton of eggs, or a basket of grapes comes in through the mail. The parcel post has not operated to reduce the cost of living.”
• “Sparks from a flue yesterday afternoon caused a fire which completely destroyed the home of Mrs. Mary Fishback, 2044 Tennessee street. The building was completely destroyed, but most of the furniture was saved. The total loss is estimated at about $500…. The lack of water mains in this section of the city made it practically impossible for the firemen to do anything. A connection was made on Tennessee street but was found that there was not enough hose to reach the fire and a connection had to be made on Massachusetts street. In the meantime the flames burned on and the building was lost.”
• “Thanksgiving will be very quietly observed in Lawrence tomorrow. The formal observance of the day will be tomorrow morning when the churches of the city hold a Union Meeting at the Plymouth Congregational Church. Otherwise it will be a holiday for Lawrence. Many of the stores have announced that they will be closed all day tomorrow…. Business will be very generally suspended, the county and city offices will be closed, the post office will observe the usual holiday hours and the newspapers will print early editions. There will be the usual number of Thanksgiving dinners and family reunions in Lawrence tomorrow.”
• “Alleging that she was cheated out of her property through signing what she thought was a will but what was in reality a deed, Anna Pope, an aged colored woman today filed suit in the district court to recover property on New York street valued at $2,000. Briefly, the story told in the petition filed by her attorneys, Riling and Riling, is this. For forty years Mrs. Pope has owned lot 90 on New York street. She is over 100 years old and came to Lawrence from South Carolina. In November, 1910, Baine Venerable, who was living in the house, is alleged to have induced her to make him a will to the property on condition that he and his wife take care of her for the remainder of her life. On June 2nd, 1911, she alleges she signed another paper which she thought a will, but which was a deed to the property…. Last week, the petition alleges, Mrs. Pope was moved out into a small cabin built in the yard and left without food. The grocers were also ordered not to give her groceries on the credit of the Venerables, and advised the aged woman to go to the poor farm. She filed suit to recover the property as a result.”
• “The body of Charles Moses, sixty years old, a ticket man at the Missouri end of the toll bridge across the Missouri in Leavenworth, was found in the current below the bridge today. A wound on his head and the finding of his hat and numerous blood spots on the bridge led the police to the theory that the man was murdered and the body thrown off the bridge. According to the police Moses frequently had trouble with tramps seeking to pass the bridge without payment. There was no evidence of robbery.”