Good morning, Whitewater.
Sunday in town will be a day of decreasing clouds with a high of thirty-seven. Sunrise is 7:20 AM and sunset 4:50 PM, for 9h 29m 53s of daytime.
Friday’s FW poll asked if readers thought that a video of a supposed ghost in Blackburn, England seemed convincing. A majority of respondents (82.76%) said that they were unconvinced (‘you must be kidding’).
On this day in 1803, Pres. Jefferson requests $2,500 from Congress:
….President Thomas Jefferson sends a special confidential message to Congress asking for money to fund the journey of Lewis and Clark….
Jefferson directed Lewis to draw up an estimate of expenses. Basing his calculations on a party of one officer and 10 enlisted men—the number was deliberately kept small to avoid inspiring both congressional criticisms and Indian fears of invasion—Lewis carefully added up the costs for provisions, weapons, gunpowder, scientific instruments, and a large boat. The final tally came to $2,500. The largest item was $696, earmarked for gifts to Indians.
Following the advice of his secretary of the treasury, Albert Gallatin, Jefferson decided not to include the request in his general proposed annual budget, since it involved exploration outside of the nation’s own territory. Instead, on January 18, 1803, he sent a special secret message to Congress asking for the money, taking pains to stress that the proposed exploration would be an aid to American commerce. Jefferson noted that the Indians along the proposed route of exploration up the Missouri River “furnish a great supply of furs & pelts to the trade of another nation carried on in a high latitude.” If a route into this territory existed, “possibly with a single portage, from the Western ocean,” Jefferson suggested Americans might have a superior means of exploiting the fur trade. Though carefully couched in diplomatic language, Jefferson’s message to Congress was clear: a U.S. expedition might be able to steal the fur trade from the British and find the long hoped-for Northwest passage to the Pacific.
Despite some mild resistance from Federalists who never saw any point in spending money on the West, Jefferson’s carefully worded request prevailed, and Congress approved the $2,500 appropriation by a sizeable margin. It no doubt seemed trivial in comparison to the $9,375,000 they had approved a week earlier for the Louisiana Purchase, which brought much of the territory Jefferson was proposing to explore under American control….
On this day in 1908, tobacco goes up in smoke:
1908 – Fire Destroys Tobacco Warehouse
On this date fire devastated the tobacco warehouse of Julius Marqusee & Co. An estimated 4,000 cases of tobacco were destroyed. Losses were estimated at $250,000, Janesville’s largest property loss to that date. Three firemen suffered injuries fighting the blaze. [Source: Janesville Gazette]