Nov. 28, 1909 (Sunday)

STRIKING WORKERS ARE KICKED TO THE CURB IN LUDLOW: A strike in Ludlow has turned ugly. About 200 striking employees of Ludlow manufacturing plants have been EVICTED from their company-owned tenements. Today's Globe has a story and images on its front page (above). The article says that "many of those evicted are passing tonight [meaning last night] in the street, with little or nothing but their scanty wearing apparel to protect them from the cold winds and the freezing slush and snow of the street."
The Ludlow Manufacturing Associates owns the plants in Ludlow that make jute and hemp goods. A labor dispute has lingered since August when about 20 young boys asked from a raise from $5 to $5.50 a week. That was rejected. That decision created a deadlock. Only about 800 of the 2,700 employees are actually at work at the plants.

GUEST TAKES A LONGSHOT ON A LAST-MINUTE WEDDING GIFT -- A DEER HEAD: George M. Follette of Fall River and Carrie G. Emery of Lakeview, Maine, got married on Thursday. That's nice, but it really isn't -- in and of itself -- worthy of a story in today's Globe. However, the gift that Robert T. Clark of Bangor presented to the couple was newsworthy. He gave the a DEER HEAD. What makes it more intriguing is that the head belonged to a deer that Clark shot while on his way to the wedding -- riding on a buckboard outside of Milo (shown above, in 1905) with a group of wedding guests. Here's the relevant paragraph:
"The party took a buckboard at Milo and was hardly a mile out of town, when a big deer was sighted in a neighboring field. Mr. Clark fired at 500 yards over the shoulder of one of the bridesmaids and wounded the animal in the leg."

A second shot brought the deer down. According to the article, the head will be mounted and will decorate a wall in the Follettes' home in Fall River.
It sure beats getting a toaster.

Nov. 3, 1909 (Wednesday)

ARMY BURIES FOOTBALL PLAYER WHO DIED FROM INJURIES SUFFERED IN HARVARD GAME:
Lots of bad things can happen in a pileup on the football field. (Exhibit A: Video of eye-gouging in this past weekend's Florida-Georgia game -- 2009.) Cadets at West Point buried Eugene Byrne yesterday, according to today's Boston Globe. Byrne, of Buffalo, N.Y., died on Sunday, the day after he was severely injured in Army's football game against Harvard. [The picture above shows Army playing at home about 1909.) In the game Byrne, a lineman, was buried beneath a pile of players. The weight of the pile twisted and broke his neck. He would have died instantly but artificial respiration kept him alive.
His dad, John A. Byrne, is former chief of police in Buffalo. Today's paper describes why the family chose to have Eugene buried at West Point:
"...cadet Byrne's whole life from boyhood had been devoted to a passionate desire to be a West Pointer and a soldier and that in his case it was particularly fitting that he should sleep in the little God's acre close tot eh school he loved."
The base chapel was filled yesterday for the service. Those attending included the Army football team and 25 members of the Harvard Club of New York. The U.S. Naval Academy sent two seniors to the service. The death has prompted the academies to CANCEL the Army-Navy game.
[This death helped make the 1909 football season one of the deadliest ever.]

Oct. 31, 1909 (Sunday)

A SCARY NOTION FOR NEWSPAPERS: THE SECOND HUNDRED YEARS MIGHT BE THE TOUGHEST....: Today's Globe celebrates the 82 newspapers in the United States that have been publishing for at least 100 YEARS. [The story about this was NOT published anywhere near the scary-pumpkin illustration above, which adorned the first page of the comic.] The 100-year-club includes 22 in New England.
Here they are:
CONNECTICUT
Bridgeport -- Republican Farmer;
Hartford -- Connecticut Courant;
New Haven -- Connecticut Herald and Weekly Journal;
Norwich -- Courier.
MAINE
Portland -- Advertiser;
Portland -- Eastern Argus.
MASSACHUSETTS
Boston -- Courier;
Greenfield -- Gazette;
Haverhill -- Evening Gazette;
New Bedford -- Morning Mercury;
Northhampton -- Hampshire Gazette;
Pittsfield -- Berkshire County Eagle;
Salem -- Register and Mercury.
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Concord -- New Hampshire Patriot;
Keene -- Cheshire Republican;
Keene -- New Hampshire Sentinel;
Milford -- Cabinet;
Portsmouth -- N.H. Gazette.
RHODE ISLAND
Newport -- Mercury.
VERMONT
Montpelier -- Vermont Watchman;
Rutland -- Herald;
Windsor -- Vermont Journal.
Amazingly, some remain, a century later. I've added links to a couple of those that still publish -- and which are online. But not many remain.
The newspapers themselves aren't the only items on the list that have vanished. Think of the names. Consider Portland's Eastern Argus, named, presumably, for Argus Panoptes from Greek mythology. He was an all-seeing guardian with, reportedly, about a hundred eyes. It's a good name for a newspaper, which tries to catch all the important things going on all around it. Gosh, he died, too.

Oct. 30, 1909 (Saturday)

A HUNDRED YEARS LATER, THE FEELING IS THE SAME: Today's Globe decorates its front page with the above cartoon, showing the pressures applied by candidates on a typical voter. The same cartoon could be printed today, of course. Actually, one change would be needed, I suppose. A hundred years ago, there was no question that a voter would be a man. For the political world of 1909, women's suffrage lies in the future.

WHY WOMEN NEED STRONG NECKS: Women are pictured in today's Globe, today, of course -- just not as voters. Henry Siegel Co., which sits on the corner of Washington and Essex streets in Boston has a huge ad on page 3 of today's Globe. I loved this image -- of a woman in a beaver hat. Here's the description:
"Beautiful heavy napped beavers, in large and medium shapes -- including the much wanted roll brim sailor; trimmed with velvet bows, flowers or wings. Beavers are very scarce as well as popular this season."
The ad says that "exclusive stores" would put a $12.50 or $15 price tag on these hats (multiply by about 20 for 2009 dollars). Today only, Siegel is selling them for $8.75.

JOHNSON-JEFFRIES MATCH IS INKED: Today's sports page announces that two boxing greats -- Jack Johnson (right) and James Jeffries -- agreed yesterday to have a "fight to the finish" by July 5, 1910. The fight, at a site to be determined, will be at least 45 rounds.
The report tried to duplicate Johnson's accent, making no effort to try and duplicate any accent Jeffries may or may not have had. Some samples:
"No, suh. I has a say where mah money goes."
"No man has moah to say about mah money than I have."

Oct. 29, 1909

USUALLY, JOURNALISTS ARE TOUGH....: Today's Globe has an interesting observation about the THIN SKIN of some journalists and newspaper practitioners. The editorial deals with criticism levied at a play that deals with "a newspaper and its controllers". The editorial writer says, "This play has been severely criticised on the ground that it misrepresents the newspaper calling." He adds, "The editors who accuse the dramatic collaborateurs of libeling the press are oversensitive."
It points out that lawyers rarely protest about the way that "barristers, attorneys and shysters" are portrayed in plays or on the pages of novels. "We have not heard of any protests from them, not any complaint that the dramatists or romancers have misrepresented their profession." The same is true of doctors, many of whom are portrayed in unflattering ways in the theater and in books.
The conclusion: "To be oversensitive about such matters is to rate the occupation of playmaker and story-teller too highly." So, newspapermen have got to deal with it in a more constructive way. Maybe by ignoring it.
Unfortunately, the paper does not give the title of the play. Nor does it say where it is playing.

Oct. 27, 1909

WHAT ABOUT MR. LODGE? Last night's (2009) debate brought together four Democrats vying to replace the late Edward Kennedy in the U.S. Senate. The moderator mentioned that the seat at stake has been occupied by a number of famous Senators. He listed four of them: Ed Kennedy, Jack Kennedy, Daniel Webster and John Quincy Adams. That listing failed to mention other seat-occupiers, who are less famous. Fortunately, the whole list is available. The U.S. Senate web site calls it the state's Class 1 seat. So, who was there 100 years ago? Henry Cabot Lodge (shown above in 1916). He served in the so-called Kennedy seat from 1893 to 1924. Not surprising that his name wasn't mentioned. He served for 31 years, second only in longevity to Ed Kennedy. Lodge was, of course, a Republican and therefore was not worthy of mention. But party names really shouldn't have mattered. After all, the 19th-century Senators mentioned were a Whig (Webster) and a Democratic-Republican (Adams).
[For what it's worth, longevity is not necessarily a distinctive feature of the Class 1 seat. Consider the narrow gap between Daniel Webster and Charles Sumner. Webster resigned in 1850 (after 25 years); Sumner took over in 1851 and served for 23 years. Two kept the seat warm between Webster and Sumner, each serving considerably less than a year: Robert Winthrop, who sat from July 30, 1850 to Feb. 1, 1851, and Robert Rantoul Jr., who served from Feb. 1 to March 3. Winthrop is an ancestor of the other Massachusetts senator, John Kerry, who sits in the state's Class 2 seat.]

HESTIA WRECKS OFF THE COAST OF MAINE: The front page of today's Globe reports tragic wreck of the Hestia, of the Donaldson Line. The story says 34 probably drowned and the paper tells a sad tale. The ship was way off course, in its passage from Glasgow to St. Johns. In a fierce storm, the ship hit Proprietors Ledge near Manan Island in the Bay of Fundy (above). The Globe's tale has some harrowing paragraphs, especially those that describe the dying of one of our Scotch boys. Here's an example:
"The [life]boat capsized and the boys and men of the crew were thrown into the water. The boat soon righted and one of the boys was seen clinging to the bottom, holding on with the grasp born of fear of death, but without strength to make other effort. Again the boat was capsized, and disappeared."
The site is visited by divers a century later.

Oct. 21, 1909 (Thursday)

EXPERTS TRY TO PUT SEX (EDUCATION) ON THE TABLE: The Massachusetts state conference of charities met in Ford Hall last night. Sex hygiene was the topic. the topic was NOT the evils of sex. The concern are "the evils arising from IGNORANCE among the youth of both sexes," according to today's Globe.
Here's how the Globe summarizes the remarks of Charles Eliot (right), former president of Harvard:
"Dr. Eliot said that the policy of this part of the world has been one of complete silence in regard to questions of sex, but that the danger of such a policy has become too great to allow of its continuance."
The story offers a direct quote, which resonates a hundred years later:
"We have been putting our children, uninformed, in contact with danger, but the policy of trusting to ignorance to preserve their integrity has failed."
Dr. Marshall Bailey of Harvard said, "The public prejudice against the necessary instruction must be banished."
Maud E. Miner, a probation officer in the night court in New York City drew applause by saying (in a paraphrase in the Globe) "that there must be a revolution i the teaching of men, as well as of women, and that there should be the same standard of morality for men as for women." The paper says it was "the heartiest applause of the evening."


GOVERNMENT TURNS TO SMUGGLING -- TO SECRETLY DEPORT LEPER: Consider the tale of Antonius Freisa (or Freiss?). According to a story on page 8 of today's Globe, the Greek immigrant was "smuggled aboard" a steamer in New York late on the evening of Oct. 20 and --- by the time Globe readers were learning of it, he was on his way. The article says, "The greatest secrecy was necessary to keep the facts from the passengers."
Freisa was brought to New York from the leper colony on Penikese Island in Massachusetts, which sits on the east coast of Buzzard Bay. That's where Massachusetts set up a treatment center for lepers, which is described here by Ken Hartnett. The first lepers were brought there on Nov. 18, 1905.
The patient was transported on the schooner Andrew J. Pierce, under the eye of New Bedford's Capt. Jesse smith and a surgeon from the U.S. Marine Corps and and immigration officer.
Here's the description of Freisa's situation:
"Freisa is far advanced in the disease. He has been in the leper colony 18 months and in this country less than three years, so that his deportation by the government presented no legal difficulties. The partitions constituting his room in the schooner's hold have been torn down and burned, the vessel disinfected and her captain paid a handsome charter fee."
Not sure what happens to the patient once he gets to Genoa. Genoa? Well, maybe not. The article says he's on his way to Genoa. However, the last thing the government would want to have happen is that readers would let passengers heading on a ship to Genoa know by wireless en route. Remember, the government is interested in secrecy. So. it's not surprising that "Genoa" does not show up in the list of destinations that The New York Times printed on Oct. 20, 1909 (shown at right).
Not sure if the same mechanisms will be used when/if an illegal/undocumented immigrant is found with H1N1 flu.

October 20, 1909 (Wednesday)

A NEW YORK NEWSPAPER DECIDES NOT TO PRINT THE NAME OF ONE OF THE CANDIDATES FOR MAYOR: After hearing some gripes from the Obama Administration about the political leanings of Fox news, an editorial titled "Anonymous Personalities" in today's Globe helps put some of the dispute in a historical perspective. It summarizes the use of "acrimonious invective" that editors in Dickens' time would draw upon "to maul, claw and scratch" opponents -- both personal and political. The editorial particularly points out the skills that "the elder Bennett" used in this regard.
It adds,
"Editors in those days regarded their newspapers as their big stick wherewith to smite, not alone a hostile political party, but their personal foes."
Some tactics remain, although they are "devoid of the vitriolic diction of ancient times."
The editorial looks at the 1909 election for mayor of New York City. It points to an unidentified newspaper in New York that REFUSES TO PRINT THE NAME of William Randolph Hearst (shown above), one of the major candidates for mayor. When the paper reports about the race, it uses a phrase such as "a certain independent candidate for mayor" even though a speech of the candidate might be printed in full. I like the subtle dig the Globe uses the same tactic in writing the editorial -- NOT NAMING the offending newspaper. But I wish it had.
Think Fox will take the same route and start referring to Obama only as "one of the residents of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue"? Of course not!
[Incidentally, the winner of the 1909 election -- William Gaynor -- nearly lost his life in 1910, when he was struck in the throat by a bullet in an assassination attempt. The moment (shown at left) was captured by news photographer William Warnecke of the New York World. The shooting took place on Aug. 9, 1910, on board the SS Kaiser Willhelm Grosse, which was docked at Hoboken, N.J. Gaynor died three years later -- with the bullet still lodged in his body.]


HIGH SCHOOL KICKERS THWARTED BY UPRIGHT: The charming illustration above gets right to the heart of the matter, in the wake of yesterday's 5-5 tie football game between Boston Latin and Newton. Each team scored a touchdown (worth five points). And each team's kicker clanged the extra-point attempts off the left upright -- "almost exactly" at the same point on the pole, the Globe reports. The illustration was three columns wide and reveals a welcome attention to high school sports.

Oct. 1, 1909 (Friday)

THOSE WERE THE DAYS: Today's Globe includes an advertisement for the paper that touts the growing circulation. The amply fed men above -- mascots of a sort for the newspaper -- hold a notice that indicates that both Sunday and daily circulation is rising.
One hundred years later, the numbers look much better. In fact the increase is incredible. In 2007-2008, the daily circulation was 350,605; the Sunday circulation was 525,959 (according to a Globe sgtory from April 2008). The big trouble... The 21st century numbers are high, but FALLING FAST.

THE ISSUE IS STILL ALIVE: A promo in today's Globe promises a raft of stories in the Sunday edition of the paper. One story might be worth reading 100 years later -- in light of ongoing disputes and concerns about immigration. The article is titled (at right) "What Immigrants Are Undesirable?" It is written by Commissioner Williams of New York, described as "a society leader and millionaire who gave up a lucrative law practice for duties on Ellis Island."

Sept. 30, 1909 (Thursday)

RED SOX FANS WARM UP TO TY COBB: Boston lost two games to the Detroit Tigers yesterday, which puts the Tigers in place as a virtual lock on the American League title. A sportswriter in the Globe noticed a change in attitude that the Red Sox fans showed toward the irascible Tiger star Ty Cobb (left). In the past, Red Sox rooter "have been inclined to roast him at every opportunity, which nettled the southerner." It was different yesterday. Here's how the sportswriter describes it:
The wonderful fielding, batting and base running of Cobb has been noticed by these fans, who know the game if anyone does, and who can tell a ball player when they see one. Yesterday they seemed willing to call off hostility and Ty met them half way. He made several wonderful catches and was hitting up to his best form. The crowd in the bleachers cheered him frequently and he never failed to doff his cap to them. Possibly neither, heretofore, understood the other, and both are now willing to let bygones be bygones.
Until next year?


CREELMAN DESCRIBES WHY EUROPE WON'T STAND UP TO OTTOMAN ATROCITIES: The Globe continues its series of articles by journalist James Creelman in today's paper. Creelman deals with Europe's eagerness to keep relations with the Ottoman Empire smooth -- despite reports of widespread killings of Christians in Turkey and other areas. As an example, he points to a visit Germany's Kaiser Wilhelm II made to Damascus in 1898 (shown above), where he made a clear play for the affection of the Ottoman leaders -- just two years after "the sultan had permitted the murder of 6,000 Armenians in the streets of Constantinople, and when his name was a word of horror in Europe," Creelman writes.
Then Creelman describes the "secret" of that visit and his affection for Abdul Hamid. The sultan gave a German syndicate rights to a railway to connect the Bosporus with Baghdad. Here's the reason why that was important, from the point of view of the early 1900s:
"It is estimated that Mesopotamia, Irak[sic], Syria and Anatolia will in time be able to produce more grain than the whole of Russia, and that the vast petroleum lands to be reached by the German line will yield an oil supply 10 times as great as the wells of Baku. This in addition to the immense cotton lands of Cilicia and Mesopotamia, the crying need of German manufacturers.
He spreads the blame but clearly points to the profit-hunger of European commerce as a roadblock to efforts to prevent the killings:
It is this sort of struggle for commercial and political advantage, in which emperor, sultan, statesman and soldier play the cards dealt by millionaire syndicates, that makes it possible for the Moslems of Asia Minor to deliberately murder 30,000 Christians, with every conceivable torture and shame attending the treatment of surviving women and children, without a serious word of protest from the governments of Europe."

HARVARD IS AT 274 YEARS AND COUNTING: Harvard begins its 274th year this week. Freshmen are formally welcomed today. One change that upperclassmen will notice is that the food plan has gone up FIVE PERCENT. A week's worth of "straight American board" will cost $5.25 a week, which is 25 cents more than a year ago. Today's Globe says returning students are shocked by "the dilapidated appearance" of the old elms in Harvard Yard. The trees were cut back severely over the summer in what is expected to be a losing battle to combat the leopard moth. The article says, "The removal of many of the trees is believed to be a matter of only a short time." The inauguration of President Lowell will take place next week.

M.I.T. PRESIDENT EMPHASIZES THE SCHOOL'S MILITARY NATURE: Richard Maclaurin, new president of MIT welcomed the incoming class of more than 300 men in Huntington Hall yesterday. In his message, he stressed the importance of reviving the "military drill" at the school. He said,
The undergraduates have treated it with levity and shirked it wherever possible. Military drill is held at the institute under the act of congress. You come here to be men and no serious, sensible patriotic man would fail to fulfill military duty when called upon.

Sept. 29, 1909 (Wednesday)

CREELMAN TRIES TO EXPOSE GOVERNMENT-SPONSORED KILLINGS IN TURKEY:
As promised in yesterday's Globe, an article by James Creelman (left) appears in today's paper -- under the headline "Creelman in Damascus: Moslems Not Punished for Their Crime Against Christianity." Creelman -- in one of his typical "journalism that acts" efforts -- describes in great detail -- but without the helpful stamp of quotes from identified witnesses -- the circumstances surrounding recent mass killings of Christians in the Cilician Plain of Turkey. The details of his writing are chilling. I wish they were more convincing. However, his final paragraph is worth noting -- in light of events of the next decade and the next 100 years:
It may be, and probably is, true -- I am myself convinced of it -- that the new constitutional government aims to establish peace and equality between all races and religions. But, unless a conference of the Christian nations insists upon the punishment of the men who are really responsible for the massacre, and warns Turkey against a repetition of such a crime, the murderous Moslem hordes of Asia Minor will probably continue to regard the theories of the constitutionalists as idle sentimentality; and at the first upset of the government there will be another slaughter of Christians.

HEADLINE WAS CORRECT; THE TOWN IN MAINE DID GET FLOODED:
Today's Globe tells of a disaster that's about to strike Katahdin Iron Works in Maine. The village has basically been cleared out because people are sure the dam at the foot of Silver Lake is about to break. In what is perhaps a great understatement, the paper reports, "The fact that the dam burst seven years ago and caused great damage adds terror to the situation."
The flood did strike, later in the day (the 29th). Today's paper reports that water rose one foot every hour in the afternoon of the 28th.



"YOU'VE GOT MAIL" -- BUT TO GET IT, WOMEN MUST GIVE THEIR REAL NAMES TO THE POST OFFICE IN CHICAGO: The people at the general delivery window at the Chicago post office have convinced 3,000 women to reveal their TRUE NAMES and TRUE ADDRESSES so they can received mail at the window. The women -- many doing so under great protest -- have been forced to sign "cards of identification," which will be kept on file. The policy -- which was enforced Sept. 27 for the first time -- (according to today's Globe) "tears away part of the veil of secrecy under which many a clandestine correspondence has been carried on through the medium of the general delivery window."
In a paraphrase, the Globe says the main postal inspector thinks the plan "will produce a reform for which urgent demand recently has gone up from ministers, reform leagues and others working for THE CITY'S PURIFICATION" [emphasis added].
So much for the use of the equivalent of bogus screen names.

Sept. 28, 1909 (Tuesday)

CREELMAN INTERVIEWS SYRIAN GOVERNOR ABOUT ISLAM-CHRISTIAN DIVIDE: There's a story on Page 7 of today's Globe that clearly shows that ADVOCACY JOURNALISM was alive and well among established news organizations. The piece appears under the byline of James Creelman (right). It's based on his interview with Nazin Pasha, governor of Syria. Here's the introductory paragraph:
Continuing his notable investigation into the massacre of 30,000 Christians in Aisa[sic] Minor, Mr. Creelman, who has already explained the causes of that unparelleld [sic] crime, shows the imperative necessity for an international protest, headed by the United States.
In the articles the author describes the cold-blooded struggle between Great Britain and Germany for commercial and political advantages in Turkey which largely explains the cowardly silence of Europe.
In setting the scene for the interview, the reporter related the number of the killings, on the "murder-swept Cilician plain" to the number of those "killed on both sides in the seven greatest battles of the American civil war and the population of Canton, Ohio.
Creelman described the meeting this way:
So the spokesmen of the three great religions given to mankind by one country, the representatives of 680,000,000 worshipers who for centuries have cursed and persecuted each other in the name of God, peacefully met together for the sake of liberty a few weeks ago.
Creelman reports that he asked the governor this tough question: "But how can there be equality, how can there be even safety for Christians in Turkey so long as the sacred Moslem law prevails?"
Here's the response:
Islam as practiced in its earlier days, as conceived and as perfected in its teachings at the time of Moslem greatness, obviously calls for a liberal form of government. Constitutional rule is a logical outgrowth of the principles of a democratic country. The history of Islam -- I need only to refer to the great Caliph Omar [presumably this man] -- proves that the various religious elements can live together, and are required to live together, in harmony and equality. Moslem chivalry and tolerance are proverbial. But we must go back to the pure religion of the days of Omar.
The governor says the massacres are "the result of fanaticism bred by ignorance, not the result of true faith."
There will be another article in tomorrow's paper. The Globe said "Mr. Creelman will describe the Moslem attitude toward the Christian."

WILL YALE PUT HIS HIS PICTURE ON MILK CARTONS? The Yale football coaches are upset at star lineman William Arthur Goebel, according to today's Globe. The paper included the photo (right) with the plea:
"Information Wanted -- If You Know Where This Man Is, Please Send Word to Yale".
Practices have begun. Goebel and two others are nowhere to be found. I presume they have already thought of looking for him IN CLASS. Today's article says"Nothing has been heard from Goebel or Andrus, and the coaches are greatly put out about it, espcially in the case of Goebel, about whom there has not ben even press dispatches."
(NOTE: Don't worry. Goebel will be a guard on the 1909 All-America team, as chosen by Walter Camp.)

Sept. 27, 1909 (Monday)

THE END OF THE SEASON LOOMS: The Boston Red Sox have improved greatly over last year, but, as the season winds down, they are in third place and unable to catch the first-place Detroit Tigers. However, the Philadelphia Athletics are still alive. Today's Globe has a cartoon that draws upon the imagery of Ancient Rome. Under the watchful gaze of a Emperor Baseball, the nervous A's mascot (elephant) implores the sword-bearing Red Sox to stop the Tigers. Fewer than 10 games remain.

ANTI-SLAVERY PROTESTERS TRY TO REACH U.S. COCOA USERS: A campaign begins in Boston this week that will focus attention on the slave system in the Portuguese islands of Principe and San Thome [as it's spelled in the Globe], which lie in the Gulf of Guinea. Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Burtt will arrive today or tomorrow on the steamer Cestrian. In England, the cocoa-making firms have been pressured to refuse to buy cocoa from the islands in protest of the slavery. The trouble is that much of the product has been re-directed to the American market -- at a low price. America is the largest consumer of cocoa. So, the protesters want to bring the anti-slavery message here. The Burtts will be in Boston until Oct. 9. Then they will head to Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, Pittsburg, Chicago and elsewhere.
The issue is covered extensively in the book "Chocolate on Trial" (shown at right).

Sept. 14, 1909 (Tuesday)

GLOBE RAILS ON THE PRESIDENT'S WEIGHT: Readers of the Globe were greeted this morning with a large cartoon that dominates the front page. The cartoon is pretty self-explanatory. It deals with Taft's extensive "road trip", which will take him by rail through about 30 states and cover 17,750 miles. This implies that the most-used car will be ... the DINING CAR. A bit of a dig on the president's weight, which is noteworthy.
And worth feasting on, editorially.

Sept. 13, 1909, Monday

GERMAN ASTRONOMER IS THE FIRST TO SPOT HALLEY'S COMET ON ITS RETURN TRIP: Astronomers can now begin to track the return of Halley's Comet. After being absent from view for about 70 years, the comet has been spotted by "Prof. Wolff of Heidelberg", according to a brief item in today's Globe. This news came to Boston on Sept. 12 via a dispatch received by the observatory at Harvard. The Globe needlessly added an f to the last name of Prof. Max Wolf, the keen-eyed astronomer.
The news is accompanied by information that is sure to confuse most of the globe readers. Here goes:
The sight was obtained Sept. 11 5642, in R.A. 6h 18m 12s; declination 17 (degrees) 11 (minutes) N.
The Globe translate the astronomical time to Sept. 11 5642 to "about 9 p.m. standard time, Sept. 11."
The image above can be found here. The comet's next visit? Don't hold your breath. I think it's in 2061.

TAFT WILL SOON LEAVE BOSTON FOR A HISTORIC TOUR, WHICH INCLUDES A VISIT TO MEXICO: After spending much of the late summer weeks on Boston's north shore, President William H. Taft is getting ready to leave the area. He leaves Wednesday for a train tour that will cover about 17,750 miles and cover 30 states, according to a front-page story in today's Boston Globe. His trip will reach El Paso in mid-October. Preparations are underway for what will be a historic meeting between President Taft of the U.S. and President Diaz of Mexico at that time. Other planned highlights include a trip through Royal Gorge and a night trip across the highest passes of the Rockies, a visit to a huge irrigation project in Montrose, Colo., to smelters in Butte, Mont, a two-day stay at the Alaska-Yukon exposition in Seattle, a three-day visit to California's Yosemite Valley and a day at the rim of the Grand Canyon.

PREP SCHOOL USES ASBESTOS TO PROTECT ITS FOOTBALL PLAYERS: A small item in today's Globe previews the upcoming football season for Phillips Exeter Academy. The team will be playing on a new field. The Globe points out that the goal posts are noteworthy:
The goal posts are of iron, painted white, and at the bottom wrapped with asbestos and duck to prevent injury of players.
There you have it: Asbestos promotes health.
The "duck" is fabric.

Sept. 12, 1909 (Sunday)

CONTROVERSY ROILS OVER POLAR EXPLORATION: Today's Globe keeps the dispute right in front of the readers. The Cook-Peary controversy has lasted a while. Some insight comes from key information provided by the Library of Congress.

VERMONT TOWN HAS A HUMAN NEWSPAPER: Meet the leather-lunged Morris Green (right). He lives in Ryegate, Vt., (the picture above shows South Ryegate in 1909) and works at the village story. He has a reputation of being the go-to-guy for information. For him, it's apparently too much to bear to live in a town that's too small to have a newspaper. So, according to today's Globe, "He cries the news from the door of the store, and this weekly instruction is expected by the people and enjoyed by them."
He explains:
"I do it for pure love of humanity, and I want to make the place I live in interesting. To do this I feel that it is part of my duty to interest the people and here, where they are so busy with their toil that they get little time to read and study, I find it delightful to condense news and happenings and to cry it for that benefit."
He adds, "So far as I can learn, I am the only HUMAN NEWSPAPER in the world."
That, of course, isn't quite true. It's a tradition that goes way back. But there's something a little BLOGGISH about it, I think.

AT&T HEAD PEEKS INTO THE FUTURE: Today's Globe has a fascinating interview with telephone industrialist (and president of AT&T) Theodore Newton Vail. He makes predicts that coast-to-coast telephone conversations are coming. The reporter asked: "Will it be possible in the future to talk by telephone from Boston to San Francisco?"
Vail's answer:
"I think so. Our engineer told me the other day that he now believed I should have the privilege of talking from my office in New York, over a straight wire, so some one of our representative in San Francisco... I hope to see the serviced established within two or three years. The wire is already up, and we have sent telegrams over it from ocean to ocean."
One of the follow-up questions dealt with WIRELESS conversations.
It's a concept that Vail had a hard time envisioning it. He drew a circle on a pad of yellow paper for the reporter. He explained, "Here is a pond. You drop a stone into the water on one side and a man on the other side, if his vision is good, counts the little ripples as they come to shore. But if a dozen persons were to drop stones into the pond at the same time and at different places there would be great confusion among the ripples, and no one could count them. However, wireless telephony will have its uses."
I'll say!
He also wondered about video-phones, which has captured the imagination of many for years. He said it would be quite difficult. However, he added: "No man is safe in saying that anything is impossible."

Sept. 11, 1909

EXPLORERS PEARY AND COOK RACE TO NYC TO MAKE THEIR CLAIMS:
In the few days since the news exploded on the world that Robert Peary evidently got to the North Pole -- in April-- Globe readers are being treated to two unfolding stories. One is the tale of Peary's trip, in which he covered the final leg of his trip with his longtime companion Matthew Henson (the "Negro" mentioned in the headline above). The paper also includes stories about the efforts Peary and fellow explorer Frederick Cook are making to describe their respective journeys to the pole to authorities in the United States. This dispute will linger for a century.
The sketchy news report about Peary's trip is based on wireless reports emerging from Canada as Perry makes his laborious return along the Canadian coast.
The reports don't directly say but clearly imply that Henson (right) was with Peary when he made his last dash to the Pole. A caption under a photo of Henson in the Globe identifies him as the "Colored Man Who Appears to Have Been Only English-Speaking Person with Peary on His Final Dash."
An article about Henson quotes from Peary's description of his longtime companion, as contained in his book, "Nearest the Pole," which came out in 1907. Here's the excerpt:
"Matthew Henson, my personal attendant was a colored native of the district of Columbia, 29 years of age, 5 feet 6 1/2 inches high, and weighed 145 pounds. In my employ in one capacity or another most of the time since I took him to Nicaragua with me in 1898 and a member of all of my Arctic expeditions, his qualities and capabilities were fully known."
The map below -- a modern one -- shows the routes of the explorers.

EVIDENCE PINS BLAME FOR HOUSE FIRE ON BIRDS: About $2,000 damage was done to the home of Maj. H.B. Philbrick on Sept. 9 in Harford, Conn. Initially, authorities thought faulty electrical wiring was to blame. Now, the city's building inspector and electrical inspector have a new theory -- which is totally for the birds.
They announced the the trouble is the work of "birds who built their nests under the eaves of [the]house in large numbers and MUST HAVE CARRIED UP A MATCH, WHICH, in the HOT SUN of yesterday, became IGNITED" [emphasis added].

Aug. 25, 1909

MASSACHUSETTS TOWN WORRIES ABOUT PASTOR'S TALE OF HIS QUADRUPLETS: People in the Western Massachusetts town of Goshen suspect that a new clergyman in town is trying to pull the wool over the eyes of the flock.
Recently moved from Chicago, the Rev. Samuel H. Seccombe and his wife say they are the proud parents of quadruplets, who were born in Chicago on May 26. The babies are, in fact, right there in flesh and blood. However the multiple-birth aspect of the story puzzles some. As today's front-page story in the Globe says it, people wonder if they were "born at a quadruple birth, or whether they are babies adopted or otherwise procured for commercial purposes." The Rev. Seccombe had come to Goshen earlier in the spring to teach, being hired at a salary of $600 per year with housing provided. He told parishioners his wife would join him in a few weeks. Then he brought out the big news. The article says, "The last of May he announced that her coming would be delayed as she had just given birth to quadruplets in Chicago."
What better time for some investigative journalism?
The wife arrived -- with the four infants, and four other older children, which the pastor had never mentioned. Goshen residents who showed up at the house to help care for the newcomers "got to gossiping shortly to some effect that there seemed to be some variance in the ages of the children."
An "enterprising correspondent" decided to take the story a bit further. The writer contacted a Chicago newspaper. An investigation began. Robert Zempke, a neighbor of the Seccombes on Fulton Street in Chicago "said the Seccombes had lived in the house next door, separated from his house by not over five feet and he never had heard of Mrs. Seccombe having had quadruplet babies."
In addition to talking to a neighbor, reporters also checked birth records:
"The vital statistics of Chicago revealed no such encouragement as four births to any woman at any time, and none at all, certainly not in May, to Mrs. Seccombe."

Aug. 21, 1909 (Saturday)

TAFT TO MAKE A HISTORIC TRIP -- SOUTH OF THE BORDER: President Taft, who is still vacationing in nearby Beverly, Mass., has received a steady stream of visitors. Yesterday was no exception, according to today's Globe. The paper reports that Taft has accepted from Mexico's President Porfirio Diaz (right) [spelled with an "s" in the Globe] to visit the town of Juarez, across the Rio Grande, at some point in the near future. The invitation was offered by Mexico's ambassador to the U.S., Francisco L. DeLa Barra, who came to Beverly. The article points out the unusual nature of such a trip -- historic nature, actually:
It used to be considered highly improper for the President of the United States to visit a foreign country, but President Roosevelt broke the ice to some extent when he visited Panama, although it is claimed that by traveling on an American ship, landing and traveling only in the canal zone, Mr. Roosevelt did not break the letter of the unwritten law.

HERE'S WHAT THEY'RE READING IN BOSTON -- ON THE NON-FICTION SIDE: The top five non-fiction sellers in Boston during the past week:
England and the English by Price Collier (Charles Scribner's Sons)
Haremlik by Demetra Vaka (Houton, Mifflin)[with the subtitle of "Lives of Turkish Women"]
Plays, Acting and Music by Arthur Symons (right) (E. P. Dutton)
My African Journey by Winston Churchill (Hodder & Stoughton)
The People at Play by Rollin Lynde Hart (Houghton, Mifflin)

Aug. 20, 1909

TWO FROM MASSACHUSETTS KILLED IN FIRST DAY OF RACING AT TRACK IN INDIANAPOLIS: Today's Globe reports that the inauguration of the Indianapolis motor speedway yesterday was marred by a crash that took two lives -- Canadian-born driver William A. Bourque of West Springfield, Mass., and Harry Holcomb, his mechanic, of Granville, Mass.
They are the first to die in a crash at the new Indianapolis Motor Speedway. World records were set, also. Barney Oldfield covered a mile in 43.1 seconds and Louis Chevrolet (driving a Buick) covered 10 miles in 8:56.4.
The 250-mile race was won by Robert Burman -- on a track that sprewed dust and was marred with ruts.
Bourque was driving a Knox when he crashed. Here's the description:
He had covered nearly 150 miles when the crash came. Coming down the homestretch the car suddenly swerved and dashed into the fence at the left of the track, turning completely over and pinning its two occupants beneath it.
Both were alive when they were removed from the wreck, but they died soon afterward. The article paraphrases an observation of private Frank Brandoer of the Indiana national guard. He was closest to the accident. He said [these are not presented as a direct quotation from Brnadoer] "something cased both men to suddenly turn and look behind. As they did so the steering wheel slipped from Bourque's hands and he threw his arms helplessly in the air. Then came the crash."
The fatal crash prompted the American Automobile Association to command that the owners of the track make changes to the surface. Otherwise the group plans to remove its sanction from the races.
Eventually, the change will lead to the laying of millions of bricks, leading to the nickname of the track -- The Brickyard.
That tragically famous Aug. 19, 1909, race is viewed as the first stock car race at the track, not the Brickyard 400.


ANOTHER TRAGEDY STRIKES A GLOUCESTER SCHOONER: The front page of the Globe carries the sad tale of the sinking of the Orinoco, a fishing schooner out of Gloucester, Mass. (The deaths are part of a sobering list of "Men Lost Fishing from Gloucester in the 1900s." The photo above, from the Library of Congress, shows a typical Cape Ann fisherman from the early 1900s.)
The ship was in a gale 25 miles off Sambro, Nova Scotia yesterday. Six men of the crew of 17 survived.
Twelve men were sleeping below decks when the ship turned turtle in the face of a stiff south gale. Eleven of those men died. Here's how the dispatch from Nova Scotia described what happened to the ship, which was "bound to the banks" (presumable the Grand Banks off Newfoundland):
The vessel filled and sank so quickly that the men below were caught like rates in a trap and drowned. The inrushing waters kept them from coming up the companionway, and with one exception they were all carried down. The vessel filled withing three minutes after she turned over.
Hard to imagine the terror.
The article lists the names -- and mentions the four who "were married and leave families." It also mentioned one of the dead -- Charles Shaw, of Argyle, N.S. -- was 13 years old.
How did it happen? The article says, "There was a stiff south gale blowing at the time and a high sea running. The helmsman let the vessel up into the wind to clear the jib sheet. She care around the caught the sails aback and capsized."

WELLMAN MAKES ANOTHER ATTEMPT TO FLY TO THE NORTH POLE: Explorer/aeronaut/adventurer/journalist Walter Wellman reportedly took off from Spitzbergen on August 16. (The photo above, from the George Grantham Bain Collection of the Library of Congress, show him on the deck of one of his polar air ships; it was taken between 1907 and 1910.) The story has a Paris dateline and describes the circuitous route the news took. The Italian ship Thalia, which is at Hammerfest, Norway, sent a telegram to Trieste from where a dispatch was sent to Paris. Wellman has four years' worth of preparations behind him in his efforts to make the trip. He tried in 1906 but postponed his departure because the season was getting too late in the year for such a trek. In 1907, he started off in the airship America, but a storm drove him back. He departed from New York this year on May 12. He guessed that he could reach the pole from Spitzbergen in two to five days.
That means, if he left Aug. 16, he might have made it by the time someone read the story in today's Globe.

August 19, 1909 (Thursday)

IN WAR GAMES, THINGS LOOK BLEAK FOR BOSTON'S DEFENDERS: The front page headline (above) looks alarming.... but it's just dealing with the war games being conducted south of Boston. The Globe appears to be having some fun with this one. I mean, how often do you get to write a headline like that, and not be worried about being blown out of your desk chair? The cartoon at the right is one of a number of comical illustrations dealing with the situation. The characterization of Boston as an older woman seems apt. Her hat is fabulous -- drawn from the dome of the Capitol building that adorns Beacon Hill. The caption at the top reads, "It begins to look as though the old lady will have to fight." It does not indicate what she has used for ammunition. The projectiles do, however, resemble baked beans.
Not surprisingly, Boston is designated as home to the BLUE army, which is under the command of Gen. William A. Pew Jr.
Gen. Tasker Bliss commands the Red army. In one of yesterday's biggest developments, the left flank of the defending Blue army was driven back five miles to South Hanson "in a running fight."
One group that was surprised in an ambush was [in the Globe's words] "the colored heroes of the 10th U.S. cavalry." They were beaten back by the 8th Massachusetts infantry. The Globe quoted one of the "fine, upstanding warriors in bronze." They did it in the journalistic equivalent of blackface (bearing in mind that I have yet to see a quote of a Massachusetts speaker that tries to capture the distinctive Boston accent). Here's how this quotation appears in print:
"Ah tell yo' for a fac' we all nevah got mo' of a suhprize in all ouah lives, even in the islands from the gugus [a nickname used by U.S. troops for Filipino rebels], tha yo' soldiahs gave us yesteda. Three troops of us walk right intuh it and everything's lookin' nice and easy and alto once--o-o-o-mph, o-o-o-o-oop--the unduhbrush jes' break right out with mahchine guns, and the umpiahs says we are all killed or wounded. We wan't nevah a-lookin' for no such trap, but you-ah men are cuhtinly all right."

THE ROCK STARS OF THE DAY: NEWSPAPERS KEEP A CLOSE EYE ON THE FINANCIERS, SUCH AS THE AILING E.H.HARRIMAN: Today's Globe has an update on Page 9 on the health of railroad tycoon E.H. Harriman (right). He's on his way back from Europe, weeks ahead of his scheduled Sept. 4 east-to-west trip on board the Mauretania. Instead, he and his entourage left Cherbourg yesterday on the Kaiser Wilhelm II. Before boarding the tender that was to take him to the liner, he said, "Now I am better. My cure is finishing, and I am very glad I am going to see the soil of America again. My only hope is that the voyage back will be as good as that coming over." All eyes were on the financier as he left the train from Paris and headed for the tender. The Globe story says, "Dr. Lyle offered the financier his arm, but although he was pale and appeared feeble he declined assistance and slowly descended to the platform. He also declined to use the rolling chair and walked without assistance aboard the tender."
Before leaving Paris, Harriman's secretary told representatives of the press that Harriman was going to go to his family's summer home at Arden "to rest and complete the cure begun in Europe."
A little foreknowledge indicates that Mr. Harriman has little time left. He will die on Sept. 9, 1909. But the public utterances don't let on how serious his health is.

RIVER INDUS IS READY TO SWEEP AWAY A CITY: The city of Dera Ghazi Khan, on the banks of the Indus River, is about to be abandoned. Today's Globe reports, in a story with a Bombay dateline, that the Punjabi city has for months been slipping into the river. It says, "The process of erosion is going on very rapidly. From 50 to 100 feet of the river front is being swept away every day, and one by one mosques, mansions and hovels are disappearing in the swift stream. Every effort of competent engineers to devise a way to protect the city has been futile." [It will be replaced by a new Dera Ghazi Khan, about 10 miles away.]

Aug. 18, 1909 (Wednesday)

CHICAGO WOMAN FALLS FOR IDAHO SENATOR -- BECAUSE OF A PHOTOGRAPH: Today's Globe carries an intriguing story about the power of the photograph. This is a bit complicated... But here goes.
In Chicago, there was a "charming young widow" named Grace Hartman. She is described in the Globe as having "big dark eyes, masses of waving brown hair and superbly graceful figure."
She evidently was totally smitten by Sen. William Borah when she saw a photograph of him in a magazine.

Fortunately the Globe, unlike a number of other papers, included a photo of the senator, who was at the beginning of a long and distinguished career. Let the beholder decide: Is he good looking?
[For reference, I have included (in a column at right) a
sequence of photos of Borah. The top three of the photos stacked on the right date from 1912, 1916 and 1920. The bottom two show his appearances on the cover of Time magazine, on Jan. 26, 1931, and March 30, 1936.]
After seeing the photograph, she wrote Sen. Borah on Aug. 1 and asked him if he knew anybody in Idaho who might be a suitable romantic match for her. Among the qualifications she sought: "He must be a working man and wear overalls."
Well, here it is two weeks later and lots has happened. For one thing, the Globe says, the widow now maintains that the real object of her affection is Sen. Borah.
When interviewed on Aug. 16, she admitted, "I didn't really want him to get me a husband. i wanted Senator Borah himself. I thought that if in the manner I adopted his attention was called to me his soul must tell him of the yearning I felt. I thought there must be a response in the senator's soul... I will always love this photograph. How noble, how handsome, how full of divine love he looks."
It turns out that Borah actually put the word out in Idaho to let men know that a widow was looking for an Idahoan. She has received "scores of letters." The Globe quotes from some of them, with their names and hometowns:
William Horst, Nampa: "From the tone of your letter it seems that you must have loved some one desperately. Are you sure that love is obliterated and that you could honestly be devoted to another?" [The Globe rendered the home town as "Mampa."]
Oscar Johnson, Pocatello: "I will marry you if you are a working woman -- but ef you be an of these sossity dames I don't. Good by, write soon." [as it appears in the Globe.]
Edward J. Cornovan, Long Lake: "I am the man in the overalls. I am 'baching' on a 240-acre farm. If you really think a woman can love and labor at once, let us try it."
William Dittman, Taylor: "I have not much of a life to offer a woman. It is on the farm here. I rise at 2 a.m. and go harvesting. I don't get home until dark, and then I work two hours. I want a wife, but I can't see why any woman would want to share this life."
It's unclear what Ms. Harman will do. On the one hand, she says she "shall make a selection from among them." On the other hand, she says, "My little ruse has failed. I shall fall back upon my original love, the old picture in my writing desk. It's Senator Borah or no one."
By the way, the good senator was already married at the time.