Aug. 15, 1906 (Wednesday)

COAST-TO-COAST: Lester L. Whitman and companion Arthur Bates are making great progress trying to drive from San Francisco to New York in their Franklin motor car. They are well ahead of the record pace Whitman set in 1904 (33 days!). (It's hard to spot him, but this picture gives an idea of the difficulties they face. This shows Whitman trying to scuttle across a roadless section of Wyoming in 1903.) This time around, they're making great time, despite getting arrested for speeding in Iowa. They are expected to reach New York sometime tomorrow or the next day. If they make it by tomorrow morning, the time will be 13 and a half days.

TEACHERS CAN STILL CANE THE SCHOOLKIDS, BUT THEY'VE GOT TO CUT OUT THE SARCASM: The Boston School Commission has been grappling with some important educational issues. Today's papers include a report that the commission has ruled that "the confinement of pupils in a closet or wardrobe, the use on the part of the teacher of sarcastic or discourteous language, is forbidden." It also ruled "that corporal punishment shall not be inflicted upon girls in any shcool or upon boys in the Latin or High schools or kindergarten or in the sight of other pupils and shall be restricted to blows on the hand with a rattan." (left). In other matters, those cheery school officials passed a regulation that compels female teachers to resign when they marry. The school's business agent has been instructed to strike from the payroll the name of any newly wedded teacher. That's the board's way of saying "Congratulations!" (with sarcasm).

WRITER TAKES A WHACK AT CROQUET: After publishing a feature on croquet, Collier's magazine is a little puzzled about some feedback it got from a reader in Akron. The critic says, "In my long and varied experience, I have found no game equal to croquet in breeding petty animosity and even hatred." In response, the magazine says, "The person whose moral balance is permanently and hopelessly upset by croquet would be unlikely to become under any circumstances much of a shining beacon for the population." Anyway, the critic should give Collier's another 30 years or so and let them take another look at the game. Regardless, it's a good idea to remember that croquet can be fun!