Aug. 20, 1906 (Monday)

HOW SOME ASSASSINS TOOK ADVANTAGE OF A RULER'S URGE TO BE POLITE: As turmoil continues in Russia in 1906, revolutionists in Warsaw came up with an intriguing plan to set up their assassination attempt on Saturday against the Governor-General in Warsaw. A couple of days previously, a revolutionary type disguised himself as an officer and stopped by the German consulate. There, he quarreled with the Vice-Consul and, according to a news report, "boxed his ears." To keep this from flaring into an international incident, the Governor-General felt compelled to apologize in person to the Vice-Consul. Anticipating this, the revolutionists had rented a flat near the home of the Vice-Consul. As the Governor-General's carriage approached, they tossed bombs at it. Police were told that a light-haired girl threw the bombs. So, not surprisingly, all light-haired girls in the neighborhood were rounded up. However, the bomb tossers have not been found. The Governor General survived, for now. I think it's Gen. Von Liarliarski (although spellings of names in many papers seems highly suspect).

A DEVIL OF AN ACTOR DIES: Actor Lewis Morrison died of shock Saturday in Riverside Hospital on Long Island after an operation for stomach trouble. He was 61. Morrison, a native of Jamaica, won commendations during the Civil War during the siege of Vicksburg, when he swam the Mississippi under Confederate fire in order to get a message to Federal troops. He began acting after the war and appeared with the likes of Tommaso Salvini, Edwin Forrest, Edwin Booth and Charlotte Cushman. His signature role was as Mephistopheles in "Faust" (right). He had the role for about 20 years, appearing in theaters throughout the United States and Canada.

VERB OF THE DAY: One headline in one of today's papers uses a great verb for the job New York Giant pitcher George Wiltse did agains the first-place (!) Chicago Cubs. The Cubs managed only three hits and scored NO RUNS. So one headline reads "Syracuse Southpaw Kalsomines Chicago Cubs." It's the equivalent of "whitewashes," a variant of calcimine.