Aug. 13, 1906 (Monday)

DEATH CLAIMS A HARVARD 'INSTITUTION': John Lovett (who was better known as "John the Orangeman") died yesterday at Massachusetts General Hospital. Lovett, who was 74, was a familiar figure at the Harvard campus for more than 40 years. That's where he peddled fruit to the students. He started out with a basket. By the end of his stint, he was selling wares from a donkey cart that students had given him. The obituary in The New York Times said he had a reputation of being "cantankerous." But he had free access to sell his goods in dorm rooms and faculty offices. Also, "He was about the only person about the college campus who dared force his way into society meetings." One of his favorite comments: "At Harvard, we don't begin the day until 11." From the context, it looks like he meant "11 p.m." Also, an obituary notes, he was supporter of newspapers. "He always said with a grin that they were handy to wrap apples in."

SOME EDITORIAL SUPPORT FOR COMSTOCK: Certainly don't want to imply that newspapers universally condemned censor Anthony Comstock for his recent raid on the Art Students League. Today's Post-Standard (Syracuse) has a letter from a reader in Cape Vincent who passes on some supportive comments from The Christian Advocate and The Boston Daily Advertiser. Here's part of what the latter had to say:
There is mighty little in New York that tends toward the restraint of things which ought to be restrained. Anthony Comstock represents this needed restraint, and if it occasionally chafes or cusps on the wrong spot no great harm is done.

DOES THE 'LEMON LAW' APPLY TO AN ISLAND? Colorado Springs industrialist Charles Leaming Tutt (right)has been unable to find an island he bought off the coast of British Columbia. Evidently, he bought the 10-acre island about six months ago. He left Bellingham, Wash., in his yacht, Anemone, about two weeks ago to visit the island, which he had never seen. Word reached Colorado Springs yesterday that Tutt has returned to the mainland without seeing the island. He will make one more trip. He says he will sue the seller if the island does not exist. The last paragraph of the article in The New York Times raises a great question:
It is said that the man who sold the island to Mr. Tutt alleges that the island sank into the sea on April 18, at the time of the earthquake which destroyed San Francisco. I hope there's a follow-up to this one.

Aug. 12, 1906 (Sunday)

CAN FARES BE FAIR? Numerous taxi cabs in New York City are being outfitted with something called a "taxameter." It's designed to prevent "extortion by cabmen," according to The New York Times. A trip starts at 50 cents. Another 10 cents is added for each one-sixth of a mile. And 10 cents is added for each six minutes that the hack is not moving at all. The meter in the picture here shows the cost of a trip from the Stock Exchange to the Waldorf Astoria. If a passenger keeps the cab waiting for an half hour, another 50 cents is added. Paris has more than 7,000 taxameters. They are required by law in Germany, where there are 15,000 in place.

A BRIDGE TOO FAR?People who are worried about the preservation of beautiful scenery in Switzerland are worried aobut the fate of Devil's Bridge (right). Evidently, someone has suggested that a rail line run from Goschenen to Andermatt. Ernst Zahn of the Ligue pour la Conservation de la Suisse Pitoresque writes (according to The New York Times):
In the frenzy of speculation and inspired by the patriotism of the purse, ("Sackpatriotismus") the hotel keepers seek to build a railway through this ravine, disfiguring the scenery and desecrating its majesty and solitude.

AMHERST COLLEGE HEADS FOR THE DEEP END OF THE POOL: Amherst College dedicated a $50,000 natatorium, or swimming pool. In conjunction with that, the school is paddling out into some uncharted seas as far as colleges are concerned. It has adopted a rule that all students must pass a swimming test. Evidently it is the first college to do this. Others are likely to follow. Why? A recent investigation revealed that one-fourth of all students in college can swim. Not a bad idea. I hope the idea floats.

WHERE WAS THE RETINUE? Patrolman Warren walked by the front steps of the Penn Trust Company in Norristown, Pa., and noticed a man sitting there. Warren knew exactly what to do. After all, the officers of the bank had complained that loiterers had found the steps a favorite place to, well, loiter. The patrolman crossed the street and barked at the man, "Come on, now. It's yours for the lockup." An arrest was imminent. When the man looked up, the patrolman recognized a famous beard. The beard belonged to Gov. Samuel Pennypacker (left), who had just arrived in town after a train trip from New York. He had paused on the steps while waiting for a trolley to Collegeville. He evidently didn't mind that the patrolman was following the law. According to The Washington Post, he told the officer, "It's all right; it's all right. Always do your duty, and never make fish of one and fowl of another."

Aug. 11, 1906 (Saturday)

TAKE A PEEK AT "THE MOST BEAUTIFUL WOMAN IN ENGLAND": Her name is Gyladys Ethel Gwendolyn Eugenie Sutherst (left) (the spelling is approximate on the first name). A news article in today's papers says she is "the most beautiful woman in England." She's in the news because of a court case regarding the Marquis of Townshend. At issue is his state of mind. Evidently, he married Sutherst after wanting to marry an American heiress. Sutherst and her father have evidently kept the marquis under their control, saying he's insane. Take another look at that picture. He really couldn't be ALL THAT CRAZY.

PORTRAIT WAYLAID AT CUSTOMS: A dispute regarding the import of a painting by Thomas Gainsborough has surfaced among the U.S. customs authorities. The painting, called by some "The Countess of Bristol" (right), which measures 3 feet by 2 feet, arrived in New York about a month ago. It was invoiced as having a value of 3,000 pounds. Now, upon further review, it appears the painting's value is more in the neighborhood of 6,000 pounds. Evidently, it was imported for an art lover in Chicago. But the importers have not shown up to usher it through customs, with the proper duty. Unless that is paid, the Government plans to sell the picture at a public auction. Right now, according to The New York Times, the painting is in a box in an office at the Board of Appraisers.

LYNCHER IS CONVICTED IN NORTH CAROLINA: In a historic move, a court yesterday convicted George Hall of his involvement in the recent lynchings in Salisbury, N.C. He was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor. According to The New York Times, this is the "first instance in the history of the State where a prisoner charged with aiding in a lynching was convicted." The state's Gov. Robert Broadnax Glenn (right)was in Salisbury for the trial yesterday. Reportedly, he was horrified by the lynchings and wants to see that the lynchers face justice.

Aug. 10, 1906 (Friday)

THOSE PESKY GEOGRAPHY QUIZZES JUST GOT HARDER: A new island has sprouted among the Aleutians, at least temporarily. Evidently, a land mass has sprouted between the already established Bogoslof Islands -- named Castle (right, I think) and Fire -- about 50 miles west of Dutch Harbor. According to a report that likely came from the Bering Sea Patrol -- dated yesterday from Tacoma, Wash. -- the new island has risen to about 900 feet. Boiling water surrounds the base of the island. The revenue cutter Perry (above) could not get close enough to either make an accurate measurement of the island's length -- or cook any poached eggs.

TRIP NORTH ENDS IN TRAGEDY FOR A SEA COW: The New York Aquarium recently spent $3,000 to bring a sea cow, or manatee (right) up from Florida for a closer look by Northern eyes. However, the beast, bought in Miami about two weeks ago, has died. One major cause: a bullet, which had been fired into her back before she was bought. People are wondering why the purchasing agent missed the hole. A feeder spotted the hole once the animal had been on display.
A message to the New York Zoological Society prompted three doctors to hustle over. Once the manatee was manacled, the doctors found a .38-caliber bullet about a foot under the outer hide. Everyone thought that was the end of the problem. But the animal became ill about four days ago and lapsed into a coma at 1 a.m. yesterday. She was dead within four hours.
This has made this a costly exhibition. Nobody has officially confirmed that the animal cost $3,000, but nobody has denied the published reports, either. That means the eight-day exhibit cost about $375 a day. The hide will be mounted and presented to the Museum of Natural History. No word on where the slug is going.

NAVY WOULD PREFER TO USE ANOTHER WEAPON-DELIVERY SYSTEM: John Sweeney, a 17-year-old from Ericson, Neb., recently wrote the secretary of the Navy to ask for advice on gaining admission to the U.S. Naval Academy. To help push his own cause, Sweeney described some of the experiments he has conducted in launching dynamite. He told Secretary Bonaparte that he can throw .064 ounces of dynamite 150 yards with the help of a Winchester rifle. He thinks he could launch 400 pounds of dynamite about six miles if he had a large siege gun. A news report that was filed yesterday with a Washington, D.C., dateline paraphrased Bonaparte's response this way:
Secretary Bonaparte repled to the young man that his experiments were better adapted to taking him to a cemetery than to the Naval Academy and suggested he abandon them and adapt some other means of preparing himself for a naval career.

Aug. 9, 1906 (Thursday)

DOORS FLUNG OPEN AT INSTITUTION FOR INEBRIATES: District Attorney John Moran has evidently had enough of the Massachusetts Home for Intemperate Women. Yesterday, he sent an officer there with orders to release all 30 women who were in the institution. They were all liberated with a nolle pros for each woman (hopefully in time for the local Happy Hour). Evidently, the home was being run too much like a prison, with the women being deprived of their liberty and forced to work long hours. The president of the institution is Julia Ward Howe (right), who wrote "The Battle Hymn of the Republic."

PUT A SEAL OF DISAPPROVAL ON THIS RAID BY JAPANESE POACHERS: An international incident has surfaced in the Bering Sea. Evidently five Japanese men were killed while they were poaching in the fur seal rookeries at St. Paul Island (above), which is in the Bering Sea (remote but livable). The raids were made on July 16 and 17. About 200 seals were killed. Many of the seals were female, according to reports, and many of those were nursing young seals. One strange aspect to this raid is that it's quite early in the season, with plenty of daylight in the North. Usually such raids have been conducted under cover of darkness, later in the year. The people guarding the rookeries seem to be employed by the North American Commercial Company, or maybe the U.S. government. There are about 115 guards on St. Paul. About 90 are on the nearby island of St. George.

Aug. 8, 1906 (Wednesday)

WOMAN ON TRAIN REFUSES TO TAKE "JIM CROW" SEATING ASSIGNMENT SITTING DOWN: According to today's Washington Post, Barbara E. Pope, whom the Post describes as a "woman whose color indicated that she was a negress," has protested the "Jim Crow" seating arrangement in a railroad car. She was turned over to state officials in Falls Church, Va., yesterday for refusing to sit in the "Jim Crow" section of a car.
She says she is a clerk in the interstate commerce commission and had been told in that office what her rights are. She was on her way to Paeonian Springs. She's trying to pick up where Homer Plessy left off. It could be a powerful protest, if the country is ready to pay attention. Otherwise somebody else will have to do it at another time.

ANOTHER TAKE ON COMSTOCK'S RAID: Charles Henry Smith, who teaches history at Yale had some interesting thoughts regarding the raid of Anthony Comstock (right) on artistic nudes in New York City. Smith thinks representations of the human body shouldn't be covered or censored and that Comstock's efforts will backfire. Smith says such artistic nudes should be displayed fully. The Washington Post says Smith thinks that reform can come by giving publicity to the things that Comstock is trying to censor and suppress. It's worth considering Smith's comments, which he made yesterday in New Haven:
Official censorship is quite apt to change a normal desire for proper information into unhealthy curiosity and in that and other ways do more harm than good. The most successful way to fight an evil is to put good in its place. For example, decent entertainments have cleaned up Coney Island. They have succeeded where laws and police and punishments failed.
A change in the attitude of the public toward pictorial and sculptured representations of the human body would at once remove occasion for a questionable part of Comstock's activity, while having the useful part of it intact.
Competent physicians tell us that there is widespread physical and moral suffering resulting from the present policy of preventing sex knowledge from being acquired in a legitimate and healthful way. To say that people can go to the doctor does not meet the case. They will not go until after the harm has been done.
Thoughtful words, to be sure. Who knows where Comstock's efforts will end?

WHY A FIRST BASEMAN TRIED TO PUT HIS HANDS INTO THE UMPIRE'S POCKETS (HINT: HE WAS LOOKING FOR THE GAME BALLS.): Boston first baseman Fred Tenney (left) got upset with young umpire Bill Klem (right) after yesterday's National League baseball game between Boston and Pittsburgh. Evidently Tenney thought Klem refused to turn over the balls after the game, which was played in Boston's South End. Because the balls are considered the property of the home team, Tenney tried to search Klem's pockets. They started fighting. Klem pulled one of the balls out and fired it smack into Tenney's face. That raises at least one question: Why isn't Klem pitching?