Nov. 20, 1906 (Tuesday)

CRAZED GOVERNESS HURLS BABY INTO THE OCEAN: When the liner the Nieuw Amsterdam docked in New York yesterday, a governess who was on board was taken into custody. Evidently, the woman, named Rosa Naegle, was walking along the deck while the ship was in mid-ocean, when she came across a group of children at play. In a fit of temporary insanity, she grabbed a 1-year-old named Aaron and TOSSED THE CHILD OVERBOARD. Somehow, officials on the ship prevented other passengers from seriously injuring the woman. Leading the attack was the child's mother, Mrs. Guvowski (or Gadowski?), who is on her way from Russia to Fargo, N.D., where she plans to join her husband. The steamer stopped and crew members searched for the infant in the ocean but had no luck.

WORD FOR THE DAY: How about "Reichsverdrossenheit"? It means, in German, "popular disgust with imperialism." Kaiser Wilhelm told a writer he doesn't much like the word.

Nov. 19, 1906 (Monday)

DISASTER IN PUGET SOUND: The inland steamer Dix (above) collided with the Jeanie yesterday evening near Seattle and it looks like about 40 people have died. It happened two miles north of Alki Point (see map at right) and will be a noteworthy disaster in the history of the state. The Dix sank in 600 feet of water; the Jeanie showed little damage. Weather was not a factor. One article says, "The collision occurred while the Sound was almost as smooth as a mill pond and after the boats had been steaming in sight of each other for a quarter of an hour." This one is hard to figure out. In the map, the line from Smith's Cove shows the route of the Jeanie. The Dix captain was not at the wheel at the time of the wreck because he was collecting fares. He said, "For an instant I clung to the railing. The sight filled me with horror. Lights were still burning and I could see people inside the cabin. The expressions on their faces were of indescribable despair. They fought desperately to gain the deck and their shouting and cries were awful."

BOMB ROCKS BASILICA: An explosion echoed through the cavernous St. Peter's (above) in Rome yesterday. It caused plenty of panic, but nobody was hurt or injured. The day marked the anniversary of the dedication of the Basilica to St. Peter. The last mass had just concluded and only one canon remained at the altar when the bomb exploded He shouted, "Do not be afraid; it is nothing, merely the noonday gun." He was, of course, mistaken. The bomb, a crude one, had been placed near the tomb of Clement XIII (right, by Antonio Canova), which, amazingly, suffered no damage. Authorities suspect it was crudely made simply to get people's attention or to mislead people.

DID CALVE CAVE IN TO ROMANCE? The word from Paris indicates that Emma Calve (right), one of the great Carmens of the era, has become engaged to an American. There's plenty of mystery surrounding this. Some think she will end her singing career with this move. However, she has signed a contract to create the leading role in "Mary Magdalene" at the Opera Comique in Paris in March.

Nov. 18, 1906 (Sunday)

A POSTAL FAD: A German inventor has come up with something called a "phonocard." A voice is recorded on something called "sonorine," using a pencil with a sapphire point. The sonorine is easily spread on the side of a postcard and it has all the properties of a wax cylinder. This seems also something to be called a gramophone post card. Some people like the privacy because nobody can casually read anything. The card has enough space for about 80 words. The grooves are so deep that the stamping by the postal service can only destroy about two or three words.
That's OK, but what if the recording says, "I am dying to see you" and the listener hears only "I am dying"? Back to the drawing board.

COLERIDGE-TAYLOR TALKS TO THE TIMES: English composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor who is black, is in the United States for a concert tour. After playing in New York, he will give concerts in Washington, an h-less Pittsburg, Chicago, St. Louis, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Boston and Toronto before heading back to England on Dec. 15. He spoke at length with a reporter from The New York Times about his use of negro or African melodies in his compositions. He said, "On my visit to the United States two years ago, I was particularly impressed by the fact that the audiences in American cities are more appreciative than English audiences." However, he adds, "outside the large American cities at present there are no good orchestras."

PITTSBURG IS THE PITTS: Things aren't going very well in Pittsburg these days. Yesterday alone, there were 20 robberies in the city. A front page article in The New York Times said that, "Thugs and thieves continue their depredations" there. To illustrate the problem, the Pittsburg Gazette Times assembled the collage at right of headlines from newspapers of last Monday (Nov. 12). It's reproduced in today's Syracuse Herald. Speaking of thefts, it looks like someone has stolen the "h" from the name of the city.

Nov. 17, 1906 (Saturday)

CARUSO MONKEYS AROUND: Incredible tenor Enrico Caruso is in the news. That's not surprising. But it's not because of his prowess on the opera stage. Instead it's because of what he might have done yesterday at the Monkey House at Central Park. He was arrested and charged with annoying a woman. The arresting officer, James J. Kane is assigned specifically to the zoo to catch men who are bothering women. Caruso was hauled in and put in a cell until someone bailed him out. He's supposed to appear in court today. The woman who accused him gave police the name of "Hannah Graham." She gave an address in the Bronx. Not surprisingly, this address electrified the news rooms in New York. Newspapers dispatched numerous reporters to the address she gave. Here's how The Times described it: "A canvass of the building from cellar to skylight by squads of reporters last evening revealed no one named Graham living in the building or known there. An incredible trial lies ahead.

ROOSEVELT IN PANAMA: During a rainy day in Panama, President Roosevelt and his group visited the area of the massive Culebra Cut to get a close-up look at the work being done. He spent some time on a steam shovel (right; he's the one in white sitting in the operator's position). At one point, when he was sitting with an engineer, the worker mentioned to him that, unlike railroad engineers, the engineers on this equipment were not paid for overtime. TR said he'd look into it. When someone pointed out the laborers' quarters being build, the president left his train and personally inspected the sleeping quarters of the Jamaicans. The article in the Times said, "He inquired how the men were fed and patiently listened to their complaints."

AN AUTOmatic TELLER MACHINE, 1906-STYLE: It will show up at an office building or home to receive deposits or cash checks."New Yorkers in the flood tide of prosperity are too busy making money to stop even to bank it."
Customers are assigned a metal box to which only two keys exit -- one in the hands of the customer, another in the hands of a teller assigned to that box. The customer puts the box in a safe in the automobile and receives a receipt. On the next trip, the box is returned to the customer. If the customer wants money for personal use or to meet a payroll, he or she calls the bank, and the money is sent out. The "bank auto" covers a range of Manhattan from 14th street to 125th street, dispatched from a bank that is not named in the news article. Some think this is quite the status symbol -- to have such a vehicle be seen regularly at one's door.

Nov. 16, 1906 (Friday)

MORE IMPRESSIVE THAN ANY GETTYSBURG ADDRESS: The Post-Standard printed today an item credited to The Hartford Courant that illustrates some quick thinking by the late novelist Pearl Craigie. An editor told the story the other day at the Authors Club in New York. Evidently, Mrs. Craigie was invited to make a speech last year in America. Her name was not on the program, however, and many people were given an opportunity to speak before her. It got later and later. Soon it was 11 p.m. At that time, the chairman of the event said, "Mrs. Craigie, the eminent author of 'Some Emotions and a Moral' will now give us her address." The writer stood up and calmly said, "My address is No. 56 Lancaster Gate, Hyde Park, West London, and I now wish you all good-night for I am far from home."

SOME POLICE OFFICERS LIKE TO BE HARD-HEADED: The New York Police Dept. began wearing new headgear recently, according to today's New York Times. The paper says, "The caps are a cross between those of the American and Prussian Armies." It has "a considerable bell, with a little tuft of the cloth forward over the deep visor." It's "smart and soldierly," but many officers are not especially pleased. Some liked the hard helmets (right) for the protection it affords and, the article says, because they were "convenient for carrying things like cigars, or on a cold night a small flask."

Nov. 15, 1906 (Thursday)

BANKING AT NIGHT -- WHAT AN IDEA: The Mechanics and Traders Bank is making a move to attract the business of the theater crowd. It has moved its Times Square Branch to the Astor Theatre, which is on the northwest corner of Broadway and 45th Street. This will have BOTH a day and night business, particularly targeting the customers patronizing all-night restaurants and Broadway shows. The interior of the new bank is finished in Alps-green marble, white Palzonozzo marble and bronze. An officer got a big shock when he opened the bank's vault for the first time. He was stunned to find a workman inside, calmly sitting there. It was a practical joke. What's next? Maybe they'll give away toasters.

WHISKEY MAKERS TAKE A SHOT FROM INTERNAL REVENUE: Commissioner Yerkes of the Internal Revenue Bureau has just about had it with the bottling practices of whiskey makers. He has sent a report to collectors telling them to keep an eye out for "quart" bottles that don't really hold a quart. Some bottles are as much as two ounces short. He says the variation on the 32-ounce measure should not exceed one ounce either way.

Nov. 14, 1906 (Wednesday)

ACTRESS CAN'T HIDE FROM 'SENSATIONAL PUBLICITY': The secret is out. A member of a well-known New York family, Alice Lewisohn (right), has made her stage debut. She tried to keep it secret, but she is playing the role of Phene in "Pippa Passes" at the Majestic Theatre. (That's an artist's rendition -- above --of a scene from the Robert Browning piece.) She's worth about $2 million. Here's what she told a reporter for The New York Times last night:
"Since the whole affair has now become public property I at least wish not to be misunderstood. I am not crazy about the stage. I am not stage-struck; I never have been, and I never expect to be. I do not want to be classed with the young women who are carried by such foolish impulse. As I have said, my action is the result of my interest in the education of others and of my hope further to educate myself."
She said she loves the work of Robert Browning and has done plenty of theatrical work with settlement workers on the east side of Manhattan.
The Times put the article on the front page: "Miss Alice Lewisohn Is Now An Actress".

PRESIDENT WILL SHOVEL COAL: A wireless message received at the White House last night indicated that the battleship Louisiana with President Roosevelt on board was 600 miles from Colon. The message came from the ship to Guantanamo to Key West to the White House. Today's Times printed a letter from a Cleveland sailor (assistant electrician Walter Whitehead) on board the ship, giving his impressions of TR. (The letter was written just before the Louisiana set sail.): "The President is going to eat his next meal with the crew. He is now going down in one of the firerooms to shovel coal for a while. He likes to do a little of everything. He is bound to find out everything for himself. It does not take him long to find out things. If you would see him, you would like him. He is no jollier, but an everyday man."

Nov. 13, 1906 (Tuesday)

SLOCUM MEMORIAL TABLET SURFACES: After the horrendous tragedy of the sinking of the General Slocum in 1904, survivors and others established a memorial in a cemetery in New York City. A couple of days ago, vandals stole the bronze tablet from a memorial. It seems the bronze tablet has been found in a Brooklyn junk shop. It was smashed in fragments by the thieves who sold it to a junk dealer for about $14. While the sentimental value is high, the tablet was valued at about $450. Seven men were arrested yesterday in connection with the theft.

WORD OF THE DAY: It's OSCULATORY. It means "of or pertaining to kissing." It's in the news because of a news item out of Malden, Mass. There, the city authorities have banned kissing games. It seems that two children have died of diphtheria and others are ill. Superintendent Harvey says, "The kissing must stop. I do not approve of it under any circumstances." A news article says, "This rule applies to the High School lads and lassies, who it is alleged are by no means adverse to indulging in 'post office' and other osculatory pastimes." Hmmm. Wonder when "post office" was invented.

GILLETTE MURDER TRIAL HAS BEGUN: Here's how one article begins its report of the opening of the sensational murder trial of Chester Gillette in Herkimer, N.Y.: "Today, dark and gloomy, with snowflakes floating lazily through the air, almost impressive in its heaviness marked the opening here of one of the greatest murder trials, known not alone in Herkimer county, but in the entire state as well." ThatÂ’s the beginning of an article in todayÂ’s paper that describes the jury selection in the trial of Gillette, whoÂ’s accused of killing Grace Brown at Big Moose Lake in the summer. Some papers mention, even in headlines, that during the proceedings, the defendant chewed gum. This forms the inspiration for "The American Tragedy" novel.

Nov. 12, 1906 (Monday)

OLD SOLDIER FADES AWAY: Gen. William Rufus Shafter died this afternoon in California, and readers of afternoon papers in the West got to learn about it right away. He was one of the most memorable officers in the Spanish American War -- if for no other reason than that the large man made donkeys and horses really earn their feed (above) He died at the ranch of his son-in-law Capt. W.H. McKittrick.

GOOD NEWS FOR THOSE WHO DIG ANCIENT HISTORY: Italy has agreed to allow excavation of Herculaneum (right) by Prof. Charles Waldstein of King's College, Cambridge. Today's New York Times includes a quotation of something Waldstein told a crowd at the White House on Dec. 29, 1904: "Pompeii was a purely commercial town; not a single manuscript has been found there while at Herculaneum the unsystematic excavations of the past have yielded from one villa alone 1,750 papyri. Specimens of art, notably bronzes, have come down to us in a most beautiful state of preservation from Herculaneum, but not from Pompeii."

POLICE IN GEORGIA -- in Southwest Asia -- FOOLED BY TERRORISTS: In Tiflis yesterday morning, terrorists figured out how to lure police into a trap. Here's what happened: Evidently police received a tip to search a certain unoccupied house on Pethanski Street. While inside the house, police discovered some "revolutionary proclamations" under a bed in one of the rooms in the house. At one point, one of the officers went to a window and pulled aside a curtain. Then, "there was a flash of blue flame, followed immediately by an explosion." The blast was so strong that it hurled the body of a sergeant and another man over a nearby roof. Three policemen were killed and four were wounded.

HATPIN STABBING PUZZLES POLICE: Thomas Dougherty of the Scranton, Pa., suburb of Dunmore, died yesterday after being stabbed by an unknown woman. He made a statement before he died -- saying that a woman he was visiting stuck a hat pin in him. Later he became ill. A post mortem showed that a pin had, indeed, pierced his heart. This is unsolved and clearly is something to watch.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: Before giving the quote, here's the context. For about nine years, officials have been looking for Robert Linke of Cincinnati. According to an article in today's New York Times, they found him on Nov. 10 hard at work in a blacksmith's shop in a suburb of Memphis. They were able to then pass on some good news to the journeyman -- that he stood to inherit a sizable chunk of a relative's fortune. The amount? Try $400,000. Now, comes the Quote of the Day. Here's what Linke said: "Well, that's pretty good, but I've got to finish this job first."

Nov. 11, 1906 (Sunday)

PRESIDENTIAL VISIT: Theodore Roosevelt is in Panama. The Chicago Tribune cartoonist John T. McCutcheon has had some fun with the visit. The panel at right shows some of the highlights of the president's work, form his arrival in the upper left and his digging at the canal. I like the one in the middle on the right side. It shows a stream of dust flowing into the door of a hardware store. The words underneath are "He prepares to visit the canal."

FOOTBALL GAME ENDS IN A FIGHT: With about five minutes left in the game Bucknell was leading Virginia Polytechnic, 10-0. At that point, a VPI player broke through the line for an 80-yard run for a score. But it was called back because the umpire called a holding penalty. A mob of fans jumped a fence and went after the umpire, a former Princeton player named Suter. Here's how The Constitution (Atlanta) describe it:
"[Suter] kept his face to the crowd and slowly retreated. Seeing that he would soon be hemmed in, the players on both teams rushed to his assistance. Someone hit Suter over the head with a cane attached to which was a V.P.I. flag. This was a signal for an onslaught, and then the police rushed in."
The police drew their revolvers and used their clubs.

HIGH PRAISE FOR LONGBOAT: An article in the New York World praises Thomas Longboat, an immensely talented runner who's part of the Onondaga nation and lives on a reservation near Hamilton, Ont. Many consider him the "swiftest long distance runner in the world." He’s 19. In a recent road race in Toronto, he covered a 15-mile course on a country road in 1 hour 30 minutes – beating about 65 of Canada’s best runners. The article says, "Hamilton naturally went wild over the new hero." ?