Dec. 10, 1906 (Monday)

UPON FURTHER REVIEW: With the Chester Gillette trial over, now's a good time for reflection on how the newspapers did their job, according to a letter to the editor that's printed in today's Post-Standard. The letter writer, who is from Homer, N.Y., signed the letter "N." He or she felt compelled to speak up about the NEWSPAPER COVERAGE of the trial, saying "many have been wrought up almost in a frenzy by the statements and comments made by the newspaper correspondents. Many of them have magnified every little incident into events of the greatest importance by such vivid description of them as to appeal to the sentiments and passions of readers, instead of to their judgment."
It still seems tough to find the balance: passions or judgment.

FORMER U.S. SENATOR GUNNED DOWN BY LOVER: Washington and Salt Lake are gripped by the tale of the shooting of former U.S. Senator Arthur Brown (left) of Utah. Under arrest is Mrs. Anna M. Bradley, who traveled from Salt Lake to face her lover in his room at the Raleigh Hotel (right) in Washington. She told police that she came to D.C. to demand that Brown marry her. She said she had two children fathered by the man. In her words, "I asked him if he was going to do the right thing by me. His reply was that he put on his overcoat and started to leave the room, and I shot him. I abhor acts of this character, but in this case it was fully justified." His overcoat was not bulletproof. Last night he was in critical condition at the Emergency Hospital and she was in hysterical condition at the House of Detention. This is looking to become one of the major Congressional sex scandals.

AROUND AND AROUND THEY GO: The six-day bicycle race got under way at 12:07 this morning, with 16 two-person teams, at Madison Square Garden. Interest in the race is so big that coverage is on the front page of this morning's papers, including the Post-Standard in Syracuse. The paper held the presses long enough to report that Louis Mettling of the Canadian-Irish team was in the lead after five miles, which he had covered in 12 minutes, 21 seconds -- which seems to be about 24 miles an hour.

Dec. 9, 1906 (Sunday)

AN EVIL LURKS ON THE STREETS OF SHERIDAN, WYOMING: An unidentified journalist was found brutally beaten -- with his camera broken and plates destroyed -- on a street in Sheridan, Wyoming (above, in 1909). Evidently, the reporter had taken a snapshot of Edna Irvine last Sunday night, and she attacked him. You see, Edna was one of those people who are both newsworthy and temperamental -- at the same time. Go figure! News accounts have some discrepancies regarding that newsworthiness. They agree on the degree of her temperamentalness (if, indeed, that's a word). She is on trial for shooting, in September, a ranch foreman named Knighten. Details are hard to track down, but it appears that she shot the man after he got upset about her leaving the barn door open, among other things. He also made fun of the fact that she carried a 45-caliber pistol. That was a mistake. The bullets she hit him with entered his thigh less than two inches apart. The word is that she did that on purpose, after he made a move to draw his gun. In her defense, she says she was justified in shooting him because he was "sassy" to her -- a strategy that could become known as the "sassy defense."
For the record, her dad, William C. (Billy) Irvine is state treasurer in Wyoming. Many years later, he will be portrayed by John Hurt in the movie Heaven's Gate (1980).

THE BELL RINGS FOR McGOVERN: Doctors at Kings County Hospital in New York have pronounced former featherweight boxing champion "Terry" McGovern hopelessly insane. The thinking is that he has never recovered from a blow he received from Young Corbett II in a fight in Hartford in November 1901. Doctors say he now suffers from a softening of the brain and he will go to a sanitarium in Connecticut today. Some might think that qualifies him for a seat in Congress.... An article in one of today's paper says, "McGovern has led a fast life drinking heavily at times and also smoking excessively." He had a great record.. It all will come to a sad ending.

ROASTING THE POLITICIANS ON THE GRILL: The journalist-filled Gridiron Club turned up the heat on President Roosevelt last night at the group's 23rd annual dinner at the Willard hotel (right) in Washington, D.C. The group poked fun at his trip to Panama and his efforts to control things in Cuba. The most pointed commentary was a booklet that, in its 40 pages, made light of Roosevelt's attempts to simplify spelling. Today's New York Times included some of the entries:
EXEKUTIV SESSHUN -- (n.) A mith.
KABINET -- (n.) A net that statezmen want to be cawt in.
ZOO -- -- (n.) See House uv Representatives.

Dec. 8, 1906 (Saturday)

MOST LINK A PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT TO THE GROWTH OF FEDERAL GOVERNMENT; THE QUESTION IS: WHICH PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT? This cartoon (originally in the New York Telegram and printed in today's Syracuse Herald) illustrates one of the great features of the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt. The heading says "Let Me Introduce a Friend of Mine," which is what a Rough Rider-clad TR is saying to a stunned U.S. Senate. The "friend" is labeled "Federal Power." So maybe this could put some of FDR's actions in perspective?

FORGET ABOUT THE MILES PER GALLON RATING; HOW ABOUT NEWSPAPERS PER GALLON? The Staten Island Advance newspaper in West Brighton was in trouble yesterday. The electric motor that runs the press broke down, and the expert mechanic trying to fix it said it would have to be sent to Philadelphia for repairs. Editor John Crawford Jr. tried to get some other news office in the Richmond Borough to print his 16-page paper, but none could (or would?) do it. So, he came up with a solution that was noteworthy enough to earn a front-page story in The Syracuse Herald and The New York Times (among others, I'm sure). He drove his car close to a certain spot alongside the building and had someone knock a hole in the wall. He had someone extend the shaft of the press through the hole and out toward the automobile. He connected that shaft with the shaft of the automobile. His 35-horsepower auto provided enough power to get the presses rolling.

SOMEONE WORTH KNOWING: The name Fenwick H. Watkins probably should have more significance. An item in todays Syracuse Herald says he is "the first colored captain of an athletic team." He was just elected as head of the football team at the University of Vermont.

IT'S A SMALL WORLD, EVEN IN 1906: They might have made this up to fool the immigration officers at Ellis Island but Mr. and Mrs. Kowrie Turteltaub of Solechow, Austria, had quite a tale to tell when then landed here on the steamer Graf Waldersee (right). Here's what happened:
About two months ago, Kowrie, the husband, simply did not come home to dinner one night -- abandoning his wife and two children. His wife waited a week and then decided to ask around to find out what might have happened. She heard that he had left for AMERICA. She decided to follow him. She sold what few belongings she had and booked a passage on the Graf Waldersee, hoping to follow him and find him. On the first day out, she was walking on deck and spotted a man coming up from the hold for some fresh air. He was working as a coal trimmer on the ship. It turned out to be her husband. He told her that the problem at home was, in the words of The New York Times, "too much mother in law." They decided to continue the trip here together. Now they await the decision of an immigrant board, which must decide if they are worthy of entry. They arrived here with only $10. Passengers on the ship teamed up and supplemented their cash. Now they have $50.


And here's an item from today's Syracuse Herald that might be provocative, or not....

Dec. 7, 1906 (Thursday)

FEMALE CLIMBER RETURNS WITH TALES BUT NO SUMMIT: Annie Smith Peck, who, according to The Washington Post, is "said by many to be America's greatest mountain climber," landed in New York yesterday aboard the royal mail steamer Trent and described her harrowing efforts to climb Mount Huascaran (above) in Peru. Peck, who had quite a career, left New York on May 24, hoping to climb the peak, which she thinks is the tallest mountain in South America. She said she tried twice to climb the mountain, once in July and once in August. On neither occasion did she get the help she needed from guides and support climbers. On one trip, the guides drank most of the alcohol she had brought to run the stove they carried. Some men turned back because they thought the mountain was cursed and that they would turn to stone if they reached the summit. The Post called her "chipper and good-natured" despite the failures. Her plans now? "I would like to make the attempt again, and know I can succeed if I can obtain Swiss guides, but with the material at hand in Peru it is my opinion that no living soul can get to the top."

QUOTE OF THE DAY: The trial of Angie (or, Aggie?) Birdsong began yesterday in Hazelhurst, Miss. She's charged with shooting to death Dr. Thomas Butler, a family physician who "wronged" her. A witness said yesterday that he saw Birdsong enter Butler's office; then he heard two gun shots; then he saw Butler stagger out the front door, with his hands on his breast; then he saw her shoot him again as he was about to fall; then he saw her put two more bullets in Butler as he lay on the ground. Here's how Birdsong, a niece of U.S. Sen. Anselm McLaurin (right), described her shooting, which happened on Nov. 25, 1905:
"Of course I killed him. I shot him as I would a snake. He ruined my reputation, and there was nothing left to live for."
'Nuff said.

Dec. 6, 1906 (Wednesday)

STOP WATCH MAKES FOOTBALL OBSERVER STOP AND THINK: A Dr. Newton, who used to play end for the University of Pennsylvania, tried a little experiment during the recent Army-Navy football game (above). He found there was 6 minutes and 43 seconds of ACTUAL PLAYING TIME in the first half and 6 minutes and 40 seconds in the second half of the game. He put the clock on the amount of time the ball was "alive" -- meaning from the time of the snap to the time it was declared "dead". This is not meant to imply that the pace of the 60-minute game was lethargic or sloppy.
Dr. Newton did this to illustrate something he told players at Lafayette College, when he coached there:
"I used to tell my men that all they had to do was play their hardest for ten minutes in each half and the rest of the time they would be resting, but they laughed at me."
Not sure how this compares to the current NFL game. The Eagles-Panthers game on Dec. 4 had 167 plays (many of which were passes). At 7 seconds a play, this would generate about 19 minutes and 30 seconds of ACTUAL PLAYING TIME. More passing means more plays because the clock stops with an incompletion.

ROOSEVELT HAS A NEW APPROACH TO THE GUNS-IN-THE-SCHOOLS PROBLEM: He said he wants Congress' push for more rifle practice to go further, in light of the fact that the U.S. has a small Regular Army that will depend greatly upon volunteers who should already know how to shoot. He wants rifle clubs formed and "national target ranges" established. And, importantly, he said:
"We should establish shooting galleries in all the large public and military schools...."
After all, he pointed out, "The little Republic of Switzerland offers us an excellent example in all matters connected with building up an efficient citizen soldiery."
Of course, Switzerland has proven to be a bit less combative than the U.S.
Judge Peter S. Grosscup (right) of Chicago said the speech provides another exapmple of TR simply making a "crazy quilt" of statements. "It covers almost every possible subject, and many of them are hardly important enough for a President." He included the shooting-galleries idea as an example, adding, "Understand me, I am not in the least antagonistic to the President."

MAN BARELY ESCAPES HANGING AT HANDS OF RACIST COWBOYS -- ON A TRAIN: On a westbound train between Lawrence and Topeka, Kansas, two cowboys from Texas became offended by a black passenger named John E. Lewis of Wichita. Three times, they put a rope around his neck. Each time he wriggled free. The last time, he leapt from the train to save his life. According to news reports, the Texans prevented other passengers from helping Lewis by waving their revolvers at them. What on earth started this? Evidently, Lewis wore a pin for the Knights of Pythias. The cowboys said they didn't like seeing a black man who was "putting on airs." And there were NO ARRESTS for this.

HOW TO CLEAN UP A KID'S LANGUAGE: An item from the Atchison (Kansas) Globe (which was reprinted in today's Post-Standard) tells how a father compelled a child to stop his swearing or the use of "haughty words." The strategy was tried AFTER the soap-in-the-mouth technique failed:
Every day, his father called him in and said, "Now, your mother objects to those naughty words you use, but I, being a man, like them. Go over the list for me." The boy promptly complied at first, but in a few days he tired of the words and has now given up his list entirely.

Dec. 5, 1906 (Wednesday)

NOW A CLASSIC AMERICAN BOOK CAN BE WRITTEN: At about 11 p.m. yesterday, a jury in Herkimer, N.Y., found Chester Gillette guilty of murdering his sweetheart -- Grace Brown -- at Big Moose Lake last summer. He will likely be sentenced tomorrow, and death is likely. This was front-page news today in virtually all papers, including The New York Times and The Washington Post. It took six ballots for the unanimous verdict from the jurors. An afternoon paper today included this little scene: "The jurors this morning made a visit to the jail and talked with the prisoner. He shook hands with them and told them that he bore them no ill will addith that he confidently expected a new trial."
Upon hearing the verdict, Gillette grabbed a piece of paper and wrote a telegram for his dad.
Here's how the telegrams were quoted:
"Frank Gillette in Denver. Dear Father, I am convicted." (The Syracuse Herald)
"Dear Father, I am convicted. Chester" (The Post-Standard)
"Dear Father, Found guilty, will write. Chester" (The Washington Post)
"Father: I am convicted. Chester (The New York Times)
It will take a little while, but Theodore Dreiser (right) will make this murder and trial famous in 1925 with his "An American Tragedy." For more, check here or see the entries for July 14 and 15.

A STATE OF THE UNION WITH NO TELEPROMPTER: President Roosevelt sent his message to Congress yesterday. (It's still not time for the president to deliver it orally; it's still just words on paper. A big speech, with all the trappings, will have to wait until FDR and the presidents that have followed.) One major point he makes is the the rights of Japanese must be protected in this country -- something that hasn't been happening in California. Also, Republicans from a later time might be interested in seeing what he wrote about taxation:
"There is every reason why, when our next system of taxation is revised, the National Government should impose a graduated inheritance tax, and, if possible, a graduated income tax."

IT'S WIRELESS, BABY! Communicators have set a record on the West Coast. On the evening of Dec. 3, messages flew back and forth between the federal wireless station at Point Loma, Calif., and the federal station at Puget Sound in Washington state. That covers about 1,200 miles. The Point Loma station has an interesting history. It officially opened in May, but it played a role in spreading the word about the San Francisco earthquake a month earlier.

PAY RAISE LIKELY FOR CONGRESS, SO LONG AS IT CAN BE DONE QUIETLY: There's a move afoot to raise pay for federal legislators from $5,000 a year to $7,500. (For 2006 dollars, multiply by about 20.) It seems to have wide support but many of the members of Congress are worried about public perception. It appears that Democrats are most likely to vote against it, and John Wesley Gaines, a congressman of Tennessee (right), is especially likely to squawk. A deal seems to be in the works to allow Democrats and others to vote against it, but the leadership wants some assurances from them that they will "not make speeches about the toiling masses whose sweat-bedewed bread is being wrenched from them to pamper the children of luxury in the halls of legilsation," according to a summary in today's New York Times. If the Democrats won't allow to let this happen quietly, it isn't going to get done.

Dec. 4, 1906 (Tuesday)

SIX-DAY RACE ABOUT TO GET ROLLING: Preparations are under way for the six-day bicycle race at New York's Madison Square Garden. It begins Saturday (Dec. 8). Some attention is being given to cyclist George Wiley, who gained some fame as a Western Union messenger boy in Syracuse because of his speed on the cycle. After moving to Denver, he twice won the 25-mile race sponsored by the Denver Wheelman's Club. A number of two-man teams are in New York, ready to ride. Among the favorites is the team of Bobby Walthour and Hugh MacLean. Today's New York Times is all over this one.
"Interest in the big race this year is much greater than last, and it now looks as if the prophesies of those who predicted a revival of the cycling craze are to be fulfilled."
Wonder how long this "cycling craze" will last. Has it been replaced by NASCAR?

IS T.R.'s STICK GETTING TOO BIG? The Anti-Imperialistic League wrapped up its meetings yesterday in Boston and adopted resolutions expressing confidence that the independence of the Philippine Islands was likely. The league's President Moorfield Story criticized President Theodore ("Speak softly but carry a big stick") Roosevelt for interfering recently in Cuba. While acknowledging that the Platt Amendment allowed the U.S. to interfere in Cuba to preserve its independence, he worried about the centralized decision-making. "Since when has President Roosevelt become the United States," he asked. (Story, a lawyer, was to become the first president of the NAACP.)
SPEAKING OF ROOSEVELT: The members of Congress are looking forward to receiving President Roosevelt's annual message, which will be delivered to both houses today. For the sake of speed, I hope he uses one of those six-day-race bicyclists.

NEWS FLASH: NEW YORK IS NOISY (and dogs occasionally bite men): Recently, people have spotted themselves at key locations around various hospitals in New York City, holding sensitized plates and making recordings of the noises in the streets. These recordings will be presented as proof that there's far too much noise in the neighborhoods. Some allege that this noise has caused some premature deaths. Miss Isaac L. Rice, who has founded a society devoted to the suppression of noise, says the recordings are shocking. An article in today's Washington Post quotes her:
"Murder has been committed by this bedlam that surrounds a hospital. Patients that have just undergone serious operations and whose lives depend upon their securing an hour's undisturbed sleep, have succumbed to the yell of hucksters, the toot of automobile horns, the screech of shrill whistles and a score of other similar disturbances."
If they don't listen to her, maybe she should set up a loudspeaker outside a hospital and yell.

IT'S A LOT BETTER THAN PUTTING A LIVE BABY IN A DUMPSTER: Last Saturday night, lots of people showed up at Brooklyn's Capital Hall for a reception celebrating the marriage of Sadie Strauss and Max Weiss. In addition to CHECKING COATS, some parents attending the party also CHECKED BABIES on the third floor. That way, the parents could enjoy the party without having to leave a child at home. At one point in the evening a young lady, about the age of 16, showed up with a child that was a few weeks old. She told the caretaker that the baby would likely need a bottle in an hour. After leaving the baby, the woman headed for the reception, where the nurse saw her "pass in among the crowd," according to the New York Sun. About 24 hours later, the woman had not returned for the baby. The wife of the manager of the hall, Mrs. Lena Friedling, took the little girl to the Stagg Street police station. From thence the baby was put in the care of the city nurse on Livingston Street.