May 3, 1907 (Friday)

THEY'RE NERVOUS IN BOISE: Nerves are on edge in Boise as the city prepares for the trial of the men accused of killing Idaho Gov. Frank Steunenberg. The main witness is Harry Orchard (right). His confession is the basis of the state's case against leaders of the Western Federation of Miners who were upset with the governor's attempts to suppress strikers. Threats have poured into Boise, and violence is feared at what will become a famous trial. Many observers are worried that Orchard might die in the chair. But they're not talking about the electric chair; they're talking about the witness' chair. Here's how it's put in today's Washington Post:
Perfectly reasonable men here look at the high witness chair in the county courtroom, shake their heads seriously, and tell you that Harry Orchard will die in it.

SINGER BUILDING IS A REAL ZINGER: Today's Washington Post reprints some commentary from the Cleveland Plain Dealer that deals with the under-construction Singer Building (right) in New York City. The notice points out that some architects think this hits the UPPER LIMIT for sky-scraping office buildings. Of course, the paper adds, the same thing was said about the Pulitzer Building and Park Row Building. To help Clevelanders grasp the size, the article points out that, when finished, the Singer will be:
57 feet taller than the Washington Monument;
127 feet taller than the Great Pyramid of Egypt;
212 feet taller than St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome;
307 feet taller than the Madison Square Garden tower.

QUICK-THINKING CONGRESSMAN SAVES PART OF A TOWN: The town of Kensett, Iowa can thank Congressman Gilbert Nelson Haugen that any of the town exists today. Half the town burned to the ground recently, and the other half would likely have disappeared too, if it weren't for Haugen's ingenuity, according to an article in today's New York Times. Haugen, who was in Northwood at the time, heard by telephone that a building he owned was threatened by a fire in Kensett. He knew Kensett had no fire-fighting equipment so he set up an "automobile train" to haul a "chemical engine" and a "hook and ladder wagon" 20 miles to Kensett. It took the group TWO HOURS to reach the town, but it was in time to save some buildings, including Haugen's.
Haugen would later have his name attached to an important piece of farm legislation.