April 1, 1907 (Monday)

STUDENTS RIOT IN ATLANTIC CITY: A group of several hundred college students -- apparently from the University of Pennsylvania -- caused thousands of dollars in damage early yesterday morning (Easter) when they refused to leave the Old Vienna cafe in Atlantic City (shown above in 1909 from an airship). At midnight (between Saturday and Sunday), about 40 of the chums were in the cafe, whooping it up. The proprietor asked them to leave about 3 a.m. They objected and tore the place apart. The students were so disruptive, today's Washington Post says, that the city's usually bustling Easter parade "was a failure."

PLAYER TELLS TY COBB OF SOME PLAYERS HE SHOULD RUN AWAY FROM: Ty Cobb (right), who turned 20 in December, already has quite a reputation of picking fights -- against members of his own team. Today's Washington Post has an article the includes a list of the professional baseball players who are likely not to take the backtalk and antics displayed by Cobb, who plays for the Detroit Tigers. These are some of the American League players whom ballplayer "Rowdy" Jack O'Connor says could "easily convince Cobb that he is no fighter":
Hobe Ferris (Boston): "He gave Outfielder Hayden a bad beating last year, and Hayden is an acknowledged strong man and football player."
"Gentle" George Moriarty (New York): "He is a veritable buzzsaw when riled."
"Nig" Clark (Cleveland): "He never looks for a fight, but he is able to hold his own with anybody in the league.
John Anderson (Washington): He is "as strong as a bull and handy with his dukes."
O'Connor also mentions Chicago's George Davis and St. Louis' Tom Jones. O'Connor adds: "A word of advice to Cobb: If he gets on any other club, he had better sidestep the players I mention."
The article adds that O'Connor could have mentioned another player: Jack O'Connor himself should be on the "list of ball players who can whip Cobb."

March 31, 1907 (Sunday)

STUDENTS REVOLT AT BUSINESS COLLEGE IN IOWA: About 200 angry students at the Spencer Business University in Spencer, Iowa (shown above in 1907 on a quieter day), tore down part of a classroom building and THREW STONES at the home of the president of the school on March 29 because they want the former president reinstated. In the afternoon, the new president (R.R. Stewart) met with the students and reprimanded them for boycotting classes in protest of the change at the top. When he went to his office, the students briefly imprisoned him there and then proceeded to tear down part of Recitation Hall. Then, after presenting the former president, F.E. Strawn, with a leather chair as a gift, the students then went to home of President Stewart and threw stones at it.

ACTRESS COMPLAINS ABOUT RUDE AUDIENCES: Actress Eleanor Robson (right) chatted with a reporter a few days ago in the parlor next to her dressing room at the Liberty Theatre. The time had come, she said, to talk about the boorish behavior of some people in the audiences at some of the better theaters in New York. She was calm, but pointed:
I think few people who have not themselves been on the stage understand how much can be heard across the footlights -- or they would take more care....They forget that a theatre is a place especially built to be heard in.
She adds that the rudeness does NOT filter down from the cheaper seats. "The people who occupy those seats have worked too hard for the 50 cents or $1 each they spend to waste their money in that manner." The main culprits are those in the expensive seats.

GIVING THE CHEFS AND MAITRES D' SOMETHING TO CHEW ON: One of the features in today's New York Times deals with a movement to replace FRENCH as the LINGUA FRANCA of the restaurant world. To illustrate the writer's technique, here's the second paragraph of the article, headlined "The Language in Which We Eat."
So it looks as if trouble may be in store for the French chefs (cooks) and maitres d'hotel (grand moguls) who have so longue (long) filled our menus (bills of fare) with noms de plume (pen pictures) for the most insignificant plats (dishes) of petits haricots farcies a la diablo (beans).
The reporter talks to numerous chefs and restaurateurs and diners. The best line, the reporter's own, follows: "At such restaurants the management quite loses light of the fact that ONE MAN'S FISH is ANOTHER MAN'S POISSON."

March 30, 1905 (Saturday)

LIBRARIAN THINKS THERE'S SOMETHING BETTER THAN BUNYAN: From now on, it looks as though the libraries that are on board ships will include books of a "livelier" sort. Until now John S. Pierson has selected books that have filled the 11,386 libraries on board various ships. He's been doing the work on behalf of the Seamen's Friend Society for the past 46 years. Most of his selections have been of the weightier sort, such as Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress" and Gibbons' "The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire." One sailor on Manhattan's South Street yesterday described some of Pierson's choices as "heavy enough to sink a ship." Now, there's a new librarian -- William Elling. He claims that he will pick some thrilling adventure tales for the sailors. The New York Times indicates that the selections might include the works of, say, Robert Louis Stevenson and Laura Jean Libbey. That's her picture on the right. Maybe the sailors would be happy just to have one of the pictures.

'TIL DEATH DO US PART....NOT: It might not be the best reputation to have, but Polly Reed Baker is known as the MOST-MARRIED WOMAN in INDIANA. News out of Richmond reveals that yesterday, she put another notch in her garter; she was granted a divorce from her ELEVENTH HUSBAND, John Baker. Not all of the 11 marriages ended in divorce. One husband died a natural death; another committed suicide. Here's the lineup of lucky men, as printed in today's Washington Post, in order of betrothal: Henry Fuquay, James Fuquay, Henry Robinson, James Fuquay, George S. Boydon, Samuel R. Weed, Henry Robinson, George S. Boydon, R. Edwards and John Baker.
One name is missing from the list. THREE names are repeated. The Post says, "As will be seen, some of the husbands had more than one trial."

March 29, 1907 (Friday)

SOAP COMPANY EXECUTIVE SHOOTS HIMSELF: William A. Procter, the head of the soap-making company Procter & Gamble, killed himself yesterday at his Cincinnati-area home. Reportedly suffering from melancholia, he shot himself in the mouth, according to today's New York Times. He was known for his philanthropy, and the Times describes one of his endeavors along those lines -- one that illustrates his desire for anonymous giving:
Several years ago charitable institutions in and about Cincinnati received many large checks signed "Sunshine." Many tried to find out the name of the donor but were unsuccessful until a bank clerk told a friend it was Mr. Procter. The STORY WAS PUBLISHED and the CHECKS WERE DISCONTINUED.

AND BOSTON'S MANAGER ENDS HIS LIFE WITH CARBOLIC ACID: The disturbing story of Chick Stahl, former manager of the Boston team of the American League, from March 27, has gotten worse. Today's papers report that Stahl killed himself yesterday in a hotel at West Baden, Indiana. He was found by his roommate, "Jimmy" Collins, another former manager of the Boston team. He told Collins he had just drunk the acid. Collins called teammates to the room as Stahl's agony grew. According to today's New York Times, Stahl told the players, "Boys, I couldn't help it; it drove me to it." They do not know what he meant by it. They do know that he worried a lot about the team. Today's Journal-Gazette of his hometown of Fort Wayne gives a little context. When Stahl had been asked to become manager, he told the team owner, "I would make a nice manager; why I couldn't release a man even if he was no good at all." More recently, after stepping down from his post as manager, he told a reporter, "This handling of a baseball team both on and off the field is not what it is cracked up to be, and I am glad to be relieved of the responsibility. Releasing players grated on my nerves and they come so frequently at this time of the year that it made me sick at heart."

GIANTS MANAGER TAKES TEAM OFF THE FIELD: Unlike Chick Stahl, New York Giants manager John J. McGraw really doesn't care what people think of him. He was so upset that an umpire did not call a BALK on a Philadelphia Athletics pitcher during an EXHIBITION GAME in New Orleans yesterday that he argued the call and then -- after the POLICE were called to back up the umpire's decision -- pulled his TEAM OFF THE FIELD. This all happened yesterday in the top of the FIRST INNING of the game. The umpire, named Zimmer, gave McGraw five minutes to bring the team back. He didn't, so Zimmer awarded the game to the Athletics by a 9-0 score. Now, McGraw says he won't play a game with Zimmer as umpire, but Zimmer is scheduled to do the work for the next three games of the series. As to the reaction of the crowd, here's what today's New York Times says:
Two thousand enthusiastic "fans" occupied the park stands this afternoon, over one-third being women, and the order to present rain checks caused no little murmuring.

March 28, 1907 (Thursday)

CENSUS BUREAU TRIES TO MAKE SENSE OF INCREASE IN DIVORCE: During working hours for court officials, there is a divorce suit filed every two minutes and a divorce granted every three minutes in the United States, accoring to numbers compiled by the Census Bureau and passed on by the Washington Post.
For the 20-year period from 1867 to 1887, there were about 328,000 divorces. During the 20 years from 1887 to 1907, there were 1.4 million. For a better comparison, given the increase in the population, the bureau says the rate was 33 per 100,000 population from '67 to '87; and 70 per 100,000 from '87 to '07. The headline says there has been an "alarming increase in number of unahppy marriages in the last twenty years." An unidentified officials said, "The greatest increase is in the rural districts."
Another number is interesting: The bureau has 100 AGENTS in the field gathering divorce statistics. Among the list of items they are tabulating is whether or not INTEMPERANCE was a direct or indirect cause of the divorce.
This news comes as a marriage of two famous artists is disintegrating. The wife is opera star Emma Eames. The husband is painter Julian Russell Story. (He painted his wife a few years ago, and the result is at right.)

ENGLISH-LOVING JOURNALISTS POKE FUN OF ANOTHER LANGUAGE -- THIS TIME IT'S DANISH: An article in today's Washington Post mentions that there's a "real jawbreaker" before the Supreme Court. The Post claims this is noteworthy saying, "Supreme Court Record for Queer Appelations Is Itslef Broken." The name in question is "Dampskibsselskabet Kjoebenhvn." It's Danish. Basically, it appears to have a typo and would be translated "Copenhagen Steamship Company," which is only two letters shorter than the name the Post ridicules. The company is involved in a Supreme Court case because an inspector fell though an open hatch of the steamship Euxinia and was killed during an inspection of its cargo (fruit from Central America). The wife of the inspector sued. She won at first. The ruling was flipped because the inspector was not a passenger and the steamer was compelled to take him on board and there was no evidence that the crew was negligent in warning the inspector about the open hatchway.

March 27, 1907 (Wednesday)

TROUBLING NEWS FROM THE BOSTON TEAM: Today's Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette has an article and picture about Charles H. "Chick" Stahl, (left) one of the best players on the Boston team in the American League. He has reportedly resigned his position as manager, a spot he has held since March 1. Stahl, from the Fort Wayne area, says managing is interfering with his ability to play ball. The Boston club released a statement yesterday that said John I. Taylor would take over as manager and Stahl will keep his position as captain and outfielder. It added, "This new arrangement is at the personal request of Mr. Stahl, who claimed that worrying over his manifold responsibilities as manager interfered with his palying."

RICHMOND NEWSPAPERS BATTLE LEADER OF NEW YORK ORCHESTRA: Walter Damrosch, head of the New York Orchestra, has drawn the ire of newspapers in Richmond, Virginia. The orchestra is booked to appear in Richmond soon -- the night before the music festival of the city's Wednesday Club, a powerful social organization.
The newspapers say they will not print name of Mr. Damrosch or include any mention of the concert in their news columns or advertisements, according to today's New York Times. The papers believe that Domrosch scheduled the concert as spite because the Wednesday Club declined to hire him -- because his price was too high.

THE BEAT GOES ON, FOR NOW, IN PITTSBURG: In Pittsburg (with no "h" at the end), conductor Emil Paur (left) has agreed to a new three-year pact. He wants $15,000 a year, but he settle for $12,000. (Multiply by about 20 for 2007 dollars.) Even though he's being paid less, the deal will be costly to the orchestra. It agreed to add 15 musicians to the orchestra, bringing the number to 80. Paur will be in charge of all hiring of the new players. And he insisted that the orchestra no longer travel to "small cities" when on tour.The orchestra will face numerous problems

CONSPIRACY THEORISTS SAY THE NATIONAL ANTHEM IS THREATENED: Some patriotic citizens -- often connected to the Grand Army of the Republic -- see the hidden, deceitful hand of Great Britain behind the common practice to OMIT THE THIRD STANZA of the "Star-Spangled Banner," according to an article in today's New York Times. The words of that stanza evidently belittle the troops serving under King George in the Revolution. The veterans of the Union Army say the person behind the omission of the verse in most renditions is Col. Sir Howard Viscount of the Queen's Westminster Volunteers, who recently visited this country. They say the Britisher suggested that the words be left out so as "not to tear open the scars of 1770 every time Americans wished to arouse their natural love for their own country," in the words of the Times. The Times asked the New York City schools Superintendent Maxwell about how students handle the singing. "He said the children only sing the FIRST and LAST VERSE of the hymn to SAVE TIME. It was optional with the teachers to omit any verse."

March 26, 1907 (Tuesday)

ROOSEVELT DROPS EVERYTHING TO CHAT WITH 'BAT' AND TWO OTHERS: President Roosevelt was quite busy yesterday until he received a visit from "Bat" Masterson (right), "Ben" Daniels and "Bull" Andrews. Today's New York Times devoted mentioned Roosevelt's reaction when he saw them: "Let me shake hands with these three Mugwumps." Masterson is a federal law-enforcement officer in Manhattan; Daniels is a former Rough Rider and Andrews represents New Mexico in Congress. The Times adds that Roosevelt "dropped everything and sat down for a chat with them." The Washington Post printed an extended interview with Masterson, conducted at the Raleigh Hotel.

MINISTER COMFORTS SORROWING PARENTS BY CONDUCTING FUNERAL BY TELEPHONE: Warren Sturtevant, a 2-year-old, died of diphtheria on Saturday in Auburn, Maine. Then a little girl in the family home became ill with the same disease. That meant the authorities could not lift a quarantine on the home and prevented them from fumigating the place. The family's minister, J. Marsh of the Court Street First Baptist Church, could not visit the home so he officiated at a funeral at the home by TELEPHONE. Today's front-page article in The Washington Post said, "The prayer and consoling remarks of the minister could be heard plainly by the heart-broken parents, and did much to comfort them."

THE GOOD NEWS: Blacks and Whites Work Together; THE BAD NEWS: It's a Lynching: A group that The Washington Post calls a "mixed mob" tried to track down Arthur Butler, a black man who is being held on assault charges in Augusta, Ga., on charges of trying to kill an 8-year-old black boy. Neighbors interfered with Butler while he was trying to hang the boy. The Post says, "Butler was pursued by a mob of blacks and whites bent on lynching him." But he ended up safely in jail, according to report, which was dated yesterday.