April 14, 1907 (Sunday)

SOME TIMELESS NEWS: Today's Washington Post's Sunday paper has some material that seems ripped from the pages of an early 21st-century tabloid. One is a small feature about "The Biggest Woman in the World." Her name is Maria Fassanauer (in the picture on the right, she's standing on the left). She is 8 feet tall and weights 343 pounds. Known as a "Tyrolean Giantess," she is touring Europe. She lives mostly on cereals, fruits and vegetables and eats very little meat. She is 27 and is, the article says, "still marriageable."
Other stories also emphasize the strange and bizarre world:
Here's a sampling of the headlines on one particular page page:
"Holds Man-Eating Record: Champion of the Fijian Cannibals Says Human Flesh Is More Delicate Than Chicken"
"Most Brutal Fight on Record: A Bout That Was Arranged Between Two Cripples as a Joke Had a Serious and Bloody Ending"
"Church Bells Gave Him Hunch: Horseman Who Heard Chimes on Saints' Day Cashed a Three-Hundred-to-One Combination"
Have tastes changed much?

LONDON PAPERS SCOLD AMERICA OVER THE THAW TRIAL: There's some thoughtful commentary bubbling up in Britain in the aftermath of the trial of Harry K. Thaw, who was accused of murdering architect Sanford White in one of the most publicized court cases ever. That trial -- full of lurid testimony about scandalous behaviour in certain New York circles -- has ended with a hung jury.
From The Daily News: "The American press forbid the performance of Shaw's play [referring to "Mrs. Warren's Profession"], but print with every noisome detail full reports of the painful and disgusting trial. Both aberrations betray undisciplined sentimentality but worse than the sentimentality is the power of money to override the puritanism, which is still the dominant note in American public opinion. One scarcely knows whether to be more amazed at the insincerity of such a press or at the gullibility of such a public."

April 13, 1907 (Saturday)

JURORS DISAGREE; SECOND TRIAL LOOMS: AFter 47 hours and 8 minutes, the jurors returned late yesterday afternoon with a non-decision in the murder trial of Harry K. Thaw (right). This huge news event is on the front page of papers throughout the country. The members were hopelessly deadlocked, maning another trial is likely. Reaction in London seems quite interesting. News spread fast and people were eager to get it, even though the reports come to London late at night, about 9:30 or 10 p.m. Here's what today's Washington Post says:
Within a few minutes of the receipt of the cable dispatch announcing that the jury had disagreed, the streets of London, in spite of the hour, echoed with the shouts of the newsboys, the newspapers were bought up eagerly, and the people everywhere discussed with unusaul avidity the likelihood of a fresh trial.
Again, newspapers were on the street WITHIN MINUTES of receipt of the news. Virtually instant news was available in London, thanks to the telegraph and some newspapers that were light on their feet.

SECOND-BASEMAN PRAISED FOR PLAYING "SCIENTIFIC BALL": Washington Senators second baseman Larry Schlafly (right) was criticized for not covering second base when a runner stole second. Today's Washington Post comes to Schlafly's defense, calling his tactic "scientific ball." At the time Willie Keeler was at the plate, with a full count. Here's the explanation:
As is well known there is not a better hitter in the land than Willie Keeler. He has struck out buy once in two seasons, though he faces a pitcher something like 500 times during a season. With three balls and two strikes on him, it was therefore 500 to 1 that he would hit the ball, and for this reason Schlafly remained in his position, preferring to allow Hoffman to steal rather than taking a chance of having Keeler hit through his position while he went to cover the bat. True, Keeler struck out; but it was one chance against five hundred that he would not and for this reason Schlafly should not be criticised.
Not sure about the use of statistics there. It think the likelihood of a ball four was pretty high -- giving another good reason to stay anchored at second base. Keeler, known as "Wee Willie," had a small strike zone. He was only 5 feet 4 inches tall. Still, Keeler's ability to put the ball in play was well known. At least Schlafly had a reason for staying put.

April 12, 1907 (Friday)

CROWD AT POLO GROUNDS CAUSES A FORFEIT: Pity poor umpire Bill Klem (right). He was in charge of yesterday's season-opening game between New York and Philadelphia (National League) at the Polo Grounds. At the end of eight innings, with the home team losing 3-0, The crowd trickled, then swarmed, onto the field. According to today's Times, the trouble began when Klem had trouble in the preceding inning scattering a couple of fans who tried to walk across the field so they could avoid the crush of the crowd. The crowd outside the playing area took up the cause of the walkers and jeered Klem when he refused to re-start the contest until everyone was outside the ropes. Then, an inning later, hundreds of fans walked onto the field and refused to leave. Things became somewhat playful when a "whirlwind of cushions" filled the air
"He saved the Giants a shut-out in the official records, however, for the contest then took rank as a forfeiture."
The game goes on record as a 9-0 win for Philadelphia. So, it must have wiped out a four-hit day for the Phillies' underrated Sherry Magee.

NOT-SO-NICE ICE: Today's New York Times has a brief article that notes that the first ICEBERGS have been spotted in the North Atlantic steamship lines. The Danish freighter Kentucky (!) and the Anchor Line ship Funessia both reported the bergs. Some expect that the icebergs will soon be a menace to shipping. The Kentucky was off the Banks on April 4 and spotted four bergs, each one about 50 feet high and 400 feet long. The Fernessia passed 18 small bergs on April 5 and 6. April 12 is an ominous day for icebergs and ocean liners. Five years from this month -- on the night of April 14/15, 1912 -- the Titanic (at sea trials at right) will have its deadly encounter with a berg.

ODD HEADLINE OF THE DAY: Lord Cromer, Britain's chief official in Egypt for more than 20 years has resigned. The headline in today's Times reads: "Cromer, the Maker of Egypt, Resigns." There might be some Egyptologists and Egyptians who would find fault in such a label. Imagine, calling a 19th century British bureaucrat the "maker of Egypt".

April 11, 1907 (Thursday)

IF THE WEATHER COOPERATES, IT'S TIME TO 'PLAY BALL': The baseball season opens today for the American and National leagues. According to today's New York Times, the strongest teams in the National League will probably be New York, Pittsburg (still spelled without an 'h') and Chicago. In contrast, Cincinnati "looks like the logical tailender." The top American League teams will probably by New York, Chicago, Cleveland and Philadelphia. It looks bleak for Boston's American League team, which is "worse off than last year" -- especially in the wake of manager "Chick" Stahl's suicide. The Times says Detroit, under new manager Hughie Jennings (right), "may be expected to make a better showing than last year." (It's a distinct possibility, thanks to players such as Ty Cobb. Here's how the final standings will look.)

COURTS CATCH UP WITH NEW YORK HERALD AND 'IMPROPER ADVERTISING': The publisher of the New York Herald, James Gordon Bennett Jr., traveled from Havana to New York to appear yesterday in the Criminal Branch of the U.S. Circuit Court where he was fined $25,000 "on a charge of using the mails for the circulation of improper reading matter." That "improper reading matter" is the court's description of the personal ads that the paper has run. In all, the fines for the paper totalled $31,000. Judge Hough said, in a paraphrase in the New York Times, that the Herald "had continued to print objectionable advertisements long after certain other papers had ceased to do so. The objectionable 'personals' he characterized as 'a stench in the public's nostrils'."
The payment of the fines was somewhat dramatic. Bennett and another Herald employee appeared before a commissioner where they were met by another Herald employee. The Times then describes the payment:
There they were met by a Herald employe, who produced a large role of bills and stripped from it six of the $5,000 denomination and one of $1,000.
It looks like the Herald was printing both MONEY and sordid advertisements.

BEWARE OF 'PITTSBURG PARANOIA': Yesterday afternoon, Robert M. Crow, the nephew of a prominent banker in Pittsburg (still spelled without an 'h'), bought a seat in a box in the Grand Opera House in that city. When the performance began, he started writing a letter. When he was done, he called for a messenger and sent it to his uncle. HE sat through the first act of a performance by Miss Ethel Levey. Then it came time for her to sing "Unrequited Love." The house turned dark and a spotlight focused on the singer. At that time, Crow, 22, stood up in his box and loaded his revolver. When the song ended, lights flooded the house. Everyone then saw Crow standing in his box with a revolver pointed at his body. He pulled the trigger and died shortly after that in a Pittsburg hospital. His uncles had this to say afterward, according to today's New York Times:
It is just another case of Pittsburgh paranoia. Robert has imagined for some time that he was a failure in life, because he had not already amassed a vast fortune in the two years he has been out of school. He seemed to think he could become a Carnegie or a Frick in one day.
The Thaw trail also has had a great deal to do with his mental derangement. At the beginning of the trial he began studying the different forms of insanity as they were mentioned at the trial, frequently sitting up all night reading books on the subject. It certainly was insane.
Crow had been married for about a year.

April 10, 1907 (Wednesday)

THAW'S DEFENSE LAWYER OFFERS THE 'DEMENTIA AMERICANA' DEFENSE: The trial of Harry K. Thaw is wrapping up. He is the wealthy man who killed architect Sanford White last summer. Thaw's lawyer yesterday played the "unwritten law" defense. Lawyer Delphin Delmas (right) acknowledged that his client killed White. "He struck as does the tigress strike at the man who endeavors to take her cubs. He struck for the purity of the wives and homes of America."
That comment set the stage for his "DEMENTIA AMERICANA" analysis. That's what he called the type of insanity that plagued Thaw. Here's his statement, as printed in today's New York Times:

I care not whether you give that insanity a name or not. It is a species of insanity which, though it may be unknown to these learned alienists, is perfectly familiar to every man who is familiar with the history of jurisprudence in in these United States.
It is a species of insanity which has been recognized in every court in every State of this Union, from the Canadian border to the Gulf of Mexico. It is that species of insanity which, if you desire, you learned gentlemen, to give it a name, I ask you to label 'DEMENTIA AMERICANA.'
It is that species of insanity which makes every American believe that his home is sacred.
It is that species of insanity which makes him believe that the purity of his daughter is sacred.
It is that species of insanity that makes him believe that the honor of his wife is sacred.
It is that species of insanity which makes him believe that whoever invades the sanctity of that home, whoever brings pollution upon that daughter, whoever stains the virtue of that wife, has forfeited the protection of human laws and must appeal to the eternal justice and mercy of God if he may so appeal for his protection.

This, of course, sounds dangerously close to the rationale some give for LYNCHING.

POLITICAL CRIME AND PUNISHMENT (ASSASSINATIONS AND EXECUTIONS) IN RUSSIA ARE AT A STAGGERING LEVEL: The numbers from Russia are grim. Since August, 1,080 men and women have been "hanged or shot under sentence of military courts, mostly within forty-eight hours of arrest." During the same period 1,242 people described as "wearers of the Czar's coat, of high and low degree" have been assassinated. Furthermore about 2,000 innocent bystanders have died as a result of the attacks. The article on the front page of today's New York Times about the killings -- and the suspension of executions during the past 10 days -- carries the byline of Stephen Bonsal, a longtime writer who would go on to write a Pulitzer Prize-winning book about the "Unfinished Business" in the aftermath of World War I.

TOURISTS IN PARIS WILL HAVE TO FIND SOMEPLACE ELSE TO GO -- NOW THAT THE MORGUE IS CLOSED: Today's Times passes on a report datelined from Paris on March 31 and passed through the London Pall Mall Gazette that the open-door policy at the famous Paris Morgue has ended. The notice says, "On the morrow of a crime it is astonishing to see the buses disgorge in front of the lugubrious little building; the world hurries in to have a look a the victim before business hours." (The photo at the right is purported to be a picture of the inside of the morgue.) The morgue will be moved by M. Lepine and he will no longer allow it to be open to the "merely curious." From now on it will be open only to those who are needed to help identify victims.

April 9, 1907 (Tuesday)

HARVARD STUDENTS GET ROWDY AT PLAY: A production of the play "Brown at Harvard" turned ugly last night at the Majestic in Boston. The house was sold out and students stood eight deep in the orchestra. The students "yelled at every actor and hurled lemons from all sides of the house." Five students were taken to the police station and charged with disturbing a public meeting: Robert G. Lee, Henry B. Watson, Edward P. Holmes, John Robinson and Herbert Rogers. There's no explanation for what upset them. Maybe there's a hint in the description of the 1925 film of the same name (right), which features a cameo by a very young JOHN WAYNE.

SHEDDING LIGHT ON THE 'DARK HORSE': It's not clear why -- maybe because the baseball season is about to begin in 1907 -- but today's Washington Post sees fit to pass on an item from the New York Herald that gives the origin of the phrase "dark horse." The phrase goes back to a novel called "The Young Duke" written about 80 years ago by British politician Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield (right). In the story an overlooked horse -- who happened to be of a dark hue -- swept past the grand stand to victory. Therefore, the paper explains, "A dark horse may be anything so long as he sweeps from the ranks of the unnoticed to the glory of the winning spot."

April 8, 1907 (Monday)

JAPANESE MIGHT BE BEHIND THE SUSPENSION OF "THE MIKADO" OPERA: A report in today's Washington Post says that Japanese officials have successfully stopped the production of "The Mikado" in London (above, a production in the mid-1880s). The Gilbert & Sullivan opera was schedule to be revived in June at the Savoy Theater. Now Mrs. D'Oyly Carte has this to say: "Representations have been made to me as to the inadvisability of producing that opera. Accordingly, the revival of 'The Mikado' is canceled." The reports says that Japanese living in London are "delighted" that the show is cancelled. Evidently, the most offensive thing about the show to the Japanese occurs when the Mikado first appears on stage. The march that plays is totally inappropriate to the Japanese. The music stems from a little hoax played on Gilbert by a friend in the diplomatic corps. He suggested that Gilbert play the Japanese national anthem and whistled the tune for Gilbert. He liked the idea and put it in the opera, which was first presented in the 1880s. It was soon discovered that the song is not the national anthem but "a coarse song of the tea houses." (Gilbert talks about it in an issue of The Writer.) So, for Americans it might be like substituting "99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall" for "Hail to the Chief" when someone portraying the president walks on stage.

HE AIMED AND FIRED THE FIRST SHOT AT FORT SUMTER: Today's Washington Post includes an obituary for Confederate veteran Isaac R. Moise. It's on the front page of the paper because Moise was evidently the man who fired the first shot in th battle of Fort Sumter (shown at right in 1860), at the beginning of the Civil War. He died in Pittsburgh, after visiting friends in Cleveland. He was living in West Virginia. Interestingly, the paper also includes a notice of the death of the Rev. John Johnson of Charleston, S.C. He wrote "The Defense of Fort Sumter."