May 4, 1907 (Saturday)

COULD MARK TWAIN BE LOST AT SEA? A headline on today's front page of The New York Times raises worries about humorist Mark Twain. Here is is:
Twain and Yacht Disappear at Sea
That certainly is alarming. Evidently, he remained in Virginia at the Jamestown Expedition to wait and return to New York City on board the Kanawha (pictured), which is owned by industrialist H.H. Rogers. Rogers left on Monday, by train. But his yacht was fogbound. The fog cleared on Wednesday and Twain went on board. Then the ship reported left Hampton Roads for the open ocean. It has not been heard from. There's an ominous tone in this statement in today's New York Times:
As there have been several severe storms in this section recently, Mr. Rogers is concerned about the safety of his vessel and its guest.
Incidentally, this is NOT the instance that caused Twain to say "the report of my death was an exaggeration." He made that comment about 10 years before this.

"CY" YOUNG THRIVES WHEN "THE CLOUDS ARE HANGING LOW": Charles Denton Young -- better known as Cy Young -- hurled a shutout at the Washington American League team.
The weather was perfect for Young, whose Boston team won, 3-0. Here's how writer J.Ed Grillo put it in today's Washington Post:
It was just such a day as "Cy" would order when he is selected to do the twirling for his team. The weather man, perhaps some old schoolmate of Cy, furnished a dark, cool day, and hard as it is to hit the terrific speed of the Ohio farmer on any and all occasions, it is next to impossible when the clouds are hanging low.

POSSE MEMBERS MAKE EVERY SHOT (at the) COUNT: Members of a California posse shot and killed a man last Monday whom they thought was a desperado. The man has now been identified as an AUSTRIAN NOBLEMAN -- Count Otto von Waldstein, a nephew of one of the richest men in Austria. The body was buried in a potters field. It was exhumed and identified by Miss Mary Fitzgerald of San Francisco. One statement in the front page story in the New York Times begs a question: "The identification was so complete that there can be no possibility of mistake." By making such a pointed statement, doubts seems to surface.
That's a strange comment -- in light of something that was in the Oakland Tribune YESTERDAY. That paper said the tale
reads very much as if it owed its inspiration to a novelette published by D. Higbee some twenty years ago under the title "In God's Country." The hero of Higbee's romance was the wandering scion of a noble German house, half vagabond and half paladin, who is slain in the guise of a common laborer for winning the love of a beautiful Kentucky girl belonging to the Blue Grass aristocracy. This inference may be wrong, but the points of resemblance are so many and so strong that it is justifiable.

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.

May 2, 1907 (Thursday)

PROBLEMS SURFACE DURING SUBMARINE TRIALS: A big test between two submarines got off to a slow start yesterday at Newport, R.I. One contender, the Octopus, built by Electric Boat (shown above), made a fine impression when it made its test run, covering a mile, before it reached the mark signalling the beginning of the real test. However, at that point, the sub had to turn back and limp home because of a "broken cam" in its port engine. The other submarine that the Navy is testing is called Lake, built by Simon Lake. It will go through its paces today, while the Octopus is being fixed.

GOVERNOR OF VIRGINIA HAS TO RIDE A DIRT CART: Virginia Gov. Claude A. Swanson (left) and his wife had to leave the Jamestown Exposition quickly yesterday -- so they could catch a boat and train to get back to Richmond. However, they could not find a carriage to whisk them from the exhibition grounds. So, the governor hailed a dirt cart. The luggage went in the back. The First Couple sat in the front with a driver. According to today's New York Times, this horrified one of the exposition officials. But Swanson reportedly said:
Oh. that's nothing. If I were an officer of the exposition, I would be riding in a carriage as all of you do, but being only the Governor of Virginia, and not an influential official, I must accept with thanks even the dirt wagon which you are kind enough to furnish me. I am thankful yo do not require Mrs. Swanson and myself to walk and carry our trunks.

BUSINESSMAN PUTS A NEW TWIST ON AN INSANITY PLEA: A plea of "FINANCIAL INSANITY" helped set a Boston-area businessman free yesterday. Harry E. Lane, formerly of Wakefield, Mass., was in U.S. Circuit Court yesterday to face charges of hiding his assets from a bankruptcy trustee. He lined up a group of insanity experts, and they convinced the jury that Lane suffered from "FINANCIAL INSANITY," which meant that he "was afflicted with a mania for spending money, and that he had no idea where it went."
Hmmmm... Sounds like the U.S. Congress.

COULD THIS BE TRUE? LIGHTNING BOLT CAUSES GUN TO FIRE, KILLING A CHILD: Recently, a bolt of lightning struck a wall of the house of Tom Phurrough, who lives near Anniston, Ala. It's the same wall on which Phurrough hung a LOADED SHOTGUN. The bolt jolted the gun off its rack. As it tumbled to the ground, the gun fired. According to today's Washington Post, "The entire contents of the gun lodged in the body of an infant child of Phurrough which was playing around the room." The child died.

PAINTINGS COLLIDE IN PITTSBURG: Some people at the Carnegie Art Gallery are in a tizzy about the way two paintings are hung. One by Gaston La Touche depicts a woman "in the act of donning her garments by a pool." (Today's Washington Post calls it "The Bath." Unfortunately, I can't find a rendering.) Earlier in April, the painting won the $1,500 first prize in the international competition honoring the expansion of the Carnegie Institute. (A painting by Thomas Eakins took second place.)
"The Bath" is hung opposite a rendering of "The Last Supper." According to the Post, "One critic wants it taken out of sight of the picture of 'The Last Supper'."
If it's the traditional view of "The Last Supper," this kind of placement might provide a reasonable explanation why all the diners are sitting on the same side of the table -- to get a better view of "The Bath."

May 1, 1907 (Wednesday)

THE NIGHT THE LIONS' DREAMS CAME TRUE -- WHEN TWO HIGH-WIRE ACROBATS DROPPED IN FOR DINNER! On April 29, during an act at the Apollo -- one of Paris' newest amusement halls -- a couple of "slack-wire" artists known as the Rosie Sisters performed their artistry above a cage with a couple of LIONS. This meant they had replaced a SAFETY NET with the cage. To add to the drama, the cage had NO ROOF. As the lion tamer finished his act with the lions, the Rosie Sisters finished their routine. At that moment, the WIRE SNAPPED, sending the twirlers tumbling to the floor of the cage. The startled lions jumped at them, severely damaging the shoulder of one of the performers. Some quick thinking by the trainer and others allowed the women to scramble to safety. The illustration above appeared in Paris' Petit Journal in mid-May.

WHAT WILL HE DO WITH HEINE? Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany has bought the famous Achillion, or Achilleon, or Achillieon Palace on the island of Corfu. It's expected that it will serve as his new winter home. The palace was built by the Empress Elisabeth of Austria in the early 1890s. (Elisabeth, whom many called Sisi, didn't enjoy it too long; she was assassinated in Switzerland in 1898.) After her death, the palace became the property of Princess Leopold of Bavaria, according to today's New York Times.
The property has plenty of statues, which leads thinking observers to wonder, according to the Times, which carried the story on its front page:
It is wondered in Berlin whether the statue of the Poet [Heinrich] Heine (right) will be allowed to remain.
(For the record, the Kaiser decided the statue honoring the romantic poet from a Jewish family should go. The statue was apparently moved to another location.)

April 30, 1907 (Tuesday)

SCULPTURE DEPICTING AN IOWAY CHIEF IS A HIT IN PARIS: American artists have made a big impression at the Salon of the Society of French Artists in the Grand Palais at Paris. It opens to the public on May 1. The jury rejected about 4,100 submissions and accepted about 1,600, according to today's New York Times. Among the best pieces of sculpture, according to the article, is something called "Indian Chief" by S.E. Fry -- a project he carried out at the behest of the city of Oskaloosa, Iowa. This is the statue of Ioway chief Mahaska (right), which is in that city. The sculptor's full name is Sherry Edmundson Fry. The statue was recently restored, and there's an interesting story behind it.

NEIGHBORS WANT POLICE TO FLUSH THE SONG "POOR JOHN": Magistrate Baker of Manhattan's Yorkville Court signed a summons yesterday for Michael Glyne, owner of a five-cent theater/show on Third Avenue in Manhattan. His establishment has a GIANT PHONOGRAPH placed above the front door. The judge wants Glyne to explain why he should not be ordered to CHANGE THE MUSIC that he plays on the phonograph. About 100 residents and business men and women in the vicinity of the phonograph have signed a petition of complaint and presented it to Capt. Raynor of the East 51st Street Station. The petition charges that the ONLY TUNE that the phonograph has been playing (for numerous days) is "Poor John," (composed by Henry Pether with lyrics by Fred Leigh).
According to the article, "The petitioners say the repetition of the tune influences their minds and their work."
Part of the lyrics:
...He always used to kiss me on the same place twice.
Often in the park, we would sit and spoon....
The song was used in the sound track for the musical "Cover Girl" (for a snippet, click on the song title).

NEW YORK CITY MAGISTRATES WILL WEAR GOWNS IN COURT: The city's Board of City Magistrates adopted a resolution yesterday to start wearing gowns while at the bench starting June 1. The gowns will resemble those worn by judges on the Supreme Court.
The discussion was not without humor.
When Magistrate Barlow exhibited samples of gowns, all of which were black, Magistrate Walsh piped up, "Aren't there any green goods among them?"
Then Barlow explained that there were TWO weights of silk -- a light Japanese silk for summer and a heavier brand for winter. Magistrate Walsh wondered whether or not the judges should use the LIGHT SILK for MISDEMEANOR cases and the HEAVIER SILK for FELONY cases.
Another attempt at humor was captured in today's account in the Times. Magistrate Breen mused, "I take it that when we sit in night court that we should wear night caps."
Or, maybe, drink a nightcap.

April 29, 1907 (Monday)

FORGET CHEESE, WISCONSIN; THERE'S GOOD MONEY IN WORMWOOD: A botanist with the U.S. Agricultural Department has sounded a warning: Consumption of absinthe is on the rise worldwide. The unidentified botanist says Wisconsin is becoming a major site of cultivation of the wormwood, from which the absinthe is extracted. The botanist, and others, calls this "The Green Terror." (It's often linked to a sordid tale of the downfall of a man, right.) As quoted in today's Washington Post, the botanist says,
The Wisconsin growers of wormwood and distillers of the oil at first shipped nearly all their output to Europe but now they find a good and ready market for it in this country, and at almost fabulous prices.
To learn more about the drink -- and its history -- here's a good place to start.

GREAT MOMENTS IN IMMIGRATION: THE RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS TAKES A BACK SEAT IN IMPORTANCE AT ELLIS ISLAND: When the steamers Nord America and Citta di Milano arrived at piers at the foot of West 34th Street yesterday, an inspector met with the steerage passengers to prepare to escort them to Ellis Island (above), about a week after Ellis Island's busiest day.
(Some of the passengers on the Citta di Milano (right) are listed here.) He made a speech to them on the dangers of carrying knives and guns. According to today's New York Times, "This was without effect."
Then (presumably to the horror of any rabid Second Amendment devotee) the inspector, in the words of the Times told them that "this Government considered that NO GOOD CITIZEN WOULD CARRY A KNIFE OR GUN, and that if any among them had any they had better give them up."
The response surprised the inspector. The crowd stirred. According to the report, "All were eager to get rid of their weapons, for all wanted to enter the country. Some threw knives away openly, some dropped them over the side, and some quietly dropped them where they were standing."
In one of many journalistic digs at incoming Italians, the paper reported, "The Inspector said it was safe to say that such a weaponless crowd of Italians has not landed at Ellis Island in many a day."
Wonder what the National Rifle Association, founded in 1871, thought of that comment by the Inspector... no good citizen would carry a knife or gun.

BLACK LABORERS AT THE B&O PIER WORKED AND DIED IN ANONYMITY: Between 15,000 and 20,000 rubberneckers showed up in Baltimore yesterday at the sight of the under-construction Baltimore and Ohio pier that collapsed. People waited at the scene all day, cordoned off by police, even though there was little to see. Owners of launches made $10 an hour ferrying people near the disaster on the water side.
The number of men killed is not known. An unknown number of black workers will be added to the tally, according to today's Washington Post. Their identification is a problem. They were employed by the McLean Construction Company and are identified by NUMBERS ONLY. The Post adds, "Their fate cannot be known until payday arrives."

April 28, 1907 (Sunday)

AN EXPERT AT MANAGING HER OWN IMAGE: Best-selling author Marie Corelli has had another encounter with so-called "camera fiends." Recently she and a friend were caught by a press photographer after they had visited Shakespeare's tomb. At first, she was furious at the photographer. Then she turned on the charm and secured an agreement that the print would not see the light of day. During their discussion, another photographer shuttered a photo. She's hoping that she convinced both photographers to keep the photos private. Her concern about her image leads nicely to this Web site about a book dealing with Corelli. On this site, and above, you can see a turn-of-the-last-century example of PHOTO SHOPPING.

GREAT MOMENTS IN IMMIGRATION:
A TOUCHING GIFT FROM A POLISH WOMAN IN STEERAGE: Today's Washington Post includes an article devoted to recollections of some ocean voyages by an unidentified ship's doctor. His tales included one about a Polish woman who travelled in steerae to the United States. She was coming to America to join her husband. As the trip came to a close, she approached the doctor and offered a gift to show her appreciation for the ways he helped her on the voyage. She offered him a $2 bill. She said she would like to give more but it is HALF OF WHAT SHE OWNED.
The doctor politely declined the gift, saying it would be inappropriate for him to accept it.
She nodded and turned away.
Shortly after that, she walked up to him and give him a two-cent clay pipe and walked away quickly. Under the circumstances, he figured he could accept the gift and dropped it into his coat pocket.
On his next trip, the doctor happened to put his hand in his pocket, and he felt the pipe. He pulled it out and looked closer at it.
He recalls, "I discovered that away inside there was a dollar bill neatly folded."

April 27, 1907 (Saturday)

SOME WOMEN ARE MAKING WAVES AT ROCKAWAY BEACH: Some people living in the neighborhood of Rockaway Beach (above)in New York City's borough of Queens have decided that people in bathing suits should no longer be allowed to promenade along the boardwalk, eat at restaurants or visit the train station. In other words, bathers must stay at the beach.
Citizens visited with First Deputy Commissioner O'Keeffe and told him that "bathers in the last few seasons had shown a SCANDALOUS DISREGARD of MODESTY. [emphasis added]". The women are causing a problem, lawyer George Titcomb told the police commissioner. "Their presence has drawn to the resort a lot of rubbernecks. The conditions have become intolerable and the taxpayers refuse to put up with them any longer," according to today's Washington Post.
Surely some citizens would be happy to give the problem more study -- much more study -- and much closer study.
They will be very interested in Australian swimmer Annette Kellerman (right). Reportedly she will be arrested in Boston for too much exposure.


ARKANSAS POLITICIAN CLEANS HOUSE -- OF PESKY LOBBYISTS: Allen Hamiter, speaker of the house in Arkansas, ordered that the house be cleared yesterday. He was driven to this by his frustration about persistent lobbying in the capitol, according to today's New York Times. His comment deserve a Quote of the Day designation:
I cannot transact the State's business for those who are trying to control legislation. I instruct the Sergeant-at-Arms to arrest any man lobbying. If the people who are boodling and lobbying here don't quit I am going to send them to jail.
Members of the house applauded the speaker.

April 26, 1907 (Friday)

JAMESTOWN EXPOSITION IS OFF TO A SLOW START: The festival that is planned to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the settlement of Jamestown in Virginia begins today, but there's plenty of work to be done on the exposition (shown above, in an artist's rendition), according to today's New York Times. The writer, noting that NOT ONE BUILDING is finished and that FEW EXHIBITS are in place begins the article this way:
It is difficult for one who wants to be fair to both the Jamestown Tri-centenary Exposition and the people who are planning to visit it to find anything to write about it IN THE PRESENT TENSE [emphasis added].
The writer acknowledges that "the foundation of a great exposition is here," but the reality is that the big show is not close to being ready for today's opening festivities, which feature President Roosevelt.

IT'S GOING, GOING, GOING .... GONE -- NOT THE BALL, THE OUTFIELDER: A horrible baseball story out of Rayville, La., showed up on the front page of today's New York Times. Benjamin Harris, a star outfielder for the team from Rayville, is FIGHTING FOR HIS LIFE. In a recent game against the team from Lake Providence township, he made a great catch of a fly ball, saving the game for Rayville -- and saving bettors quite a bit of money. However, the paper says, "The feat COST HIM HIS RIGHT LEG and may POSSIBLY COST HIM HIS LIFE."
Evidently, to catch the ball, Harris had to wade out into a BAYOU, which bordered the outfield. After he caught it, he was carried from the field by his admirers. However, his leg soon started to swell. It had to be AMPUTATED.
Worse news has surfaced. His physician says Harris was bitten by a deadly moccasin snake while in the bayou. The article adds,
Harris does not remember any pain, so intent was he on catching the ball.

BOXER ACCUSED OF KILLING A MAN -- FOR SINGING: Noted boxer Pedlar Palmer (left) was arrested yesterday on charges that he beat a man to death -- outside the ring. Reportedly, the body of Robert Choat, a gashouse stoker of Deptford, was found in a railroad car that was coming from Epsom, after the races. A passenger told police that he saw Palmer beat the man several times because the man REFUSED TO STOP SINGING. Palmer has had quite a record as a FEATHERWEIGHT. He stands about 5 feet 3 inches tall.

IT'S CURTAINS FOR SOME CROOKS IN NEW YORK CITY: Starting out today, detectives in New York will adopt a new technique for "sizing up" people who have been snagged in police dragnets. From now on the detectives will stand behind screns and look through peepholes at the alleged crooks.
The old method, according the Capt. McCafferty, has benefitted the crooks as much as the cops. The detectives used to meet face-to-face with the crooks, but this allowed the crooks to see the detectives themselves and, according to the article, "know whom to shun when liberated." Now, the crooks will not see a detective at all. A huge curtain now divides the large room in police headquarters. The paper says, "The curtain now has a number of small holes through which the detectives can take a mental photograph of the prisoners."

BE CAREFUL WITH THOSE QUOTATION MARKS: An advertisement for Pearson's Magazine in today's New York Times strieks a chord a hundred years later. The ad touts a story by Atherton Brownell: "Our War with Japan." The main headline of the ad puts in quotations the phrase "FORTIFY PEARL HARBOR!" and gives this attribution: "That was President Roosevelt's recommendation in his message to Congress in 1905." Well, there's no argument that Roosevelt agreed with that statement, but he didn't say that exactly in his message to Congress on Dec. 5, 1905. The meaning, but not the exact words, are captured in this part of his presentation:
In my judgment immediate steps should be taken for the fortification of Hawaii. This is the most important point in the Pacific to fortify in order to conserve the interests of this country.

April 25, 1907 (Thursday)

BAKER LOOKS AT ATTITUDES OF SOUTHERNERS TOWARD NEGROES: Writer Ray Stannard Baker (right) has completed his second article for The American Magazine on the treatment of negroes in the South. A commentary in today's New York Times draws attention to what it calls a "well-found and striking phrase" regarding Southern whites. Here it is: "They want the New South, but the old darky." The comment goes on:
And in Mr. Baker's opinion, the old darky they cannot have, since he was the product of conditions that are gone forever, and failure to realize this fact has much to do, he thinks, with making the race situation what it is, an evern-growing menace to the Nation.
(In 1908, Baker turns these writings into the book "Following the Color Line".

An article also in today's Times indicates that attitudes in the North might not be much better....

IF HE DOESN'T COME UP WITH $2.75, HE COULD BE IN JAIL FOR LIFE: A black man, Gordon Phillips, is in jail in Mount Holly, N.J. He is there because he owes the county $1 for a poll tax and $1.15 for costs. He was arrested on Aug. 25. He is held under Section 700 of the Revised Statues of New Jersey. Under that provision a tax delinquent must stay in jail until the tax is fully paid. A check of the records fails to reveal any other such instance of such an imprisonment in the history of the county, according to today's New York Times. Sensing a double standard, the writer of the article adds,
However, the county would require a jail several times larger than the New Jersey State Prison if all the poll tax delinquents had the law enforced against them as it has been against this man.

"I'll TAKE MANHATTAN":
BULL TERRIER CAN'T STAND MIDDLETOWN SO HE TROTS EIGHTY MILES TO NYC: Until a couple of weeks ago, a bull terrier named, uh, Bull lived in Manhattan. Then his owner, who was planning to leave the city for a while, arranger for William D. Steele, a dog fancier in Middletown, to take care of Bull for a while. For days, Bull seemed to pine for the bright lights of the city. One day, Steele couldn't find him. Soon, he got a call from Julius Puschell, chef at the West Shore Hotel at the corner of 11th Avenue and 42nd Street in Manhattan -- asking if he had lost a bulldog. Evidently, Bull showed up at the hotel on Tuesday, according to today's New York Times. Puschell noticed the Middletown license on Bull and that's how he got in touch with Puschell.
How Bull made the trek will remain a bit of a mystery, according to the article:
How Bull got to New York from Middleton only he knows, and he can't tell.