Sept. 14, 1907 (Saturday)

THOSE WHO SAFELY MADE IT PAST THE 13TH CAN LOOK BACK WITH A SMILE: Today's Boston Globe printed a large cartoon that summed up some of the attitudes Hub residents have with the much-maligned Friday the 13th, which just passed. The panel shown here says, "Every accident that happened yesterday was blamed to the calendar."

ENGLAND FINDS A CLEVER WAY TO BLAME AMERICA FOR APPENDICITIS: Here's something worth digging into -- English attitudes about the appendix. Today's New York Times provide an update about some strange attitudes about APPENDICITIS coming from England. British authorities continue to consider it "an evil American invention," the Times says. Evidently, some are "looking into food products imported from America to find the cause of the 'American' malady."
Some researchers thought for a while that appendicitis was caused by the RED RUBBER BANDS which are used to seal many bottles and jars that come from America. A more recent SUSPECT are the "minute particles of STEEL that might be in American flour made by the roller process." The Times adds,
not only are English surgeons spreading the belief that we are thus diffusing our miserable appendicitis all through innocent Europe, but the dear old Lancet treats the idea much as if it were a demonstrated fact.
The New York Medical Journal has taken this issue up and tried to show the errors.

THE AUTOMOBILE DRIVERS ARE GETTING OUT OF HAND IN PITTSBURG: Pittsburg's superintendent of police, Thomas A. McQuaide, says he is totally fed up with automobilists in his city, saying they have become "SPEED CRAZY." He says, according to today's New York Times, that there are two types of drivers in the city: Speeders and those who try and get out of the way of speeders. He cited one businessman who was unfazed after paying a fine for speeding:
"When he left my office he got into his automobile and started out the Boulevard at a speed of FORTY MILES AN HOUR [emphasis added]. The city is auto crazy, that's all."

Sept. 13, 1907 (Friday)

LUSITANIA KEEPS CHURNING TOWARD NEW YORK: Many observers are keeping an eye on the Lusitania, which is making its first trans-Atlantic voyage. The ocean liner's speed is keeping it in the news. Today's Boston Globe reports it was about 100 miles from Nantucket at 9 p.m. yesterday. Experts predicted the ship was likely to have passed the Nantucket lightship about 1 a.m. today. People wonder if the ship can make the trip from Queenstown, Ireland, to Sandy Hook, off New York, in less than FIVE DAYS. (The illustration above shows the day-by-day progress, based on a 12:10 p.m. start on Sept. 8. Presumably, everyone is smart enough to do the measurement with the same time zone for reference.) People watching the ship are hearing that it covered 593 miles in one day. Today's New York Times expects the ship to arrive by 9 a.m. today. This ship has about eight years left on the high seas, before its tragic end.

THE NO-WORK-ON-SUNDAY LAW COULD BACKFIRE ON RELIGIOUS PEOPLE IN NEW JERSEY COMMUNITY: Enforcement of Sunday Blue Laws in Mount Holly, N.J., might have the unforeseen consequence of preventing CHURCHES from PAYING SINGERS to perform at Sabbath services, according to an article in today's New York Times. This could happen because of the stink raised by Arthur Damask who faces charges for selling candy and soft drinks on Sunday. The person behind the charge is Richard B. Eckman, counsel for an entity called the Law and Order Society. If the case is brought before a Grand Jury, Damansk and other merchants are thinking of making charges "against those persons who receive annual salaries for singing in churches in Mount Holly."

Sept. 11, 1907 (Wednesday)

IT HAS ALL THE LOOK AND FEEL OF AN "X-GAMES" EVENT: A big crowd at Revere Beach, Mass., watched in horror yesterday as a stunt bicyclist who goes by the name of "Cyclone" FLEW OFF a large ramp and tumbled to the ground. Fortunately, he survived. But the disaster earned a prime spot on the front page of today's Boston Globe (shown here)

HEADLINE OF THE DAY -- "LOST EARTHQUAKE LOCATED": Huh? It's referring to the earthquake felt in Washington, D.C., and the Isle of Wight on Sept. 2 and reported on Sept. 4. Now, thanks to a report from an officer of the revenue cutter Rush based at Dutch Harbor off Alaska, the location of the earthquake has been pinpointed, according to today's New York Times. Sailors on the Rush said a volcano in the Aleutian Islands erupted on Sept. 1 and 2. A hurricane sprang up at the time, too. It happened near the volcanic island Perry, which broke the surface shortly after the San Francisco earthquake in April 1906.

SURE HE'S CRAZY -- LIKE A FOX: Officials at the New Jersey State Hospital for the Insane are puzzled by Dels Degs, a longtime inmate from Denmark. He and one other inmate escaped. Degs has a reputation of an "inventive genius" at the State Prison. His method of escape indicates that he deserves the moniker. He got ahold of a SPOON HANDLE and fashioned it so it would UNLOCK THE DOORS at the prison. Today's Times says, "No trace of the missing lunatics has been found.'

TEENAGER SEES PLAY AND GETS A IDEA -- WHY NOT SUICIDE? A trip to the theater, to see a production of "The Octoroon", nearly led to the death of Lillian Humphreys, 15. When asked by Ambulance Surgeon Ralph Goldthwaite why she had swallowed NITRIC ACID, she said, "Because I saw it done in the play." She was referring to the end of the play, when Zoe shows that she would prefer suicide to a life of slavery. (The image here is from publicity material for the play.)
Lillian tried to kill herself in the dressing room of the Worcester (Mass.) Slipper Company, where she works. She is expected to survive, although she is badly burned.

Sept. 10, 1907 (Tuesday)

PAPER REMEMBERS ANTI-SLAVERY PIONEER: Today’s Boston Globe includes “A Daily Lesson in History” that focuses on Lydia Maria Child, who – the paper says – “a powerful antislavery advocate.” In 1833, she published a book called “An Appeal for that Class of Americans Called Africans,” which was regarded as the “first antislavery publication in book form to be printed in America.” The story in the Globe noted that the book “so impressed Dr. Channing that he walked to Roxbury to thank her.” (I presume that it's referring to William Ellery Channing.

AUTHORITIES IN A SOUTH DAKOTA TOWN MAKE A LAW AGAINST . . . . FLIRTING: Single men and women are put on notice in the town of Highmore, South Dakota. The mayor has approved an ordinance against flirting, which is now a misdemeanor and punishable by a fine. There’s more, according to today’s New York Times (emphasis added):
The ordinance also prohibits young persons from loitering on the steps of churches or other public buildings, or in the doorway of any store, for the purpose of TALKING or EATING CANDY OR PEANUTS.

Sept. 9, 1907 (Monday)

ANTI-ASIAN RIOTS CONTINUE: Anti-Oriental rioting exploded on Sept. 7 in Vancouver, Canada, according to today's New York Times. About 2,000 Chinese were driven from their homes and about $5,000 damage was done to property. This paragraph gives some context to the rioting:
The attack on the Chinese in Vancouver, following close on the mob demonstration against Hindus in Bellingham, Washington, on Sept. 4, is a continuation of the demonstrations against Oriental labor on the West Coast, which have had their most conspicuous instances in the anti-Japanese troubles in San Francisco.
The picture shows some of the damage.

TWO THRIFTY SCOTTISH MILL WORKERS LEAVE LOTS OF MONEY TO INSTITUTE FOR BLIND: The will of a mill worker in Massachusetts has gotten some attention. In fact, there's a small story on the front page of today's New York Times. Here's the deal: Annie Snow, who's Scottish, worked at the Fall River Mills for about 45 years. (The picture shows a typical Fall River mill from 1908.) She died recently. Her will reveals that Annie and her sister, a fellow mill worker named Margaret, saved $15,000 from their wages. (Multiply by about 20 for 2007 dollars... $300,000!) These hard-working and big-hearted women have left the money to the Perkins Institute for the Blind in Boston. The Times says that their ONLY SOURCE of income was their work at the mill.

SOMEONE HIDES INFANT UNDER A CHURCH PEW: Yesterday's service at New York City's Church of the Most Precious Blood (shown) did NOT follow the script. During the service, a worshipper heard a baby's cry and notified the Rev. Father S. Francesco Palambizio. The priest stopped the service and investigated. Under one of the pews, worshippers found a little baby who was LESS THAN SIX HOURS OLD. The child was swaddled with lint and had a handkerchief tied around his neck. The priest immediately baptized the child and named him Mario Lineola. Then they notified the police. The child was taken by police to Bellevue Hospital. Today's New York Times adds, "There was much commotion among the women worshippers, two of whom wanted to adopt the infant then and there."