Oct. 13, 1907 (Sunday)

IT WAS A BIT MORE CUMBERSOME THAN A SIMPLE WIRE TRANSFER: People in Chicago got an up-close look at money being HAULED LIKE HAY through the city streets yesterday, according to today's New York Times. When the Commercial National Bank (shown above -- not sure it it's the new or old building) moved into its new building at Adams and Clark streets in Chicago, about $7 MILLION in ts vaults had to make the trip in broad daylight. About 200 CLERKS and 50 PINKERTON GUARDS -- "armed to the teeth," according to the Times -- were on hand. Wagons carrying $250,000 in grenbacks and gold with each load had to make the trip many times. The Times says,
The spectacle of money being carted through the streets like so much hay or sand drew immense crowds.

COULD THIS BE A CURE FOR CANCER? Dr. de Kating Hart, an Irish surgeon, reported yesterday that the electrical treatment known among Paris surgeons as fulguration has cured a woman suffering from cancer. The report comes from Paris' Borca Hospital, according to today's New York Times, which spells the hospital's name as Droca.
More than 50 surgeons heard a report about the procedure. They examined the female patient BEFORE and AFTER the treatment and pronounced her totally cured. The woman was treated with "high-frequency sparks" for about a half an hour for an advanced cancerous growth. The sparks came from a current that ranged from 60,000 to 120,000 volts.

Oct. 12, 1907 (Saturday)

WIRES SIZZLE WITH NEWS OF BACON’S HEROISM: Assistant Secretary of State Robert Bacon was in the Boston area yesterday and took advantage of the opportunity to get a closeup view the Harvard crew. Bacon was allowed to ride in a launch following one of the shells. As the shell headed upstream through the Cottage Farm bridge, it passed a canoe with two people in it. When the launch which was carrying Bacon passed the canoe, the small craft flipped over. One of the canoeists clung to the hull of the craft. It was clear to the people on the launch that the other canoeist could not swim.
Bacon immediately whipped off his coat and jumped into the river. He was followed by another rescuer, Harvard sophomore J.S. Reid. They reached the two men and kept them above water as the launch pulled up. Both canoeists were saved, even though neither one could swim. Witnesses said one of the victims had already gone under twice and was about to slip under for the third time when Bacon and Reid reached him.
The rescue was featured prominently on the front page of both the Boston Globe and the New York Times. According to The New York Times, one of the victims was a weak swimmer. The other “was a cripple and would probably have drowned had it not been for the gallant and prompt assistance of the Secretary.” (Needless to say, that sentence included a word you don't see too often in print any more.)

RATS SHOW GOOD TASTE IN ART: Authorities at the “Salle des Illustres” at Toulouse, France, were puzzled at some damage being done to a picture by Jean-Paul Laurens. At first they notices scratches on the surface of one of his paintings. Then they noticed a section had been nibbled away. The culprit(s): rats!
A notice in today's Boston Globe says the canvas that attracted the rodents
"was amply supplied with white lead among its pigments, and, although finally fatal to the delicate digestions of the four-footed connoisseurs, and it was this, and not the master's style, that led the rodents to nibble this particular canvas."

GETTING THE YIPS FROM SPELLING MICHIGAN CITY'S NAME: For a couple of years, postal officials in Michigan and Washington have been keeping track of the many ways that people have tried to spell YPSILANTI. Today's Boston Globe says officials have come up with NEARLY 400 WAYS of spelling the city's name. The actual count is 372. The article says, "Every letter in the alphabet except 'R' has been used as an initial letter of the name. One trouble? "Y (is) a letter lacking or having only indifferent standing in many foreign languages."
A couple of variations are:
Tipsy Lanti and Zyp Silanti are two of the more exotic efforts.

Oct. 11, 1907 (Friday)

FLOODS PLAGUE FRANCE: Flooding in France, particularly in the lower reaches of the Loire and other areas, is worse than at first reported, according to an item in today's New York Times. The Loire has reached its highest stage in the past 40 years. The damage (depicted above in France's Le Petit Journal of Oct. 13) is vast. The Times says
Large numbers of cattle have been drowned, wreckage of every description is floating about, farmers are imprisoned in their houses, and many persons have lost their lives.

HERE'S HOW DUMB and DUMBER WOULD HAVE TESTED A REVOLVER: Yesterday morning, a young farmer from Wolcott, Indiana, named Charles Craft bought a revolver at Sanders Bros. hardware store, according to a story with an Indianapolis dateline in today's New York Times. Howard Roy, a clerk at the store, took Craft out back to show him just how ACCURATE the revolver was. Roy fired a couple of shots into the side of an old shed. Either he didn't know it, or he forgot about it, but the shed contained DYNAMITE. One of the shots pierced the wall and caused the dynamite to EXPLODE. The hardware store and some nearby dwellings were nearly destroyed. A couple of wagons parked nearby were reduced to kindling. By some estimates, the explosion caused about $10,000 in damage. Both Roy and Clark are badly injured. They are expected to DIE.

SPEAKING OF PUTTING A REVOLVER IN THE HANDS OF AN IDIOT....: Coney Island resident Rudolph Guler decided to pawn his revolver. He headed yesterday to Max Schwartzberg's pawn shop in the Bowery and handed his revolver to a clerk named Simon August. Following the DON'T ASK; DON'T TELL principle, neither Guler nor August talked about whether or not the pistol was LOADED. For some reason, August pulled the trigger. The bullet tore of the top of August's little finger. Then the bullet hit the chest of clerk Harry Gamler. Fortunately, Gamler had a PIN in his TIE. The bullet glanced off the pin. According to today's Times,
The pin disappeared with the bullet, but as it only cost 10 cents when it was new, Gamler thought it a cheap price to pay for his life.
Police arrested Guler on a charge of carrying a weapon without a license.

Oct. 10, 1907 (Thursday)

CUBS WIN! CUB WIN! The Chicago Cubs defeated the Detroit Tigers, 3-1, yesterday in the second game of the world series. (The first game ended in a TIE.) The picture here was taken at the game. About 22,000 were at the game.

COLLEGE PRESIDENT SAYS BOYS DON'T WANT GIRLS IN THE SAME CLASSROOM: A major headline in today's Boston Globe says that Frederick W. Hamilton, the president of Tufts College, thinks "GIRLS SCARE BOYS AWAY" from his school. In his annual report, which was released by the Medford, Mass., college yesterday. His report, as quoted in the New York Times, says in part:
The student who desires a general education as represented by the Bachelor of Arts degree very much prefers to go to an institution for men only. He is not comfortable with the women in the classroom. The average young man of college age does not want to go to a co-educational institution.
It sounds like he's taking the BACHELOR of Arts degree pretty literally.
A good journalist would try to get a comment from Hamilton's mother, or sister, or daughter, or wife.....


HERE'S A POSTER BOY FOR THE PG-13 RATING: Today's New York Times has a letter from Edwin Falk, a 13-year-old. He criticizes vaudeville. Here's his take on these kinds of stage shows:
In my belief vaudeville performances are very bad things for the improvement of this country and the extension of our culture. They are a source of unrefinement, vulgarness, and prejudice. Lately I witnessed an act in which a YOUNG WOMAN imitated the leading American actors, and CHANGED HER ATTIRE between each of these scenes AT THE BACK OF THE STAGE, in the FULL VIEW OF THE ENTIRE AUDIENCE. The thing was vulgar and certianly did not set a very good example to the coming generation.
Edwin also makes an observation about the prejudices that can be enflamed by vaudeville shows:
The mocking of Jews and Irishmen which is done frequently merely tends to arouse and encourage the hatred for them by all others. They are always portrayed in their worst forms.

Oct. 9, 1907 (Wednesday)

PROMINENT DENVER RESIDENTS -- INCLUDING THE GOVERNOR -- AVOID MAILED-IN BOMBS: Three prominent people in Denver, Colo., narrowly escaped being blown to bits by a bomb sent to each in the mail. The bombs, also called "infernal machines," were intercepted in the mail yesterday morning. The potential victims were Colorado Gov. Buchtel (shown above), the former chancellor of the University of Denver; David Moffatt, president of the First National Bank of Denver and Charles B. Kountze, president of the Colorado National Bank.
The bombs were intercepted because the sender, a bookstore clerk in Denver named Kemp V. Bigelow, lost his nerve and, under interrogation by police, identified his intended victims. The bombs sent to Moffatt and Kountze were sent to the police because he victims had been told they were in the mail. It wasn't quite so simple with the bomb sent to the governor. That package got through to his private secretary, Alfred C. Montgomery, who had not been told of the bomb plot. he REMOVED the WRAPPER and found a box with a SLIDING COVER. The New York Times picks up the tale with this sentence:
His suspicions were aroused, and he reported the matter to Gov. Buchtel, WHO THEN INFORMED HIM that HE HAD BEEN WARNED by the Chief of Police to be ON THE LOOKOUT for an infernal machine.
Huh? When was the governor going to tell his secretary about the warning??????
Police opened the box and found it held TWO STICKS of dynamite. Fuses and caps were attached to the sticks, and they were packed in black powder. The underside of the sliding top was lined with SANDPAPER. And MATCHES were put in the box with their HEADS touching the sandpaper. Pretty clever. Montgomery is lucky that he became suspicious WITHOUT a warning from his boss.

WORLD SERIES OPENS: The World Series between the Detroit Tigers and Chicago Cubs opened yesterday with a .... TIE GAME. Here's the box score for the 3-3 game. It was stopped because of darkness after 12 innings. To illustrate how popular the series is, the New York Times points out that two fans traveled from CUBA to see the game, which was played in Chicago.

Oct. 8, 1907 (Tuesday)

READERS RUSH TO THE DEFENSE OF GEORGE WASHINGTON: Capt. S.R. Donahoe has caught a lot of grief since he wrote about the possibility that George Washington engaged in some form of TAX DODGING, as reported on Oct. 3. As today's New York Times puts it:
The country -- especially the feminine portion -- has risen, with fixed pen, and is bearing down upon him because he preferred the TONIC FLAVOR OF TRUTH, as set out in the Fairfax records, to the SUGAR-COATED LEGENDS of the cherry-tree type, as embodied in the "history" of the good Parson Weems.
(That "history" is depicted by Grant Wood in the painting above.)
Yesterday, Capt. Donahoe offered his own take on the situation:
"The naked truth seems to have offended the modesty of the patriots who look upon the 'Father of His Country' as molded from finer clay than his fellow-mortals."
And he noted that most of the complaints have come from the North:
Being a newspaper man myself when I'm not writing history, I observed that the story was extensively copied from The Times into the leading journals of the South. But George seems to be more adored away up North than right around home."
So it seems a bit ironic, that fable is preferred over truth when it comes to the man who, allegedly, could not tell a lie.

NEW YORK CITY SPENDS $400 TO REGISTER A SINGLE VOTER: It appears that voters in New York City have about four days to register to vote. This has brought a certain amount of attention on the 29th Election District of the 16th Assembly District in the borough of Brooklyn. Inspectors and a policeman were on hand there, as at all other districts. The interesting thing is that John Leary is the ONLY VOTER living in that election district. According to an item in today's New York Times, Mr. Leary enjoyed himself immensely. Here's a description:
Mr Leary appreciated the humor of the situation and proceeed to get the most out of it. Throughout the day he walked in and out of the parlor in a tantalizing way, each time making out that he had come to register. Then he would change his mind... So hour after hour passed and the inspectors had nothing to do but to wait for Mr. Leary, while the lone policeman that the law required should be present paced up and down in front of the house to keep the peace.
At dinnertime yesterday, Mr. Leary invited the inspectors to dine with him. They accepted. He gave each man a cigar. They chatted or an hour or so. Then, at the end of the day, Mr. Leary finally, and formally, registered to vote.
The Times estimates that it COST the CITY about $400 to register Mr. Leary.

Oct. 7, 1907 (Monday)

TIMES OFFERS A CLOSE LOOK AT A ROPE-LESS LYNCHING: A mob broke into the jail in Cumberland, Maryland, (shown above in 1919) early yesterday and lynched 22-year-old William Burns, who was accused of killing one of the town's veteran policemen. No rope was involved. Here's what happened:
The rioters got ahold of a TELEPHONE POLE and smashed down the doors of the jail. The deputy sheriff surrendered the keys to the cell to the crowd after they threatened to shoot him. The rioters had no idea which prisoner was Burns. The Times reports that "other negro occupants of the jail directed the citizens to Burns's cell." The keys didn't work on Burns' cell, but members of the crowd managed to pry open the cell door. They dragged Burns out into the street and KICKED HIM TO DEATH. Then members of the crowd fired at least 20 shots into Burns's head and chest. Between 500 and 600 people looked on. The Times says, "All the while the negro never uttered a word."
This was evidently the first lynching in the history of Cumberland. The Times reports that "The lynching was bitterly denounced in the pulpits" on Sunday. For more on the sordid history of lynching, go here.

DR. A.Z. CONRAD -- THE PASTOR WITH THE AMAZING FIRST AND MIDDLE NAMES -- LASHES BOSTONIANS AND DESCRIBES THE TENETS OF CITIZENSHIP: Proper Bostonians have been acting a little improperly if the pastor of Park Street Congregational Church is to be believed. (Here's a picture of the church's steeple.) Today's Boston Globe describes yesterday's diatribe by Dr. A.Z. Conrad, who lashed out of the dangers of "SELFISM." He also touched on good citizenship, and how it relates to immigration. Here's an excerpt from Dr. Conrad:
Nationality is no test of citizenship, though I would welcome every one who comes to these shores and say, 'Share our country's blessings, but share its responsibilities.' The test is not where a man is born, even though he was born in New England, or has enjoyed the higher and holier privilege of having been born in Boston.
The test of citizenship cannot be commercial, it canot be educational, it cannot be sectarian, but it is ethical. No matter what a man's name may be, no matter what his creed, so long as he is ready to help realize our national ideals and to uphold the law and order and stand for the constitution. These are 'desirable citizens.'

The Globe article refers to Conrad using only the initials of his first and middle names. That, of course, raises a question. The real names turn up in his obituary, which ran on Jan. 24, 1937, in The New York Times (shown). His first and middle names stand for the improbable ARCTURUS and the incredible ZODIAC. Here's an explanation from the last paragraph:
Because the star Arcturus was high in the sky at the time of his birth his father, a Presbyterian clergyman, christened his son Arcturus Zodiac. He disliked the name and used only the initials "A.Z."
The obit also mentioned that Conrad "made his pulpit a force which was recognized nationally as well as throughout New England."
Of note: He had a 12-year pastorate in Worcester, Mass.