Feb. 2, 1908 (Sunday)

ASSASSINS KILL KING OF PORTUGAL AND HIS HEIR: A group of men lurking at a busy square rushed at the open carriage in which the royal family of Portugal was driving to the palace and opened fire with carbines yesterday in Lisbon. King Carlos and the Crown Prince Luiz Philippe (shown above as they were portrayed in today's New York Times) were each shot three times. The queen was not hurt even though she threw her body over her son. The assassinations have rocked Lisbon. It's not known at this point how many assassins participated in the attack. Two were reportedly killed by police. Another was arrested and committed suicide in jail.

"HEROIC" DOG FOOLS MANY IN PARIS: A while ago, a small child tumbled into the Seine River, just outside the outskirts of Paris. As she struggled in the water, a Newfoundland heard her cries. The dog leapt over a hedge, lumbered down the bank of the river, jumped in and pulled her to safety. The grateful father of the child presented the dog with a BEEFSTEAK, which the Newfie wolfed down.
Two days later, another child tumbled into the water. Amazingly, the same dog was in the right spot at the right time and jumped in and hauled the child to safety. The reward was the same -- a juicy BEEFSTEAK. The neighbors were pleased.
Soon, the rescues were happening EVERY DAY. Neighbors thought that a mysterious criminal was afoot and attacking the children. Residents set up a watch in an attempt to catch the villain. Soon, it became apparent that the DOG was the GUILTY ONE. Today's Times says, "Whenever he saw a child playing on the edge of the stream he promptly knocked it into the water, and then none the less promptly jumped in to the rescue."
This was, the Newfie figured, the quickest way to get a nice BEEFSTEAK.
We hope that the news was noted by Ivan Pavlov, who won the Nobel Prize in 1904.

Jan. 31, 1908 (Friday)

INJURED SOPRANO HAS THE BEST SEAT IN THE HOUSE: Early yesterday afternoon, opera star Olga Nethersole was walking in front of her hotel in Pittsburg, where she was engaged in the title role of "Carmen." Nethersole (shown above in a 1910 newspaper article) fell on the slippery sidewalk, hours before the performance. She was carried to her room, with a badly sprained ankle. At 8 p.m., as curtain time approached, managers were prepared to announce that whe would not appear. However, she gamely insisted that she could appear on stage at the Nixon Theater. She performed most of her role while SEATED IN A ROLLING CHAIR on stage. Today's New York Times says "The lines and the 'business' of the piece were changed so as to allow the actress to sit during almost the entire time she was on the stage."

MAN FINDS ONE WAY TO BYPASS THE WAITING ROOM AND GET RIGHT TO SURGERY: Marcus Cohen of New York has been a patient at the Battle Creek (Mich.) Sanitarium. In order to pay for his treatment, he has performed odd jobs around the facility (which was opened, above, in 1903). While cleaning a skylight on the roof, he slipped and FELL THROUGH THE GLASS. The accident has a GOOD NEWS/BAD NEWS component. The GOOD NEWS was that he fell RIGHT INTO THE OPERATING ROOM at the sanitarium. Doctors were able to operate on him RIGHT AWAY. You can guess at the BAD NEWS component of the story. The fall was 30 feet. The fractures and cuts were numerous. Today's New York Times says Cohen may die.

Jan. 27, 1908 (Sunday)

AID GROUP SAYS FEWER JEWS CAME TO NYC IN 1907: There's been a marked dropoff in the number of members of the Jewish faith who emigrate to New York City, according to a report released last night by the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society. [That's one of the group's 1909 publications above.] Last year, 106,968 came into New York, about 32 percent fewer than in 1906. The largest group, more than 76,000, came from Russia. Nearly 15,000 came from Austria.
The arrivals have had a tough go of it, according to the report. Today's New York Times quotes a portion:
These were mostly young, sturdy men who came here to offer their vigor and muscle to American industries. But they came, unfortunately, in the midst of our own economic crisis, which was the cause of much anxiety on the part of such institutions as the United Hebrew Charities, the Council of Jewish Women, the Clara De Hirsch Home, the Hebrew Sheltering House, as well as the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society."

NEWSPAPER EDITOR'S PLEA FOR A HUSBAND CAUSES AN INTERESTED EDITOR TO STOP HIS PRESSES: It seems like the last straw for editor Elizabeth Sohm was that she failed to secure a share of official county printing to support her newspaper in Storm Lake, Iowa -- the Vidette. [It's a great name for a newspaper, a variant of vedette.] So, this week, she decided to take advantage of a certain leap year tradition. So, she printed a card with the following message [emphasis added]:
A constant fight for what rightfully belongs to her is a wear and tear on the nervous system of any woman, and we have come to the belief that in order to stay in newspaper work and maintain our health, we will have to marry some good printer who can do the FIGHTING and SWEARING for us. This is leap year, and may be considered a proposal by any one who would be qualified to fill the vacancy so evident in The Vidette office.
The notice caught the attention of bachelor G.A. Craig, editor of The Lytton (Iowa) Star. An item in today's New York Times says "he stopped his press" and printed the following note [emphasis added]:
We believe we are eligible to fill the vacancy, which Miss Sohm feels exists in her print shop. We are a Missouri Democrat of forty years' standing, considered a good printer, and CAN SWEAR FLUENTLY IN SEVEN DIFFERENT LANGUAGES. We agree to accept Miss Sohm's proposal on condition that she will show credentials as to COOKING ABILITIES and express a willingness to darn our socks and mend the gable end of our trousers when needed. As soon as a favorable reply is received we stand ready to close the deal.".
Interest in the next edition of the Vidette is likely to skyrocket, as Storm Lakers await Miss Sohm's reply.

Jan. 26, 1908 (Sunday)

IT COULD HAVE BEEN "...I'LL TURN MANNADOS INTO AN ISLE OF JOY": Today's New York Times reminds readers that New York was known by the "now-forgotten" name of the Towne of Mannados. A story in today's paper describes a map that hangs in the armory of the Old Guard. It's a copy of one in Britain (which can be seen here. The article says this map "is one of the very few on which the name Towne of Mannados is given priority over that of new Amsterdam."
The paper acknowledges that some "extremely violent earthquakes must have occurred since" the map was made. As can be seen in the illustration above and the description in today's article added here:
What is probably Staten Island is depicted as lying due west of what is today Wall Street, and the only outlet from the enclosed bay into which the "towne of Mannados" juts is a single extremely narrow pass between the "Maine Lande" and "Longe Isleland," which almost meet at a point in the vicinity of what is now Sandy Hook.