May 28, 1908 (Thursday)

DENVER LIMITS ACCESS TO LIQUOR AT DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL PARTY CONVENTION: No, relax. This is not about the 2008 Democratic convention in Denver. We're talking 1908. Today's New York Times includes a front-page story a number of firms "experienced in catering at conventions" offered quite a bit of money to be allowed to sell liquor in the convention hall in Denver, where the nation's Democrats will gather in July -- at the Denver City Auditorium (above). However, the Committee on Arrangements has refused to allow the sale of any liquor in the convention hall. In fact, all concessions will be refused, including refreshments and cigars "in and around" the hall. The Times says the nearest licensed saloon will be ONE BLOCK away from the convention hall. Refreshment stands for non-intoxicating beverages will be allowed, across the street from the all.

HETTY GREEN CONTINUES A BIT OF A SPENDING SPREE: There's a lot of talk about the unwillingness of the wealthy Hetty Green to spend money. Clearly, she's loosening the purse strings a bit. Yesterday's New York Times described the first dinner party she had ever given (at her suite in the Plaza). Today's Times has an even more amazing tale, under the headline of "Hetty Green Taking Beauty Treatments." Yes, on the front page. The paper reports that Mrs. Green (whose close-up appears above) has paid $300 for a series of 21 beauty treatments at a Fifth Avenue shop. The Times says the place "has long been a Mecca for dowagers, with waning charms." She began the treatment "a few days ago" and has had six sessions so far, the paper says. By the time she gave Tuesday's dinner party she was well into the treatment. It's paying off, evidently. The Times wrote,
One of Mrs. Green's men guests at her Tuesday night dinner said she resembled an eighteenth century Marquise. This comment pleased her immensely.

May 27, 1908 (Wednesday)

CAR WRECK FAILS TO BRING LITERARY CAREER TO A PREMATURE END: Word has reached the newspaper via London that theatrical manager George C. Tyler was involved in a serious automobile accident while driving from Rome to Florence in Italy. The car was "completely smashed" but somehow the passengers escaped unhurt. One of the passengers was author Booth Tarkington (above). He's fairly famous in 1908, thanks to "The Gentleman from Indiana" and "The Two Vanrevels." But greater fame awaits -- with "Penrod" coming in 1914 and the Pulitzer Prize-winning "The Magnificent Ambersons" coming in 1918. Fortunately, he walked away from the crash.

RECLUSIVE GAZILLIONAIRE THROWS A DINNER PARTY, SO IT'S FRONT-PAGE NEWS: Today's New York Times reports that the ever-so-wealthy Hetty Green did something she's never done before yesterday: She threw a formal dinner party. She held the 10-course dinner for about 20 in her rooms in the Plaza hotel. The Times noted that Hetty Green spent the afternoon writing names on dinner cards, "instead of writing checks." She greeted her guests dressed in "a black satin gown trimmed with old point lace." In addition, the article noted,
The mistress of many millions did not wear an earring or a jewel.

May 26, 1908 (Tuesday)

FORGET THE GRADE-POINT AVERAGES; THESE ARE THE COLLEGE STATISTICS THAT ARE MOST INTERESTING: The members of the senior class at Columbia College in New York celebrated their annual Class Day yesterday at Morningside Heights in Manhattan. (That's a view of the campus above, from the firwst decade of the 1900s. Not the colorization, and the wonderful crescent moon above the Hudson River.)The reporting of the speeches and activities included some statistics regarding the class. Here are some results:
Favorite newspaper: The New York Times (funny, the Times neglected to mention the No. 2);
Average WEIGHT and HEIGHT of the class: 140 pounds; 5 feet 9 inches (giving them a better start on adult-weight, which ballooned in the late 1900s;
Percent of class who SMOKE: 66 percent;
Percent of class who DRINK: 59 percent;
Most popular drink: Water (followed in order by chocolate ice cream soda and whisky, which was "a strong third").
The all-female Barnard College held its class day the same day. Members of the Class of 1908 voted Helmina Jeidell as the "most famous in the future," adding she is going to medical school (which, in fact, she did according to this site).

THERE OUTTA BE A LAW... CONGRESSMAN CLEARLY HOT UNDER THE COLLAR ABOUT WORK OF THE LAUNDRIES OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: Congressman Joseph Hampton Moore of Pennsylvania introduced a bill in Congress yesterday that would regulate what he calls "bulldog and billy goat laundries" in the District of Columbia. He wants to eliminate the use of "acids or other cleansing chemicals and violently whirling machinery." One step is having inspectors check out the establishments and to have each shop pay a $50 licensing fee per year. An unlicensed laundry will be subject to a $100 fine. Today's Times indicates that it was a "saw-edged collar" that is to blame, because it "interfered with his freedom of speech" in talking about a plan to build ships at the League Island Navy Yard in Philadelphia. Presumably the collar chafed his neck raw.