July 26, 1908 (Sunday)

THE MEDIA HAVEN'T ALWAYS BEEN FIXATED ON THE RED-STATE/BLUE-STATE LINEUP: As election season nears, today's New York Times produced a COLORED "Presidential Campaign Map" of the United States. Republican Theodore Roosevelt was swept to victory in 1904, and the map emphasizes a state-by-state breakdown of that election. The map is in color. REPUBLICAN STATES are presented in YELLOW; DEMOCRATIC STATES are presented in BLUE. (See detail above.)
The map also presents three states with no history of official voting as a state: Oklahoma, Arizona and New Mexico.
The paper also printed a cartoon that describes the relationship between President Roosevelt and William Howard Taft, the presumptive Republican nominee. (See below.)


U.S. BOASTS OF STRONG OIL EXPORTS THANKS TO THE WORLDWIDE REACH OF STANDARD OIL: The New York Times begins an article with this statement found in the "Standard Oil Abroad" article by C.M. Keys in the August issue of The World's Work:
"Of every 100 barrels of crude oil produced and refined by American labor in American territory, 60 go out through the ports of exit and are scattered abroad in all lands."
The largest markets are outside Europe, too, Keys says:
"There is not in all India, a single hamlet in which men do not know the name of "Ish-standard Oil."
There's a Standard Oil station at Dayulung "under the shadow of Mount Everest." [Could that be Darjeeling?]
And, get this:
"At Bushire, at the very head of the Persian Gulf, there is a distributing station. It supplies Persia, lighting the temples of Ghiras and Ispahan; another main station at Muscat, Arabia, scatters oil across the deserts up through Oman and Elphasa, Baghdad is reached from the head of the gulf.
The article also notes that people in Arabia "cunningly" turn the DISCARDED CANS into bird cages.
Standard Oil sold 750,000 oil lamps in China. The ad campaign promised "Though this lamp is more expensive than the native-made ones, which give no light and a lot of smoke, you must remember that if you use this lamp in your homes, all will be able to see clearly, and both men and women will be able to work at night without fatigue."

July 25, 1908 (Friday)

AMERICAN WINS AN UNFORGETTABLE MARATHON IN LONDON, BUT AN ITALIAN STEALS THE SHOW: Today's Times features a big story about American John J. Hayes' victory in the Marathon in the London Olympics. Despite his feat (covering 26 miles 385 yards in 2 hours 55 minutes and change), most attention was on Italian Dorando Pietri. He crossed the finish line first, but was disqualified because he did so with help from others, as shown in the picture above. Today's Times called the race "the most thrilling athletic event that has occurred since that Marathon race in ancient Greece, where the victor fell at the goal and, with a wave of triumph, died. [NOTE: I don't think the story behind the original running dealt with an "athletic event"; I think the runner was a war messenger, right? Anyway...] Suffice it to say that yesterday's Marathon race was unforgettable.
The Times says,
Dorando, an Italian, who was not thought to have a chance at the big event, reached the Stadium in advance of all his competitors in a state of complete exhaustion. Staggering like a drunken man, he slowly tottered down the home stretch. Three times he fell, struggled to his feet, and each time, aided by track officials, he fought his way toward the tape.
That assistance, of course, disqualified him from medal consideration.
(For a Youtube report on the race (not in English), go here.)
Noted writer Sir Arthur Conan Doyle described the scene this way -- as printed in the New York Times:
I think in that great assembly not any man would have wished to see victory torn at the last instant from the plucky little Italian. Thank God he is on his feet again, the little red legs going incoherently, but drumming, hard driven by the supreme will within. There is a groan as he falls again, a cheer as he restaggers to his feet. It is horrible, yet fascinating, this struggle between a set purpose and an utterly exhausted frame
Surely he is done now; he cannot rise again. from under the archway has darted a second runner, Hayes, the Stars and Stripes on his breast, going gallantly and well within his strength. There are only twenty yards -- if the Italian can do it. He staggers up, no trace of intelligence upon his set face, and again the red legs break into their strange automatic amble. Will he fall again? No, he says, and balances; then he is through the tape into a score of friendly arms. He has gone to the extreme of human endurance. No Roman of prime ever bore himself better; the great breed is not yet extinct.
Doyle did not begrudge the awarding of the medal to Hayes, who is 19 years old and weighs 125 pounds. Doyle wrote:
"I confess I cannot see how the judges could come to any other decision and yet the tragedy remains. It was, as matters stood, a fair and square win for the American, since without help Dorando must have lain senseless on the track."
Elementary.
The Times notes that the race was quite a showing for North America, with U.S. and Canadian runners finishing 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 9 (out of 58 runners who started).

July 24, 1908 (Friday)

CONTROVERSY ERUPTS BETWEEN BRITISH AND U.S. AT LONDON OLYMPICS: Simmering disputes between the United States and England erupted to the surface during yesterday's 400-meter race at the pivotal 1908 London Olympics. As the runners approached the final turn -- three from the U.S. and one from England -- British officials rushed forward and claimed that one of the U.S. runners (the eventual "winner" of the race, J.C. Carpenter of Cornell) had fouled the English runner, Lt. Wyndham Halswelle. Carpenter was denied the win. A re-run was scheduled a few days later. The U.S. runners refused to run, leaving Halswelle the only runner -- and gold medal winner. (The picture above shows him winning the solo race.) Another finalist in that race was UPenn's John Baxter Taylor (left), who would eventually be the first black athlete to win a gold medal for the U.S.

ELDERLY COUPLE MUST CHOOSE BETWEEN DINNER AND MARRIAGE: A man and woman -- each about 70 years old -- showed up at the Marriage License Bureau in New York's City Hall yesterday, with plans to become husband and wife. They were of German background, neither one could speak English. An interpreter was on hand who explained how to fill out the form.
Then the interpreter told them that the license would cost them $1.
Here's how the exchange went, according to today's New York Times:
"A dollar?" exclaimed the woman. "What for? We won't pay it."
The interpreter explained that the law made the fee necessary. Still the woman was obstinate.
"A dollar for a piece of paper!" she said. "If we paid it we wouldn't have any money for dinner. All we've got is $1."
There was no way for them to get a free license.
"Well, we'll have the dinner, anyway," the woman said.
The Times adds, "The man nodded."
They walked out and headed for a restaurant.
The license remained, blank.

NEWS FLASH -- YOUNG BOYS ARE WORTH STUDYING: Today's New York Times uses a great word in a headline for an editorial that deals with adolescent boys. The Times calls it "The Hobbledehoy Age." The word means "an awkward, gawky young fellow" (and is used in interesting places nowadays). Here's how the piece begins, regarding these 14-to-18-year-olds:
Why is he clumsy, a bungler, a butcher, and ill-mannered? Why does his handwriting degenerate? Why does he shirk his work? Why is he whimsical, grave, and fantastical by turns, addicted to "slanguage," a hater of Addison, bashful, sometimes untruthful, often obstinate and profane, the despair of his mother, and unregarded by his father, whose counsels and confidence he lacks?
Have things changed much?
[NOTE: The comment does not give a first name for Addison; could it be Joseph Addison?]

July 23, 1908 (Thursday)

PRESIDENTIAL YACHT PLOWS INTO A SCHOONER: About 1 a.m. yesterday, the official Presidential Yacht, the U.S.S. Mayflower, was churning through the fog in Long Island Sound. On board was President Theodore Roosevelt and his family. The destination was the Navy War College in Newport. The bow of the Mayflower, which is about 300 feet long, plunged into a schooner named the Menawa and nearly cut it in half. It's unclear if the Menawa is a total loss. It was carrying lumber. According to today's Boston Globe, the skipper of the Menawa, from Maine, said all the blame lay at the feet of the captain of the Mayflower, Snowden.
A lifeboat from the Mayflower plucked the crew of six from the ocean and they eventually had a brief audience witht eh president, who offered to pay their way back to their homes in Maine.

CUPIDS WILL HAVE TO BE PROPERLY COVERED AT NEW ART BUILDING: Overseers at the new Brooklyn Academy of Music, which today’s New York Times calls a “million dollar amusement building” that’s scheduled to open in the fall, needs some last-minute changes in the décor in its opera house. Members of the Building Committee evidently feel that the people of Brooklyn might be shocked by the sight of FOUR NAKED CUPIDS, who are part of the design. The little ones are being cast in plaster by McNulty Brothers. The architects, Herts & Tallant, have recently notified the artists to make the necessary change. Today’s notice in the Times said,
So appropriate drapery will be provided, and there will be no chance of anybody, save perhaps an artist, being offended.

July 22, 1908 (Wednesday)

TWO ANCIENT MARINERS COME FACE TO FACE WITH FEDERAL LEGISLATION: Deputy Surveyor Matthew Coneys spent some time cruising around New York harbor to make sure the many steam and power boats were obeying federal statutes. Off Grassy Point, he spotted a two-ton power boat and headed toward it. On board he found John and William Johnson, twin 73-year-old brothers. They said they had spent all their lives inside Rockaway Inlet. (The map above shows the inlet, which is at the entrance to the island-filled Jamaica Bay, on the south coast of Brooklyn.) They professed to be stunned by the questions Coneys asked. The men might be good candidates as poster boys for Libertarianism. Here's how The New York Times described their Don't-Tread-on-Me perspective:
"Neither of the aged salts had heard of the Federal laws or any rule that interfered with a man doing as he liked with his own property."
Despite their protests, Coneys pointed out that the two life vests on board "might have been serviceable in Paul Jones's time." Also, the Johnsons need to add a bell and whistle.

SYMPATHETIC JURORS DO MORE THAN MERELY CONVICT A THIEF: Ida Scherer showed up in court yesterday to testify against former convict Herman Freeberg. He was charged with stealing Ida's handbag, and the $7.35 inside it. Ida was, according to today's New York Times, "very worn and frail." She testified with her baby in her arms. She told the jurors that her husband was dead and she had been unable to make much money lately doing people's wash. "She confessed, weeping, that she was ill now, and that with the care of the baby she couldn't work much." It had taken her weeks to save the $7.35.
The jurors listened. They convicted Freeberg in three minutes. Juror No. 6 mentioned that a collection would be a good idea. Within two minutes, jurors and court officers had emptied their pockets of $25, which Assistant District Attorney Dana handed to the woman.
The Times adds, "She began to cry again."

July 21, 1908 (Tuesday)

BRITISH HEALTH OFFICIAL IS ALARMED AT THE 'UNDERFEEDING FAD': Sir James Chrichton-Browne has verbally attacked doctors who are going too far in their advice on diets. He says some practitioners have added "a degree of abstemiousness which he regarded as dangerous," according to today's New York Times. Among his targets is Prof. Chittenden (above) [of the medical faculty at Yale, I think]. Chittenden, a founder of the American Physiological Society, says that males, on average, can eat HALF of what they now take in. Too bad he never lived to see a Whopper. Some think Chittenden had the right idea.

THEY'RE CRACKING DOWN ON NOISE IN NEW YORK: New York City police began yesterday to crack down on noisemakers in the city. The first person charged in this 24-hour trial period was Philip Levine of 60 Henry Street, according to today's New York Times. He was charged with causing a disturbance at 4:45 a.m. at Lewis and Broome Streets. His horse had a SET OF SLEIGH BELLS around his neck. Magistrate Walsh let him go with a warning, adding that "bells are not for the good old Summer time." Another person arrested was Abraham Sciencia, a barker at Fort George. "You could hear him ten blocks aways," said Detective Benfer.