Dec. 20, 1908 (Sunday)

SOME LAST-MINUTE SUGGESTIONS FOR TOY-BUYERS FOR BOYS: Railroad locomotives continue to chug along as the most popular toy for young boys this season, according to a feature story in today's Globe. The illustration with the story (above) shows a train at the bottom along with other toys for boys (such as electric motors, toy animals and a work bench -- along with a token girl toy, the doll). A store manager is quoted in the story as saying:
It is easily within the mark to say that two-thirds of the boys who come in here with their parents, or by themselves, to select a present, choose a locomotive. If all our sales were made to boys themselves, many manufacturers of other lines would have to go out of business.
The price covers a wide range -- from a tin locomotive costing 25 cents to a "complete railroad system" costing $500 to $600. [NOTE: Multiply by 20 for 2008 dollars.]

SULLIVAN TAKES A JAB AT FOOTBALL FANS: Today's Globe includes a lengthy column written by former boxing champion John L. Sullivan. It's called "Jolts from 'John L.'" (above). Obviously, he has a soft spot in his heart for BOXING. It's from that perspective that he criticizes football. And he has some chilling facts:
There were 18 fine boys killed and several hundred hurt in football during the last season, and a minister who was asked what he knew about this, said the courage the game put into the boys was worth all the killings and the hurts. That's good from a minister who is pretty sure to have a hammer out for boxing. I don't believe you've got to kill a boy or make him a cripple for life in order to make him spunky... More boys were killed on the football fields this season than were killed in all the sea fighting on the Yankee side in the Spanish war. Last year 19 boys were done to death in football.

IS IT THE SAME AS BRINGING COALS TO NEWCASTLE? This headline caught my eye, because I grew up in Worcester. That Massachusetts city is on the receiving end of plenty of liquor deliveries by rail because the city recently OK'd a "no license" law for liquor sales. An EXTRA CAR has been put on every train leaving Providence around noon -- to accommodate the extra shipments. The train that leaves Worcester at 6:33 a.m. has extra baggage for the empty kegs and bottles. The recycling effort is duly noted.

Dec. 19, 1908 (Saturday)

THE KAISER TURNS FROM ALCOHOL AND CLIMBS ON THE WAGON: This cartoon in today's Boston Globe puts Germany's Kaiser Wilhelm on a "new throne." In this case it's the "water wagon" because the ruler has evidently pledged to abstain from alcohol. The text below the illustration says,
His Majesty Emperor William is Reported to Have Become a Teetotaller, Having Pledged Himself to Abstain From Alcoholic Drinks for the Remainder of His Life. -- From a Berlin Dispatch.
The illustration indicates the origin of the phrase "to fall off the wagon" meaning "to start drinking alcohol again". Evidently the "wagon" has long refered to that long-forgotten water wagon that sprinkled water on unpaved roadways to keep the dust down. Evidently the thinking was that a non-drinker was so commited to avoiding alcohol that he would drink from the water stored in those dust-fighting wagons.

Dec. 18, 1908 (Friday)

SOMERVILLE RETURNS TO BASKETBALL WITH A WIN OVER REVERE: Today's Globe draws some attention to the Somerville High School basketball team. It will be the school's first to hit the court "in recent years." The team opened the season on Tuesday with a win over Revere. While the students are "elated," the faculty have some concerns. The team will be limited by the faculty in its opportunities to play away games. Matthew Duggan (at left in the photo) has been elected captain. James Hurley (shown at right) is called "one of the best basketball players in this vicinity."
The mood about basketball is a little different at Everett High School, according to today's Globe. The paper says that the school's principal, Wilbur J. Rockwell, won't allow the school to formally field a team "because of the ROUGHNESS of the sport" [emphasis added]. This means Everett joins the ranks with Malden High School as institutions that don't want to field a team until rules have been revised. [Judging from the photo, the dispute has nothing to do with the style of uniforms.]

WHAT ON EARTH IS HE GOING TO SPEAK ABOUT? Here's an intriguing ad, which appeared on one of the sports pages of today's Globe. The "for men only" angle seems appropriate. Fred B. Smith of New York City is the speaker. The small print says, "Mr. Smith is the greatest speaker to men [word is unreadable] in the world and has just returned from a trip to Australia and South Africa." The lecture is presented under the auspices of the YMCA.
The title will be "A Fatal Mistake". What could that be?

Dec. 16, 1908 (Wednesday)

THOMAS LONGBOAT DEFEATS DORANDO PIETRI IN MARATHON IN NYC:
Today's Globe devoted a sizable portion of its front page to a dramatic two-man marathon race held last night at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Thomas Longboat of Canada and Dorando Pietri of Italy were neck-and-neck throughout the race -- until the fourth lap of the 26th mile, when Pietri dropped out. Today's article called the race "the greatest long distance contest ever seen." In addition, it brought to mind the dramatic ending to the Olympic marathon race in London earlier in 1908, when Pietri had to be helped across the finish line. (NOTE: Pietri was honored with a statue in recognition of the 100th anniversary of that race.]
The article contains a few questionable references to the athletes' ethnicity.
At one point, Longboat is called "the wiley Winnebago". The alliteration must have been irresistible. However, Longboat was an Onondaga (Six Nations). Evidently, one tribal name fits all.
The ethnic slant wasn't limited to Longboat. The article noted Pietri's devout supporters who shared Italian heritage contributed mightily to the noise, especially when Pietri dropped out of the ultra-close race with about a half mile to go. The eruption in the arena was due partly to Italians, "excitable as they are under pressure."

MIT WELCOMES NEXT PRESIDENT: Today's Globe filled the top of Page 5 with an 8-column photo showing faculty and students who turned out yesterday to greet the institute's incoming president, Dr. Richard Cockburn MacLaurin. In part of his speech, he dealt with TACT. According to the Globe, here's part of what he said:
I am most emphatically in sympathy with Oliver Wendell Holmes, who says that mathematics breeds a despotic way of thinking. This is true of every exact science. Despotic thinking means lack of tact. Do not confine yourselves to scientific work alone. It has always been the policy of this institution to encourage a liberal education, but it seems to me that the best, simplest and most effective way to learn tact is to mingle freely with your fellows.

Dec. 15, 1908 (Tuesday)

IT MAY NOT BE A CABBAGE PATCH DOLL, BUT BOYLE BROS. DEPARTMENT STORE HAS ITS OWN VERSION OF THE 'HOTTEST TOY' FOR CHRISTMAS: Holiday shoppers in Boston have evidently been utterly captivated by a "toy" being offered by Boyle Bros. department store. The article at right (which reads more like an advertisement) gushes about the popularity of the birds. If it's too hard to read the item at the right, here's an excerpt:
There has been a remarkable purchase of these canaries for Christmas presents. The idea is new, and purchasers may be seen every day listening beneath the cages in an endeavor to select the real prima donnas of the flock.
The price of the birds is not mentioned, but the store will accept cash or a "no money down" credit application.
If kids aren't all that interested, you can bet the FAMILY CAT will be happy to receive such a gift.
I wonder if any of the unsold canaries will end up in ... coal mines (as the traditional "early warning" system).

ROOFTOP CHASE DRAWS A BIG CROWD IN BOSTON'S WEST END: Today's Globe estimates that "fully 5,000" people flocked to an area bounded by Staniford, Green, South Margin and Norman streets to see a crook try to elude police in a daring rooftop escapade yesterday. The paper included a helpful drawing to show where the cops and robber scrambled -- about four or five stories up. The shoeless crook was trying to lower himself on a downspout when he surrendered to police, who had drawn their revolvers. On the map above, X marks the spot where Frank Kivlin and an unknown accomplice took a watch and chain valued at $75 and $12 in cash from John F. Domorclift of Somerville.
Onlookers -- drawn from the neighborhood and from the crowds heading to North Station in the early evening -- received quite a treat, the Globe said, adding:
No greater sensation has been offered to the residents of the West Side for a long time.