April 3, 1909 (Saturday)

POLICE MIGHT HAVE CRACKED A COLD CASE (from 1908): The lead story in today's Globe is distinctive for many reasons. First, it carries a byline (Edwin J. Park, who also had one on March 11). Second, it features a "flashlight photograph," which was taken last night at Police Station 4 in Cambridge. The two men being flashed are Dionisios Spiropoulos (Anglicized to James Mantir) and Peter C. Delorey. They have been connected with the stunning 1908 killing of a domestic servant named Annie Mullins.
Police say Mantir came to the U.S. a few years ago "on a mission of blood" -- meaning he was sent to take the life of another Greek. He is a little less than 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighs 145 pounds.
When Mantir was arrested yesterday about 2 p.m., he was initially told he was wanted on a charge of cruelty to animals.
The killing evidently took place along Marathon Street, which runs from Massachusetts Avenue to Broadway in Arlington (see map). The confession extracted from Delorey might be a bit suspect, but it's likely nobody will care. The article says he was put through "the third degree." Police questioned him from 4 to 6:45 in the evening, when "he suddenly weakened and, according to the officers, said that he would make a full breast of the story, whereupon his confession followed." Later, when referring to this questioning, the reporter wrote that Delorey spent "two hours and three-quarters on the gridiron."
Both men are charged with murder.
Evidently the two became the focus of suspicion because they had talked about the killing (in Squire's field in Arlington on March 27, 1908) BEFORE the body was found.
This was a particularly vicious killing, evidently. Her head was nearly severed. The crime was "looked upon as one of the most brutal murders ever committed in the vicinity" of Boston, the Globe reports.

April 2, 1909 (Friday)

NO, IT'S NOT AN UPSIDE DOWN WASTEBASKET; IT'S A FASHIONABLE HAT: Henry Siegel is selling at its store on Washington and Essex streets some $10 trimmed hats like the one above. A number of "exclusive styles" will be shown Saturday for the first time. Included will be 25 Leghorn hats. Those would be hats made from Italian wheat straw that's often shipped from Leghorn, the English name for Livorno.

THE RUSH OF IMMIGRANTS TO BOSTON CONTINUES: The month of April might establish a new record for immigrant arrivals, according to today's Globe. The past few weeks have seen a "marked increase in the number of aliens arriving"; future bookings are "heavy." For an example, the Globe offers the incoming Romanic, of the White Star Line. It left Naples Wednesday night with about 1,200 steerage passengers. At the Azores, she is likely to pick up 200 to 300 additional passengers. It carries about 175 passengers in saloon and second class and is expected to arrive in Boston on April 12.

IN OKLAHOMA, A WARRIOR PROVES ELUSIVE: Military authorities are still looking for Crazy Snake, the rough translation into English of Chitto Harjo. Even though he has apparently escaped it looks like a simmering uprising is winding down, according to an article in today's Globe. Many have called this the Crazy Snake Rebellion . The Globe notes that a Muskogee paper calls the "smoke beef rebellion." According to this source, that name surfaced because someone stole a thousand pounds of smoked bacon.

READS LIKE A SCENE RIPPED FROM "CSI" OR "LAW AND ORDER" or "NCIS" or....: At about 3 a.m. yesterday (April 1), the home of Mr. and Mrs. Ludwig Krueger burned down. It was about a mile west of Toledo, Ohio. A search of the debris puzzled investigators, according to today's Globe. They found no sign of the couple, who were in their 60s. Authorities left the property unguarded, so a couple of boys poked their way through the rubble. One lifted a brick in the floor and came face to face with... THE FACE OF MRS. KRUEGER. More of the floor was then removed, exposing both bodies. They had been stabbed numerous times. The couple was last seen alive Tuesday evening. Police suspect robbery. It turns out that someone had recently paid the couple $2,000 as part payment for purchase of a farm.

April 1, 1909 (Wednesday) [3rd anniversary]

BOSTON MARATHON ORGANIZERS ARE WORRIED ABOUT ... DOPING; THEY ALSO DON'T WANT RUNNERS TO WEAR SHORTS THAT ARE ... TOO SHORT: Today's Globe reveals that organizers of the Boston Marathon intend to crack down on runners who use stimulants to boost their performance at the race, which will be held on Patriots Day. [The photo above shows a runner surrounded by bicyclists in the 1904 Boston Marathon.]
Here's the relevant passage in the article:
The officials of the race will exert more vigilance this year than ever before to see that competitors do not partake of drugs either before or during the running of the race, and a breach of this rule will operate as an absolute disqualification.
In years past there have been allegations made that runners consumed considerable "dope" during the race, notwithstanding the efforts made by the management to prohibit the use of drugs. However, no serious results have ever resulted from this practice, but it is with a view of putting an absolute stop to the use of stimulants that the athletic committee has taken the step.
In addition, the organizers won't accept any runner younger than 18.
And then there's the concern about "shocking" outfits. Each competitor will be required to wear "complete clothing from the shoulders to the knees" according to manager George V. Brown. According to the Globe, this rule is "intended to dispense with the so-called 'SHOCKING' appearance of some athletes who wear SHORT trousers" [emphasis added].

SOPRANO WOWS CROWD AT BOSTON THEATER: Luisa Tetrazzini had operagoers in the palm of her hand last night during the production of Verdi's "La Traviata." The reviewer in today's Globe called it "another Tetrazzini night." The writer compared her singing with that of other recent performers in this way:
Tetrazzini has thrilled Boston opera lovers as has no singer since Patti was in her prime. Neither Melba with her more golden voice nor Sembrich with her finer artistry ever stirred an audience here to such frenzied demonstrations of delight.
How different was the behavior of last night's audience from that of the equally large gathering of the previous evening when beautiful Mary Garden sang the brilliant music of Massenet's opera! There was appreciative applause for the latter, but not once an outburst of real enthusiasm. Last night every aria was instantly followed by a hurricane of applause, and each time the curtain fell Tetrazzini was recalled a dozen times or more.
I guess they liked her.

BOYLSTON STREET CLOGGED BY A 1909-STYLE TRAFFIC JAM: About 30 horse-drawn carriages and automobiles were caught in a traffic jam for about 30 minutes yesterday afternoon on Boylston Street, near the intersection with Tremont Street. The cause? Two horses attached to a "heavy dray" refused to keep moving forward when confronted by a strange-looking "black spot" in the middle of the street. The "black spot" was there because a large section of pavement had been filled in with asphalt, which, today's Globe explained, "before being pressed down is black." There was no way to move around the spot because half the street is being taken up by repair work. The reluctant horses had no room to walk around the spot and the backed-up traffic had nowhere to go. Eventually the horses moved. The article does not say what was done to budge them.