1908-09-07 – WANT MILITARY AEROPLANES

WANT MILITARY AEROPLANES.

Chas. R. Flint Has Offers for Wright Machines from European Powers.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 6. — Keenly alive to the usefulness of the aeroplane in time of war, several foreign Governments have opened negotiations with a view to procuring machines, and already one foreign Government has been offered a fleet of aeroplanes of the Wright models at a cost of $1,000,000.  Charles R. Flint of New York is conducting the negotiations on behalf of these Governments with the Wright brothers.  He had a conference to-day with Orville Wright, who is personally demonstrating his machine at Fort Myer for the War Department.

The remarkable flights made by Wilbur Wright at Le Mans, France, and the tests undertaken here by his brother seem to have convinced the military nations that the aeroplane is eventually to be of greater usefulness to an army in the field than the dirigible balloon.  It is swifter, is less liable to injury, can be transported more easily, and offers a smaller target to the enemy’s sharpshooters.

It is known that France made flattering offers to the Wright brothers for the patents covering their machines.  it was reported at one time that these offers had been accepted by the American inventors.  This was denied afterward, however, the Wrights declaring that they would give this Government the first opportunity to acquire them.

Not only the European countries, but the more advanced nations of South America and the Orient according to Mr. Flint, are anxious to add the Wright aeroplanes to their military establishments.

“Practically every Government that maintains an up-to-date army and navy is making inquiry regarding the Wright aeroplane,” he said, “and our agents in Europe, South America, and the Orient, are already in negotiation with the heads of the military establishments.  One certain foreign Government, which I am not at liberty just now to name, has made inquiries of me as to the cost of the aeroplanes.  I have offered to supply a number for $1,000,000, and agreed to deposit $50,000 cash with bankers to be forfeited if they did not meet requirements.  I do not fear for the safety of the $50,000, for the tests have demonstrated the ability of the Wright brothers to make successful flights.

“The Wright machine, in my opinion, and I have dealt in vessels and war materials, will revolutionize methods of fighting, both on land and on sea.  It can be used in the place of light cavalry for scouting, can be utilized to drop explosives on the deck of a battleship or in fortifications, can carry dispatches at high spped across hostile country, and, in short, will fill a void which no balloon or other machine can occupy.”

Mr. Wright would not discuss the details of the conference to-day, although he acknowledged that the offers of a number of Governments had been laid before him.

“Mr. Flint has some tangible offers,” said Mr. Wright, “but we did not come to any decision with regard to them.  Whatever work we may undertake will be done only after I have consulted with my brother, who, as you know, is now in France.”

If the wind and weather are favorable the tests of the aeroplane will be resumed to-morrow at Fort Myer.  The slight breakage of yesterday, when a rope snapped in a preliminary trial along the rising track, has been repaired, and everything is in readiness.  It is Mr. Wright’s intention to lengthen his flights each day until he is ready for the endurance test of one hour, which the Government calls for.

(Originally published on September 7, 1908 in the New York Times.)

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Air Force: An Illustrated History: The U.S. Air Force from 1907 to the 21st Century by Chester G. Hearn

Into the Air: The Story of the Wright Brothers’ First Flight by Robert Burleigh and Bill Wylie

Inventing Flight: The Wright Brothers and Their Predecessors by John D., Jr. Anderson

Race to the Sky: The Wright Brothers Versus the United States Government by Stephen B. Goddard

To Conquer the Air: The Wright Brothers and the Great Race for Flight by James Tobin

Wilbur and Orville: A Biography of the Wright Brothers by Fred Howard

The Wright Brothers: A Biography by Fred C. Kelly

Wright Brothers, The: A Flying Start (Snapshots: Images of People and Places in History) by Elizabeth MacLeod

Wright Brothers and the Invention of the Aerial Age by Peter L. Jakab and Tom D. Crouch

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1908-09-07 – SIX BREAK OUT OF JAIL

SIX BREAK OUT OF JAIL

Prisoners in Herkimer Saw the Bars of a Window.

LITTLE FALLS, N.Y., Sept. 6. — Six prisoners, one of whom was awaiting trial on a charge of manslaughter, escaped from the Herkimer Jail last night, and, according to latest advices, are still at large.

The men made their way out of the prison by sawing the bars of one of the windows.  Their escape was not discovered until this morning.

Those missing are Eleon Praime and Mike Barbo, alleged horse thieves; Ellon Vincent Seed, charged with manslaughter; Tony Panzo, Black Hand suspect; George Lightheart and Frank Van Wie, petty thieves.

(Originally published on September 7, 1908 in the New York Times.)

Adirondack Tragedy: The Gillette Murder Case of 1906 by Joseph W. Brownell

Ghostly Tales from America’s Jails by Joan Upton Hall

Herkimer County: Valley Towns (NY) (Images of America) by Jane W. Dieffenbacher

1908-09-07 – MANIAC KNOCKED OUT BY WOMAN SURGEON

MANIAC KNOCKED OUT BY WOMAN SURGEON

Dr. Crawford Subdues Him with a Blow When He Attacks Her in Ambulance.

SHE NEVER LOST HER NERVE

When He Renewed the Struggle the Resourceful Surgeon Resorted to an Eye Trick.

Dr. Mary Crawford, the woman ambulance surgeon of the Williamsburg Hospital, for the second time since her connection with it had an encounter yesterday with a madman.

With a right had blow on the chin of her assailant she almost knocked him senseless.  The man was Michael Ford, a mechanic, whose address the police were unable to learn.

It was shortly after 1 o’clock yesterday afternoon when there was a call for an ambulance at North Eighth Street and Bedford Avenue.  Dr. Crawford found there a crowd of several hundred, in the centre of which were two policemen of the Bedford Avenue Station and several volunteers struggling with a madman.  She directed the policemen to hold the man while she gave him treatment.  This seemed to have a quieting effect, but only a few minutes.

With a yell Ford broke away from the policemen.  He was captured again and bound hand and foot with ropes.  The captive was then placed in the ambulance.  Dr. Crawford climbed in and Policeman Selvey jumped on the step.  On the way to the hospital Ford broke the ropes which bound him and suddenly attacked Dr. Crawford.  She landed on his chin with a right hand blow and Ford fell back in the ambulance.  As he did so he seized her by the throat before either Policeman Selvey or the ambulance driver, Hugh Gromley, could go to her assistance.  The doctor did not lose her nerve.  Pressing her thumbs under the man’s eyebrows, she stopped the blood circulation to his brain, and he gradually released his hold on her throat.

But when Dr. Crawford removed her thumbs from the madman’s eyes he renewed his attack on her and tried to throw her from the ambulance.  By this time Policeman Selvey and the driver, who had stopped the vehicle, seized the madman and rebound him.

While Dr. Crawford was at Cornell University she took part in the athletic games, and one of her pastimes is boxing.

Originally published on September 7, 1908 in the New York Times

Women at Cornell: The Myth of Equal Education (Cornell Paperbacks) by Charlotte Williams Conable

Doctors Wanted: No Women Need Apply: Sexual Barriers in the Medical Profession, 1835-1975 by Mary Roth Walsh

Elizabeth Blackwell: First Woman Doctor of Modern Times by Adele Glimm

Send Us a Lady Physician: Women Doctors in America, 1835-1920 by Ruth Abram

1908-09-07 – MAIL THEFTS INCREASING

MAIL THEFTS INCREASING.

More Than Ever, Despite a Larger Detective Force, Says a Postal Official.

One of the chief officials of the New York Post Office, in conversation with a Times reporter a few days ago, made the statement that thefts from the mails by employes of the department have greatly increased despite salary increases and although the Post Office here now has a bigger staff than ever before especially detailed to ferret out mail robberies.

For this state of things the official blamed particularly dishonest pawnbrokers and saloon keepers who would cash checks and money orders at a discount of about 25 cents on the dollar, taking good care not to find out whether the checks had been stolen or not, and taking the chance of getting the full amount back from the bank.

In several cases, he said, the Post Office detectives had traced three signatures on a stolen check.  They usually found that one signature was that of a respectable citizen, the second that of an east or west side pawnbroker in a doubtful neighborhood, and the third that of a Smith or Jones, really the endorsement of the man who stole the letter.  When asked if he remembered cashing the check the pawnbroker would usually admit that he had done so to oblige some customer who wanted to pay his rent or the butcher’s bill, but he never could tell the name or just where he lived.  In cases of this kind, said the official, the Post Office authorities are powerless, as they only look for a conviction in the criminal courts, and do not sue to recover the money on a stolen check, which must be done by the sender of the letter.

Instancing another difficulty the postal authorities had to contend with in stopping thefts from the mails, the official complained bitterly of what he said was the lukewarmness with which the City Magistrates regarded their efforts.  As an illustration he cited the recent case of a postal clerk who was found with the marked money in his possession after he had been seen to take the letter, addressed to the Redemptorist Fathers, and go to a cloakroom, where he opened it, took out the money, and tore up the envelope.

It was proved, said the postal official, that this man had robbed the charity of more than $400 which had been sent in by subscribers.  When the case came up in the court the prisoner’s friends brought forward a girl to do what is now called by crooks “the Evelyn Thaw baby act.”  She wept copiously on the stand, said what a good husband he had been to her, and told the Magistrate a pitiful story of her hardships with a non-existent baby boy, and the thief was only sentenced to a month’s imprisonment.

So angry were the postal officials over this that the case was called to the attention of District Attorney Jerome, said the official, and the Magistrate was compelled to have the prisoner brought into court again.  He was eventually sentenced to a year’s imprisonment.  “The whole trouble,” added the postal official, “is the lust for money obtained by any means whatsoever.  It was estimated some months ago that the people of New York are robbed annually of $20,000,000 through thefts from the mails and the fraudulent use of the Post Office by crooks to send out their circulars.  Chicago is equally bad and Pittsburg is worse.

“We have a case in hand now of a postal employe who stole second-class mail matter in sackfulls at a time.  Several sacks have been recovered from his rooms unopened.  The contents will be made known shortly and the owners can come forward and claim their missing property.”

Originally published on September 7, 1908 in the New York Times

An American Postal Portrait: A Photographic Legacy by The U.S. Postal Service, William J. Henderson, James Bruns, and Carl Burcham

Mail Call!: The History of the U.S. Mail Service (First Book) by Nancy O’Keefe Bolick

Morality and the Mail in Nineteenth-Century America by Wayne E. Fuller

Riding With The Mail: The Story of the Pony Express (History Chapters) by Gare Thompson

Ten years among the mail bags: or, Notes from the diary of a special agent of the Postoffice department. By J. Holbrook. by Unknown author

Wings Across America: A Photographic History of the U.S. Air Mail by Bruce McAllister and Jesse Davidson

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1908-09-07 – HEARST SUED IN MILWAUKEE

Originally published on September 7, 1908 in the New York Times

HEARST SUED IN MILWAUKEE.

Bill of $48 Incurred by a Worker in 1904 Charged to Him.

MILWAUKEE, Sept. 6. — William Randolph Hearst, founder of the Independence Party, will come to Milwaukee again on Sept. 14, but not as a campaigner and political worker for the newly born National pary and Thomas L. Hisgen, its Presidential candidate.  It will be to appear before Justice of the Peace Oscar E. Schwemer to make answer in a civil suit brought against him by William Kirchheim, a saloon keeper in the town of Granville.

Service was made upon Mr. Hearst in his rooms in the Hotel Pfister last night as he was preparing to go to Schlitz Park, where he was scheduled to make an address.

The case dates back four years, when Mr. Hearst was seeking the Democratic nomination for the Presidency.  It involves $48.  The plaintiff was at that time in the saloon business in Granville.  J. J. McNally, who at that time represented himself as one of Hearst’s workers, went to the plaintiff’s salloon in Granville, and, according to the allegation, incurred a bill of $48 for refreshments and the rent of a hall for a Hearst meeting.  When the meeting was over McNally refused to pay the bill, it is alleged.

The Chief: The Life of William Randolph Hearst by David Nasaw

Citizen Hearst: A Biography of William Randolph Hearst by W. A. Swanberg

Giants of American Industry – William Randolph Hearst (Giants of American Industry) by Nancy Frazier

William Randolph Hearst and the American Century (Makers of the Media) by Nancy Whitelaw

William Randolph Hearst: The Early Years, 1863-1910 by Ben Procter

William Randolph Hearst: The Later Years, 1911-1951 by Ben Procter

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1908-09-07 – HARRIMAN TO GO AHEAD

Originally published on September 7, 1908 in the New York Times

HARRIMAN TO GO AHEAD.

His Railroad Interests in Far Better Shape Than He Expected.

PORTLAND, Ore., Sept. 6. — E. H. Harriman, before leaving late last night for San Francisco, spoke at a reception at the Commercial Club.

“We find ourselves in far better shape after the senseless money panic of last Fall than might have been expected,” he said, “and the past year leaves us with hardly a scratch.  We are in a position now to go ahead and complete the work laid out, and will do so.”

Referring to the advent of new roads constructed on the north bank of the Columbia River by the James J. Hill system, Mr. Harriman said:

“We have never done anything to keep our Northern neighbors out, and we will not do so.  Incidents in the past were due to a misunderstanding.  We thought we had an agreement with our northern neighbors, and we believed that it was violated.  That has all been smoothed over now and there are no hard feelings.  We are just as much interested as any one in developing this country and in helping others develop it, for what helps the country helps us.  We welcome other railroads in helping this state grow.”

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Hear that Train Whistle Blow! How the Railroad Changed the World (Landmark Books) by Milton Meltzer

The Life and Legend of E. H. Harriman by Maury Klein

Nothing Like It In the World : The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad 1863-1869 by Stephen E. Ambrose

Union Pacific Railroad (Railroad Color History) by Brian Solomon

 

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1908-09-07 – HAPPY ON 10 CENTS A DAY

Originally published on September 7, 1908 in the New York Times

HAPPY ON 10 CENTS A DAY.

Couple Married Fifty Years and Nearly a Century Old Have All They Need.

ST. LOUIS, Sept. 6. — “We have all we need, thank God, for our daily bread, and are happy,” say John and Marianna Szarmbeck, who live on 10 cents a day.  Both are close to the century mark and have been married fifty years.  They live in a tenement house in the Polish colony of St. Louis, and while neither knows the exact age of the other, both are old enough to remember the later days of the First Napoleon’s reign.

John worked as a stonecutter until he lost an eye eight years ago.  Since then their little reserve fund has been spent and John does odd jobs of mending for his neighbors which nets a scant dollar a week.

They could have as much more as they needed, for none of the kindly folk that have lived with the old couple in the tenement house would see them suffer.  The single dollar, however, satisfied all their wants.

1908-09-07 – GUARD FOR YELLOWSTONE

Originally published on September 7, 1908 in the New York Times

GUARD FOR YELLOWSTONE.

Recent Hold-Ups Lead to Doubling of the Force of Troops.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 6. — Provision is being made at the War Department to increase the garrison at Yellowstone National Park, which is under the command of Major Henry T. Allen, Eighth Cavalry.  It is proposed to double the force.  Gen. Young, who is in charge of the park heretofore has recommended that the force there be added to.

The recent hold-up by a lone road agent of seven tourists’ coaches with a hundred and twenty passengers calls attention to the necessity of a more thorough supervision of the park precincts.

The History of Yellowstone National Park by Clyde Max Bauer

Myth and History in the Creation of Yellowstone National Park by Paul Schullery and Lee Whittlesey

Yellowstone: A Natural and Human History, Yellowstone National Park, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming (National Park Service Handbook) by David Rains Wallace and National Park Service

Yellowstone National Parks (True Books : National Parks) by David Petersen

1908-09-07 – FALSE FIRE PANIC IN PICTURE SHOW

Originally printed on September 7, 1908 in the New York Times

FALSE FIRE PANIC IN PICTURE SHOW.

Morris Becker of Broome Street, Newark, N.J., Will be arraigned in the Second Criminal Court to-day charged with creating a disturbance in a moving picture theatre at 137 Springfield Avenue, that city, shortly before midnight Saturday which precipitated a panic. Becker objected to a boy standing in front of him, and finally flung the lad to one side against the wall. In the excitement some one set up the cry “fire.” The exits were thrown open, and, although the attaches tried to quiet the panic-stricken people, they climbed over seats and crowded one another down in the aisles in their anxiety to get out.

 

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Digging New Jersey’s Past: Historical Archaeology in the Garden State by Richard Francis Veit

Forgotten Towns of Southern New Jersey by Henry Charlton Beck

The History of New Jersey From its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time. Ed. by W. H. Carpenter and T. S. Arthur. by Michigan Historical Reprint Series

New Jersey: A History (States & the Nation) by Thomas Fleming

Railroads of New Jersey: Fragments of the Past in the Garden State Landscape by Lorett Treese

South Jersey Towns: History and Legend by William McMahon

 

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“History with a Splash of Color”

                   

1908-09-07 – EXPLOSION WRECKS GARAGE

Originally printed on September 7, 1908 in the New York Times

EXPLOSION WRECKS GARAGE.

Eighty Automobiles Lost in the Back Bay, Boston.

BOSTON, Sept. 6 – A gasoline explosion in the basement of the Taylor-Palmer Garage, a three-story structure of brick and terra cotta, at 169 and 171 Huntington Avenue, in the Back Bay, early to-day, practically ruined nearly eighty automobiles, and wrecked the interior of the building, causing a loss estimated at $200,000.  None of the seven or eight employees in the garage at the time was injured by the explosion, but two firemen sustained painful injuries.

Adjoining the garage on one side was the New Century Building containing Potter and Howe Halls, several offices, and stores.  This sustained a smoke-and-water damage, as did the brick apartment house on the other side.  The tenants in this building were obliged to move hastily.  The majority of the losses is covered by insurance.

Boston’s Back Bay: The Story of America’s Greatest Nineteenth-Century Landfill Project by William Newman and Wilfred E. Holton

Boston’s Back Bay (Images of America (Arcadia Publishing)) by Anthony Mitchell Sammarco

Boston’s Back Bay in the Victorian Era (MA) (Images of America) by Anthony Mitchell Sammarco

Houses of Boston’s Back Bay by Bainbridge Bunting

Boston Then and Now (Then & Now) by Elizabeth McNulty

 

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