One Hundred Years Ago

[gabrielle]

Thanks for the last two posts Gabrielle.   A pillar of stability among all the Sound and Fury today    :

I sure hope Mrs. Walks is glad to be home.  !!!  It just occurred to me....if you are seeing the German assault on hill 304 as stability, things must be quite wacky elsewhere...LOL

[Walks_At_Night]

I sure hope Mrs. Walks is glad to be home.  !!!

TY.  She sure is and I am too!

[gabrielle]

TY.  She sure is and I am too!

Is this you in the 1916 postcard Walks?

[albrecht]

I sure hope Mrs. Walks is glad to be home.  !!!  It just occurred to me....if you are seeing the German assault on hill 304 as stability, things must be quite wacky elsewhere...LOL

Ha. Good point! I don't to that area or situation. It is bizarre and divisive, apparently. (I prefer that for politics threads, stuff that matters and is real.  ) WWI was ridiculously bad. All wars are but that one was just crazy with the deaths. So sad to visit even a random small town cemetery or monuments, much less the official large ones, and you see so many dead all on the same days etc.

[Walks_At_Night]

Is this you in the 1916 postcard Walks?

That's us!     LoL

Thanks.........

[Rix Gins]

May 23, 1916.  Left Fielder Frank "Wildfire" Schulte of the Chicago Cubs had a good game against the Philadelphia Phillies.  He contributed one home run and had three runs batted in. The Cubs won 8 to 3.  The game was played in Chicago.

[Rix Gins]

https://youtu.be/8sp1ChAFc2s

[(Sandman) Logan-5]

Utterly fascinating vid there, Logan.  I noticed British Messrs.' Jellicoe and Beatty in the Scapa Flow footage.  German spy footage perhaps? I have seen film of that schooner with all the sails on it being sunk but it wasn't included on this particular reel.  I like to think that the sailors on that last ship were hearty swimmers as this would have increased their chances of survival. Looks like almost all of them wound up in the drink.  Awesome film and of very high quality.  Thanks!

I thought it was pretty cool too, and yes, the quality of the film is surprisingly good. I think you're right about some of it being spy footage. I look at it as a propoganda film to bolster the spirits of the German people, kind of like the 'News Reel' shorts shown in the Allied theaters during WW II.
On a sad sidenote, at the time, it was never a prerequisite of the Navy (theirs or ours) that you had to know how to swim to join.


A new patent was released today in 1916 for random circuit control, preferably for lighting applications. It's pretty basic, but apparently it does the job. Cool diagrams (attached PDF.)

How to cordially tell someone 'No'. First correspondence is from 23May1916.  HAM's this may be of special interest to you.

http://earlyradiohistory.us/1916QST.htm   Would that more people wrote like this today.

Nothing for the month of May, but if you want PDF copies of Electrical Experimenter, you can find most of them here: 

http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Electrical-Experimenter.htm

This from a time when people were building their own sets and a brand new world was opening up to the average person.  Very cool stuff.

 

A little background on Hugo...  http://earlyradiohistory.us/sec012.htm

Another one from the time worth checking out 
How Popular Science got its start https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrician_and_Mechanic

"May 23, 1916

Dr. J. L. Wininger, of California, who is a chiropractor, has located in Frederick for the practice of his profession and will shortly open offices on North Market street. While chiropractic has been in vogue for a decade or more, this modern method of healing has not been taken up very extensively in the East." - No source given. From

From the SouthBend News Times: http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn87055779/1916-05-23/ed-1/seq-1/

TWO ARE INDICTED FOR TAPPING PRIEST'S WIRE

Charities Commissioner and Attorney Accused of Unlawful Tampering.

International News Service:
NEW YORK May 23.-- Indictments in connection with the wire tapping scandal that has involved city and federal officials were returned today by the Kings county grand jury against Charities Commissioner John A. Kingsbury and Atty. William H. Hotchkiss.

Both men figured prominently in the charities investigation during which the telephone of the Rev. William B. Farrell, a Catholic priest, was tapped.

It is alleged that Commissioner Kingsbury's activities in probing Catholic institutions which receive city money led to the tapping of  Father Farrell's telephone. From the inquiry that developed came the charges before the Thompson legislative committee that many telephones in New York City had been tapped to learn more business secrets.

Commissioner Kingsbury and Mayor Mitchel testified recently before the King's county grand jury after waivers of immunity.

More...  "Great War Council Being Held in Berlin"
"Michigan Pathologist Testifies Pecks Died Of Arsenical Poisoning"
"Wilson Will Stand Behind T.R. Marshall"
"Gigantic Plan For Defending Panama Canal"          - - - All in the Southbend News Times Link above. ^

Edit: also - "Hughes Has Lead IN G.O.P. Race"

[Rix Gins]

Everett True, May 24, 1916.

[Rix Gins]

The Tonopah Daily Bonanza, May 24, 1916.

[gabrielle]

Nothing like some good old propaganda ......on all sides

[Rix Gins]

Not much information contained on German soldier Anton Spring's memorial card.  He was a member of 15 Bavarian Infantry Regiment and he was killed on May 24, 1916.  he was 31 years old.  Note: Anton's birthdate and place of birth is listed.  (June 26, 1894.)  It doesn't happen very often but every once in awhile, a card will have birth information listed.

                                             
                                                                       Fort Douaumont

The German War Graves Office does have a record of Anton being killed by Douaumont and that he was buried in a mass grave in Hautecourt les Broville.

                                             
                                                   The cemetery is now called Abaucourt-Hautecourt

[Rix Gins]

Army Soldier Anton Saatberger was also a member of the 15 Infantry Regiment and was also killed on May 24, 1916.  No location of death is listed on the card.

Anton had been awarded the Saxon Service Medal.  He was 26 years old.

[Walks_At_Night]

On May 24th, 1916 the New York Yankees beat the St Louis Browns 10 to 1 at the Polo Grounds in Manhattan. 

The box score has a couple of interesting names listed at 1st base for both teams.  A young "Gorgeous" George Sisler
would play 1st for the hapless Brownies and go 1 for 4.   Wally Pipp would go 2 for 3 with an RBI while playing first for
the Yankees. Sisler of course would end up in the Hall of Fame and Pipp would famously lose his job to Lou Gehrig. 

http://www.baseball-almanac.com/box-scores/boxscore.php?boxid=191605240NYA

The Polo Grounds were one of those  delightfully bizarre old ball parks.  In deep center field there was a notch that would be
a staggering 483 feet from home plate but it was only 258 feet down the right field line and 279 feet to left. 

[Rix Gins]

Everett True, May 25, 1916.

[Rix Gins]

The Tonopah Daily Bonanza, May 25, 1916. 

[Rix Gins]

This, from the May 25, 1916 Daily Telegram.  Sadly, not all of the American pilots flying for The Lafayette Escadrille were of sterling character.  As it turned out, Hall was a con man.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bert_Hall

[gabrielle]

I love the term four flusher...thanks Rix.

[Rix Gins]

I love the term four flusher...thanks Rix.

My pleasure.   

[albrecht]

The Polo Grounds were one of those  delightfully bizarre old ball parks.  In deep center field there was a notch that would be
a staggering 483 feet from home plate but it was only 258 feet down the right field line and 279 feet to left. 

I've heard of those Polo Grounds but never saw a diagram! That would be awesome to see a game there....that notch would be interesting. Before they build the new ballpark UT Austin had some limestone cliffs in the outfield called "goat hill"
check out the photo on wiki (don't know how to post a photo not on my machine.)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clark_Field_%281928%29

"Clark Field was unusual because there was a 12- to 30-foot (9.1 m) limestone cliff that ran from left-center to center field that made playing the outfield adventurous. The cliff could only be accessed via a goat path in the left-center field. Center field was nicknamed "Billy Goat Hill." There was a scoreboard on top of the hill in the field in front of the fence that could cause even more weird bounces for outfielders. Clearly, this gave the Longhorns a home field advantage over visiting teams. For example, the Longhorns could easily get an inside-the-park home run when a ball was hit in the direction of the cliff because the opposing outfielders were perplexed by its caroms and how to make plays by using the cliff. Longhorn outfielders could typically hold batters to a double or triple because of their familiarity with the cliff. Half of the team's outfielders purportedly chose to play on top while the other half chose to play in front of the cliff"

"According to legend, Lou Gehrig hit a towering 550-foot (170 m) home run over "Billy Goat Hill" and the 40-foot (12 m) high fence in center field during a 1930 exhibition game.[6] The dimensions of Clark Field were 350 feet (110 m) to the left field wall, 401 feet (122 m) to deepest center, and 300 feet (91 m) to right field.[7][8] Six no-hitters were thrown at Clark Field all by the Longhorns during its tenure.[9] The Longhorns won an astonishing 37 Southwest Conference baseball championships as well as two College World Series championships (1949-1950), being runner-up in 1953 and College World Series appearances in 1952, 1957, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1972, 1973, and 1974 while calling Clark Field home."

[Rix Gins]

Valentin Neumieser was a farmer's son from the town of Eichholz, Germany.


            Eichholz, Germany

(Saint Wolfgang Parish.)  He was a soldier in the 12 Infantry regiment, 8 Company.  Valentin was killed when a grenade exploded near his head on May 25, 1916.  He was 20 years and 6 months old. 

This German death card has an actual photo of Valentin that has been trimmed and glued to the card itself.
 

[Rix Gins]

Everett True, May 26, 1916.

[Rix Gins]

Blind Moondog, New York's iconic street poet, composer and musician, was born 100 years ago today.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moondog

                   
                          Moondog (Wikimedia)

[Rix Gins]

From the May 26, 1916 entry of 2nd Lieut. Dick Willis Fleming's diary. 
http://www.willisfleming.org.uk/dicksdiary/entries/1916/05/friday-26-may-1916.html

Dick, a British soldier, was posted at Romani, a town 23 miles east of the Suez Canal near the Mediterranean shore of the Sinai peninsula. 

'O.Pip' is occasionally referred to in the entry.  (It's an observation post.)

[gabrielle]

From the May 26, 1916 entry of 2nd Lieut. Dick Willis Fleming's diary. 
http://www.willisfleming.org.uk/dicksdiary/entries/1916/05/friday-26-may-1916.html

Dick, a British soldier, was posted at Romani, a town 23 miles east of the Suez Canal near the Mediterranean shore of the Sinai peninsula. 

'O.Pip' is occasionally referred to in the entry.  (It's an observation post.)

Awww...Rix...this diary really pulls at my heart strings.  Such beauty, amidst violence.  What became of Dick?  Do we know?

[gabrielle]

The New York Times May 26 1916.  The original is quite faint, but if you can make your way through it, it is quite an odd story.

[albrecht]

The New York Times May 26 1916.  The original is quite faint, but if you can make your way through it, it is quite an odd story.

Good find. These old articles are like old movies and Perry Masons. So much poison. I've read that why poison is not used as much today (for murder, still for suicides) is that 1) coroner/medical examiners have high tech equipment and can tell pretty much (I won't mention ones that might not be found) tell when a poison kills and, some, more laws about access to certain chemicals and drugs and so less availability or having them on-hand.

aka the "Playboy Poisoner" or the "Merry Widower"
http://www.crimemagazine.com/merry-widower-dr-arthur-warren-waite

[gabrielle]

Wow Albrecht, thanks.  There is something unsettling about the use of the term "old sparky."  !!!  Can you imagine being on the jury in this case?  Yuk.

[Rix Gins]

Awww...Rix...this diary really pulls at my heart strings.  Such beauty, amidst violence.  What became of Dick?  Do we know?

So glad you liked it, Gabby.  I liked it too and will continue to link up with it for the next several months.  The diary (for this particular theater of war) stops in August.  I accidentally found out why, but won't spoil it for anybody that wants to follow Dick's life in 'real time' so to speak.  Was Dick transferred to another theater of war?  Did illness or battle wounds invalid him out of the war, sending him back to home and hearth?  Or, worse case scenario, was he killed in combat?  Stay tuned.     

[Rix Gins]

Everett True, May 27, 1916.