Today -100: November 3, 1910: Of slupskies, political scamps, drop kickers, and dummies

Name of the Day -100: a St. Louis former Republican Party ward boss and famous “character” has bet that he can drink 20 pints of beer every day for 30 days. He says he has a “system” for managing all that beer, and that he will win or die in the attempt. Oh yes, his name: Abe Slupsky. Almost an onomatopoeia.

NY Democratic gubernatorial candidate John A. Dix gives his only major election speech in the city of New York, at Carnegie Hall. The NYT notes that many women were present in the audience. Mayor Gaynor was unable to make a speech (having been shot in the throat in August), but he did send a letter of endorsement alluding to the Republicans’ alliance with “political scamps,” which everyone understood to mean William Randolph Hearst. Dix pretty much ignored Stimson in his speech and directed his attacks to Roosevelt, calling him “the apostle of tumult and the protagonist of misrepresentation,” an “instigator of panic” and the “destructive agent of business depression.” He also referred to TR’s “inordinate vanity,” “dangerous ambition,” “reckless conduct,” and lack of dignity and self-respect. I guess that pretty much covers it.

Dix’s speech was interrupted by a suffragist, Maud Malone, who was ejected. What she said, the NYT didn’t report.

I misread the headline “Drop Kickers at Harvard” as “Drop Knickers at Harvard.” I don’t know if that says something about me, about 1910, about Harvard, or possibly about all three.

Headline of the Day -100: “Jersey Poll Lists Full of Dummies.” They said it, not me.