Today -100: November 8, 1912: Of waddling mates, hangings, ports, and rugs

Thanks to the addition of a Bull Mooser to his congressional race, Nicholas Longworth, Roosevelt’s son-in-law, loses his seat to a Democrat. That’ll be one awkward Thanksgiving.

Now that the election’s over, the burning question is: who will be Taft’s running mate (and I can’t believe I haven’t thought of using the term “waddling mate” until right this second)? Vice President Sherman died, but there needs to be a Republican candidate for veep to receive those 8 electoral votes. The front-runner for the thankless job is Gov. Hadley of Missouri.

Oregon will celebrate the election with a mass execution of 5 or 7 men on December 13 (since the voters turned down the governor’s proposal to end capital punishment).

Serbia says it wants three of the Ottoman Empire’s Adriatic ports when the Empire’s European territory is divvied up, and doesn’t care what happens with Constantinople.

But how, the average New York Times reader is no doubt asking themself, does all this affect the price of Turkish rugs? Not much so far, the paper reassures those average readers, especially since the war is confined to the European provinces.

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