Today -100: January 29, 1914: Of wireless, marches on Washington, red lights, and once again Oklahoma is not OK

Wireless communication is established between Germany and the United States, without any relaying. The first message is from Kaiser Bill to Woodrow Wilson, and just says whassup.

Gen. Coxey announces a new “Coxey’s Army” march of the unemployed on Washington, on the 20th anniversary of the last one. He wants there to be government-owned banks in every town with 1,000 people.

Ah, European aristocratic mating habits: Prince Blücher von Wahlstatt is now his son’s brother-in-law; his son is now uncle of his own half-siblings and is indeed his own uncle. That is, the prince and his son, Count Lothar, both married sisters (albeit 18 years apart), Princess Louise Radziwill and Princess Wanda Radziwill. The son married the older sister, because of course he did. If Lothar and Louise have children, he will be their 1) father, 2) cousin, and 3) great-uncle.

Pres. Wilson won’t sign a bill abolishing the red light district of the District of Columbia until there is non-prostitute work available for any prostitutes who want it. Or they could just all move to Alexandria.

Rear Admiral Charles Vreeland tells the House Naval Committee in secret session that in event of war Japan could easily seize the Philippines, but not Hawaii, Alaska or the Panama Canal. “Members of the committee got the impression from Admiral Vreeland’s testimony that preparation for any trouble with Japan must be based upon the idea that Japan would strike without notice if she went to war with the United States.”

As a result of the military-civilian contretemps in Zabern, Alsace, the entire Alsace-Lorraine government resigns. Berlin will probably appoint a more hard-line governor-general.

The federal circuit court upholds Oklahoma’s Jim Crow law against a negro doctor who was told, when the train he was on crossed into the state, to leave the “white” car. He refused, there was a lively debate and he was arrested.

In other segregation news, it has been noticed that a bill working its way through Congress for agricultural education allows any state with more than one agricultural college to decide how to allocate the funds. In other words, Southern states will send all the money to white colleges.

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