Today -100: February 16, 1914: Of immigration, corruption, sullen refugees, unwelcome priests, and brains

Secretary of Labor William Wilson says immigration from poor countries should be limited in order to maintain American living standards.

I haven’t been paying much attention to the ongoing grand jury corruption investigation in New York, but it must be getting somewhere, because State Treasurer (and Tammany lackey) John J. Kennedy just committed suicide the day before he was scheduled to testify.

The US is still holding as prisoners hundreds of Mexican soldiers and civilians. Gen. Scott, in charge of Fort Bliss, tells Mexican Gen. José Salazar that if an attempt is made to rescue him, he will be the first one shot. Because of smallpox in the camp, few Americans have been allowed in, but those who do “say that the refugees are rather sullen.”

There is a riot at St Casimir’s Polish Roman Catholic Church in South Bend (or possibly Gary), Indiana, after the cops try to enforce a court order supporting the Church’s assignment of a new priest to run the church. Don’t know what they have against Father Gruza, but they’ve barred the doors against him, literally, for a year now. As the sheriff arrived, the Resistance rang the church bell to summon the mob, as is the custom. Police and mob fought with clubs and pickets torn from fences, respectively.

Headline of the Day -100: “Wilson’s Cold Improves.”

Alphonse Bertillon, who revolutionized the keeping of police records of prisoners before fingerprinting by developing a system of anthropometric measuring, has died. He donated his brain to science. It was 1,525 grammes, in case you were wondering.

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