Saturday, April 05, 2014
Today -100: April 5, 1914: Of landgravines, Ulster coercion, women voters, other uses for human hair, and train robbers
Newly minted nation Albania’s newly minted ruler, Prince William, says he will lead troops (Albania has troops?) against ethnic Greek insurgents, who have captured the town of Koritza.
Germany officially denies the widely reported story that Kaiser Wilhelm wrote a letter to a princess (that’s what the original report said; is a landgravine a princess?) who had converted to Catholicism that he hated her religion.
Ulster Loyalists hold a huge outdoor rally in Hyde Park to protest “Ulster coercion.” The meeting, as was the custom, is invaded by suffragettes from the WSPU, which is no longer allowed to hold meetings in London parks. “General” Flora Drummond is mobbed and almost thrown into the Serpentine, then later arrested.
The LA Times reports that the only woman to vote in the recent primary in Aurora, Illinois, was a Miss Edith Scott. “She asked the reporters to say that she was neither a society girl, wealthy, nor pretty.”
Facing declining demand in the West for human hair for wigs, Hong Kong’s hair merchants have been shifting to “low-grade” hair for mattress stuffing.
Three weeks ago, Austria, worried about maintaining its army, banned emigration of men aged 17 to 36. But stopping emigration, mostly to America (although there was a certain art student who evaded conscription by moving to Munich) by people who can’t find jobs tends to lead to, you guessed it, unemployment and destitution, so now they’ve had to ease up on the policy in Galicia (the Polish part of the Empire).
Some of the corpses of Federal soldiers found by the rebels in Torreón after they capture the town had been executed by their officers, which suggests the soldiers were reluctant to stand and fight.
The government is still denying it lost Torreón.
The Sunday NY Times Magazine has an article about Al Jennings, candidate for governor of Oklahoma, derived from his forthcoming memoirs, entitled “How I Robbed Trains.”
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Although I am sure you know very well and your question is rhetorical, just to save your other reader the bother of Googling the answer, no, a Landgravine is not a princess, merely a provincial (how demeaning) countess.
ReplyDeleteIn other matters, Hong Kong hair merchants presumably prospered even with lower grade hair because (long-term spoiler alert), in 1969 the HONGKONG HUMAN-HAIR MERCHANTS & HUMAN-HAIR PRODUCTS MANUFACTURERS ASSOCIATION, LIMITED was formed. Very snappy name, I'd like that on my name card.