Today -100: August 13, 1914: Of atrocities, safe shipping, mad princes, animated discussions, and monopolies

The French newspapers are accusing German soldiers of burning the Belgian village of Affléville and shooting three people who tried to put out the fire.  This one is actually true.

The British claim to have cleared the entire North Atlantic of German ships, so trans-Atlantic shipping should be entirely safe.  For some reason they fail to mention U-boats.

Britain bans the export of all foodstuffs.

The French government says German soldiers are shooting wounded French soldiers and are wearing Belgian uniforms.

Serb and Montenegrin troops mount a joint invasion of the Austro-Hungarian province of Bosnia.

Headline of the Day -100:  “SERVIA'S MAD PRINCE HIT.; Wounded at Belgrade by Shell While Watching Bombardment.”  I didn’t even know Serbia had a mad prince.

Los Angeles Mayor Henry Rose asks “all good citizens to refrain from animated discussions of the war and its causes, or the merits and demerits of the nations engaged”.

Mexico: provisional prez Francisco Carbajal flees Mexico City, as was the custom for self-proclaimed presidents.

District Court orders the International Harvester Company broken up, as a monopoly in restraint of trade.  The court doesn’t find fault with most of its practices (except falsely advertising that one of the companies in the Trust was independent, to fool people boycotting the Trust into doing business with it), but says the setting up of the company in 1902 by the merger of five companies violated the law.  The NYT thinks the ruling is a blow against efficiency and large-scale production.

Warren D. Harding, as the NYT calls him, wins the Republican primary for US senator from Ohio.

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