Today -100: August 10, 1915: Of gold, soap, and suspicious pianists

The Bank of England ships gold bullion – rumored to be $100 million worth – to the US for safe keeping.

Soap is now expensive and hard to find in Budapest, because people are now eating the gross stuff, like the grease from boiling ham, that went into soap before the war. So I guess Hungarians no longer smell like boiling ham.

Secretary of State Robert Lansing says that a “very definite policy” on Mexico has been agreed on with six Latin American countries’ ambassadors, but he won’t say what it is.

Headline of the Day -100:

And I’m sure they’re darned grateful for being relieved of the burden.

Germany, increasingly desperate about Turkey’s military performance, tries again to bribe Romania to allow supplies to be sent through it to Turkey. This time the offer is 36 artillery batteries, ammo, and 2 million pounds of barbed wire.

Headline of the Day -100:

Natalia Janotha. She’s also a minor composer. And Polish. The British have mostly refrained from deporting or interning Poles. I don’t see that any reason was ever given for this particular deportation, but the 59-year-old pianist was evidently so dangerous that cops from Scotland Yard bundled her into a car and onto a ship out of the country without even giving her time to pack.

Don't see comments? Click on the post title to view or post comments.