Today -100: September 14, 1915: A German, even though every kindness be shown to him, remains always a German

Headline of the Day -100: 

Revolution? Unpossible!

It seems there are many who believe that Russia is doing so badly in the war because of German influence in the government. Also, the officials responsible for procuring munitions have prioritized maximizing procuring bribes, often 10% of the value of the contracts, for themselves. It would also help if they checked that the shells they were buying fit Russian cannons rather than German ones, as was the case with those sent to Warsaw right before it fell.

Headline of the Day -100: 

She says as a Dane she’s hated the Germans since they took Schleswig-Holstein, but just had to keep quiet, even when German immigrants were given high positions. “A German, even though every kindness be shown to him, remains always a German.”

Thomas Edison wins a contract to supply the Navy with 365 gun-firing batteries (one for every day of the year, I guess) for battleships. He was the only bidder willing to accept the government terms that if a battery fails within 8 years he has to refund double its price.

The Swedish Socialist Party expels several members who wrote a book advocating that Sweden fight on the side of Germany.

Opening on Broadway: Hit-the-Trail Holliday, by George M. Cohan, starring Fred Niblo (his brother-in-law) as a Billy Sunday-style temperance preacher. The NYT (Alexander Woollcott?) finds it “distinctly second-rate,” largely blaming Niblo and saying the part would have been better performed by Cohan himself (who will take the lead in the now lost 1918 film version) or by Douglas Fairbanks (who Niblo, much better a director than he was an actor, will direct in some of his more famous roles). The play, the review says – oh, it has to be by Woollcott – is “no more than nearly beer.”

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