Today -100: April 11, 1911: Of rumors and pruney deaths

Pres. Taft denies that his sending 20,000 troops to the Mexican border had anything to do with a rumored (falsely rumored) secret treaty between Japan and Mexico giving the Japanese a coaling station on the west coast of Mexico. There does seem to have been a tendency for people to believe almost any rumor about Japan. Rep. David Foster (R-Vermont, the former chairman of the foreign affairs committee) believes these rumors constitute a conspiracy to stir up a US-Japanese war by those with financial interests in building battleships.

Headline of the Day -100: “Voted for Lorimer, Dies in His Bath.” In that order. This would be Illinois State Legislator Michael Link, who was bribed (he insisted the $1,000 was a “gratuity”) to vote for William Lorimer for US Senate, but turned state’s evidence.