Today -100: August 25, 1924: Of zeppelins, the Klan in politics, and Mars

The ZR-3, an airship built for the US Navy by the Zeppelin company in Germany will soon fly to the US. Any stowaways will be thrown over the side, with a parachute. Over the Atlantic?

“Ma” Ferguson increases her lead. She says it’s the death knell of the Klan in Texas. And when governor, she’ll fire kluxers holding government jobs.

The Ku Klux Klan’s prominence as an issue in this election cycle continues to grow, given further impetus by the victory of Ma & other anti-Klan candidates in the Texas Dem. primaries. Coolidge has called Dawes in to meet in person in Vermont, and the speculation is that it’s to talk about the Klan. Ohio Democrats are divided over how to deal with the Klan issue in their state convention. Georgia’s former governor/US senator Thomas Hardwick, who is running to reclaim the Senate seat from William Harris, accuses him of being a kluxer, specifically a member of the super-secret adjunct called the Imperial Klan. Professional Klan lecturer Rev. Oscar Haywood says the Klan is actually politically neutral; he says he won’t say anything against Davis, who is a “splendid man” but “I am not going to vote for him.”

With the Earth and Mars at their closest (physically, I mean, not emotionally), astronomers and others have been turning their telescopes and radios to the red planet. They haven’t found signs of life – yet – but have confirmed that Mars has water and an atmosphere.

H. L. Mencken, in his Baltimore Evening Standard column, says Davis is a bystander in the presidential campaign: “The actual combatants are the Hon. Mr. La Follette and the Hon. Mr. Coolidge. Each of these great statesmen stands for something that is simple and obvious—something that anyone may understand. Dr. Coolidge is for the Haves and Dr. La Follette is for the Have Nots. But whom is Dr. Davis for? I’m sure I don’t know, and neither does anyone else. ... La Follette is belaboring Coolidge, and the friends of Coolidge are belaboring La Follette, but no one seems to think it worthwhile to belabor Davis. He is simply concealed in the crowd, like a bootlegger at a wedding.” Read the whole column.

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