Headline of the Day -100:
A French expedition plans to reach the North Pole next year utilizing motorized amphibious sledges, some of them carrying airplanes. Honestly, that explanation is more than a little disappointing after reading “mystery sleds” in the headline.
The British Admiralty decides that the destroyer Vivacious won’t have former Prime Minister Lloyd George’s badge as its insignia but rather... a squirrel.
The Italian Senate discusses giving women the municipal vote, while the Chamber considers abolishing elections in 7,000+ of the 9,000 municipalities. Bit of a roller coaster for the Italian women there.
Rhinelander v. Rhinelander: Leonard “Kip” Rhinelander testifies, or, as the NYT puts it, “A sadly confused young man stuttered his way through the intimate confessions of his courtship”. Alice’s lawyer Lee Davis gets him to admit that he, in the words of Davis, “voluntarily fell in love with” Alice quite soon after meeting her in 1921. This undercuts Kip’s lawyer’s assertions that he was the weak-minded victim of a scheming woman. He admits that it was he who pursued her and it had been his idea to get an apartment with her. Davis: “I didn’t want to bring filth into this case, but you must admit that there is no longer room for modesty here.” The Kippinator also admits that some of the claims in his pre-trial sworn statements, such as that he had frequent conversations about race with Alice in which she lied, were not true and were inserted by his father’s thug/lawyer. It’s possible Kip is trying to sabotage the case his family forced him into.
His testimony is interrupted so they can bring to the stand... famous black-face actor Al Jolson, who just wants to deny ever speaking with Alice, as she had claimed in one of her letters. The newspaper reports have caused him some trouble with his wife.
Back to the main witness. Leonard admits having taken meals with Alice’s relatives, despite having previously said that he doesn’t want to associate with colored people. He does deny having played a game of deuces wild with black men.
Then some of his letters to Alice are read out. He is forced to admit he was trying to get Alice to think about sex.
“What did you mean by ‘If you are real nice to me, once in a while I will let you drive’?”“If she would let me caress her.”....“What is the worse deception, to lead a girl to believe you want to marry her and take that which is most precious to a woman, or for her to say she is white and not colored?”“The latter.”
Davis asks if he didn’t recognize that a phrase Alice used, “strutting party” (dancing) was “a typically negro expression.” He did not.
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