Today -100: July 12, 1910: Of fight pictures and lynchings

In NY, a theater advertising “Pictures of the Jeffries-Johnson Fight” is wrecked after patrons discover that this meant not moving pictures but snapshots.

That theater was charging 25¢, but when the movies do finally arrive Monday, tickets may be as much as $1 or $2 (which has the perceived advantage of pricing most blacks out of the audience). For just the fight movies, no additional features.

Ohio Governor Judson Harmon removes the mayor and sheriff of Newark for failing to prevent the lynching of Carl Etherington. The new mayor then fires the police chief and a captain, for failing to enforce the county’s prohibition law. Two men are arrested in connection with the lynching. Rather suspiciously, both are black men, one of them a mute. I smell scapegoat.

I don’t remember falling over

More news you can use from the Daily Telegraph. Headline of the Day: “Tory MP ‘Too Drunk to Vote in Commons Debate.’” And the Name of the Day: that Tory MP is called Mark Reckless. Just elected in May. Quote of the Day: Mark Reckless, MP: “I normally have just one or two and know when to stop. I don’t know what happened. I don’t remember falling over.”

Today -100: July 11, 1910: Of lynchings, more lynchings, sending in the Marines, and presidential exercise

Ohio Governor Judson Harmon arrives in Newark, OH, the scene of the lynching Friday, examined the jail and cross-examined the sheriff and mayor, who claim not to have recognized any one in the mob, though no one was attempting to disguise their identity.

And in Rayville, Louisiana, a mob lynches a man who was appealing his conviction for murdering the town marshal. A note was pinned to his clothing: “This is the outcome of the appeal.”

For a nice change of pace, both the Newark and Rayville lynchings were of white men.

500 Marines from Alabama are reportedly being picked to be sent to Nicaragua. “It is not stated with which side the Americans will fight.”

79-year-old Porfirio Díaz is “re-elected” for a 7th term as president of Mexico (1876-80, 1884-).

Taft is trying to take off 25 pounds of his 285 pounds. He has a trainer and is... boxing. And wrestling.

Today -100: July 10, 1910: Please get that well into your head

Someone tried to pass off a fake movie of the Johnson-Jeffries fight.

NYC Mayor Gaynor is still refusing to ban the film, responding to a letter from a reverend, “will you be so good as to remember that ours is a government of laws and not of men? Will you please get that well into your head?” He describes other mayors who ordered the pictures not be exhibited as “autocrats.”

In Newark, Ohio, the scene of that lynching yesterday -100, the telephone pole from which Carl Etherington was hanged was “hacked half through by those who sought mementos” before the city encased it in sheet iron. Some are saying that the sheriff is to blame for the lynching, having failed to call out the local company of the Ohio National Guard during the two hours it took the mob to break into the jail. Under a recent Anti-Mob law, a sheriff who fails to protect prisoners in his custody may be immediately suspended.

Another airplane milestone, so to speak: Walter Brookins reaches 6,175 feet in altitude in a biplane, the first man to break one mile. He was in the air over an hour and ran out of gas on the descent and had to glide the rest of the way down. The NYT says he took the $5,000 prize offered by the Atlantic City Aero Club but in fact the Wright brothers, who owned the plane, took it; Brookins was paid $20 a week plus $50 danger money for flying. Pissed off, the famed aviator quit and went solo.

Okay, now you can make your mile-high club jokes, JustZisGuy.

Life after The Times

The London Times has vanished behind the Pay Wall of Doom, but we still have the Daily Telegraph. Headlines in Saturday’s paper include:

• “Police Investigate Underwear Thief” (ah, but if you click through from the news page, the headline on the story page is “Stolen Bra Owners Urged to Come Forward,” which sounds like it’s trying to be a double entendre and not quite succeeding)

• “Octopus Picks Spain” (headline on story page: “Paul the Psychic Octopus Predicts Spain Will Beat Holland”) (and yes, there is video)

• “Armour Made from Bullet-Proof Custard”

• “UK Company Invents New ‘Easy to Remove’ Chewing Gum”

• “Palin Biography to Be Published for Children”

• “Unicorn Protesters Make Their Point”

• “Dog Gets Head Stuck in Wall”

Headlines that sound dirty and are, but not in that way

WaPo: “BP Prepares to Change Well’s Cap, Then Start Plugging it.”

Today -100: July 9, 1910: Of new states and near-beer

The delegate to Congress from Hawaii, Prince Johan Kalanianaole, says Hawaii will ask for statehood shortly.

A private detective, Carl Etherington, employed by the Anti-Saloon League who accompanied a police raid on a near-beer saloon (well, that’s what it says in the Times) in Newark, Ohio, shot the owner (a former police chief) dead. A mob then beat up the detective; he was saved by the cops, only to be broken out of the jail (8 other prisoners took the opportunity to make their escape) and lynched from a telephone pole. Just before they hung him, he was asked to make a little speech: “I want to warn all young fellows not to try to make a living the way I have done – by strikebreaking – and taking jobs like this. I might better have worked and I would not be here now.”

Not just occupying a space

As part of this week’s goal of sucking up to AIPAC (they will never love you, Barack, never), Obama was interviewed by Israeli TV.

He adopted Israeli rhetoric about Palestinians wholesale (as I typed wholesale I spotted the joke I think you all spotted too, but we’re better than that, people). For example: “There’s a constant contest between moderates and rejectionists within the Arab world.” And: “then there’s the demographic challenges that Israel is going to be facing if it wants to remain not only a Jewish state but a democratic state.” Yes, they’re not Palestinian babies but little bundles of demographic challenge. Because their whole significance as human beings is in relation to the Israeli Jews.

He said that Netanyahu might be the perfect leader to make peace because only Nixon etc etc.

Now here’s an unfortunate turn of phrase: “And in our conversations yesterday, I had the impression that Prime Minister Netanyahu isn’t interested in just occupying a space, a position, but he’s interested in being a statesman and putting his country on a more secure track.”

Obama again insisted that reports of tension between Netanyahu and himself have been “greatly overstated. I mean, the last time that the Prime Minister came here, we had a terrific meeting.” You could tell by their happy smiling faces in the photographs that Obama refused to let be taken.

Asked if he had asked Bibi to extend the settlement “freeze,” he ignored the question and responded, “You know, what I want is for us to get into direct talks. I think that if you have direct talks between Abu Mazen, Netanyahu, their teams, that builds trust. And trust then allows for both sides to not be so jumpy or paranoid about every single move that’s being made”. Hate for Palestinians to get all paranoid about the seizure of their land and the illegal implantation of still more violent settlers and the flotillacide.

He thinks Israelis are suspicious of him because his middle name is Hussein. And because of his outreach to Muslims (remember when he was supposed to be reaching out to Muslims? What did that consist of, giving one speech?). But “the truth of the matter is, is that my outreach to the Muslim community is designed precisely to reduce the antagonism and the dangers posed by a hostile Muslim world to Israel and to the West.” Again, the only significance of Muslims as human beings is as threats. If they just stopped being so gosh-darned hostile, we could go back to ignoring them.

He said, “One of my favorite phrases is from Martin Luther King, who said, ‘The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.’ And I believe that. And I think that that’s consummate with Jewish traditions”. A Bushian malapropism if I ever heard one. Maybe there’s something in the White House drinking water that makes people get stupider the longer they live there. Arsenic, or Lincoln’s gold, or Jenna’s old stash.

A question about the BART verdict

The involuntary manslaughter verdict in the BART shooting suggests that the jury bought the BART cop’s defense that he thought he pulled out a taser rather than his gun.

I would guess that the service revolver weighs significantly more than a taser, but does anyone out there in the WIIIAI-o-sphere know?

Hairstyles that confront Western cultural invasion

Iranian Quote of the Day: Jaleh Khodayar, director of the Veil and Chastity Day festival (Motto: Good luck eating cotton candy in a burka!), talking about Iran’s ban on mullets: “We want to preserve our culture and respect Iranian tradition and come up with hairstyles that confront Western cultural invasion.”

Today -100: July 8, 1910: Flying high

A new air record: a plane reaches 5,000 feet.

Today -100: July 7, 1910: Of peace, vacations, and boxing movies

There is a proposal for a major celebration of 100 years of peace, to be held in 1914. Okay, 100 years of peace between the US and Britain, but still, 1914!

Taft, on vacation, is not allowed (by whose order is not disclosed) even to see his official mail.

The movement to ban movies of the Johnson-Jeffries fight spreads. Georgia and Texas will pass new laws. Atlanta and other cities have already passed ordinances. The chairman of the Atlanta Police Commission went further and said that Johnson himself is not welcome. Other bans include Boston,
D.C., St. Louis, and Milwaukee, whose socialist mayor thinks the movies detrimental to public morals. Some bans are ostensibly on moral grounds, some more explicitly aim at preventing further race riots. Maine already has a law against photographs or movies of prize-fights. There is also a demand in South Africa for a ban.

Roanoke, Virginia sees no need to ban the pictures: none of their movie theaters allow black people in.

Barack and Bibi: The bond between the United States and Israel is unbreakable

Today Obama held long-postponed talks with Netanyahu. Then they talked to the press. The Gaza flotillacide never came up.

LIKE HIS WIFE’S KNISHES. HEY OH! “As Prime Minister Netanyahu indicated in his speech, the bond between the United States and Israel is unbreakable.”


SCREWING OVER MUSLIMS? “It encompasses our national security interests, our strategic interests, but most importantly, the bond of two democracies who share a common set of values”.

PROGRESS: “I commended Prime Minister Netanyahu on the progress that’s been made in allowing more goods into Gaza.” The word progress implies that there is some sort of process that has to be arduously worked through, when in fact Netanyahu could just lift the blockade right now. Also, is no one going to mention that exports from Gaza remain completely embargoed?

TRUER WORDS HAVE ALWAYS BEEN SPOKEN: “I believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu wants peace. I think he’s willing to take risks for peace.”

OUR GRASP: “Israel’s security needs met, the Palestinians having a sovereign state that they call their own -- those are goals that have obviously escaped our grasp for decades now.” I must have missed that we were actually trying to grasp for Palestinians having a sovereign state that they call their own for decades now.

BUILDING: “There are going to need to be a whole set of confidence-building measures”. As long as that building doesn’t involve cement in Gaza. Although speaking of building...

TELLING FREUDIAN SLIP IN 5..4..3... “We strongly believe that, given its size, its history, the region that it’s in, and the threats that are leveled against us -- against it, that Israel has unique security requirements.”


Netanyahu said the greatest threat to everyone was Iran. “Iran is brutally terrorizing its people,” he said, adding, “I mean, they banned mullets, for Christ sake.”

Obama praised Israel’s “restraint” in settlement-building.

WHAT IT’S VERY IMPORTANT THE PALESTINIANS NOT DO: “I think it’s very important that the Palestinians not look for excuses for incitement, that they are not engaging in provocative language; that at the international level, they are maintaining a constructive tone, as opposed to looking for opportunities to embarrass Israel.” I’m pretty sure Israel is incapable of embarrassment.

So Palestinians have no real grievances, just “excuses for incitement.” Good to know.

An Israeli reporter asks if Obama now trusts Netanyahu. Obama says he’s always trusted Netanyahu.


“We are going to continually work with the Prime Minister and the entire Israeli government, as well as the Israeli people, so that we can achieve what I think has to be everybody’s goal, which is that people feel secure. They don’t feel like a rocket is going to be landing on their head sometime. They don’t feel as if there’s a growing population that wants to direct violence against Israel.” Well, the IDF is working on that “growing population” thing.

QE2 at UN

The Queen addressed the United Nations today. Some highlights of her speech:

“We used to own all your asses!”

“Yes, We had Diana killed. Whaddaya gonna do about it?”

“Nations of the world, hear me now: it’s all about the hat, bitches!”


“We are so sorry for whatever Prince Philip said or will say to the Asian delegates.”

Caption contest

Posted by John McCain, this is him, Huckleberry, Holy Joe and Colonel Combover in Afghanistan.


See also his pics inspecting Afghan troops, and at a shura with locals in Kandahar, in which the Three Amigos are dressed like they’re on a fishing trip in Boca. At least take off the baseball cap when sitting – indoors – around a table with Afghan leaders.

Today -100: July 6, 1910: Of fight fights, unhung murderers, and canals on Mars

Fatalities resulting from Fight of the Century fights: 1 in NY, 3 in Uvaldia, GA, 2 in Little Rock, 1 Houston, 1 Omaha, 1 Mounds, Ill, 1 Tyler, TX. Several cities have banned movies of the fight. NYC Mayor Gaynor, however, says he has no right to do that. 236 people, mostly black, were arrested in Washington, D.C.

Judge George Holt says that of 300,000 people who participated in lynchings in the previous 40 years, 100,000 “unhung murderers” are still alive. Plus 165,000 who committed felonies or murder during violent labor struggles. Add to that night riders and the Black Hand, none of whom have ever been convicted, deaths caused by reckless automobile drivers, who are rarely punished and if so by a trifling fine or short imprisonment, and America is a pretty darned lawless place.

Giovanni Schiaparelli, the astronomer who first claimed to have found canals on Mars, has died. I hope the authorities checked his body for ray-gun marks.

Today -100: July 5, 1910: Of a safe and sane Fourth

Incongruous Headline of the Day -100: “Safe and Sane Day the Country Over.” Meaning that there were relatively few deaths from fireworks, which were banned in many places, including New York City. However, the United States was anything but safe and sane on July 4, 1910.

The cause: boxer Jack Johnson, who was black, beat James Jeffries, who was white, in the 15th round of the “Fight of the Century.” This did not go over so well with some people. Among many other racial incidents, fights broke out in Omaho, with one black man killed; two black men were killed by white men in Little Rock in separate incidents; on a trolley car in Houston a white man slashed the throat of a black man who had “jeeringly proclaimed Johnson’s victory”; and in Macon, Georgia, “The negroes have become so boisterous in celebrating the victory of Johnson over Jeffries that the authorities doubled the police force to prevent a clash of the races. Several negroes have been beaten and scores of them arrested, but there has been no serious disturbance.” Define “serious,” New York Times. “The negroes have angered the whites by insolent remarks about Jeffries.” Three other “insolent” negroes were killed in a shoot-out with a mob at a construction camp in Uvaldia, Georgia, and others fled “into the woods, where they are being hunted by the whites.” In Wilmington, Delaware, a white man was slashed by a mob of black men, who were then chased into an apartment house by a mob of several thousand whites, who bombarded it with stones. When the cops showed up, the mob tried to lynch the black man they arrested. In Roanoke, VA, a black man who heard of Johnson’s victory said, “‘Now I guess the white folks will let the negroes alone.’ A white man replied, ‘No,’ and the two clashed.” And there were running racial fights all over New York, with gangs of white men and youths looking for blacks to beat up; the Times described one fight as “a direct outcome of an argument over the respective merits of the white and negro races.” But in a touching act of racial reconciliation in St Joseph, Missouri, a white man defended a black man who had been hit by a white man – so a white crowd beat him up instead. Eight dead nation-wide (so far), all black (one of them a black cop in Mounds, Illinois, who was killed by black rioters), although one white man will probably die of his wounds.

Headline of the Day -100: “Americans in Berlin Sad.” Yes, that’s also white guys mourning Johnson’s victory.

In other holiday news, an errant firecracker burned down half of Benton, Pennsylvania.

Chief Justice Melville Weston Fuller, the 8th chief justice of the US, died on the 4th of July. Since one seat is already vacant and one functionally vacant, pending cases will be decided by just six justices. Fuller was appointed by Cleveland in 1888. His death leaves only two Democrats on the bench.

Taft spoke to the convention of the National Education Association on the 4th, explaining how American colonial policy in the Philippines was actually in complete conformity with the language of the Declaration of Independence (deriving just powers from the consent of the governed, etc), “when that language is properly understood by the same sort of construction as Lincoln gave to the language ‘All men are created equal.’ ... When the time shall arrive in which the Filipinos can be safely trusted to organize and maintain permanently their own Government, and this Government shall withdraw from the islands or offer to do so, the proposition of the Declaration of Independence will then have been fulfilled and the Government will be a just one, for it will rest on the consent of the governed.” But we can’t do that “in the absence of the full effects of education”. So it’s “a purely altruistic policy”. Ditto for Cuba.

In case you were wondering why we are in Afghanistan...

...according to David Petraeus, “we are in this to win.”

He added, “We must demonstrate to the Afghan people — and to the world — that al-Qaida and its network of extremist allies will not be allowed to once again establish sanctuaries in Afghanistan from which they can launch attacks on the Afghan people and on freedom-loving nations around the world.”

But attacks on freedom-hating nations would be okay? How about freedom-just-friends nations? Maybe we need a list of just which nations Colonel Combover considers to be freedom-loving and which ones are not.

Today -100: July 4, 1910: Of lynch mobs

Celebrating the 4th of July weekend, mobs lynch black men in Columbia, Alabama and Charleston, Missouri, the latter by a large mob in broad daylight.

Taft uses a new law to withdraw 8,495,731 acres of Alaskan lands from public use.

News you can’t, or shouldn’t, use

Paris Hilton was arrested at the World Cup. If that story could work in Twilight, it would be a perfect trifecta of Crap I Don’t Care About.