Wisconsin

elects the first ever United States senator named Tammy.

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In other election news

The British bookmaker Ladbrokes has suspended betting on the outcome of the race to be next archbishop of Canterbury because a sudden run of bets suggests that the decision has already been made and insiders are trying to cash on. The Church of England, ladies and gentlemen!

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Today -100: November 6, 1912: As Vermont goes, so goes Utah

Woodrow Wilson wins 41% of the vote nationally, Roosevelt 27%, Taft 23%, and Socialist Eugene Debs 6% (almost a million votes). Wilson won 40 states, TR 6, Taft won Utah & Vermont (and Vermont just barely).

Debs got more votes than Taft in Arizona, California (where Taft wasn’t on the ballot and fewer than 4,000 people wrote in his name), Florida, Louisiana, and Nevada.

Wilson won with far fewer votes than William Jennings Bryan got in 1908. But he will have the largest electoral college victory (435 to TR’s 88 and Taft’s 8) since Grant beat a dead guy 40 years ago.

In Congress, the Democrats take 291 seats, up from 230, the Progressives (who ran, er, I’m not sure how many candidates, but they managed to run full congressional slates in only 14 states) get 9, Republicans 134. And D’s have taken enough state legislatures (even traditionally Republican New Hampshire and Massachusetts) that they will also now have a majority in the Senate.

The powerful Republican House Speaker until two years ago, Uncle Joe Cannon, loses his seat (Illinois).

Victor Berger, the only Socialist member of the US Congress, loses his seat (Wisconsin).

The income tax amendment to the US Constitution has been ratified by 34 states, needing just 2 more. Evidently Louisiana and Ohio ratified a while back but failed to tell anyone and no one noticed. 4 state legislatures have rejected the amendment: New Hampshire, Utah, Connecticut and Rhode Island.

The British Parliament votes down an amendment for women’s suffrage in the Irish Home Rule Bill. Many shop windows are broken in protest. Proportional representation is also rejected.

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YJYR?

Paul Ryan tweeted this picture:

Today -100: November 5, 1912: Of platforms, emperors, protestant teachers of piety, religion and morality, corsets, and triplets

Roosevelt gets up on a platform to give a speech in Mineola, NY; the platform collapses. TR is unhurt, though a water pitcher spills on him. TR, now speaking from an inclined plane, says “I assure you that the Progressive platform won’t break down.”

Because he was laid up after the assassination attempt, Roosevelt never got to register to vote. Gov. Hiram Johnson, his running mate, was too busy campaigning outside of California to register either.

Reports say that when Turkey is defeated, King Ferdinand of Bulgaria intends to name himself Emperor of the Balkans.

New Hampshire’s tenth Constitutional Convention rejects striking out the words “Protestant” & “rightly grounded on evangelical principles” from the provision authorizing towns, parishes, religious societies and bodies corporate, to hire “public protestant teachers of piety, religion and morality.” After a bunch of attempts before and after 1912, the words were finally removed in 1968.

This is not the first one of these I’ve reported recently: Joseph Hennella, a professional female impersonator, dies after collapsing onstage. Cause of death: a too tightly laced corset.

Headline of the Day -100 (NYT): “Baltimore is Disabled.” A ship, not the city, whatever you may have seen on “The Wire.”

A couple in Denison, Texas have triplets, who they name William Howard Taft Kyler, Theodore Roosevelt Kyler and Woodrow Wilson Kyler.

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Bill Clinton is always looking for people who can “do the job”

Bill Clinton says the military is now “less racist, less sexist and less homophobic, and we’re just looking for people who can do the job.”

Good, because we’d hate to have the job of killing foreigners sullied by racism, sexism and homophobia.

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Today -100: November 4, 1912: Of boss-ridden and privilege-controlled parties, mosques, the glory of war, and underwear trades

In one of his last pre-election speeches, Roosevelt says the Democratic and Republican parties are “boss-ridden and privilege-controlled” and “wedded to the dead issues of a vanished past, and they show not the slightest conception of the needs of the day or the steps now urgently necessary to take if grave disaster to the Nation in the future is to be avoided.” How times have changed, eh?

Roosevelt urges people to read the Progressive Party platform. President Taft says that that platform “attack[s] the existing Constitution of the country”.

And Woodrow Wilson hits his head when his car hits a bump in the road.

The Turks continue to lose battles and land as well as officers, who are being executed for losing battles and land.

The Germans, who trained the Turkish army, are looking sheepish.

The NYT suggests that the main goal of the Bulgarians is to turn the Church of St. Sophia from a mosque back to a Christian church (a millennium ago some Bulgarians were really impressed by the church and converted from paganism on the spot, or something)(and when Constantinople fell, the walls swallowed up a janissary who was threatening a priest, and a Voice said that a regenerated nation – which obviously means Bulgaria – would once again control the Church)(today it’s a museum).

Headline of the Day -100 (LAT): “Glory of War for Filipinos. West Point Opens Gates to Orientals.”

Fashion Headline of the Day -100: “Underwear Trade Active.”

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Today -100: November 3, 1912: Of a spirit of the courtesy and real democracy that you don’t often see in political meetings

Note: the NYT Index went down while I was doing the reading for this post and didn’t come back up for a couple of weeks (it’s still not fucking working right). I switched to ProQuest during that period, so there will be no links for the next 10 posts.

Theodore Roosevelt says that the presence of women in the election campaign has made a great difference. For example, at his speech in Madison Square Garden, there was no rowdyism or hooliganism, “and there seemed to be a spirit of the courtesy and real democracy that you don’t often see in political meetings.”

The pope refuses to endorse any of the US presidential candidates.

Russia expels the artist Leon Bakst (do you know his work? he made some interesting paintings) from St Petersburg, because he’s a Jew.

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Today -100: November 2, 1912: Respect our authoritah!

The Bulgarian army is now within 25 miles of Constantinople.

The Italian Supreme Court refuses to allow the country’s only female lawyer to practice. Although she’s actually already won one court case.

Woodrow Wilson cancels the big Wilson parade scheduled for New York, out of respect for VP Sherman’s funeral.

Headline of the Day -100: “President Warns Against Free Sugar.” (That is, he opposes ending the tariff on imported sugar, which protects the domestic beet sugar industry.)

Foreign News Headline of the Day -100: “San Domingo Rebels Defy Our Authority.” If you’re wondering “And what ‘authority’ might that be?”, you must be some sort of Dominican rebel.

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Today -100: November 1, 1912: The people are now looking forward to Bulgaria becoming a great power in the Balkans

Gone and already forgotten, the late Vice President Sherman doesn’t even rate a mention on today’s front page of the NYT, although “One Auto Rams Another” does.

The Bulgarian Army routs the Turks. Back home, “The people are now looking forward to Bulgaria becoming a great power in the Balkans, as Turkey formerly was.” Good luck with that.

A Russian aviator who volunteered for the Bulgarian air force (if there is such a thing), is shot down by the Turks, the first aviator ever killed by the enemy in a war.

Cuban elections. Both major parties are advising their voters to go to the polls armed.

Kaiser Wilhelm inspects a new synagogue in Berlin.

Woodrow Wilson speaks at Madison Square Garden, to even longer applause (63 minutes) than Theodore Roosevelt got the day before, and without benefit of bullet either. I’m sure it’s a lovely speech, but it’s a long speech, and I have no intention of reading it.

(Update: scandal scandal scandal! It seems that there were “cheer leaders” to keep the cheering going, with staggered rest breaks.)

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Today -100: October 31, 1912: Of dead veeps, free postage, strange noises, hatpins, and drag-hunts

Vice President James Schoolcraft Sherman has died at 57. Sherman was the mayor of Utica, NY in his 20s, a Congressman for many years, and a very sick vice president for nearly four years.

Taft was at dinner when he heard the news, because of course he was.

Congress granted Frances Cleveland, Grover’s widow, free mail for life shortly after his death in 1908, along with Benjamin Harrison’s widow. It is thought her upcoming re-marriage will not affect that. Congress has several times considering granting pensions to the two former first ladies, but never has, although Garfield’s widow gets $5,000 a year and McKinley’s did until her death. But I’m sure Mrs. Cleveland and Mrs. Harrison are quite happy with their stamps.

Supposedly, the Ottoman Army executed 300 soldiers who fled the battle at Kirk-Kilesseh.

Theodore Roosevelt gives a speech at Madison Square Garden, very much against doctor’s advice. Well, he tried to give a speech, but first he had to wait for the crowd for 45 minutes: “They began with cheering, and from that they went on to inventing strange noises. When the possibilities of strange noises were exhausted they would go back to cheering, and after that they would go back again to strange noises, and so it went on until it seemed as if noisemaking possibilities had been tested to the limit.” Nothing increases your popularity like getting shot in the chest.

Anyway, then he gave his speech, which frankly does not read as the most exciting speech ever. And he was only able to make his usual wild arm gestures with his left arm.

In Sydney, Australia, 60 women go to jail to protest “iniquitous and unnecessary legislation” against hatpins that stick out too far. They threaten a hunger strike if there are more arrests.

Politically Correct Headline of the Day -100: “Big Negroes in Ring.”

German Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm is injured when he falls off his horse during a drag-hunt. Which probably isn’t what it sounds like.

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Unringing the bell

Richard Mourdock, Republican candidate for the US Senate for Indiana, says he can’t “unring the bell” of his comments about rape pregnancies being the will of God.

Yeah, imagine if something awful happened, leaving you stuck with a lasting reminder of it, and you can’t get rid of it.

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Today -100: October 30, 1912: Of widows, fiendish acts, and nighty night, Mr. Vice President

Grover Cleveland’s widow Frances (he married her when he was 49 and in the White House and she was 21 and he’d known her since she was an infant and it was not at all creepy) is to remarry, to an archeology and art history professor at Wells College, a mere year or two her senior.

An unnamed member of the Bulgarian Red Cross accuses the Turks of fiendish acts and indescribable atrocities. Some Bulgarian soldiers had their necks bitten through; others were impaled. According to some random Bulgarian dude.

His family and friends are glad that Vice President Sherman was able to get some sleep last night.

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Today -100: October 29, 1912: Of leaps in the dark

President Taft says the issue in this election is “On the one hand prosperity and real progress; on the other a leap in the dark.” And any attempt by Democrats to implement the tariff reform they’re promising (a tariff “for revenue only,” i.e., not to protect American industries) would plunge the country into depression, which he claims is what happened in 1893. Interestingly, his statement mentions the American right to vote – except Republicans in California and Kansas, and black people in the South. Not that he has any plans to do anything about the latter, of course, but I’m surprised to see him even mention it.

The governor of Kansas, progressive Republican Walter Stubbs, responds that Taft hasn’t bothered to keep up with Kansas, and that both Taft and Roosevelt electors will in fact be on the ballot in Kansas.

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Today -100: October 28, 1912: Of allots, uskubs, and tsarevitches

The Bull Moose Party is not doing well at establishing itself everywhere, perhaps not surprising given that it’s only about four months old. In Washington state, judges in several counties have ordered that the party not be on the ballot. “In Mason County... Judge Sheek... decided that two men meeting on street corners and nominating themselves to office did not constitute a convention.”

Wilson, in a speech: “We do not want a big brother government... I do not want a government that will take care of me. I want a government that will make other men take their hands off so that I can take care of myself.”

Serbs are parading in Belgrade to celebrate the capture of Uskub, which can only mean that they have some idea where that is.

The NYT is now saying that Tsarevitch Alexei of Russia was shot by a revolutionist. Or he slipped in the bath.

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Today -100: October 27, 1912: Of peas, mystery victories, groins, poor aristocrats, and silent congresscritters

With Taft not appearing on the California ballot, Tafties in the state are organizing in support of Woodrow Wilson.

Headline of the Day -100: “HIT TAFT WITH A PEA.; Police Are Looking for a Boy Who Endangered the President's Eye.”

Turkey (which has lost Uskub to the Serbs) makes an official announcement that it has won a major military victory, but won’t say when or where, so it might have been in 1453.

The University of California (meaning Berkeley; there are no other campuses) has expanded rapidly recently, to 7,263 students, making it the second largest university in the country, after Columbia.

NYC Detective Dennis Killane is shot in the groin. There’s nothing special about the story, except... the NYT used the word groin. Also highwayman. Det. Killane was shot, in the groin, by a highwayman. That’s an odd combination of a word I didn’t think would be fit for print in 1912 and a word more fitted for the 18th century.

Oh, after being shot, in the groin, Det. Killane felled the highwayman with his blackjack, before collapsing on top of him.

Disappointing Cut-Off NYT Index Entry of the Day -100: “23,000 MARCH FOR RIGHT OF BOYCOTT; Labor Organizations Parade and Hold Three Meetings Against Injun...” The march, in NYC, was against injunctions, not Injuns. At the Cooper Union meeting following the parade, some guy tried to get three cheers for Teddy Roosevelt but was shouted down. Evidently Samuel Gompers often used puns in his speeches, but “Those who make iron – and steal for a living” didn’t go over well.

Crown Princess Cecilie of Germany (wife of the kaiser’s son) will hold a charity tea for the poor and needy. Well, poor and needy members of the aristocracy.

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Today -100: October 26, 1912: Of Balkan wars, tsarevitches, and libel

A lot of unverified claims continue to be made about the Balkan War, with a lot of exotic-sounding place-names. Kirk-Kilisseh, for example, may or not have been captured by Bulgaria, and there was a fight between Serb and Turkish troops at Kumanova, and Turkish troops may now be retreating towards Uskub (Skopje). At any rate, the Bulgarians (or possibly Bulgars – the NYT goes back and forth in its usage) almost certainly have been bombarding Adrianople.

Am I the only one who was thinking that Kirk-Kilisseh sounds like the last name of the children if Captain Kirk and that green-skinned alien got married?

Greece names a governor-general for Crete, despite the Great Powers having told Greece quite firmly that it was not going to be allowed to annex it.

8-year-old Tsarevitch Alexei of Russia is sick, and the court won’t tell the Russian people with what. So rumors are going around that it was actually an anarchist assassination attempt. On board the royal yacht. Whose commander, Rear Admiral Chagin, committed suicide out of shame (Chagin is definitely dead). Whereas of course Alexei has hemophilia.

(Update from tomorrow -100’s paper: evidently he climbed on a cupboard and fell off. Or it’s something else.)

Theodore Roosevelt is suing the publisher of a Michigan newspaper, The Iron Ore, for saying in the October 12 issue that “Roosevelt lies and curses in a most disgusting way. He gets drunk, too, and that not infrequently, and all his intimates know about it.”

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Today -100: October 25, 1912: Of pandering and painting

President Taft tells the Maine Teachers’ Association that teachers should get pensions.

The White House’s exterior is washed for the first time since the Cleveland administration. God knows how long since it’s been painted.

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Who would Jesus rape?

Do you suppose that when people like Republican senatorial candidate for Indiana Richard Mourdock think about rapes that result in pregnancy (“something that God intended to happen”), they have one of these images in their head,

only with, you know, rape instead of baseball?

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Today -100: October 24, 1912: Of nephews, and worships and kisses

Rebel General Félix Díaz, nephew of the former president-for-life of Mexico, is captured by government troops. He was depending on rather more of the Vera Cruz troops coming over to his side than actually did.

NYT Index Typo of the Day -100: “Turkish Battleship to Refit to Meet Greek Worships.”

Headline of the Day -100 (LA Times): “Girl Kisses Gov. Wilson and Calls It Politics.”

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