Today -100: January 4, 1924: Chin out

40 or so people die in a starch explosion at the Corn Products Company in Pekin, Illinois.

There have been disturbances at the vault in Marion where Warren G. Harding’s body is entombed, possibly aimed more at the guards than Harding, possibly by children: bugles blown, stones thrown at the guard houses, etc. So Lt. Harriman, in command of the guard, sends for riot guards and says he’ll shoot at future people causing disturbances.

Rep. William Upshaw (D-KKKGeorgia) demands that Pres. Coolidge “begin a righteous crusade by breaking every jug and bottle in official Washington and by using the Executive guillotine on the neck of every drinking official including army, navy and Cabinet officers.” In other words, that Cal fire every government official who engages in “drinking devilment.” Upshaw also wants to deport aliens who break Prohibition (we’ve been hearing that idea frequently of late). And a lot more ideas along those lines.

Mabel Normand has an appendectomy in the same hospital in which Courtland Dines is staying after being shot by Normand’s chauffeur. Memphis censors say her films will be banned in the city forever. They haven’t decided about Edna Purviance yet. Kansas Attorney General Charles Griffith will ask the censor board to ban films featuring both women. Will Hays is rushing to California to look into the affair, “and I have my chin out,” whatever that means.

John D. Rockefeller, 84, likes to play golf, and to be praised for how he plays golf. He keeps dimes in his pocket to hand out to anyone who applauds one of his shots.

For weeks before he was exiled, King George of Greece wouldn’t have his hair cut because he was afraid Greek barbers would do a Sweeney Todd on him, I guess. The first thing he did when he arrived in Bucharest was to get a haircut.

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Today -100: January 3, 1924: Of scofflaws, pernicious non-Communist influences, and worried mustaches

A banker in Quincy, Massachusetts who glories in the name Delcevare King, is sponsoring a contest with a $200 prize to come up with an epithet for people who drink in violation of Prohibition laws which will be so harsh, so cutting that it will “stab awake the conscience of the drinker,” like “scab” or “slacker.” Entries received so far include bootocrat, boozshevik, law-jacker, sliquor and wetocrat. The winner, which will be announced in a couple of weeks: “scofflaw,” a new coinage sent in separately by two people. The obituary of Mr King in the ‘60s says the term was mostly used at that time for parking and other automobile-related offenses. How is it used today?

Russia extends its ban on religious schools to all private schools in order to combat “pernicious non-Communist influences.” It also bans corporal punishment in all schools.

Greece’s coup regime turns power back to the National Assembly, calling for a republic. Still, “No Parliament ever exhibited more worried mustaches.”

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Today -100: January 2, 1924: Of referenda, actresses & shootings, orderly procedures, hand-shaking, and corsets

Former Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos suggests a referendum to decide whether Greece will become a republic, or, if it stays a monarchy, whether a different ruling family shall reign.

Denver oil man Courtland Dines is shot by actress Mabel Normand’s chauffeur (with her gun) because, he says, Dines was bothering Normand. Edna Purviance, Charlie Chaplin’s leading lady, also witnesses the shooting. The story implies that there was drinking involved. Dines was in a dressing gown, more proof that silent movies were documentaries.

Although there’s a movement in Congress to express opposition to arming the Obregón regime in Mexico, Coolidge intends to go right ahead regardless under authority the administration claims he has, “in the interest of orderly procedure,” whatever that means. These opponents have coined “the Harding doctrine,” for a policy of not selling arms to foreigners (Harding refused to allow an earlier proposed arms sale to Mexico).

Mussolini’s dictatorial powers expire.

 

President Coolidge and First Lady Grace hold the traditional New Year’s Day reception and both shake hands with 3,891 people.

King Albert of Belgium says his country’s financial future depends on 1) reparations from Germany, 2) exploiting the Belgian Congo.

Maternity corset, for fuck’s sake.

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Today -100: January 1, 1924: Of arms and ashes

There’s a movement in the Senate to stop the proposed arms sales to the Mexican government for use against rebels. Some senators think it would break international law.

A thief is caught stealing the ashes of some saint in Avezzano, Italy. The crowd beat him up and set him on fire, as was the custom.

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Today -100: December 31, 1923: I got nuthin’

Nuthin’

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Today -100: December 30, 1923: Of tax cuts & arms sales

Bankers, railroad presidents, lawyers, real estate operators and industrialists are just some of the diverse range of people expressing support for Treasury Sec. Andrew Mellon’s tax-cut plans, the details of which were (finally) released yesterday. They say the cost of living will go down and a dollar will again be worth... wait for it... a dollar.

The US will sell the Obregón government in Mexico military supplies to defeat the Huerta uprising, including millions of rounds of ammunition, but not the cruisers Obregón wanted. Or airplanes.

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Today -100: December 29, 1923: Of pardons, names, and microphones

Chicago bootlegger Philip Grossman, the guy Calvin Coolidge pardoned who turned out not to be in prison but a fugitive, admits having paid thousands to a Republican politician for that pardon. His commutation may now not come through. Update: okay, I’ve now checked Wikipedia. The district court will send him back to prison, saying the president doesn’t have the power to pardon in contempt of court cases (the contempt consisting of selling booze when a court had told him not to), because that would violate separation of powers. The Supreme Court in 1925 will rule that presidents do have that power.

The New York Nursery and Child’s Hospital picks the names that will be foisted on foundlings in 1924. These are chosen “at random,” but assigned by sex. Annnnd race, although I don’t see anything especially racial in the names chosen. For example, white Protestant boys (are there no Catholics or Jews? do they get surrendered somewhere else?) will get names like Frederick Olmstead, Alexander Halliday, and Stephen Oliver. White Protestant girls will be Elizabeth Kemberley, Anne Draper, Margaret Dryden, etc. While black boys will be William Clinton, George Getty, Ralph Phime, etc. 

Dr Phillips Thomas has invented a microphone that can record insect noises too high for the human ear, so we can find out what they're saying about us.

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Today -100: December 28, 1923: Of cane-guns, private business transactions, bombs, prohibition courts, and hypnotized cops

The Japanese Cabinet resigns, taking responsibility for the attempted assassination of Prince Regent Hirohito. Immediately, on the same day. A young Communist, I guess, used a cane-gun, which is cool, right? Hirohito continues on to the Diet, which he opens “with customary ceremonies” without members of the Diet (dieticians?) knowing what had happened until later.

Spain foils a Communist plot, which may or may not be real, against the dictator Gen. Primo Rivera, whose name I’ve run out of puns for. Many arrests are made.

In the slow-moving Senate investigation of Tea Pot Dome led by Robert La Follette, Harry Sinclair of the eponymous oil company refuses to answer questions about his “private business transactions.”

A bomb is thrown at a Jewish women’s society ball in Vienna, with one killed & 43 wounded. The cops think the perps are from the Society of Awakening Hungarians.

Federal judges rule that the IRS’s “Prohibition Court,” created to collect taxes from bootleggers, is unconstitutional. It notes some of the people “taxed” had not been convicted of bootlegging.

Headline of the Day -100:  

In Sebenico, Croatia. The cop was told to “shoot” a piece of wood at the audience. Finding that it wouldn’t fire, he switched to his service revolver, which did, then arrested three audience members. When brought out of the trance, he went insane and was committed. I don’t think I believe this story.

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Today -100: December 27, 1923: Of anti-Semitism

Romanian police and troops are standing guard at the universities in Bucharest, Jassy & Klousenburg to protect Jewish students from violence. Some professors are refusing to lecture in the presence of soldiers.

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Today -100: December 26, 1923: A normal course

Former Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos will return to Greece, as requested by 270 members of the Constituent Assembly, but says he won’t take over his old job and will just be mediator and adviser to his country (yeah, sure) to get it back to “a normal course,” whatever that means.

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Today -100: December 25, 1923: Of pardons, assassinations, and raids

Pres. Coolidge issues 11 pardons, including for an 18-year old Mexican woman 14 months into a drugs sentence, a guy who was blinded by an accident in prison, and a black man (several of the pardonees are black) who, as a minor, killed his stepfather to stop him beating his sister 21 years ago. One pardoned Chicago bootlegger, Philip Grossman, was probably put on the list accidentally, or because of bribes, but he’s not actually in prison and has been a fugitive from justice for the last year. He’ll surrender now to get his commutation.

After 25 minutes, a Paris jury acquits Germaine Berton, the 20-year-old anarchist who assassinated Marius Plateau, leader of the far-right monarchist Camelots du Roi, in January. Her lawyers described it as a political act and essentially put the Camelots on trial, correctly pointing out that they preach and practice violence against radicals. Thanks to France’s weird judicial system, that means the Camelots’ lawyer can participate in the trial.

The federal Prohibition cops conduct a raid in Williamson County, Illinois of supposed moonshiners and bootleggers, taking in 75 people. The feds operated without the knowledge of local cops, using volunteers. You know, Klansmen.

The Irish Free State releases Countess Markievicz.

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Today -100: December 24, 1923: Of propaganda, dazed Greeks, and illnesses the require vibratory stimulation

Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes shows his “evidence” that Soviet Russia is conducting propaganda in the US: an article from last year in Izvestia about the close relationship between Russia and the Third International, whose president, Grigory Zinoviev, hopes that the Workers Party of America “will now more successfully conduct its work among the millions of American proletarians.”

Headline of the Day -100:

A republic? A new king (evidently Britain is ready and willing to supply one)? The return of Eleftherios Venizelos as prime minister for the 4th time?

Although the Irish Free State is releasing many interned political prisoners, Éamon de Valera is still in his cell, reading Einstein.

For her (ahem) Christmas stocking:

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Today -100: December 23, 1923: Vive l’anarchie

Anarchist Marcelian del Val is executed in Toulon for killing 3 cops. He refuses a mass, saying “I mock religion.” His last words: Vive l’anarchie.

Russia is adopting the metric system, phasing it in by 1927.

Chief Deskaheh is trying to get the League of Nations to recognize the Iroquois as an independent state.

Germany has been slow in developing radio, and the government is hampering it with strict, indeed ridiculous, rules. To even purchase a radio, one must get a license after proving oneself a citizen of Germany of good moral character. No one is allowed build their own radios, and the models they’re permitted to buy can receive only certain stations and not transmit. Chancellor Wilhelm Marx will soon make the first broadcast by a prominent German person.

Canada will soon hang its first Eskimos. Ottawa says this is necessary to stop Eskimos committing murders, so many murders.

The French navy airship Dixmude (originally a German zeppelin seized as reparations) is feared lost in the Sahara, caught in a gale. It did, in fact, blow up off the coast of Sicily, killing 52 passengers and crew, the largest air disaster to date. Only 2 bodies were ever recovered.

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Today -100: December 22, 1923: Of reeds

William Randolph Hearst is throwing his weight behind Sen. James Reed of Missouri to be the Democratic nominee for president, although Reed hasn’t shown much interest in the job. If that fails, Hearst may just let his papers support Coolidge.

Russia says the papers US Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes is citing as proving Russia encouraged US Communists to prepare for revolution are forgeries.

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Today -100: December 21, 1923: Not taking no for an answer

The South Dakota Ford-for-President Club ignores Henry Ford’s refusal to run for president and will go ahead working to put his name on the ballot.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will investigate Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes’ accusation that Russia conducts propaganda in the US for the overthrow of the government. Some congresscritters think Hughes is just making shit up. Hughes cites an alleged instruction from Grigory Zinoviev to US Communists to prepare for revolution. 

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Today -100: December 20, 1923: No persuasion was sufficient to put them straight

France awards Marie Curie a pension of 40,000 francs per year for herself and her children on the 25th anniversary of the discovery of radium.

Henry Ford says once again that he isn’t running for president and endorses Coolidge. He says 90% of the people “feel perfectly safe” with Cal. In fact, he suggests that the C-Man is too busy running the country to campaign, so everyone should just concede the election to him, I guess.

What’s the opposite of a beer hall putsch? Rumor was that another Nazi coup was scheduled during a performance of Tosca, but it didn’t happen.

A bill granting dictatorial powers to the Bavarian government fails to win 2/3 of the votes in the Landtag.

10 members of the Russian group Laboring Truth are arrested because “no persuasion was sufficient to put them straight.”

 

The KKK sets off 12 bombs on the campus of the University of Dayton, Ohio, a Catholic institution and burn a cross. You’d think that would make the NYT, wouldn’t you? It doesn’t. 

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Today -100: December 19, 1923: Principles!

Greece orders King George and Queen Consort Elisabeth into exile. She’s the daughter of the king of Romania, so that’s where they’ll go.

The State Dept replies to a Russian telegram about negotiations leading to US recognition, saying the US government “is not proposing to barter away its principles.” The next paragraph is a demand that Russia restore property confiscated from US citizens, if you were wondering what those principles are.

Italy warns France it wouldn’t accept an independent Rhineland, much less annexation by France of the German territories it’s currently occupying.

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Today -100: December 18, 1923: But certainly no better

William Gibbs McAdoo announces his candidacy for president. He says the US won’t “progress in any direction through the Republican policies of stand-stillism and wishful thinking”.

A French court-martial is trying 40 German Düsseldorf police for breaking up a demonstration of Rhenish separatists on September 30th. A couple of French soldiers were injured, but the main charge is that the police didn’t obey French orders not to do anything.

Former kaiser Wilhelm wins a libel suit against an editor who published a story claiming that in 1895 Willy caused a naval officer on the royal yacht to commit suicide. Evidently he rode a bicycle off a mountain path into the sea.

New Jersey Gov. George Silzer approves the extradition to Georgia of a negro, Silas Parmore, accused of killing the Iron City police chief. Silzer says if anything happens to him, there will be no more extraditions to Georgia. An all-white Georgian jury will sentence Parmore to hang, but the state Supreme Court will overturn the verdict and he’ll be acquitted in a second trial 2 years from now, at which point Georgia Gov. Clifford Walker will write to Gov. Silzer that this proves that “the State of Georgia and its people are no worse than those of other States.”

A.W. Birch, owner of a hotel in Marlow, Oklahoma, is shot and killed defending (unsuccessfully) a black porter in his employ from a lynch mob. The all-white town doesn’t allow black people after dark.

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Today -100: December 17, 1923: Of counter-offensives, rocket men, and something electrical

Mexican Pres. Obregón launches a counter-offensive against the rebels with however much of the army still obeys him. The former general will evidently lead the troops in person.

Today -100 is the 20th anniversary of the first powered flight by the Wright brothers.

Is this the next step?

Has Henri (?) Melot invented a jet plane? One without a propeller, and therefore able to reach higher altitudes?

New York Edison asks

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Today -100: December 16, 1923: I am delighted that a President of the United States has discovered the First Amendment to the Constitution

Coolidge commutes the sentences of 31 people still in prison for convictions under the Espionage Act during the Great War, for, you know, speaking against the war. Just in time for Christmas! In doing this, Coolidge is following the recommendations of a committee set up by Harding. Sen. William Borah says “I am delighted that a President of the United States has discovered the First Amendment to the Constitution and has had the courage to announce the discovery.”

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