Due to a heat wave, President Taft had dinner for guests served on the roof of the White House's West Wing.
The President had gone golfing earlier in the day.
Casper wasn't in danger from Pathfinder Dam, which was good news.
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A heat wave began to take lives on the East Coast.
The now infamous Carlisle Indian School on this date in 1909:
The New York American broke the tragic and odd story of Mary Mallon, Typhoid Mary, who had been quarantined at that point for two years.
Mallon never accepted that she was responsible for passing typhoid, but remained quarantined until 1910 when she was released with a promise that she would not return to cooking. Facing economic desperation, she did, and new infections commenced that were traced to her. She was returned to quarantine in 1915 where she remained until her death at age 69 in 1938.
In a modern context, this is interesting due to the recent debates on quarantines. The ethnics of essentially imprisoning a person for life as a disease carrier have been debated, but its clear that in the first half of the 20th Century, it could in fact be done.
Errol Flynn was born in Hobart, Tasmania. The Australian actor obtained a reputation as a dashing figure in Hollywood, with his reputation tarnished by being tried for two accusations of statutory rape in 1942. His career didn't end, but it did suffer thereafter, even though he was acquitted. He oddly had a late in life role as a journalist from Cuba, where he supported Fidel Castro. He died in 1959 at age 50 of a heart attack while in British Columbia. His then current girl friend, 17 years old at the time, was with him on the trip.
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Orville and Wilbur Wright were presented with a Congressional Gold Medal by Gen. James Allen, Chief of the Signal Corps, on behalf of President Taft, for their aeronautic feats. At the same time, Governor Judson Harmon of Ohio presented the brothers with the Ohio Medal, and Mayor Edward E. Burkhardt with the City of Dayton Medal.
William Lorimer was sworn in as U.S. Senator from Illinois.
Lorimer was a Republican and if this happened today, he'd declare undying allegiance to Donald Trump and Republicans in the Senate would declare that this was some sort of horrific tragedy.
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Executive Order 1090—Restoring to Public Domain Certain Lands in Arizona Which Were Reserved for Papago Indians
June 17, 1909
It is hereby ordered that the following land in Arizona, being a part of those withdrawn by Executive Order of December 12, 1882, for use of the Papago Indians, be, and hereby are, restored to the public domain: Section 16 and sections 19 to 36, inclusive, in township 5 south of range 5 west of the Gila and Salt River meridian.
Signature of William Howard Taft
WM. H. TAFT.
The White House,
June 17, 1909.
What the heck?
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President Taft recommended to Congress that the Constitution be amended to allow for the Federal Government to levy an income tax. Ultimately, the 16trh Amendment was ratified on February 25, 1913, allowing the country to become a modern and great nation, although its constantly attacked by retrograde forces that somehow feel that everything should be precluded, save for what they benefit from personally.
Taft's original proposal, in that more responsible and cheaper day, was for a 2% income tax on corporations, so a personal income tax was not his proposal. Of course, in our current era, corporations are regarded as inviolate.
Wyoming voted for the proposal on February 3, 1913. No doubt today, it wouldn't, which would lead to an economic disaster.
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Casper Tribune-Herald, 1934
Evidence piles up -- Throughout the week of June 15, excited headlines screamed of the presumed solution to the previous week's top story. "MRS. COMBS ARRESTED
"WIDOW FACES FIRST DEGREE MURDER CHARGE
"In a startling climax to investigation into the murder of S. S. Combs, his widow, Mrs. Hazel Combs, was placed under arrest. ... A warrant charging the first degree murder of the former (Casper) city attorney was served on the slight, steel-nerved woman. ...
"(Combs) had been shot five times at such close range that powder burns were left by some of the shots. ...
"Prisoner Visibly Shaken When Shown Weapon
"To the rear of the (Combs) cabin, about 50 feet distant, is the outhouse where an important discovery was made. Beneath fresh wood ashes ... was found the revolver with which, the officers said, the murder was committed. It contained six empty shells. ...
"MURDER WEAPON IDENTIFIED
"EXPERT LINKS REVOLVER WITH BULLETS FOUND
"Insurance Collection Is Held Motive
"... Mr. Combs was husband No. 4. ... He was an attorney who represented her in divorce proceedings against husband number 3. ... Harley Atwood, the second husband of Mrs. Combs, died ... from asphyxiation by gas, when a coffee pot boiled over on a gas stove in the room where he lay asleep on a couch
After World War One Shackleton, his health no doubt strained due to the rigors of his trials in exploration, died in the Falklands at age 47. As a practical matter, the Great War effectively ended the final age of exploration.
Japanese Prince Itō Hirobumi was forced to resign as Japan's Resident-General of Korea. Three months later, he would be assassinated, which would lead Japan to annex what had been a protectorate.
Four Caribbean monk seals (Monachus tropicalis) were brought to the New York Aquarium. They were the only ones ever held in captivity.
The last known monk seal died in 1952 and NOAA declared them extinct in 2008.
Burl Ives was born. The charming folk singer and actor was a popular folk figure for many years, in spite of a 1930s association with far left wing politics.
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Changes in transportation methods were brought home to me again this week.
The Lincoln portrait penny was introduced with the current design by Victor David Brenner. The reverse side were shocks of wheat, which gives this version which was minted until 1958 the nickname of being the "Wheat Head Penny".
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"Three Wounds in Head and Two in Body of S. S. Combs"
Recently retired Casper City Attorney Sewell Stanley Combs, 50, was found shot to death in his car June 10 at his ranch near Granite Canyon.
"The bullets that literally riddled his body were fired by a 'cowardly murderer' who shot the unsuspecting victim in the back of the head and body," a sheriff said.
Combs' widow, Hazel, "(h)er face ... drawn by grief, her eyes tortured by unshed tears and sleeplessness ... seemed overnight to have aged many years. She was haunted by the knowledge that while she lay asleep in their ranch home between Alcova and Leo, ... her husband was brutally murdered in his car--not a quarter of a mile away! ...
"The position of the body and other details indicated ... that Combs had been ... unaware of the menace hovering over his life when the assailant, in the back seat, shot him through the head, then emptying the gun as the man's body slumped over. ...
"Credence was ... given today to the theory that he was slain by an assailant harboring a bitter, personal grudge. ... This theory was a source of mystification, ... it being heard on every side: 'We didn't know Stan Combs had an enemy in the world.' ... Rumor was rife today that the trail of the murderer had led to Casper.
A difficult personality, he seems to have been killed by his rivals. The First Philippine Republic's fortunes in the field declined rapidly after his death.
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The Imperial Russian Navy, down to four ships following the Russo Japanese War, began a program of rebuilding, laying down keels for four dreadnoughts.
The Wright Brothers returned to Ft. Myer, Virginian, with an improved Wright Military Flyer. The prior version had killed Lt. Thomas E. Selfridge.
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