Saturday October 8, 1921. Committees, Anthrax, Teasing, Football

The Park Site Legislative Committee in the Davis Mountains

 

Radio met football on this day when KDKA broadcast the West Virginia v. University of Pittsburgh game.

Michael F. Farley

Congressman Michael F. Farley died of anthrax acquired from an infected shaving brush on this day in 1921.  The incident emphasized an effort in New York to eliminate products made from infected animals, including shaving brushes and toothbrushes.

Farley was an Irish immigrant who had prospered as a barman before becoming a Democratic Congressman.

Judge ran an illustration of a lady golfer with a teasing caption.

The Saturday Evening Post ran a sad cover of an illustration of a boy with his St. Bernard for sale, but I can't find a clearly copyright free example of it to put up.

In the Midwest, it was the first Sweetest Day, which is apparently a thing.

Friday September 21, 1921. The USS Alabama and Billy Mitchell

Near Miami, September 23, 1921.

 

Stony Lake, New York.  September 23, 1921.

Lake Bratingham, New York.  September 23, 1921.

On this day in 1921, the Army Air Corp began bombing experiments on the USS Alabama, BB-8, a decommissioned Illinois Class, pre dreadnought battleship.

USS Alabama.

The tests used a variety of scenarios before direct bombing of the ship which would ultimately cause her to sink.  The sinking itself was used by Billy Mitchell as evidence that aircraft could sink large ships, but in reality, as pointed out by the Navy, the Alabama's example was less than convincing.  The ship was an old one, was undefended, and took two days to sink even after the fatal hits were made.

Tuesday September 13, 1921. White Castle's founded.

Arapahoe Glacier, Colorado. September 13, 1921.

 

White Castle, the hamburger chain, opened its first restaurant in Wichita Kansas.  It was the very first fast food restaurant.

Chicago White Castle in the 1980s.

I've never eaten at a White Castle, which I believe is famous for sliders.  For that matter, over the years I've gotten to where I'm not a big fan of fast food burgers for some reason, preferring the slow food ones from the grill.  But it is quite a difference in the food landscape that White Castle brought about.

Gen. Billy Mitchell submitted a report to his commanding officer containing his strong dissent from a report that battleships remained superior to aerial bombardment.  He further recommended that the Department of War and the Department of the Navy be consolidated into a single department, with the service branches all being sub departments.

While he's justifiable recalled as a visionary today, in truth ships were much less vulnerable to aerial attack at the time than often imagined, and the recent tests conducted on captured German ships had in fact tended to prove that. This would soon change, but not in the way really imagined at the time, as heavy bombers never did develop as a strong anti shipping weapon.

Friday, September 2, 1921. Famine

Houston Texas, September 2, 1921.

On this day in 1921 food aid from Western countries arrived in Riga, Latvia for transport to the Soviet Union as famine relief.  The US was the largest contributor.

The famine was human induced, caused by the incompetence and stupidity of the communist economic system in multiple ways.

On the same day, Federal troops arrived in West Virginia, but President Harding declared they would not be used to impose martial law as long as civil law continued to function.  The threat, of course, was the private warfare between union coal miners and non-union/company forces.

Japanese dignitaries were photographed in Washington, D.C.

 

Baron Kyuro Shideharu

Belle Case LaFollette, wife of Sen. Robert LaFollette, was photographed walking their dog.

Tuesday August 9, 1921. Skylines, Swearing Ins and Disasters.

Los Angeles skyline, August 9, 1921

Rif forces took Monte Arruit after a negotiated surrender.  For reasons that remain unclear, including confusion or just a disobeying of orders, the Riffians then killed all about 400 to 500 of the 2,000 prisoners, keeping those who remained for bargaining purposes.

Charles R. Forbes was sworn in as the head of the U.S. Veterans Bureau.

The Scottish born Forbes had an unusual personal history and should have been suitable for his appointed role.  He had joined the Marine Corps as a musician at age 16.  Upon leaving the Marines, he attended university and graduated with a degree in engineering.  In spite of that, however, he then enlisted in the Army in 1900 at age 22, overcoming an early charge of being AWOL at one point early in his service to leave the Army as a Sergeant First Class in 1908.  He entered the Army again in 1917 and was a Lt. Col. by the end of his World War One service.

His period of leadership of the Veterans Bureau was marked by corruption and his divorce from his wife, who accused him of neglect.  He didn't finish his full term and resigned in 1923.  He was charged due to his activities with crimes which lead to a conviction, and an eight-month period of incarceration in Leavenworth.

Thursday July 21, 1921. A big stage.

Personnel of The Tercentenary Pageant, "The Pilgrim Spirit," Plymouth, Massachusetts, 1921.

The landing of the passengers of the Mayflower was apparently celebrated with a large pageant in Plymouth, Massachusetts, in July, 1921. These photographs were taken of the very large cast of that play.

Grand finale.

On the same day, David Lloyd George presented the British peace proposal to the Irish delegation.  It featured, as noted  yesterday, Dominion status for Ireland along the same lines as that had been granted to Canada and Australia, among others, with the United Kingdom retaining control of Irish foreign policy and military matters.

The Army Air Corps completed sinking the Ostfriesland.

In the Black Sea another ship went down, but due to a submarine, as the Soviet submarine Trotsky sank the Soviet ship Sawa as it attempted to make a run to defect to the Whites.  The Civil War was not yet over and sailors were changing their minds.

At some point, although I don't know when, somebody would have changed the name of the Trotsky, assuming she was still in service, as he'd fall out of favor with Stalin after Lenin's death and eventually a Soviet agent would put an ice pick into his head in Mexico.

Russell Stover and Christian Kent Nelson launched Nelson's I-Scream Bar, which later became famous as the Eskimo Pie, and which is now sold as Edy's Pie.  The chocolate covered ice cream bar was rebranded this year as Eskimo is regarded as a derogatory term.

People were experimenting with motor travel:

ALONZO’S DIARY ENTRY, 21 JULY 1921

Monday, June 27, 1921. Jacksonville Florida and Crowley Louisiana photographed, Chinese Special Mission in Washington, Senator Shortridge goes fishing.

 

 

June 24, 1921. 11th Field Artillery Brigade, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, Cigar Makers, and Mondell visiting Harding.

11th Field Artillery Brigade, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.  June 24, 1921.

The text on the photo reads:

"Just before passing in review before the Department Commander in this closely massed formation on June 24, 1921. (About 400 vehicles). No motor failed and formation remained intact, a record that will rarely be equalled and never surpassed. Tiemann N. Horn, Colonel 13th Field Artillery commanding. To General John J. Pershing, with the compliments of the brigade. R. L. Dancy, Army & Navy Photographer.".

Employees of 7-20-4, R. G. Sullivan, Cigar Factory, Manchester, N.H., no. 192, 100 [percent] Members of Cigar Makers, International Union, June 24, '21

On the same day, the employees of a cigar factory in Manchester, New Hampshire, were photographed.

As was President Harding with Wyoming's Congressman, Frank Wheeler Mondell.  Apparently that inspired President Harding to don an exceedingly large cowboy hat.

Mondell was originally from St. Louis, Missouri and had become a rancher and farmer in Wyoming, as well as a businessman involved in railroad construction.  He'd was Newcastle's mayor from 1888 to 1895 and served in Congress from 1895 to 1896 and then again from 1899 to 1923.  He was the House majority leader in the 66th and 67th Congresses.

Monday, June 6, 1921. College pudding.

Caption says it all, from this day in 1921.

Bill Gatewood of the Detroit Stars pitches the first no-hitter in the history of the Negro National League, defeating the Cuban Stars, 4 - 0.  The black leagues are now incorporated into the National League for history and statistical purposes, an omission that was only recently corrected.

Gatewood was already 39 years old at the time and had been involved in baseball for many years.  He'd go on to be a manager in the black leagues but at some point he slipped into obscurity.  He died in 1962 at age 81 and was buried in an unmarked grave, something that was only corrected in 2010.

On this day, the British government declared an end to reprisal burnings of houses in Ireland as they tended to end up burning manor houses, which tended to belong to wealthy Protestant loyalist.

Oops.

Veterans of the Great War, in the US, were already turning into "old vets" and participating in those things that old vets participate in.

 

Veterans of 2nd Div. Reviewing Division, at Camp Travis, Texas, June 6th, 1921.

Somewhere, probably outside of Washington D. C., the DAR was adding an annex.

Passengers onboard the Canadian Pacific's Melita ship, yes the CP had ships, had this menu for this Monday in 1921.

 

Menu from Reddit's Menu subreddit.

College pudding?   A recipe is here:  Foods of England.

May 24, 1921. Clarkston, Washington and Lewiston, Idaho, Bulhoek Massacre, and the Northern Irish vote.

Clarkston, Washington and Lewiston,  Idaho.  May 24, 1921.

Nothing stays the same, of course.

While I haven't been to Clarkson/Lewiston, I dare say its changed.  I'd take the 1921 variant over today's, almost certainly.

Slightly colorized version of the same photograph.

On this day in 1921 voters in Northern Ireland ovewhelmingly voted for unionist candidates.

In South Africa a 163 Xhosa followers of a Xhosa excommunicated lay Methodist minister were killed in what is known as the Bulhoek Massacre.  They were killed by heavily armed police in a battle whose beginning is confused.  The community was made of a group known as the Israelites who followed the beliefs of their founders apocalyptical predictions. 

May 12, 1921. Storms.

Franklin & Marshall College, Lancaster, Pa.

The Great Geomagnetic Storm of 1921 commenced on this day, or rather the giant sunspot that's attributed to it was observed first on this day. The actual impact would commence the following day.

So, more to come on that.

Canadian naturalist Farley Mowat was born in Bellville, Ontario.  Mowat was a controversial Canadian author and naturalist.  Born in Ontario, his family moved to Saskatchewan during the 1920s where he was exposed to the outdoors.  In 1939 he joined the Canadian Army and he served throughout the rest of the war, seeing extensive service in Italy and even seeing service in France in 1940 prior to the British evacuation of the country.   His wartime service was the source for three of his books.

A highly prolific writer who wrote both on natural topics and fiction, Mowat came to be highly criticized for several of his works which, critics have argued, were highly fictionalized.  Nonetheless, his works have their defenders who maintain that in spite of their faults, they got the feel of their topics right.

He may be best remembered for his book Never Cry Wolf, which was made into a successful movie.

Edmund Able, who invented the heating element for Mr. Coffee, was also born on this day in 1921.

A mass arrest of Romanian Communist was carried out.

Sewer line going in on this day in Pittsburgh.

 

April 22, 1921. Lancaster schools.

Millersview Normal School, now Millersville University, April 22, 1921.  Lancaster, Pennsylvania

Franklin and Marshall Academy, now Franklin and Marshall College, April 22, 1921.  Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

 

April 18, 1921. Service.

On this Monday, April 18, 1921, Edith Barnett, who had died serving as an American nurse in far off Siberia, was remembered with a tombstone marked in English and Russian.  She had died of Typhus while serving as a Red Cross nurse there.

Some Gave All: April 18, 1921. "Grave of Edith Barnett of New Yo...:  

April 18, 1921. "Grave of Edith Barnett of New York City. An American Red Cross nurse who died in Siberia, Aug. 15, 1919. Monument placed at Tomsk, Siberia on April 18, 1921. Photograph taken on April 19, 1921"

Ontario voted, in a plebiscite, to ban the sale and importation of alcohol by a 60% margin.  An attempt at repealing the ordinance the following year by the same means failed.

How would you have voted?  I'm not a teetotaler, but I'm sure I would have voted for the measure.

Jacksonville Florida was photographed from the St. John's Bridge.

View of the Jacksonville Florida St John's Bridge, April 18, 1921.

President Harding seems to have had a busy day greeting groups.

Harding with Community House Kids.  I'm not sure who they were, but it appears to probably be a church based group.

Harding and Women's Commission for World Disarmament.  The group obviously did not succeed in its goals.

Gen. Herbert Lord of the Quartermaster Corps received an award consisting of draft horseshoes.

I don't know the actual occasion, but it may have been recognizing his service which was principally in administering its budget.  He'd go on to occupy the position of head of the OMB, although under a different title at the time, in the Harding Administration.

April 16, 1921. Some German Scenes.

 

April 3, 1941. The Grand Coulee Dam

The Grand Coulee Dam under construction, April 3, 1941.

 

On this day in 1941 the British announced their withdrawal from Benghazi in the face of German advances in Libya. The tide in the North African war had rapidly turned.

Hungary chose a new Prime Minister as the sitting one committed suicide in protest of apparent Hungarian willingness to violate its treaty of friendship with Yugoslavia, which it had just entered into, and allow the German army limited transit across its territory.

March 19, 1941. Training, threatening, and planning.

 Camp Beauregard, Louisiana.  March 19, 1941.

The British government formed a Battle of the Atlantic Committee on this day.   The German, and as we recently saw Italian, U-boot campaign against shipping was the single greatest threat to the British war effort at the time, and the Battle of the Atlantic was the longest battle of the war.

The Germans gave Yugoslavia an ultimatum to join the Axis, or face war with it.  

An interesting aspect of the German war effort was that at this point it was tied up trying to save the Italians in North Africa and massing troops in Bulgaria, which it has muscled into an alliance, in preparation for invading Greece to save the Italians there. The British, in the meantime were outfighting Italy everywhere, except in the North Atlantic, and had landed troops in Greece to assist that country.  In spite of this, however, the Germans were preparing to invade the Soviet Union.  Logic, or at least caution, would have dictated rethinking that.

While here seems to be some confusion as to the date (it was either today, or the 22nd), this date is frequently attributed as being the activation date for the 99th Pursuit Squadron.  It was activated without men assigned to it, which was common.  It soon had them however, and this was notable as it was an all black pilot unit.  The unit went on to become the famous Tuskegee Airmen.

First 99th class in 1941.   The trainers are Vultee BT-13s.  Note the B-3 flight jackets which are frequently, but in accurately, principally associated with bomber crews.

January 31, 1921. The Carroll A. Deering and six toed cats.

St. Vrain Glacier, Colorado, copyright deposit, January 31, 1921.

Isabella Glacier, Colorado, copyright deposit, January 31, 1921..

Fair Glacier from the rim of Hell Canyon, copyright deposit, January 31, 1921.

 

It was on this day in 1921 that the Carroll A. Deering was found, wrecked. We noted this story on the day it was last in communication with anyone.

As an interesting aside, apparently the ship's cat was rescued and then released.  It was a six toed cat, and soon thereafter, six toed cats started to make their appearance in the area.

Regular air mail service commenced in New Zealand.