Friday, February 15, 1924. Gun fire and back pay.

U.S. Marines landed at Ampala, Honduras, during the Honduran Civil War.

U.S. Senator Frank L. Greene was wounded by a stray bullet when he was walking on Pennsylvanian Avenue in Washington, D. C.  The shot had been fired in a shootout between bootleggers and Federal agents.  He never fully recovered.

The jury in Joe Jackson's case against the White Sox awarded him $16,000 in back pay.   The Judge, however, decreed that the award was based on perjured testimony and set the verdict aside.  Jackson nonetheless felt himself vindicated.

German emergency powers, which had existed since December 8, lapsed, returning the government to its normal procedures.

Wednesday, February 13, 1924. When We Were Very Young and corruption.

Winnie the Pooh debuted as Mr. Edward Bear in the pages of Punch. The work was When We Were Very Young.

Congress decided to try to regulate the employment of very young labor.

H. J. Res. 184, A Bill to Limit, Regulate, and Prohibit the Labor of Persons Under Eighteen Years of Age, 2/13/1924

And this in the form of a Constitutional Amendment called the Child Labor Amendment.

It would pass Congress, but it failed to secure the necessary state ratification.  Most of its provisions were later incorporated into law in any event.  It'd likely be regarded as obsolete today, and the fact that the same provisions were adopted by law provides a lesson to later day supporters of the moribund ERA.  Having said that, recent runs at child labor by some members of the GOP provide a bit of a lesson as well.

1924  Police corruption in Casper.

German nationalist attacked the headquarters of Rhineland separatists in Pimassens. Thirty-six  people were killed in the event.

Emblem of the British Fascisti.  Note the call to traditionalism, patriotism, and religion. By MrPenguin20 - Own work. Based on emblem visible here., CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=36730872

British fascists met at the Hotel Cecil in London.

Felsch in 1919.

Former Chicago White House outfielder Oscar "Happy" Felsch was arrested for perjury, following his prior day's testimony in Shoeless Joe Jackson's back wages trial.  White Sox lawyers in the intervening 24 hours produced letters that contradicted Felsch's testimony.

Wednesday January 31, 1924. Teapot Dome drama continues, Shoeless Joe testifies.

More drama over Teapot Dome.  The U.S. Senate declared that eases to the Mammoth Oil Company and the Pan American Petroleum Company "were executed under circumstances indicating fraud and corruption".

Speaking of a fraud; the first Soviet Constitution was approved.  It'd be amended six times before being replaced with a new constitution in 1936.  It stated:

The Russian Socialist Federal Soviet Republic, the Socialist Soviet Republic of Ukraine, the Socialist Soviet Republic of White Russia, and the Socialist Soviet Republic of Transcaucasia (including the Socialist Soviet Republic of Azerbaijan, the Socialist Soviet Republic of Georgia, and the Socialist Soviet Republic of Armenia) –unite themselves in one federal State–“The Union of Socialist Soviet Republics.” [Amended April 18, 1925, “so as to include the Socialist Republic of Turkmenia and the Uzbek Socialist Republic.”]

Chapter I. Attributions of the Supreme Organs of Power of the Union

ARTICLE 1. The Union of Socialist Soviet Republics through its supreme organs has the following powers:

(a) To represent the Union in its international relations; to conclude all diplomatic relations; to conclude treaties, political and otherwise, with other States;

(b) To modify the exterior frontiers of the Union, as well as to regulate questions concerning the modification of frontiers between the member Republics;

(c) To conclude treaties concerning the reception of new Republics into the Union;

(d) To declare war and to conclude peace;

(e) To conclude internal and external loans of the Union and to authorize internal and external loans of the member Republics;

(f) To ratify international treaties;

(g) To direct commerce with foreign countries and to determine the system of internal commerce;

(h) To establish the bases and the general plan of all national economy of the Union; to define the domains of industry and industrial enterprises that are of federal interest; to conclude treaties of concession both federal and in the name of the member Republics;

(i) To direct transportation and the postal and telegraphic services;

(j) To organize and direct the armed forces of the Union;

(k) To approve the budget of the Federal State which includes the budgets of the member Republics; to establish duties and federal revenues, making additions and reductions in order to balance the member Republics’ budgets; to authorize duties and supplementary taxes to meet the member Republics’ budgets;

(l) To establish a uniform system of money and credit;

(m) To establish general principles of exploitation and use of the earth, as well as those of the subsoil, the forests, and the waters of the territories of the Union;

(n) To establish federal legislation on the emigration from the territory of one of the Republics to the territory of another and to set up a fund for such emigration;

(o) To establish principles of the judicial organization and procedure, as well as civil and criminal legislation for the Union;

(p) To establish the fundamental laws regarding work;

(q) To establish the general principles regarding public instruction;

(r) To establish the general measures regarding public hygiene;

(s) To establish a standard system of weights and measures;

(t) To organize federal statistics;

(u) To fix the fundamental legislation regarding federal nationality, with reference to the rights of foreigners;

(v) To exercise the right of amnesty in all territories of the Union;

(w) To abrogate the acts of the Congresses of the Soviets and the Central Executive Committees of the member Republics contrary to the present Constitution;

(x) To arbitrate litigious questions between the member Republics.

ARTICLE 2. The approval and modification of the fundamental principles of the present Constitution belong exclusively to the Congress of Soviets of the Union of Socialist Soviet Republics.

Chapter II. Sovereign Rights of the Member Republics

ARTICLE 3. The Sovereignty of the member Republics is limited only in the matters indicated in the present Constitution, as coming within the competence of the Union. Outside of those limits, each member Republic exerts its public powers independently; the USSR protects the rights of member Republics.

ARTICLE 4. Each one of the member Republics retains the right to freely withdraw from the union.

ARTICLE 5. The member Republics will make changes in their Constitutions to conform with the present Constitution.

ARTICLE 6. The territory of the member Republics cannot be modified without their consent; also, any limitation or modification or suppression of Article 4 must have the approval of all the member Republics of the Union.

ARTICLE 7. Just one federal nationality is established for the citizens of the member Republics.

Chapter III. Congress of Soviets of the Union

ARTICLE 8. The supreme organ of power of the USSR is the Congress of Soviets, and, in the recesses of the Congress of Soviets–the Central Executive Committee of the USSR which is composed of the Federal Soviet and the Soviet of Nationalities.

ARTICLE 9. The Congress of Soviets of the USSR is composed of representatives of the urban Soviets and of the Soviets of the urban type, on the basis of one deputy per 25,000 electors, and of representatives of the Congresses of Soviets of the rural districts on the basis of one deputy per 125,000 inhabitants.

ARTICLE 10. The delegates to the Congress of the Soviets of the USSR are elected in the Congresses of Soviets of the rural and urban governments. In the Republics where there does not exist a rural division, the delegates are elected directly to the Congress of Soviets of the respective Republic.

ARTICLE 11. Regular sessions of the Congress of the Soviets of the USSR are convoked by the Central Executive Committee of the Union once yearly; extraordinary sessions may be convoked on decision of the CEC (Central Executive Committee), or on the demand of the Federal Soviet, or of the Soviet of Nationalities, or on the demand of two member Republics.

ARTICLE 12. In cases where extraordinary circumstances interfere with the meeting of the Congress of Soviets of the USSR on the date set, the CEC of the Union has the power to adjourn the meeting of Congress.

Chapter IV. The Central Executive Committee of the Union

ARTICLE 13. The Central Executive Committee (CEC) of the USSR is composed of the Federal Soviet and the Soviet of Nationalities.

ARTICLE 14. The Congress of Soviets of the USSR elects the Federal Soviet from among the representatives of the member Republics in proportion to the population of each one to make a grand total of 371 members.

ARTICLE 15. The Soviet of Nationalities is composed of representatives of the member Republics and associated autonomous Republics of the RSFSR on the basis of five representatives for each member Republic, and one representative for each associated autonomous Republic. The composition of the Soviet of Nationalities in its entirety is approved by the Congress of the USSR.

(The autonomous Republics of Adzharia, and Abkhazia and the autonomous region of Ossetia, each send a representative to the Soviet of Nationalities.)

ARTICLE 16. The Federal Soviet and the Soviet of Nationalities examine all decrees, codes, and acts that are presented to them by the Presidium of the CEC and by the Council of People’s Commissars of the USSR, by the different Commissions of the People of the Union, by the CEC of the member Republics, as well as those that owe their origin to the Federal Soviet and the Soviet of Nationalities.

ARTICLE 17. The CEC of the Union publishes the codes, decrees, acts, and ordinances; orders the work of legislation and administration of the USSR, and -defines the sphere of activity of the Presidium of the CEC and of the Council of People’s Commissars of the USSR

ARTICLE 18. All decrees and acts defining the general rules of the political and economic life of the USSR, or making radical modifications in the existing practices of public organs of the USSR must obligatorily be submitted for examination and approval to the CEC of the USSR

ARTICLE 19. All decrees, acts, and ordinances promulgated by the CEC must be immediately put into force throughout all the territory of the USSR

ARTICLE 20. The CEC of the USSR has the right to suspend or abrogate the decrees, acts, and orders of the Presidium of the CEC of the USSR, as well as those of the Congress of Soviets and of the CEC of the Member Republics, and all other organs of power throughout the territory of the USSR

ARTICLE 21. The ordinary sessions of the CEC of the USSR are convoked by the Presidium of the CEC three times yearly. The extraordinary sessions are convoked by the Presidium of the CEC of the USSR on the demand of the Presidium of the Federal Soviet of the Presidium of the Soviet nationalities, and also on demand of one of the CEC of the member Republics.

ARTICLE 22. The projects of law submitted for examination to the CEC of the USSR do not have the force of law until adopted by the Federal Soviet and by the Soviet of Nationalities; they are published in the name of the CEC of the USSR

ARTICLE 23. In case of disagreement between the Federal Soviet and the Soviet of Nationalities, the question is transmitted to a compromise committee chosen by the two of them.

ARTICLE 24. If an accord is not reached by the compromise committee, the question is transferred for examination to a joint meeting of the Federal Soviet and the Soviet of Nationalities; and, if neither the Federal Soviet nor the Soviet of Nationalities get a majority, then the question may be submitted, on the demand of one of these organs to the decision of an ordinary or extraordinary Congress of the USSR

ARTICLE 25. The Federal Soviet and the Soviet of Nationalities elect for the preparation of their sessions and the direction of their work- -their Presidiums, composed of seven members each.

ARTICLE 26. Between sessions of the CEC of the USSR, the supreme organ of power is the Presidium of the USSR, constituted by the CEC to the extent of 21 members, including the Presidium of the Federal Soviet and the Presidium of the Soviet of Nationalities.

To form the Presidium of the CEC and the Council of People’s Commissars of the USSR, conforming to Articles 26 and 37 of the present Constitution, joint sessions of the Federal Soviet and of the Soviet of Nationalities are convoked. In the joint session of the Federal Soviet and the Soviet of Nationalities, the vote is taken separately within each group.

ARTICLE 27. The CEC elects, in accordance with the number of member Republics, 4 Presidents of the CEC of the USSR from among the members of the Presidium of the CEC of the USSR

ARTICLE 28. The CEC of the USSR is responsible before the Congress of Soviets of the USSR

Chapter V. The Presidium of the CEC of the Union

ARTICLE 29. Between sessions of the CEC of the USSR, the Presidium of the CEC of the USSR is the supreme organ of legislative, executive, and administrative power of the USSR

ARTICLE 30. The Presidium of the CEC of the USSR oversees the enforcement of the Constitution of the USSR and the execution of all decisions of the Congress of Soviets and the CEC of the USSR by all the public agents.

ARTICLE 31. The Presidium of the CEC of the USSR has the right to suspend and abrogate the orders of the Council of People’s Commissars and of the different Councils of the People of the Union of the S. S. R. as well as those of the CEC and CPC (Councils of People’s Commissars) of the member Republics.

ARTICLE 32. The Presidium of the CEC of the USSR has the right to suspend the acts of the Congresses of Soviets of the member Republics submitting afterwards these acts for the examination and approval of the CEC of the USSR

ARTICLE 33. The Presidium of the CEC of the USSR promulgates the decrees, acts, and orders; examines and approves the projects of decrees and acts deposited by the CPC, by the different authorities of the USSR, by the CEC of the member Republics, by their Presidiums and by other organs of power.

ARTICLE 34. The decrees and decisions of the CEC, of its Presidium, and the CPC of the USSR are printed in the languages generally employed in the member Republics: Russian, Ukrainian, White Russian, Georgian, Armenian, Turko-Tartar.

ARTICLE 35. The Presidium of the CEC of the USSR decides questions regarding the relationships between the CPC of the USSR and the People’s Commissars of the USSR, for one part and the CEC of the member Republics and their Presidiums, for the second part.

ARTICLE 36. The Presidium of the CEC of the USSR is responsible before the CEC of the USSR

Chapter VI. Council of People’s Commissars of the Union

ARTICLE 37. The Council of People’s Commissars (CPC) of the USSR is the executive and administrative organ of the CEC of the USSR and is constituted by the CEC as follows:

(a) The President of the Council of People’s Commissars of the USSR,

(b) The Vice- Presidents, (c) The Commissioner of the People for Foreign Affairs,

(d) The Commissioner of the People for Military and Naval Affairs,

(e) The Commissioner of the People for Foreign Commerce, (f) The Commissioner of the People for Ways of Communication,

(g) The Commissioner of the People for Postal and Telegraphic Service,

(h) The Commissioner of the People for the Inspection of Workers and Peasants,

(i) The President of the Supreme Council of National Economy,

(j) The Commissioner of the People for Labor,

(k) The Commissioner of the People for Finances

(l) The Commissioner of the People for Supplies.

ARTICLE 38. The Council of People’s Commissars of the USSR, in the limits of the powers granted to it by the CEC of the USSR and on the basis of rules regulating the CPC of the USSR, publishes the decrees and decisions that must become effective throughout the territory of the USSR

ARTICLE 39. The CPC of the USSR examines the decrees and decisions given it by the various Commissions of the People as well as those from the CEC of the member Republics and by their Presidiums.

ARTICLE 40. The CPC of the USSR is responsible for all its work before the CEC of the USSR and before its Presidium.

ARTICLE 4 1. The orders and acts of the CPC of the USSR may be suspended and abrogated by the CEC of the USSR and by its Presidium.

ARTICLE 42. The Central Executive Committees of the member Republics and their Presidiums may object to the decrees and orders of the CPC of the USSR to the Presidium of the CEC of the USSR, without suspending the execution of these orders.

Chapter VII. The Supreme Court of the Union

ARTICLE 43. In order to maintain revolutionary legality within the territory of the USSR, a Supreme Court under the jurisdiction of the CEC of the USSR is established, competent:

(a) To give the Supreme Courts of the member Republics the authentic interpretations on questions of federal legislation;

(b) To examine, on the request of the Prosecutor of the Supreme Court of the USSR, the decrees, decisions, and verdicts of the Supreme Courts of the member Republics, with view of discovering any infraction of the federal laws, or harming the interests of other Republics, and if such be discovered to bring them before the CEC of the USSR

(c) To render decisions on the request of the CEC of the USSR, as to the constitutionality of laws passed by the member Republics;

(d) To settle legal disputes between the member Republics;

(e) To examine the accusations brought before it of high officials against whom charges have been made relative to their performance of duties.

ARTICLE 44. The Supreme Court performs its functions in the following manner:

(a) With a full attendance of the member judges of the Supreme Court of the USSR;

(b) Or, in a meeting of the Civil Judiciary College and the Criminal Judiciary College of the Supreme Court of the USSR;

(c) Or, in a meeting of the Military College.

ARTICLE 45. The Supreme Court of the USSR, in full session, is composed of 11 members, 6 including its President and Vice-President, the four Presidents of the Supreme Courts of the member Republics, and a representative of the Unified Political Administration of the State of the USSR, the President and the Vice-President and the other five members are named by the Presidium of the CEC of the USSR

ARTICLE 46. The Prosecutor of the Supreme Court of the USSR and his assistant are named by the Presidium of the CEC of the USSR The Prosecutor of the Supreme Court of the USSR is charged with the duties; (1) to give the decisions of all questions in the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of the USSR, (2) to prosecute the cases brought before the Court, (3) and, in cases of lack of agreement among the judges of the Supreme Court of the USSR, to bring these questions of dispute before the Presidium of the CEC of the S. S. R.

ARTICLE 47. The right to submit the questions referred to in Article 43 to the Supreme Court of the USSR for examination belongs exclusively to the CEC of the USSR, to its Presidium, to the Prosecutor of the Supreme Courts of the member Republics, and to the Unified Political Administration of the State of the USSR

ARTICLE 48. The regular sessions of the Supreme Court of the USSR constitute the special legal chambers to examine:

(a) The civil and criminal affairs of exceptional importance that are of interest to two or more member Republics;

(b) Personal charges against members of the CEC and the CPC of the USSR

A decision of the Supreme Court of the USSR to proceed to examine a case may take place only after special authority has been granted for each case by the CEC of the Union or its Presidium.

Chapter VIII. People’s Commissars of the Union

ARTICLE 49. For the immediate direction of the several branches of public administration, attributed to the CPC of the Union of the SSR, 10 People’s Commissars are created as mentioned in Article 37 of the Present Constitution and who act according to the regulations of the People’s Commissars approved by the CEC of the Union of the SSR

ARTICLE 50. The People’s Commissars of the USSR are divided into the following groups:

(a) People’s Commissars handling strictly federal matters of the USSR that are external in character;

(b) People’s Commissars handling matters that are purely domestic in character.

ARTICLE 51. The first group of Commissars handling matters external in character includes the following People’s Commissars:

(a) For Foreign Affairs

(b) For Military and Naval Affairs

(c) For Foreign Commerce

(d) For Ways of Communication

(e) For Postal and Telegraphic Service

ARTICLE 52. The second group handling matters that are strictly domestic in character includes the following People’s Commissars:

(a) The Council of National Economy

(b) For Supplies,

(c) For Labor

(d) For Finances,

(e) For the Inspection of Workers and Peasants.

ARTICLE 53. The People’s Commissars handling matters of purely external character have, in the various member Republics, their delegates directly subordinate to these Commissars.

ARTICLE 54. The People’s Commissars handling matters of domestic concern have, as executing organs in the various member Republics, the People’s Commissars of these Republics of similar title.

ARTICLE 55. The CPC of the USSR, including the individual Commissars, are the heads of the various departments mentioned.

ARTICLE 56. Under each Commissioner of the People, and under his presidency, is formed a college, of which the members are named by the CPC of the USSR

ARTICLE 57. The Commissioner of the People has the right to personally take decisions on all questions that come within the jurisdiction of his department, on advising the College of his department of his act. In case of disagreement on any decision of the Commissioner of the People, the College, or its members separately, may bring the dispute before the CPC of the USSR, without suspending the act of the Commissioner.

ARTICLE 58. The orders of the different People’s Commissars of the Union may be abrogated by the Presidium of the CEC and by the CPC of the USSR

ARTICLE 59. The orders of the People’s Commissars of the USSR may be suspended by the CEC or by the Presidiums of the CEC of the member Republic in case of evident incompatibility of these orders with the Federal Constitution, with federal legislation or with legislation of the member Republic. This suspension is immediately communicated by the CEC or by the Presidiums of the CEC of the member Republics to the CPC of the USSR and to the proper Commissioner of the People of the USSR

ARTICLE 60. The People’s Commissars of the USSR are responsible before the CPC, the CEC of the USSR and its Presidium.

Chapter IX. The Unified Political Administration of State

ARTICLE 61. In view of unifying the revolutionary efforts of the member Republics in their struggle against the political and economic counter-revolution, spying and banditry, there shall be created under the jurisdiction of the CPC of the USSR, a Unified Political Administration of State (GPU) of which the President shall be a consulting member of the CPC of the USSR

ARTICLE 62. The GPU of the USSR directs the activities of the local organs of GPU through its delegates under the jurisdiction of the CPC of the member Republics, acting in virtue of a special ruling sanctioned through legislative channels.

ARTICLE 63. The overseeing of acts of the GPU as to their legality shall be in charge of the Prosecutor of the Supreme Court of the USSR in virtue of a special ruling of the CEC of the USSR

Chapter X. The Member Republics

ARTICLE 64. Within the limits of the territory of each member Republic the supreme organ of power is the Congress of Soviets of the Republic, and in Congressional recesses, its Central Executive Committee.

ARTICLE 65. The relations between the supreme organs of power of the member Republics and the supreme organs of power of the USSR are established by the present Constitution.

ARTICLE 66. The CEC of the member Republics elect from among their own membership the Presidiums that in the recesses between sessions of the CEC are the Supreme organs of power.

ARTICLE 67. The CEC of the member Republics will form their executive organs–the Councils of People’s Commissars, as follows:

(a) The President of the Council of People’s Commissars,

(b) The Vice- Presidents.

(c) The President of the Supreme Council for National Economy,

(d) The Commissioner of the People for Agriculture, (e) The Commissioner of the People for Finances

(f) The Commissioner of the People for Supplies, (g) The Commissioner of the People for Labor

(h) The Commissioner of the People for the Interior, (i) The Commissioner of the People for Justice,

(j) The Commissioner of the People for the Inspection of the Workers and Peasants,

(k) The Commissioner of the People for Public Instruction, (l) The Commissioner of the People for Public Health

(m) The Commissioner of the People for Social Precaution, and in addition, and with a voice either consultative or deliberative, according to the decision of the CEC of the member Republics, Delegates of the People’s Commissars of the USSR for Foreign Affairs, for Military and Naval Affairs, for Foreign Commerce, for Ways of Communication, for Postal and Telegraphic Service.

ARTICLE 68. The Supreme Council of National Economy and the Commissars of Supplies, of Finances, of Labor, ‘of the Inspection of Workers and Peasants of the member Republics, while being subordinate to the CEC and CPC of the member Republics, will execute the orders of the CPC of the USSR

ARTICLE 69. The right of amnesty, as well as the right of pardon and the rehabilitation of citizens condemned by the judicial and administrative organs of the member Republics belongs to the CEC of these Republics.

Chapter XI. Arms, Flag and Capital of the Union

ARTICLE 70. The insignia of the State of the USSR is composed of a sickle and a hammer on an earthly globe, surrounded by sun rays and framed with wheat stalks, with an inscription in the six languages mentioned in Article 34: “Proletarians of all countries, unite!” Above the insignia, there shall be a five pointed star.

ARTICLE 71. The flag of the State of the USSR shall be in red or vermilion cloth with the arms of the Union.

ARTICLE 72. The Capital of the USSR is Moscow.

Joe Jackson called White Sox owner Charles Cominskey as a hostile witness in his trial for back wages.

Prussian state executioner Paul Spaethe, whose wife had died 24 days prior, lit 45 candles for the 45 people he had executed and then committed suicide.

Tuesday August 2, 1921. Scandalous baseball players, honest rum runners, and scandal free beauties.

The Chicago trial of the Black Sox ended with an acquittal.  Major League Baseball nonetheless judged the accused as sufficiently convicted it in its eyes and continued their lifetime ban from baseball.

On this Tuesday, this first week of August 1921, Riffian forces took Nadar and Selouane in Morocco.

The Spanish presence in Morocco was effectively collapsing.

Enrico Caruso, legendary opera singer, then age 48, died of peritonitis in Naples.

The U.S. Coast Guard seized the British schooner Henry L. Marshall twelve miles off of New Jersey, i.e., international waters, where it was found to hold, upon boarding, 12,000 cases of liquor.  The boat was one of several owned by the McCoy brothers who had turned to liquor smuggling with the advent of Prohibition.  Of them, William McCoy is the best remembered, with his refusal to cut what he was shipping leading to the phrase "the real McCoy".

Ironically, Daytona Beach based McCoy was a teetotaler.

McCoy's strategy relied upon his being in international waters.  His ship didn't run booze into Atlantic City itself, but rather transferred to smaller boats that came out to it.

Margaret Gorman, Miss Washington D. C. was photographed.

Gorman was regarded as a great beauty and would go on that year to be crowned Miss America.  She married a few years later and lived happily the rest of her life in Washington D.C, noting in later years that she'd become bored with her beauty pageant history.

September 28, 1920. Indicted.

On this day in 1920 the Black Sox scandal hit the Courts. 

In Korea, Ryu Gwansun, a female Korean protester, died from abuse and torture at the hands of the Japanese.

Ryu Gwansun (Yu Gwan-sun)

She remains a hero in Korea for her role in Korean independence.

September 27, 1920. Last Game for the Black Sox.

Chicago White Sox players "Shoeless Joe Jackson", Charles "Swede" Risberg and Buck Weaver played in their final professional major league baseball game of their career.

Joe Jackson.

The next day they were to be indicted due to the Black Sox Scandal.

Risburg, left and Weaver, right, during their trial.

Risburg, a shortstop, had received $15,000 for his role in fixing the World Series.  He played semi pro baseball for a decade and ended up owning a bar in his later years.  During his career he'd been spiked during a game and the injury never healed, resulting in the eventual amputation of his leg.  He remained a baseball fan throughout his life and died in California at age 81 in 1975.

Buck Weaver.

Weaver wasn't part of the scandal and fought, unsuccessfully, to be reinstated.  He was bitter about receiving the same penalty as the players who were guilty.  He successfully sued to receive his 1921 pay, but he never got back into professional baseball even though he tried for years to do so.  Often missed in his story, however, is that he knew that the fix was going on and, while not part of it, he didn't report it.

1919 White Sox.

Like other Black Sox team members, Weaver did play semi pro ball for years.  He remained in Chicago and also worked odd jobs to support a large extended family.  At one point he owned a series of six drug stores with his brother in law in Chicago and both men were offered partnerships in Walgreens, which they declined. All the stores were lost in the Great Depression.  Weaver died at age 65 in 1956 in Chicago.

Joe Jackson in 1919.

Often portrayed as a simple man, and he was indeed illiterate, Jackson twice refused the bribe money before another player threw the money on his hotel floor, after which he attempted to do what Weaver did not, get an audience with Cominsky, the team owner.  Cominsky refused to see him.  He was never present at any of the conspirators meetings and he played a good World Series.  Because of his illiteracy its difficult to tell what his view was of what was occuring, but it does seem to be likely that he knew the conspiracy was going on, and tried to do something about it, after which he may have refused to participate by playing a good Series.

Jackson and his wife Katie on their wedding day in 1908.

Jackson would manage and play in semi pro baseball for some time before moving to South Carolina where he and his wife ran a number of small businesses, including a dry cleaning shop, a barbecue restaurant and a liquor store.  He died of a heart attack at age 64 in 1951, making him the first of the Black Sox players to pass away.

On the same day some dignitaries from the French Army arrived in New York.

Major General Robert Lee Bullard and Marshal Marie Émile Fayolle at Fayolle's arrival at Governors Island, New York, September 27, 1920. 

October 9, 1919. The Reds Win A Tainted Series, Air Racers Already in State, and a Tragedy

Lefty Williams, the White Sox starting pitcher for the final game of the 1919 World Series. His performance was so bad that he was taken out of the game after one inning and replaced by Big Bill James, who was not in on the plot, but who performed badly all on his own.

And so it came to an end, at least for now.

The headlines seemed to say it all.  But as a win goes, it will forever be remembered as a false victory.  One obtained because certain members of the Red Sox not to win, but rather to accept money in payment for losing.

The loss was pathetic.  Rumors started nearly immediately that the game had been thrown and one noted sports reporter write a column that no World Series should ever be played again.

In less than a year, the cover of the plot would be off.

As the series ended, news of the air race started to dominate the local papers.  The speed of the new mode of transportation was evident. The race had just started and planes were already over Wyoming.

Airco DH-4

Not reported in these editions, one of the planes had gone down in Wyoming, killing the pilot.  It was the first fatal air crash in Wyoming's history.  It occurred when Lt. Edwin Wales DH-4 would go down in a snowstorm near Coad Peak (near Elk Mountain).  Specifically it went down over Oberg Pass.  His observer, Lt. William C. Goldsborough, survived the crash and walked into an area ranch for help.

Hard to discern in this photograph of the old rail bed of the Union Pacific, you can see Kenneday Peak, Pennock Mountain and Coad Peak.  The pilots had been following the Union Pacific and were diverting to what looks like low ground to the right, Oberg Pass.

Oberg Pass is the low ground between Pennock Mountain and Coad Peak.  In decent weather they would have been fine, but flying in 1919, in a snowstorm, they likely iced up right away. They no doubt knew they were in big trouble pretty quickly and the plane went down in rugged ground.

Elk Mountain as viewed from Shirley Basin.  This was to the north of the where they went down and they were trying to go to the south of the substantial peak.

This crash is often inaccurately noted as having occurred "west of Cheyenne".  It was "west" of Cheyenne, but west a long ways west of Cheyenne.  It was northwest of Laramie and the closest substantial town was that of Medicine Bow, if you consider Medicine Bow a substantial town.  The destination was Wolcott Junction, which doesn't have an airfield today.  Of course, the DH-4 didn't take much of a run way of any kind to land on.  Going through the pass would have shaved miles off the trip and avoided a big curve around the substantial Elk Mountain.

The Air Derby had already proved to be a fatal adventure, and it would continue to be so.  Lt. Goldsborough would carry on after recovering however, by which we mean carrying on in the Air Corps.  He lived until age 73 and retired to Redondo Beach, California.  He went to Hawaii with the Air Corps in 1923 and therefore was a very early aviator there.  

Not surprisingly, given the infancy of aviation, Goldsborough would go on to endure other incidents. As a Captain he ground looped a Boeing P-12 C in 1937. In 1938 he'd be involved in another airborne tragedy, as a Major, when he was the pilot of a plane that left Langley Field for a flight to Jacksonville Florida and weather conditions so obscured the ground that he could not land.  Both he and a civilian government employee passenger were forced to bail out of the aircraft as it ran out of gas. The passenger's parachute failed to open and he was killed.  The then Major Goldsborough successfully landed.  The incident ended up in a lawsuit against an insurance company.  He must have still been in the Air Corps when World War Two started, but at that point, I've lost track of him.  At age 46, and a Major, he would have then been a fairly senior officer.

October 8, 1919 The Sox Take Another, Aviators Take Off. And Wool.

On this day, the Sox won again, and with Cicotte pitching.

This caused real concern among the gamblers.  Prior to the series commencing the common thought that the Sox could win two Series games back to back simply by willing to do so, and now it appeared that was true. The Sox were back in the game and it looked like they might take the series.

As a result, Lefty Williams was visited by an enforcer of the gambler's that night and his family was threatened.  The order was that the Sox were to lose the next game.

While the Sox appeared to be rallying, news of the giant air race, with varied accounts as to the number of aircraft in it, started taking pride of place in the headlines.  The race had already been marred, however, by early loss of life.

Cities on the Lincoln Highway that had only recently hosted the Army Transcontinental Convoy now were getting set to look up and watch the air race.

And there was news of a woolen mill coming to the state, something that would well suit a state that, at that time, had millions of sheep.

The Gasoline Alley gang went golfing.

October 7, 1919. The White Sox Rally?

The Sox suddenly were back in the game on this October 7, 1919 game of the World Series.

Dicky Kerr was pitching again, the Sox's did well in a ten inning game.

On this same day, news hit the state of the impending start of a bit air race scheduled for this very week.  The race was sponsored by the Army Air Corps and was scheduled to commence on October 8.

In other news, the Germans, whom had been kept at first in the Baltic states by the Allies, but who had become very involved in the conflicts there, were being invited to leave.  And a terrible flood hit a small town in Colorado.

Cardinal Mercier continued his tour of Belgium, raising funds for the restoration of the Library at Leuven.  On this day, he spoke at Columbia.

In Czechoslovakia, the parliament was in session.

October 6, 1919 Reds Win Again, Red Summer Continues On

Cincinnati's Hod Eller.

The World Series resumed in Chicago after a day's delay due to rain.  By this time, additional gambling money had been distributed to the Chicago players in the plot.

In spite of that, both teams played well and the Reds won by only one hit.  Cincinnati's Hod Eller pitched so well that he achieved a record for the most batters struck out in a row that was not tied until 1966, and has not been surpassed.  Of course, the record is marred by the history of this Series.

The headlines were also full of news of race riots that were raging throughout much of the country. The Red Summer was continuing on into the fall.

And Woodrow Wilson was reporting to be recovering.

Secretary of Labor Wilson, no relation to the President, spoke at the opening day of a labor conference that had been called by the President.

Cardinal Mercier of Belgium was touring the United States.

Daylight savings ended on this day in 1919.

Saint Catherine Hotel, Avalon California.  October 6, 1919.

If Labor Day seems like the official end of American summer, perhaps the end of Daylight Savings Time feels like the hard set of American fall.  Perhaps that's what caused the Gasoline Alley gang to seek out drinks, even if only soft drinks were now in the offering due to Prohibition.

October 5, 1919. No World Series Update?

Nope.

The game was called due to rain.

Readers of morning papers would still find themselves reading about the World Series which, just like today, would have been the news of the prior day.  This was the era, of course, if evening and morning newspapers, with the evening ones, now that wire services existed, reporting on the news of that day.  Many readers of this paper, therefore, would have already read about the fourth game in yesterday's evening paper.

The Casper Herald was unusual for a Wyoming paper at the time in that their was a Sunday edition.  Most Wyoming papers took Sunday completely off.

Grim news continued to come from the Mexican border and appear on the front page, but for some reason now war with Mexico seemed a lot less likely than it had previously seemed. 

A sort of war, however, seemed to be raging in a lot of American cities.

And the President was reported to be improving.  The conspiracy of silence around his real condition had very much set in.

October 4, 1919. Sox down again.

Cicotte was pitching again, so the results were somewhat predictable.  Having said that, he pitched a better game than his first as he was determined not to look so bad as he had in the first.  Accordingly, for much of the game he played well, and then made a couple of amateur errors, on purpose, that threw the game.

This was showing that, to a degree, it was hard for good players to throw a game and have it look like it hadn't been thrown.

The headlines were otherwise full of strife and concern.  Labor riots and race riots continued to sweep the nation and labor problems were also getting into the headlines from the United Kingdom.

President Wilson seemed to be improving, however.

October 3, 1919. News on Wilson's condition breaks. White Sox win game three.

If you read about it today, you'll be left with the impression that the public was kept completely in the dark about President Wilson's condition.

But as you can see from headlines of the time, this simply wasn't the case.

The Cheyenne State Leader lead with Wilson's condition, although the World Series had pride of place as well.  Shocking news came out of Mexico as well in this morning edition newspaper.

By the end of the day on October 3, the papers were reporting Wilson's condition as "grave".  Grave meant, and everyone knew it, near death.

The Wyoming State Tribune reported on Wilson's troubling condition and baseball, but also noted that it had snowed 3" in Casper.

Indeed, his family had been summoned, which was usually done in anticipation of death.

Baseball and Wilson's condition were the big headlines, but a terrible train accident at Orin Junction had occurred as well.

And of course, a request for a visit by a major foreign dignitary had to be refused.

Even the morning papers hadn't been optimistic.

And all this was occurring in a week where the news was already tense.  The Versailles Treaty was in trouble in the Senate, and race riots were occurring in the South and Midwest.

Pennsylvania Avenue, October 3, 1919.

Baseball was also occurring, of course, and while we now know what was happening, people following the game, except for a few savvy reporters who were suspicious, did not.  Adding to the delusion that all was well, the White Sox beat the Reds on their home ground of Chicago in game three of the 1919 World Series.

Honest player, Dick Kerr.

Game 3 may be emblematic of how messed up the White Sox were as a team.  The game was pitched by rookie Dickie Kerr, who was not in the plot.  This contributed to the plot.  Adding to that, however, most of the plotters hadn't been paid and when you don't pay people in a plot, they loose their allegiance to it.  Kerr played a great game and even those in the plot played good ones.

A former baseball player, Bill Burns, who had some still unclear role in the plot, suffered due to the honest play and change of hearts, temporary though they may have been, in this game, as he bet all he had figuring the fix was in.  It left him broke, a fate he deserved.