Thursday, June 8, 2000

Friday, June 8, 1900. Boxers attack the racetrack.

Boxers burned the grandstand of the horse racing track at the country club for western diplomats in Beijing.  It unfortunately turned lethal when British horsemen at the track rode out to investigate and one drew a pistol and killed a Boxer, causing the Chinse government to surround the foreigners at the Peking Legation Quarter.

The War Department authorized the production of telescopic sights for rifles.  The rifle at the time was the Krag–Jørgensen rifle, which had proven unsatisfactory in comparison to the M93 Mauser used by Spain in the Spanish American War.

The sight consists of a telescope which is attached by means of brackets to the left side of the rifle. The front bracket is secured to the lower band by two screws, and the ring through which the telescope passes has a horizontal motion to provide for drift and windage. A ball-and-socket joint in this ring allows the telescope to be moved in any direction … The rear bracket is screwed to the side plate of the receiver, and the ring which holds the telescope has a vertical movement for changes of elevation.

Telescopes of three different powers are submitted for trial, viz. 8 diameters, 12 diameters, and 20 diameters. The medium power (12 diameters) gave the best results.

The telescope is of practically universal focus; that is, it does not require readjustment for different marksmen or for different ranges. The eye can be placed close to the eyepiece or several inches away without any apparent difference in the focus. Danger of being struck in the eye when the piece recoils can therefore be avoided.

The lenses are large and are held in place by having the metal of the tubes in which they are mounted spun over their outer edges. The telescope is light, but at the same time strong. The brackets for attaching the telescope to the rifle are strong and durable and there appears to be no tendency to jar loose.

The sight was tested by actual firings up to a range of 2,000 yards, each member of the board participating in the firings. As a result of this test, the board is of the opinion that the use of this telescopic sight appears to be of especial value in hazy or foggy weather and at long ranges. In either case the target can be seen with remarkable clearness, and the marksman can be absolutely sure that he is aiming at the proper object. This would be of especial importance to sharpshooters acting independently.

The ordinary sight is useful for accurate firing at a regular target up to about 2,000 yards; but it is impossible to see a man or even a small body of men clearly at that range unless projected against the sky or under other very favorable conditions. It is for this reason that volley firing is so largely resorted to at long ranges.

With a telescopic sight a man could be distinguished easily at 2,000 yards, even with an unfavorable background.

The board is of the opinion that this sight is suitable for use in the U.S. service, and recommends a number of them be purchased for trial by troops in the field. If found to be satisfactory, a sufficient number should be purchased to supply such a number of the sharpshooters of each organization as experience in the field shall indicate to be desirable.

Only seven scoped Krags were produced. Work was already commencing on a replacement for the Krag which would soon produce the M1903 Springfield, a rifle much more suitable for a scope, but which was not equipped with one for sniping purposes until World War One.

Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, June 8, 1900.

Last edition:

Thursday, June 7, 1900. Carrie Nation's first act.

Wednesday, June 7, 2000

Tuesday, June 6, 2000

Wednesday, June 6, 1900. A busy day in Washington.

President William McKinley signed into law the federal charter for the American Red Cross.

Congress  enacted a civil and judicial code for Alaska, set the capital at Juneau and created a territorial government.  It also approved the 1892 Agreement with the Comanche, Kiowa and Apache and funded the reinterment of 267 Southern soldiers from Northern grounds to a special section of the Arlington National Cemetery.

A lion dragged the Superintendent of Police in British East Africa out of a rail car while he was sleeping, killed him, and ate him.

Last edition:

Monday, June 4, 1900. Battle of Makahambus Hill.

Sunday, June 4, 2000

Monday, June 4, 1900. Battle of Makahambus Hill.

A U.S. on the Filipino occupied fort at Makahambus Hill resulted in an American defeat.

A small unit action by most standards, the skirmish is regarded as the first Filipino victory of the Philippine Insurrection.

Last edition:

Friday, June 1, 1900. Pretoria surrendered to the British.

Wednesday, May 31, 2000

Thursday, May 31, 1900. Marching into Beijing.

337 Western troops from the US, Italy, Japan and Russia arrived in Beijing. The entry was not opposed, but not welcome.

The governing body of the Free Church of Scotland voted 592 to 29, to unite with the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland creating the United Free Church of Scotland.

Last edition:

Sunday, May 27, 1900. The Vietnamese Martyrs.

Sunday, May 28, 2000

Monday, May 28, 1900. Annexing the Orange Free State.

The British Empire annexed the Orange Free State.

A total eclipse of the sun darkened a path that ran through Mexico and the southeastern United States and on to Spain.

Last edition:

Sunday, May 27, 1900. The Vietnamese Martyrs.

Saturday, May 27, 2000

Sunday, May 27, 1900. The Vietnamese Martyrs.

Pope Leo XIII beatified sixty-four Vietnamese Martyrs. The Vietnamese Martyrs, including 53 additional individuals later beatified, were canonized on June 19, 1988.

Last edition:

Saturday, May 26, 1900. Battle of Palonegro.

Friday, May 26, 2000

Thursday, May 25, 2000

Friday. May 25, 1900. The Lacey Act signed into law.

The Lacy Act was signed into law by President McKinley .  It made it a Federal offense to ship "wild animals and birds take in defiance of existing state laws" across state lines."

Last edition:

Thursday, May 24, 1900. A battleship to China.

Wednesday, May 24, 2000

Thursday, May 24, 1900. A battleship to China.

The USS Oregon arrived in China at Taku Forts to protect American citizens.

Pope Leo XIII canonized Jean-Baptiste de La Salle (1651–1719) and Rita of Cascia (1381–1457).  de la Salle was the founder of the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools and is the patron saint of teachers.Saint Rita of Cascia, the mother of two and the wife of an abusive husband is one of the patron saints for domestic problems.

Last edition:

Wednesday, May 23, 1900. Sgt. William Havey Carney.

Tuesday, May 23, 2000

Wednesday, May 23, 1900. Sgt. William Havey Carney.

 


African American Sgt. William Harvey Carney, 54th Massachusetts Colored Infantry, was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions on July 18, 1863.

While the first Medal of Honor was awarded to a black soldier in 1864, the 1863 action at the assault on Ft. Wagner, South Carolina, is the earliest date for which such an award was conferred on an African American.

The Associated Press was incorporated.

Last edition:

Tuesday, May 22, 1900. Player piano.

Monday, May 22, 2000

Tuesday, May 22, 1900. Player piano.

The first patent for a player piano was issued.

An explosion at the Cumnock Mining Company, near Sanford, North Carolina, killed 22 coal miners.

Last edition:

Monday, May 21, 1900. Ultimatum to the Empress Dowager

Sunday, May 21, 2000

Wednesday, May 17, 2000

Thursday, May 17, 1900. The Siege of Mafeking broken.

The Siege of Mafeking was broken.  It had started on October 13, 1899.

Robert Baden-Powell had lead the defense of the city.  He'd shortly thereafter form the Boy Scouts.

Chinese Christians were murdered at Kaolo.

The first copy of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum, came off the press.  The first run of 10,000 copies had been sold prior to publication.

Last edition:

Wednesday, May 16, 1900. Milk.

Tuesday, May 16, 2000

Wednesday, May 16, 1900. Milk.

Chicago's Chief Milk Inspector, Thomas Grady, announced plans to ban dangerous additives from milk, including the preservative formalin. 

"Formalin, the chemical used in milk preservatives, will kill a cat", he told reporters. "What will it do to a child?"

Prior to pasteurization milk posed significant health risks which have ironically been revived with the raw milk movement. 

Last edition:

Tuesday, May 1, 1900. Russian rumblings.

Monday, May 1, 2000

Tuesday, May 1, 1900. Russian rumblings.

The first mass protest of Russian workers occurred in Kharkov.

Over 200 miners were killed in the Scofield Mine disaster in Utah.

US military governance of Puerto Rico ended.

Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid issued an imperial edict for the construction of the Hejaz railway, to link Damascus to Mecca and Medina.

Last edition:

Monday, April 30, 1900. Casey Jones

Sunday, April 30, 2000

Monday, April 30, 1900. Casey Jones

Illinois Central Railroad engineer John Luther "Casey" Jones managed to slow a passenger train he was driving down sufficiently so that he was the only one killed in a collision with two stalled freight trains at Vaughan, Mississippi.

The event was memorialized in the Balled of Casey Jones.

From Uncle Mike:

April 30, 1900: The Legend of Casey Jones

President McKinley signed into law "An act to provide a government for the Territory of Hawaii" making citizens of Hawaii citizens of the United States.

Last edition:

Sunday, April 29, 1900. Robbing the Tipton train.

Saturday, April 29, 2000

Sunday, April 29, 1900. Robbing the Tipton train.

Harvey “Kid Curry” Logan, Ben “The Tall Texan” Kilpatrick and William Cruzan, all of The Wild Bunch, robbed the Union Pacific near Tipton, Wyoming.

This is not the more famous robbery that happened that same year in August.

Last edition:

Friday, April 27, 1900. Root: You've got to fight, for your right, to . . . .