Sunday, August 7, 2011

Monday, August 7, 1911. The Maneuver Division disbanded.

Troops of the Maneuver Division building barracks, Fort Sam Houston, 1911.

The U.S. Army's Maneuver Division, consisting of  sixteen thousand troops sent to Texas for "war games" in April 1911, but really posted there due to the Mexican Revolution, was disbanded and the troops sent back to other billets.

A measure to censure Prime Minister H. H. Asquith failed to pass in the House of Commons.  It had passed the House of Lords, which was understandable, as the effort was due to his effort, backed by a secret pledge from King George V, to swamp the House of Lords with hundreds of new Liberal peers to force passage of the Parliament Bill.

Last edition:

Sunday, August 6, 1911. New President in Haiti.

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Sunday, August 6, 1911. New President in Haiti.

General Cincinnatus Leconte was proclaimed as President of Haiti.

General Anténor Firmin had also led an attack on the capital, but he did not obtain the office.

President François C. Antoine Simon was deposed.  He'd outlive his successor.

Lucille Désirée Ball was born.

Ball was an interesting character, although I've never been a fan of her acting or comedy.  She was actually a registered member of the Communist Party in 1936, switching to be a Democrat by the 1940s.  She managed to live it down and not suffer as a result during the McCarthy Era.

I'm sure that Mike Johnson will be railing against her soon.

Last edition:

Thursday, August 3, 1911. Arbitration and tension in Morelos.

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Thursday, August 3, 1911. Arbitration and tension in Morelos.

The United States signed arbitration treaties the United Kingdom and France in separate ceremonies at the White House.

The treaties would be amended beyond recognition by the Senate.

Still, it's interesting that hey were done. Today, Trump would go into a long twitter post about the wonderful thing about Tiggers, refuse to ponder them, and put tariffs on Andora.

In Morelos rebels were refusing to disarm even though Madero was urging them too.  Gobernación licenciado Emilio Vázquez Gómez asked for revolutionary troops to be sent to the region, which Madero had suggested, to calm the situation, received no answer from the provisional government. He resigned as minister of gobernación on this day and was replaced in that position by an hacendado, Alberto García Granados.

Cigarette advertisement in the August 3, 2026 Life magazine.  Cigarettes were considered effeminate at the time and this brand clearly marketed to women with the age old smoking is glamorous angle.

Last edition:

Wednesday, August 2, 1911. Revolutions and a legal pioneer.

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Wednesday, August 2, 1911. Revolutions and a legal pioneer.

Haitian President François C. Antoine Simon fled from his palace at Port-au-Prince as rebels approached, and took refuge on the Haitian cruiser 17 Decembre.  He would go into exile the next day.

Arabella Mansfield, the first female lawyer in the United States, died at age 65.

Zapata signed a protest against the de la Barra regime previously signed by revolutionary generals.

Last edition:

Tuesday, August 1, 1911. First "licensed" female American pilot.

Monday, August 1, 2011

Tuesday, August 1, 1911. First "licensed" female American pilot.

Harriet Quimby became the first American woman to receive an airplane pilot's license, although that meant something significantly different at the time as the government did not issue them and you did not require one to fly an airplane. 


She was killed in an airplane accident the following year at age 37.

Last edition:

Monday, July 31, 1911. End if the Porfirian legislature and of Standard Oil. Complaining Russians and Germans. First Black Boy Scouts.


Sunday, July 31, 2011

Monday, July 31, 1911. End if the Porfirian legislature and of Standard Oil. Complaining Russians and Germans. First Black Boy Scouts.

The pre revolution Mexican legislature went out of session.  A new legislature was slated to be elected and convene in September.


Standard Oil announced its break up plan with November to be the date the company would become multiple companies.

Oh for the days the Government actually enforced the Sherman Anti Trust Act.  Looking at you Apple.

General Motors became the first automobile company to list its stock for sale on the New York Stock Exchange.


North Carolina saw the formation of the Elizabeth City Troop, the first chartered black Boy Scouts troop.  It wasn't the absolute first, as an unchartered one, which would later be chartered, had been formed in Brooklyn in August, 1910.

Russia's ambassador to Persia demanded the resignation of Treasurer General W. Morgan Shuster.  Shuster was an American businessman who had been hired by the Iranian parliament to manage the nation's finances. Germany made a similar demand the following day.

The British weren't very keen on Shuster either.

Akron Ohio, July 31, 1911.

Brady Lake, Ohio. July 31, 1911.

Last edition:

Saturday, July 29, 1911. Trade reciprocity dissolves the Canadian parliament.

Friday, July 29, 2011

Saturday, July 29, 1911. Trade reciprocity dissolves the Canadian parliament.

The Canadian Parliament dissolved over ratification of a trade reciprocity treaty, which the US had ratified but Canada had not.

I wonder what my great grandfather and great grandfather thought of the matter?

An election was called for September 21.

The Persian government put a price of $100,000 on the head of the former Shah who was now attempting to regain his thrown with the backing of Russia, and the opposition of the United Kingdom.

Ricardo Flores Magón argued in an op ed in Regeneración that the liberal/anarchist movement was not a personal political cult in order to distance the struggle of the now defeated Magonistas from individual leaders like Francisco I. Madero.  Infighting was setting in.

Given that, it's not surprising that the U.S. Army remained encamped on the Mexican border.

Camp of 2nd Prov. Regt., Ft. Crockett, Galveston, Tex. July 29, 1911.

The frightening industry of the day carried forward.

Concrete mixing plant,  Kachess Dam, Inlet Channel, Kachess River, 1.5 miles north of Interstate 90, Easton, Kittitas County, WA

Last edition:

Friday, July 28, 1911. War ending as other prepare for war.


Thursday, July 28, 2011

Friday, July 28, 1911. War ending as other prepare for war.

Government troops defeated Haitian rebels at Les Cayes.

The Australasian Antarctic Expedition departed London aboard the SY Aurora.

Gen. Joseph Joffre was made the Chief of the General Staff of the Army of France, the first person to hold that position..

Canadian Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier announced a plan of cooperation between the Canadian, British, Australian and New Zealander navies.

Last edition:

Thursday, July 27, 1911. Ordered to ride.

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Thursday, July 27, 1911. Ordered to ride.

French Minister of Defense Adolphe Messimy ordered that any officer who was "unable to ride a horse" to retire.  The order was given as a way to force the retirement of elderly officers, but ws not really unprecedented.  Theodore Roosevelt had issued a similar order, requiring a long ride, when he was President of the United States.

The French order was not in effect long as it was regarded as impractical.

Omar Bradley received notice that he'd been accepted to West Point.


Last edition:

Monday, July 24, 1911. Hiram Bingham at Machu Picchu.


Sunday, July 24, 2011

Monday, July 24, 1911. Hiram Bingham at Machu Picchu.

American archaeologist Hiram Bingham III rediscovered the ruins of Machu Picchu.

Martial law was proclaimed in Tehran while the HMS Fox captured two ships in the Persian Gulf carrying weapons for an attempted dynastic revolution backed by Russia.

Baseball's first all star game was held in Cleveland.

Last edition:

Sunday, July 23, 1911. The passing of Scotty Philip.

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Sunday, July 23, 1911. The passing of Scotty Philip.


Scottish born South Dakota rancher James "Scotty" Philip died at age 53.  He is remembered for his personal pioneering efforts to save the Bison from extinction, his own heard having grown from five to over 1,000 by the time of his death.

Philip was a member of South Dakota's legislature.

The Jebtsundamba Khutuktu, spiritual head of Mongol Buddhists, sought help from the Russians in separating Mongolia from the Chinese Empire, the latter of which was itself just about to collapse.

Last edition:

Saturday, June 24, 1911. Zapata in Mexico City.

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

The Old Homesteads




I went to a ash spreading (i.e., a type of funeral really) out at an old homestead the other day. By 4x4, it was a long way out. Long, long way, or so it felt. I learned while there that the original homestead had first been filed and occupied in 1917, a big year for homesteading.

It was a very interesting place, and felt very isolated. In visiting about that with my father in law, however, he noted that there had been another homestead just over the hill. And, as I've likely noted here before, there were tiny homesteads all over at that time. It was isolated, but sort of locally isolated. There were, as there were with most of these outfits, another homestead just a few hours ride away, at most, if that.

That is not to say that they weren't way out. I'd guess that this place was at least a full days ride from the nearest town at that time. Even when cars were commonly owned, and they were coming in just about that time, it would have taken the better part of a day to get to town, or a town (there were a couple of very small, but viable towns, about equal distance to this place at that time). It's interesting how agricultural units everywhere in North American have become bigger over time, even if they are all closer now, in terms of time, to a city or town.

Monday, July 18, 2011

Tuesday, July 18, 1911. Premier game of the Wyoming State Penitentiary All Stars

 


New warden Felix Alston organized the team following his appointment to the position in 1911. He chose  George Saban, convicted murderer from the Spring Creek raid, to be head coach and team captain due to their friendship.  The only team they played against was the Rawlins Juniors, which they played four times in 1911. They won all four games.

The team was comprised for the following members:

Coach: Saban, George.  Convicted of murder, he escaped and disappeared from history in December, 1913.

Cameron, Thomas Convicted of Sexual assault, his sentence expired in June 1912.

Pendergraft, Harry A.  Convicted of Larceny , he was granted parole in Jan 1912

C, RF:  Powell, James.  He had been convicted of rape.  Powell was black.  This was an integrated team.

1B: Rowan, Eugene.  He had been convicted of rape, and breaking and entering.  He was granted parole in Nov 1913.  Rowan was also an African American.

2B: Fitzgerald, Frank.  Breaking and entering.  His sentence expired in Dec 1911

SS: Guzzardo, Joe.  Manslaughter.  He was pardoned in July 1912.  Guzzardo had killed a woman in 1908 while shooting at a man who was threatening his life.

3B: Crottie, John.  Grand larceny. He was released in Nov 1911

LF: Carman, Ora.  Grand larceny.  He completed his sentence in Sept 1911.

LF: Stone, Earl.  Breaking and entering.  He completed his sentence in Sept 1911.

CF: Potter, Sidney.  Forgery.  He completed his sentence in June 1912.

RF, C, SS:  Seng, Joseph.  First-degree murder. He was hanged in May 1912

Their August 29, 1911 game was their last.

Contrary to a myth about the team, they were not all on "death row", and indeed only one of the men, Joseph Seng, was. Seng had killed his supervisor after he was fired from his job as a watchman in Evanston.  He was the first man to be executed at the Wyoming State Penitentiary.

Russian backed and equipped deposed Shah of Persia Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar landed at the Caspian Sea port of Astarabad with an army in an attempt to regain the throne that he had lost in 1909.

Last edition:

Saturday, July 15, 1911. Unreasonable demands.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Thursday, July 13, 1911. Edward, the Prince of Wales. The Third Anglo-Japanese Agreement of Alliance.

The Third Anglo-Japanese Agreement of Alliance was signed by the United Kingdom and Japan, which was somewhat of a British protégé, extending the date of the alliance from 1915 to 1921.

Prince Edward was invested as the Prince of Wales, in Wales, the first time since 1616 that the ceremony had occurred there.

The title is an ancient one which originated with the Welsh  rulers of Gwynedd to signal their claim to superiority over other Welsh princes. They began to use it in the 12th Century.  Edward I of England co opted it for his son Edward of Caernarfon where the use of it, sometimes challenged, for the future King of England started.

Edward I investing his son Edward of Caernarvon (the later King Edward II), as the prince of Wales, 1301.

The whole thing, while symbolic, and brought about as David Lloyd George, was Welsh, was unfortunate in some was, given Edward's later history.

Last edition:

Wednesday, July 12, 1911. Stealing second, third, and home.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Wednesday, July 12, 1911. Stealing second, third, and home.

Ty Cobb stole second, third, and home on three consecutive pitches by Harry Krause of the Philadelphia Athletics.

Au Sable, Michigan was destroyed by a forest fire in day two of horrific forest fires occurring in Michigan.

Last edition:

Sunday, July 9, 1911. Partido Constitucional Progresista

Saturday, July 9, 2011

Sunday, July 9, 1911. Partido Constitucional Progresista

Francisco I. Madero issued a manifesto changing the name of his movement the Progressive Constitutionalist Party (Partido Constitucional Progresista).

France and Germany agreed to negotiate an end to the Agadir Crisis.


Last edition:

Saturday, July 8, 1911. Aspinwall rides into New York.