November 1913

In November 1913 a German lieutenant in Alsace-Lorraine creates an international incident with some foolish words about the local population. A dictator clings to power in Mexico despite the best efforts of the Wilson Administration to get rid of him, while another dictator, this one in China, consolidates his power by eliminating the opposition party. The last shogun dies in Japan. In the United States, Tammany Hall takes a beating, but Democrats elsewhere do pretty well. Americans brace themselves for the income tax. A giant storm hits the Great Lakes. A small steamer makes the first complete transit of the Panama Canal, and former President Roosevelt prepares for a challenging journey of exploration in South America. There's a wedding in the White House. Army loses to upstart Notre Dame at West Point but beats Navy at the Polo Grounds. French aviators try to outdo each other in the air. Mohandas Gandhi is in South Africa taking the first steps on his career of protest, and Emmeline Pankhurst is in Connecticut speaking out for woman suffrage.

*****

 

German Soldiers Patrolling the Streets of Zabern

The population of the former French provinces of Alsace and Lorraine, lost to Germany in 1871 as a result of the Franco-Prussian War, remains predominantly French.  Early this month in the Alsatian city of Zabern (called Saverne by the French), Gunter von Forstner, a young lieutenant in a German army unit garrisoned there, lectured his troops on proper behavior toward the local population.  Using a derogatory term applied to French residents of the area, he told his men that they would not be disciplined, and might even be rewarded, if they were to react to provocations on the part of "Wackes" by killing them.  Perhaps intended only as a tasteless joke, his remarks have caused widespread anger and led to clashes between German troops and local civilians.

 The New Taxpayer

In the United States, the Underwood-Simmons Revenue Act took effect on November 1.  Named for Representative Oscar W. Underwood of Alabama, Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, and Senator Furnifold M. Simmons of North Carolina, Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, it makes significant reductions in tariff rates and imposes the nation's first income tax since the Civil War.  A federal tax of one percent is assessed on income in excess of $4,000 per year for married persons and $3,000 for single persons.  Higher rates are imposed on additional income, starting with an additional one percent on income in excess of $20,000 and reaching an additional six percent on income in excess of $500,000.  The tax for this year applies only to income received since March 1, the beginning of the first month after ratification of the Constitutional amendment authorizing an income tax.  There appears to be little resistance among the public to paying the tax, but as this cartoon illustrates there is some uncertainty as to how it is to be calculated and collected.  No doubt the Bureau of Internal Revenue will have more to say on the subject.

Congress Today and Tomorrow

The Sixty-third Congress, which has been in session since President Wilson summoned it in April, continued to meet through the month of November.  By Constitutional command, its regular session will begin on the first day of December.  The special session ended without a Senate vote on the currency bill, which will be at the top of that chamber's agenda in the new session.  On November 22, the Senate Finance Committee reported the House bill without recommendation, and members of the committee from each party submitted rival proposals for the Senate's consideration.  Next in line after the currency legislation are various proposals designed to strengthen the antitrust laws.

Mayor-elect Mitchel and His Wife En Route to Jamaica for a Post-election Holiday

John Purroy Mitchel was elected mayor of New York City on November 4 in a decisive victory over the Tammany-backed Democratic candidate, Edward McCall.  The nominee of the reform Fusion Committee, Mitchel led a state-wide electoral repudiation of Tammany Hall, including election of a Republican majority in the New York State Assembly.  Recently impeached Governor William Sulzer, who ran afoul of Tammany shortly after taking office, was elected to the Assembly, where he will represent the Sixth Assembly District on Manhattan's lower east side.  Elsewhere in the United States, the off-year elections represented a strong endorsement of President Woodrow Wilson and his party.  Among the Democratic victories were those of Blair Lee, elected to the United States Senate from Maryland, and David Walsh and James Fielder, elected governors of Massachusetts and New Jersey respectively.

A Storm Wave Crashes Ashore in Chicago

The worst storm to strike the Great Lakes in recorded history raged from November 7 through November 10.  At least eight ore carriers were sunk and the eventual death toll is likely to be in the hundreds.

 Dredging the Culebra Cut

A small steamer made the first complete transit of the Panama Canal on November 17.  Meanwhile, dredges in the Culebra Cut are removing the debris of slides from the adjoining hillsides to enable navigation by deep-draught vessels.  As the opening of the Canal to international traffic draws near, attention focuses on the continuing tolls controversy with Great Britain and on the Pan-Pacific Exposition planned for 1915 in San Francisco.  Great Britain and Germany have so far declined to participate in the exposition, but now it appears that Germany's position may be about to change.  Meetings of the parties represented in the Reichstag voted at the end of the month to support an appropriation of $500,000 for a building at the Exposition to be known as "Deutsches Haus."  The vote ensures the passage of the appropriation when the Reichstag meets, and official government approval is expected to follow.

John Lind

Panama Canal tolls are not the only subject regarding Latin America on which Great Britain and the United States have had different views.  Britain looks to Mexico as an important source of oil, and is eager to maintain cordial relations with the government in power.  The British government has recognized the Huerta regime, and British investment in Mexico has provided the Huerta regime with important financial support.  United States Ambassador Henry Lane Wilson, who urged recognition of Huerta and may even have been involved in Huerta's coup d'etat in February, was recalled from Mexico last month and removed from his post.  To avoid implied recognition of the Huerta government, President Wilson has not named a replacement ambassador, but has sent former Minnesota Governor John Lind to Mexico as his personal representative.  Lind met with Huerta in Mexico City on November 7, but returned to Veracruz on November 12 after failing to persuade Huerta to relinquish power.  Meanwhile William Bayard Hale, another personal representative of the American president, met in Nogales with Venustiano Carranza, the leader of the "Constitutionalists," the most formidable revolutionary force opposing Huerta, to discuss lifting the American arms embargo to put additional military pressure on Huerta.  Even Great Britain's support of Huerta may be weakening.  On November 14, the British ambassador Sir Lionel Carden called on Huerta and reportedly urged him to accede to the United States' position.  As the month drew to a close, the military challenge to Huerta's rule continued, with rebels under Pancho Villa throwing back a federal attempt to reoccupy Juarez and Carranza's rebels advancing on the port city of Tampico.  A third rebel force under Emiliano Zapata controls large parts of southern Mexico.  Despite the increasing pressure to yield, Huerta appears to have no intention of surrendering power voluntarily.

Roosevelt in Santiago

Since arriving in Brazil last month, former President Roosevelt has toured South America, making speeches in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Montevideo, Uruguay; Buenos Aires, Argentina; and Santiago, Chile.  Sidestepping the issue of Mexican-American relations, he spoke more broadly of the proper application in the new century of the Monroe Doctrine, a sensitive subject throughout Latin America.  When he was president, Roosevelt announced a variation on the Doctrine that became known as the "Roosevelt Corollary," holding that the United States would not only protect American republics from European interference but would take it upon itself to guarantee their good behavior.  His speeches on this tour presented another variation: the Monroe Doctrine as a cooperative effort among all nations in the Americas.

The Colonel Returns to Brazil

Roosevelt ended his speaking tour in Chile, where on November 26 he bade farewell to his wife Edith and cousin Margaret in Valparaiso as they set sail for Panama on their voyage home.  Roosevelt then turned landward, traveling across the Andes to Argentina and Brazil, where he will begin his journey of exploration in the Amazon basin.  He has decided, rather than follow in the footsteps of others, to mount an expedition descending a previously unexplored and unmapped tributary of the Amazon, the appropriately named Rio da Duvida ("River of Doubt").

Notre Dame End Knute Rockne Scoring Against Army

On November 1 at West Point, a little known school from the Midwest defeated Army in football by a score of 35-13.  Notre Dame Quarterback Gus Dorais completed 14 of 17 passes to End Knute Rockne in the upset victory.

 Army and Navy Battling at the Polo Grounds

After its surprise loss to Notre Dame, the Army football team rebounded at the end of the month with a decisive victory over its traditional rival from Annapolis.  On November 29, Army triumphed over Navy by a score of 22-9.  Most Army-Navy games in recent years have been played at Franklin Field in Philadelphia, but this year the game was moved to the more spacious confines of New York City's Polo Grounds.

Perhaps the Army team was inspired by West Point's graduation song (Army's counterpart to Navy's "Anchors Aweigh"), recorded a few days earlier by the American Quartet (click to play):

"Army Blue"

*****

 The Bride and Groom

Jessie Wilson, President Wilson's second daughter, was married on November 25 to Francis B. Sayre.  The ceremony took place in the White House.  Mr. Sayre, a 1912 graduate of the Harvard Law School, has served as Assistant United States Attorney in New York and will begin work next year as assistant to Harry Garfield, the president of Williams College.

The Pennsylvania Station Shortly After It Opened in 1910

President Wilson traveled to New York City on November 28 to attend the theater that night and the Army-Navy game the next day.  He was accompanied by his daughter Jessie and her new husband, his youngest daughter Eleanor, his physician Doctor Cary Grayson, his secretary Joseph Tumulty, and others including several Secret Service agents.  His train arrived at the Pennsylvania Station at 6:18 p.m. and was met by a friendly crowd and a horde of photographers whose exploding flashlights seemed to annoy the president, resulting in their being rushed out of the station by the Secret Service agents.  The president was met by Colonel Edward M. House's automobile, which took him to the Colonel's home at 145 East 35th Street.  Colonel House recently visited England, where he conferred with Foreign Secretary Sir Edward Grey and other members of the British government.  He is planning a similar trip to Germany next year.  Although he holds no official position, Colonel House is a close friend and trusted adviser of the president.

Chevillard preparing for Take-off at Rue

The French aviator Maurice Chevillard put on an amazing show of acrobatics in the air at Rue, in the Somme Department of France, on November 7.  Performing in a strong 50 mile per hour wind, he did five "loop the loops," diving and swooping close to the admiring crowd each time.  Chevillard's performance was marked from beginning to end with Gallic insouciance.  After wheeling his machine from the hangar, he glanced at the overcast sky and the scudding clouds, shrugged his shoulders, tossed his cigarette away, climbed into the cockpit and sailed aloft.  After landing, he challenged his rival Adolphe Pegoud, who performed the first recorded "loop the loop" in September, to an aeronautical duel.  He observed that Pegoud performs in a specially constructed Bleriot monoplane with a shoulder harness, while he performs in an ordinary biplane with only a lap belt to keep him in his seat when the aircraft is upside down.  Also, Chevillard performs his acrobatics close to the ground while Pegoud performs his at an altitude of at least a thousand feet.  Three days after his performance at Rue, Chevillard repeated many of the same feats at Juvisy.

Yuan Shih-Kai (center) at His Inauguration in 1912

Chinese President Yuan Shih-Kai appears to have succeeded in turning back the challenge to his increasingly despotic rule that was mounted by Sun Yat-Sen and his Kuomintang Party in a "Second Revolution" in July.  Sun Yat-Sen is in exile in Japan, and on November 5 the president dissolved the Kuomintang, the largest party in the Chinese Parliament.  On November 13 the parliament, unable to muster a quorum, dissolved, leaving Yuan Shih-Kai as the virtual dictator of China.

Emmeline Pankhurst in Hartford

Emmeline Pankhurst, continuing her speaking tour of the United States, gave a rousing speech in Hartford, Connecticut on November 13.  In a rallying cry for the cause of woman suffrage everywhere, she explained the movement's growing militancy by pointing out that, without the vote, women are powerless to achieve reform in any other way.  Her campaign appears to be gaining ground in Great Britain, and a growing number of individual states in the United States have granted women the right to vote.  France, on the other hand, has shown little inclination to follow suit: on November 10 the French Chamber of Deputies rejected a proposed woman suffrage bill by a vote of 311 to 133.

Mohandas K. Gandhi

Protest against another kind of perceived injustice has resulted in the arrest of an Indian resident of South Africa.  On November 6, a young lawyer named Mohandas K. Gandhi was arrested while leading a march of striking Indian coal miners in a demonstration against taxes and travel restrictions imposed by the government on formerly indentured immigrants from India.

The Last Shogun in 1867

Tokugawa Yoshinobu, the last shogun of Japan, died on November 22.  He surrendered his power to the Meiji Emperor in 1867 and has lived quietly in Japan ever since.  His passing, following that of the Meiji Emperor himself last year, marks a milestone in the evolution of Japan in less than fifty years from an isolated medieval nation to a modern world power.

November 1913 – Selected Sources and Recommended Reading

Contemporary Periodicals:
American Review of Reviews, December 1913 and January 1914
New York Times, November 1913

Books and Articles:

A. Scott Berg, Wilson

Miranda Carter, George, Nicholas and Wilhelm: Three Royal Cousins and the Road to World War I
Christopher Clark, The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914
John Milton Cooper, Jr., Woodrow Wilson: A Biography
John Milton Cooper, Jr., The Warrior and the Priest: Woodrow Wilson and Theodore Roosevelt

Patrick Devlin, Too Proud to Fight: Woodrow Wilson's Neutrality
Charles Emmerson, 1913: The World Before the Great War

Martin Gilbert, A History of the Twentieth Century, Volume One: 1900-1933

August Heckscher, Woodrow Wilson: A Biography
Godfrey Hodgson, Woodrow Wilson's Right Hand: The Life of Colonel Edward M. House
Louis W. Koenig, Bryan: A Political Biography of William Jennings Bryan

Arthur S. Link, Woodrow Wilson and the Progressive Era, 1910-1917
Robert K. Massie, Dreadnought: Britain, Germany, and the Coming of the Great War

David McCullough, The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal, 1870-1914
Candice Millard, The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey
Edmund Morris, Colonel Roosevelt
Patricia O'Toole, When Trumpets Call: Theodore Roosevelt After the White House

October 1913

October 1913 sees the removal from office of the governor of New York and the departure of former President Theodore Roosevelt (another former New York governor) for South America. A new tariff bill becomes law in the United States, and America's biggest foreign policy headache continues to be her neighbor to the south. The Lincoln Highway is dedicated, the Panama Canal moves a step closer to reality, and the New York Giants lose their third consecutive World Series. A Jew is tried in Russia for ritual murder. The German Kaiser celebrates the hundredth anniversary of a victory over Napoleon, and Austria-Hungary forces Serbia to back down in the Balkans. Emmeline Pankhurst visits the United States, and Britain launches a new Dreadnought battleship. New achievements in aviation are offset by disasters in the air and at sea. In short, a typical month in the year before the outbreak of the Great War.

*****

Colonel Roosevelt (Without His Glasses) Departing New York

Over 2,000 members of the Progressive Party filled the roof garden of the New York Theater on October 3 to honor former President Roosevelt the night before his departure for South America.  Gifford Pinchot was the toastmaster and mayoral candidate John Purroy Mitchell dropped in to pay his respects.  In his remarks, Roosevelt denounced Democrats and Republicans alike and pledged to stand by the Progressive Party and its principles.  The next day, accompanied by his wife Edith, he departed on the SS Vandyke.  On October 18 they arrived in Bahia, Brazil, where they were met by their son Kermit, who has been working for the past year for the Anglo-Brazilian Iron Company building bridges.  Colonel Roosevelt plans to address learned societies in each of the "ABC" powers (Argentina, Brazil and Chile) and then to embark on a journey of exploration in the Amazon basin.

New York's New Governor

Following his trial before the High Court of Impeachment in Albany, Governor William Sulzer of New York was found guilty on three of the eight counts against him: filing a false campaign fund statement, swearing under oath to the truth of that statement, and suppressing evidence by means of threats to witnesses before the Frawley Committee.  He was acquitted on the other counts, including those related to the alleged misappropriation of campaign funds.  He was officially removed from office on October 17, but was not disqualified from holding future office.  Almost immediately after his removal, he was nominated by the Progressive Party for a seat in the Assembly, and on October 21 he was greeted by enthusiastic crowds on his return to New York City.  Meanwhile, Lieutenant Governor Martin Glynn has been sworn in as governor.

The Lincoln Highway Spans the Continent

The first transcontinental highway for automobiles, the Lincoln Highway, was dedicated on October 31.  Ceremonies were held in cities along its route, which extends from Times Square in New York to Lincoln Park in San Francisco.  It is now possible for the first time to travel by automobile from coast to coast on improved roads.

  The World Series Champions

Connie Mack's Philadelphia Athletics defeated John McGraw's New York Giants on October 11 by a score of 3-1 to win the 1913 World Series series four games to one.  This is the third straight year the Giants have won the National League pennant only to lose the World Series.

 Demolition of the Gamboa Dike

The Atlantic and Pacific Oceans have been joined.  On October 1, valves were opened allowing water from Gatun Lake to flood the Culebra Cut, the last remaining dry portion of the Panama Canal.  On October 10, President Wilson walked from the White House across the street to the State, War and Navy Building (recently renamed the Executive Building), and at 2:01 p.m. pressed a button that triggered an explosion demolishing the Gamboa Dike.  With the removal of the dike, the Culebra Cut became in effect an extension of Gatun Lake.

The New Tariff Schedule -- A Canadian View

The special session of the Sixty-third Congress, convened by President Wilson in April, continued this month with no indication that it will end before the constitutionally mandated regular session begins on the first day of December.  The Underwood-Simmons Revenue Act was passed on October 3 and immediately signed into law by President Wilson.  It establishes tariff rates significantly lower than those of the Payne-Aldrich Tariff enacted in the Taft administration, which came under much criticism, especially from Democrats, as unduly protectionist.  To replace the revenue lost by the tariff reductions, the Act imposes a tax on incomes, exercising the authority conferred by the recently ratified Sixteenth Amendment to the Constitution. Still before Congress, and unlikely to be acted upon in the special session, are proposals to make sweeping reforms in the nation's system of banking and currency and legislation designed to strengthen the antitrust laws.

Wilson and Bryan Pondering the Mexican Situation

Mexico looks less and less like a functioning democracy.  On October 10, Victoriano Huerta, Mexico's provisional president, arrested 110 members of the Chamber of Deputies.  The next day he issued a decree formally dissolving the Congress and declaring all acts of the Congress void.  He also scheduled an extraordinary Congressional election for October 26, the date already set for a presidential election, in which Huerta had declared himself not to be a candidate.  The crime that led to the congressmen's arrest was placing their signatures on a resolution warning that they would abandon the capitol if they were not given assurances of their safety in the wake of the disappearance of Senator Belisaro Dominguez, who attacked Huerta's policies in a speech on the Senate floor earlier in the month and has not been seen since.  On October 14, Secretary of State Bryan instructed the American Charge d'Affaires to advise the Mexican government that, "in view of President Huerta's assumption of the role of dictator," the United States would not recognize the October 26 elections as legal and constitutional.  The elections, which took place as scheduled, were a farce.  Not enough votes were cast to make the result of the presidential election legal under Mexican law.  Huerta was not on the ballot, nor was his most formidable adversary.  General Venustiano Carranza, who leads an insurgency that controls most of the northern part of the country, has declared that "under present conditions no election can legally be held in Mexico" and that whoever is elected "will be a traitor to his country, and when captured will be shot without trial."  It is expected that when the new Congress, composed largely of Huerta allies, convenes next month, it will declare the election void and leave Huerta in power.

Count Leopold von Berchtold

Serbian incursions into the territory of the new nation of Albania continued until October 18.  On that date, Austria-Hungary presented an ultimatum to Serbia demanding that its forces evacuate Albania within eight days, failing which Austria-Hungary would take action "to ensure the realization of its demands."  After the ultimatum was sent, without waiting to learn Serbia's response, Kaiser Wilhelm sent congratulatory telegrams to Emperor Franz Josef and the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the emperor's nephew and heir to the throne and a personal friend of the kaiser's.  When Russia failed to support her, Serbia complied with the ultimatum.  The end result is a diplomatic triumph for Austria-Hungary and its foreign minister Count Leopold von Berchtold.  It is likely seen by that country as a convincing demonstration of the efficacy of a strong stance in the Balkans, backed up when necessary by an ultimatum. For Russia, Serbia's patron among the great powers, it is another embarrassment reminiscent of 1908, when Russia was forced to back down after objecting to Austria-Hungary's annexation of Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Prince Josef Poniatowski

On October 19, 1813, the combined armies of Prussia, Austria, Russia and Sweden defeated Napoleon’s French army at the Battle of Leipzig, also known as the Battle of the Nations.  On the hundredth anniversary of the battle, Kaiser Wilhelm visited Leipzig to participate in a ceremony dedicating a monument in commemoration of the victory.  On the same day in Austria-Hungary, authorities allowed a procession of 30,000 Poles to march through the streets of Cracow and lay a wreath at the grave of Prince Josef Poniatowski, the Polish national hero who died in the battle.  German authorities, less tolerant of demonstrations of Polish nationalism, refused permission for Poles in Germany to do anything to honor Poniatowski’s memory.  When a group of Poles in Posen tried to place wreaths on the statue of another Polish hero, the poet Adam Mickiewicz, they were arrested and their leaders imprisoned.

Mendel Beilis After His Indictment

A bizarre murder trial took place in Russia this month.  Mendel Beilis, a Ukrainian Jew, was accused of killing a Christian boy for the purpose of using his blood in a religious ritual.  The prosecution's evidence consisted mostly of "experts" who testified to the existence of the supposed practice.  After a lengthy trial, an all-Christian jury found Beilis not guilty.  Beilis's prosecution, which revealed a shocking level of official antisemitism, has met with virtually universal derision and condemnation, even within Russia itself.

Emmeline Pankhurst at Madison Square Garden

Mrs. Emmeline Pankhurst, the leader of militant woman suffragists in Great Britain, arrived in New York on October 18 on the French liner Provence but was not allowed to come ashore at the pier.  Instead she was taken to Ellis Island where a board of special inquiry ordered her deported as an undesirable alien on grounds of "moral turpitude."  An appeal to Washington led to President Wilson's personal intervention.  After a meeting with Secretary of Labor William B. Wilson and Commissioner of Immigration Anthony Caminetti, the president ordered that Mrs. Pankhurst be allowed to enter the United States and remain for the duration of her speaking tour.  After her release from detention on October 20 she boarded a ferry boat that took her to the Battery, where she was met by an automobile that drove her to the home of Mrs. O. H. P. Belmont on Madison Avenue.  She began her tour that evening with a dinner speech to the Women's Political Union at the Aldine Club.  The next day she addressed a large crowd at Madison Square Garden.

The Queen Elizabeth Slides Down the Ways

The latest addition to the Royal Navy, H.M.S. Queen Elizabeth, was launched at Portsmouth on October 17.  The new dreadnought will carry 15-inch guns, the largest in the world, and will be driven by steam turbines.  The day after the launch, First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill renewed his proposal to Germany that the two nations agree to a one-year suspension of capital ship construction.

The steam to drive the Queen Elizabeth's turbines will be generated by boilers burning oil, a fuel that uses modern technology and is far superior to the coal that powers most of the world's steamships.  This presents a challenge for the Royal Navy.  While coal is plentiful in Great Britain, oil is not, so it is important for the Navy to find a reliable source of the new fuel.  The British government has taken a particular interest in the political turmoil in Mexico, an important oil-producing nation, and First Lord Churchill is working to make a deal with the recently formed Anglo-Persian Oil Company to provide government support for the company's exploration efforts in southern Persia in return for a long-term supply commitment.

The Volturno Burning at Sea

The Uranium Line steamship S.S. Volturno caught fire and burned in the North Atlantic on October 9.  Radio distress signals brought several ships to the rescue, and hundreds of passengers were eventually saved.  Over 100 died, however, mostly women and children who were put into lifeboats that sank or were destroyed in the stormy seas.

Zeppelin L2 As She Arrived at Johannisthal Last Month

Last month's crash of the German Zeppelin L1 in the North Sea was followed this month by another, sadly similar, tragedy for the German Navy.  On October 17 the L2, the largest Zeppelin ever built, exploded over Johannisthal and crashed during its final trial flight prior to joining the fleet.  All 28 of its passengers and crew were killed. 

 W. S. Luckey

In less tragic aviation news, five aviators competed on October 13 in a race sponsored by the New York Times in commemoration of Wilbur Wright's first successful powered flight ten years ago at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.  The competitors took off at two minute intervals from Staten Island and circled Manhattan Island, flying up the East and Harlem Rivers and back down the Hudson, maintaining a minimum altitude of 2,000 feet.  The winner of the first place prize of $1,000, announced after the judges had satisfied themselves that no corners had been cut, was W. S. Luckey, who completed the course in 52 minutes and 54 seconds.  Five days later back in Europe, the French aviator Roland Garros, who flew across the Mediterranean last month, flew nonstop from Marseilles to Paris, a distance of 525 miles, in six hours.

October 1913 – Selected Sources and Recommended Reading

Contemporary Periodicals:
American Review of Reviews, November and December 1913
New York Times, October 1913

Books and Articles:

A. Scott Berg, Wilson

Miranda Carter, George, Nicholas and Wilhelm: Three Royal Cousins and the Road to World War I
Christopher Clark, The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914
John Milton Cooper, Jr., Woodrow Wilson: A Biography
John Milton Cooper, Jr., The Warrior and the Priest: Woodrow Wilson and Theodore Roosevelt

Patrick Devlin, Too Proud to Fight: Woodrow Wilson's Neutrality
Charles Emmerson, 1913: The World Before the Great War

Martin Gilbert, A History of the Twentieth Century, Volume One: 1900-1933

August Heckscher, Woodrow Wilson: A Biography
Louis W. Koenig, Bryan: A Political Biography of William Jennings Bryan

Arthur S. Link, Woodrow Wilson and the Progressive Era, 1910-1917
Robert K. Massie, Dreadnought: Britain, Germany, and the Coming of the Great War

David McCullough, The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal, 1870-1914
Candice Millard, The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey
Edmund Morris, Colonel Roosevelt
Patricia O'Toole, When Trumpets Call: Theodore Roosevelt After the White House

September 1913

It's September 1913, and the headlines in the United States are dominated by New York politics.  Mayor Gaynor dies suddenly at sea, and the state's new governor goes to trial before a High Court of Impeachment in Albany.  George M. Cohan is The Man Who Owns Broadway, but he's in a serious accident on a different street, this one in Hartford, Connecticut.  President Wilson leaves the White House for a walk (in those days, they still allowed presidents to do such things) and almost gets run down by a streetcar.  An oceangoing tug becomes the first boat to enter the Panama Canal locks.  International congresses are the order of the day in Europe as Zionists, labor unions, Catholics and Socialists convene to press their agendas.  Ulstermen demonstrate in Belfast against Home Rule.  French aviators set new records.  The Balkan Wars are over, but trouble continues to simmer in the Balkans.  Austria-Hungary plans army maneuvers next June in Sarajevo.  Archduke Franz Ferdinand will attend (he shouldn't, but he will).

*****

Mayor Gaynor

As the New York City mayoralty race was about to begin in earnest, it received a sudden shock with the news of the mayor's death on September 10.  Mayor William J. Gaynor died of an apparent heart attack as he sat in a deck chair aboard the White Star liner Baltic, two days before its arrival in Liverpool.  The mayor's health has been precarious in recent years, aggravated by the injury he received in 1910 when he was shot in the throat by a deranged former city employee as he boarded another ship for a journey to Europe.  (See the June 1913 installment of this blog).  The bullet remained lodged in his neck, causing discomfort and affecting his speech for the rest of his life.

Mayor Gaynor (with the shovel) accepting his nomination for reelection

Elected with Tammany's support in 1909, Mayor Gaynor had declared his independence and sought reelection as a reformer.  This year he failed to receive the nomination of the Citizens Fusion Committee, a non-partisan group of reform-minded New Yorkers, but as the month of September began his fortunes seemed to improve.  On September 1 Theodore Roosevelt's Progressive Party shifted its endorsement to him and on September 3 a group of prominent citizens nominated him in a ceremony on the steps of City Hall.  Unable to read his acceptance speech, he stood aside as it was read by his secretary, Robert Adamson, while the mayor brandished a shovel, the symbol of his campaign,  The next day he departed on the Baltic, seeking a period of rest prior to undertaking the rigors of the campaign.  His sudden death leaves the Tammany candidate, Edward McCall, in the race for mayor facing John Purroy Mitchel, the Fusion Committee's candidate.

 The High Court of Impeachment in Session in Albany

The High Court of Impeachment, comprised of the members of the New York State Senate and Court of Appeals, convened in Albany on September 18 to consider the case against Governor William Sulzer.  Before it began hearing evidence, it rejected two arguments made by the governor's lawyers that the trial should not proceed: first, that impeachment during the legislature's special session violated the New York constitution, which limits special sessions to the subject matter designated by the governor; and second, that because the acts charged in the impeachment resolution took place before Sulzer was governor, they cannot form the basis for impeachment proceedings.  The High Court began hearing evidence on September 24, and at month's end the case for the prosecution was nearing completion.

Another issue resolved this month was whether Sulzer may continue to exercise the powers of the governorship pending the outcome of the trial.  On September 2, Sulzer brought the issue to the fore by issuing a pardon for Joseph Robin, a prisoner confined at the penitentiary on Blackwell's Island.  Robin then petitioned Supreme Court Justice Hasbrouck for a writ of habeas corpus.  Justice Hasbrouck denied the writ on September 11, ruling that the Assembly's vote of impeachment had stripped Sulzer of the right to exercise any executive functions, including the right to issue pardons.  On September 23, Sulzer agreed to relinquish the office of governor pending the outcome of the trial.

 George M. Cohan

George M. Cohan, the actor, songwriter, playwright and producer of Broadway shows, was seriously injured in an automobile accident on the outskirts of Hartford, Connecticut on September 4.  His 13 year-old daughter Georgette and two men traveling with them also sustained injuries.  The machine in which they were riding was passing another automobile when it struck a heavy garbage wagon that turned into its path.  The collision killed the horse and upended Mr. Cohan's automobile.  The driver of the wagon sustained only minor injuries, but Mr. Cohan and the other occupants of the automobile were taken to the hospital, where initial fears that they might not recover proved unfounded.  Mr. Cohan and his party were in Hartford to attend the final rehearsal of his new play, "Seven Keys to Baldpate," before the beginning of its Hartford run the following week.  His prior productions have earned Cohan the title "The Man Who Owns Broadway."  They include productions titled "Little Johnny Jones" (1904), "George Washington Junior" (1906), "Forty-five Minutes From Broadway" (1906) and (somewhat immodestly) "The Man Who Owns Broadway" (1909).  One of his most popular songs is "The Yankee Doodle Boy" from "Little Johnny Jones," recorded in 1905 by Billy Murray (click to play):

*****

A Streetcar on Pennsylvania Avenue

In another mishap two days later, President Wilson was almost run down by a streetcar while taking a walk in Washington with his physician, Doctor Cary Grayson.  As they were returning to the White House, they proceeded across the street diagonally, apparently unmindful of the traffic regulation that requires pedestrians to cross only at intersections.  A streetcar hurtling down the street would likely have struck the president but for the timely intervention of a policeman who ran onto the track and held his arms up to bring the car to a halt.  The president and Dr. Grayson were apparently unaware of the danger until a Secret Service agent ran across the tracks behind them and hurried them out of the way.

Lee Shubert

Prostitution, or "white slavery," has been the subject of much public interest in recent years.  Two productions on Broadway that deal with the subject, "The Lure" and "The Fight," have been playing to large audiences at the Maxine Elliott and Hudson Theaters, respectively, but have been discontinued following the issuance of warrants for the arrest of the producers, Lee Shubert and William Harris, on charges that the plays are indecent and "public nuisances."  Under an agreement reached between the producers and the authorities, both plays will be performed for the grand jury and performances will be discontinued pending the grand jury's determination as to their morality or immorality.

Not to be outdone, Congress in 1910 enacted the "White Slave Traffic Act," known as the Mann Act after its principal sponsor, Representative James R. Mann (Rep., Ill.).  Farley Drew Caminetti, son of the Commissioner of Immigration in the Wilson administration, and Maury Diggs, former California State Architect, were indicted in California federal court for violating the act by transporting two women across the Nevada state line for "immoral purposes" and for "enticing" the women to accompany them.  Attempts last June to delay the trial resulted only in embarrassment to the administration (see the June 1913 installment of this blog).  Diggs was tried last month and convicted on four counts.  Caminetti was tried this month and found guilty on one count, transporting one of the women, but not guilty of transporting the other or of "enticing" either one.

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 Senator James A. Reed

The currency bill, which if it becomes law will create a new Federal Reserve System, passed the House of Representatives on September 18 by a vote of 285-85.  The House rejected an attempt to add a provision to the bill prohibiting interlocking directorships (directors serving on the boards of competing corporations).  The bill has now gone to the Senate, where it has been referred to the Banking and Currency Committee.  Senator James A. Reed (Dem., Missouri), a member of the committee and of the president's own party, has already indicated his opposition.  On September 23, the New York Clearing House Association, many of the functions of which would be assumed by the proposed Federal Reserve Board, appointed a committee to study and report on the bill.

The First Boat Through the Locks

The first vessel to enter the Panama Canal locks was the oceangoing tug Gatun, which transited the three Gatun locks from the northern (Atlantic) end of the canal to Gatun Lake on September 26, returning through the locks to the Atlantic the next day.  Beginning in the morning, water from the lake was allowed into the locks, and by 4:45 in the afternoon the lock at the Atlantic end was filled.  As thousands of cheering spectators looked on, the Gatun entered the lock, announcing its arrival with a long blast from its whistle, joined instantly by a chorus of celebratory whistles from the other ships in the harbor.

The British, still objecting to the preferential treatment of American ships, take a more jaundiced view.  An editorial in The Standard, an English newspaper, has advocated the building of a competing canal across nearby Colombian territory, giving Colombia a chance to avenge the loss of its former territory.  The Standard maintains that the Monroe Doctrine should not be considered an obstacle, since invoking the doctrine to prevent the building of a second canal would be "equivalent to the assertion of sovereign rights over every American republic, which so far is not a pretension American statesmen have put forward."

Theodor Herzl at the Fifth Zionist Congress in Basel, 1901

The Eleventh International Zionist Congress was held in Vienna September 3-10.  The First Zionist Congress, organized by the late Theodor Herzl, was held in Basel, Switzerland in 1897.  Members of Jewish societies throughout the world who attend the Congress advocate the creation of an independent Jewish state in Ottoman Palestine.  At this year's Congress, $100,000 was pledged for the establishment of a Jewish university in Jerusalem.  This year's attendees viewed a motion picture film showing Jewish residents of Jerusalem going about their daily affairs (click to play):

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Friedrich Ebert (left) at the Socialist Party Convention in Jena

Europe hosted three other international congresses this month.  On September 1, the British Trades Union Congress convened in Manchester.  For the first time time in its history, the Congress was attended by representatives of the American Federation of Labor and labor organizations from France and Germany.  The German Catholic Congress convened in Metz on September 4 to consider questions affecting Catholics worldwide, including "forces hostile to Catholicism -- Socialism, Freemasonry and Modernism."  On September 14 German Socialists convened in Jena, where Friedrich Ebert was elected leader of the Social Democrats (sometimes called the Nationalist Socialist Party) to succeed August Bebel, who died last month.

Archduke Franz Ferdinand

In the Balkans, Bulgaria and Turkey have reached a final agreement regarding the international border between the two countries.  Trouble continues to fester, however, along another border, the one between Serbia and Albania.  Serbia, victorious in both Balkan wars, has not fully reconciled itself to the existence of Albania, a nation created by the Treaty of London earlier this year at the insistence of the great powers, especially Austria-Hungary, for the avowed purpose of depriving Serbia of a port on the Adriatic.  In a move vigorously denounced by Vienna, Serbia has sent troops into Albanian territory to suppress what it claims are cross-border raids into Serbian territory.  Also on Serbia's western border is the Austro-Hungarian province of Bosnia-Herzegovina, which was annexed to the empire in 1908 over the bitter opposition of Serbia and Russia.  In a move seen by some as provocative, Austria-Hungary has made plans to conduct army maneuvers next summer in Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia-Herzegovina.  Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the emperor's nephew and heir to the throne, will attend the maneuvers in his capacity as inspector-general of the Army.

Sir Edward Carson Signing the Ulster Covenant

Last September the Ulster Covenant, pledging the signatories to refuse to recognize the authority of an Irish government, was signed in a ceremony led by Sir Edward Carson.  Carson and his Protestant followers, fearing rule by a Catholic-dominated Irish parliament, have vowed to resist home rule by all available means, not excluding violence.  The intensity of their opposition has grown as the legislative process has moved irresistibly toward the adoption of the government's home rule bill, which appears likely to become law next year.  On September 24 five hundred delegates met in Belfast to organize resistance to any decrees of an Irish parliament; and shortly afterward some 12,000 men demonstrated against home rule in the streets of Belfast.

 Adolphe Pegoud

Frenchmen performed impressive feats in the air this month.  On September 2, Adolphe Pegoud flew his monoplane upside down, and followed that accomplishment on September 21 by performing a "loop the loop," both believed to be firsts in aviation history.  Roland Garros completed the first flight across the Mediterranean on September 23, flying 558 miles from Frejus on the French coast to Bizerte, Tunisia.  Finally, on September 29, Maurice Prevost, flying at Rheims, set a new speed record of 200 kilometers (about 125 miles) per hour.  The month was not as successful for the Germans: the Zeppelin L1, en route from the German naval base on Heligoland Island to the German mainland on September 9, was forced down by a storm and crashed in the North Sea.

September 1913 – Selected Sources and Recommended Reading

Contemporary Periodicals:
American Review of Reviews, October and November 1913
New York Times, September 1913

Books and Articles:

Miranda Carter, George, Nicholas and Wilhelm: Three Royal Cousins and the Road to World War I
Christopher Clark, The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914
John Milton Cooper, Jr., Woodrow Wilson: A Biography
John Milton Cooper, Jr., The Warrior and the Priest: Woodrow Wilson and Theodore Roosevelt

Patrick Devlin, Too Proud to Fight: Woodrow Wilson's Neutrality
Charles Emmerson, 1913: The World Before the Great War

Martin Gilbert, A History of the Twentieth Century, Volume One: 1900-1933

Richard C. Hall, Balkan Wars 1912-1913: Prelude to the First World War
August Heckscher, Woodrow Wilson: A Biography
Louis W. Koenig, Bryan: A Political Biography of William Jennings Bryan

Arthur S. Link, Woodrow Wilson and the Progressive Era, 1910-1917

David McCullough, The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal, 1870-1914
Edmund Morris, Colonel Roosevelt
Patricia O'Toole, When Trumpets Call: Theodore Roosevelt After the White House

August 1913

Wars don't start in August, do they? Well, at least it doesn't seem so this year (1913), as the second Balkan War comes to an end and the big news at month's end is the dedication of the Peace Palace at The Hague. In the United States, the main foreign policy concerns are Mexico and China, where revolutions are under way, and the Panama Canal, which is nearing completion. Domestically, the governor of New York is impeached, the New York City mayoralty race heats up, and Stanford White's killer flees to Canada. An American sets a record for round-the-world travel and a French aviator sets a distance record for a one-day flight.

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Territory Surrendered by Bulgaria in the Treaty of Bucharest

The second Balkan War came to a formal end on August 10, when the warring parties signed the Treaty of Bucharest.  Bulgaria, which began hostilities at the end of June with an attack against Greek and Serbian forces in Macedonia, shortly found itself defending counterattacks in Macedonia as well as fresh attacks by Romania in the north and by Turkey in Thrace.  Under pressure on three fronts, Bulgaria sued for peace.  Now it has agreed to surrender much of the territory it conquered in the first Balkan War.  Substantial parts of Macedonia will go to Greece and Serbia, including the Aegean port city of Salonika to Greece.  The city of Adrianople, which Bulgaria captured from the Turks in March, goes back to Turkey along with adjacent portions of Thrace.  Finally, Bulgaria agrees to cede southern Dobrudja, a disputed area on the coast of the Black Sea, to Romania.  It retains some territory in Macedonia, including access to the Aegean, representing its only territorial gain from the two Balkan wars.  On August 19, the Ottoman Council of Ministers decided to offer to withdraw from all Thracian territory west of the Maritsa River if Turkey is allowed to retain Adrianople.  On August 28, President Wilson nominated lawyer and businessman Henry Morganthau to be the new United States Ambassador to Turkey.

The Peace Palace at The Hague

With the end of war in the Balkans, Europe is looking forward hopefully to an extended period of peace.  The first Hague Peace Conference was convened in 1899 at the instigation of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia to explore mechanisms for the peaceful resolution of international disputes.  Among its accomplishments was the creation of the Permanent Court of Arbitration.  The American millionaire Andrew Carnegie contributed money for a building to house the Court, construction of which was begun in 1907 during the second Hague peace conference.  Named "The Peace Palace," the building was completed this year.  Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands presided at a dedication ceremony on August 28.  Peace is in the air in Europe, though a pessimist might point to the French Senate's passage on August 7 of the "three-year bill," which will substantially increase the size of the French army by extending the period of required military service from two years to three.

The President Addressing a Joint Session of Congress on August 27

Relations between the United States and Mexico continued to deteriorate this month.  On August 4, President Wilson accepted the resignation of Ambassador Henry Lane Wilson, and on the same day sent former Minnesota governor John Lind to Mexico City as an adviser to the American Embassy with the mission of attempting to implement American  policy.  The United States has refused to recognize the regime of the provisional president, General Victoriano Huerta, who overthrew President Madero in February.  Huerta refused at first to receive Governor Lind unless he brought recognition and ambassadorial credentials.  After an exchange of notes, Lind left the Mexican capital on August 26, having failed to persuade Huerta to cease hostilities and step aside pending the outcome of elections.  The next day President Wilson, in his third trip to Capitol Hill since assuming office in March, read a report on the Mexican situation to a joint session of Congress.  He announced that the United States is and will remain strictly neutral between the warring factions and will refuse to send arms to either side.  He expressed the hope that "the steady pressure of moral force" will prevail on Huerta, but said that Americans in the meantime should avoid travel to Mexico and that those who are there should leave.  With the announcement at month's end that elections will be held on October 26, there is some hope that an amicable resolution may be found.  Meanwhile, American citizens in Mexico are streaming into Veracruz, the point of embarkation for return to the United States.  An American naval force is in Veracruz under the command of Rear Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher, who on August 29 hosted an afternoon tea for Mr. and Mrs. Lind and other Americans aboard the battleship U.S.S. Louisiana (BB-19).
 

 Charles Brooker (on the left)

Charles F. Brooker, a long-time member of the Republican National Committee from Connecticut, sent a cablegram to the Chicago Daily News on August 1 in which he predicted that the Republican Party will change its name, perhaps to the "Conservative Party," before the next presidential election.  He says he will be sorry to see that happen because of the "glorious history" of the party during and after the Civil War; but, he says, "this very name of 'Republican' seems to antagonize a large Southern element whose interests otherwise are identical with ours."

Mr. Brooker was referring, of course, to white Southerners.  Because most Southern states have enacted laws that effectively exclude Negroes from the ballot, the Republican Party realizes little if any benefit in that section of the country from its traditional advocacy of Negro rights.  Indeed it is due mainly to the party's identification with that issue that the South votes overwhelmingly for Democrats.  In the recent presidential election, running against an incumbent and a popular former president, Democrat Woodrow Wilson won the Electoral College in a landslide; but the only states in which he received a majority of the popular vote were those of the old Confederacy, all eleven of which he carried by comfortable majorities.  His highest vote total was 96 percent in South Carolina, followed by 89 percent in Mississippi and 70 percent or more in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas.

Governor Sulzer

The move to impeach Governor William Sulzer of New York, until now a largely political struggle pitting the governor against Tammany Hall, gained strength this month with the revelation that Sulzer used campaign contributions collected during last year's campaign to invest in the stock market.  In the early morning hours of August 13 at the end of an all-night session, the New York State Assembly adopted a resolution of impeachment by a vote of 79 to 45.

 Tammany's Charles Murphy

Governor Sulzer's troubles began when he broke with Tammany Hall shortly after assuming office early this year.  Elected last year with Tammany's support, Governor Sulzer has missed no opportunity since then to demonstrate his independence.  He has consistently refused to follow Tammany's lead in making appointments to the state government, and has pushed hard for legislation creating a direct primary system, a reform strongly opposed by Tammany and its chief, Charles Murphy.  Tammany controls the legislature: Assembly Speaker Alfred E. Smith and Senate majority leader Robert F. Wagner are both loyal members of the Tammany tribe.  After the legislature voted down the direct primary proposal in its regular session, the governor called a special session to consider it again.  A major lobbying effort by the governor shifted only a few votes, and the legislature again rejected it.  The legislature then created a joint committee, under the chairmanship of Tammany stalwart Senator James Frawley, to investigate the governor's conduct with a view toward his possible impeachment.  Despite the argument of the governor's supporters that this violated the New York constitutional provision that limits special sessions to the subject matter designated by the governor, the investigation went ahead and culminated in the August 13 impeachment vote.

Chief Judge Cullen

The impeachment charges against the governor will be tried before the members of the Senate and the judges of the Court of Appeals, New York's highest court.  The trial will begin September 18, with Chief Judge Edgar M. Cullen of the Court of Appeals presiding.  Meanwhile, there is a dispute as to whether Sulzer continues to be vested with the powers of the governorship.  The New York constitution provides that the lieutenant governor assumes the office of governor in the event of the governor's impeachment, but Sulzer and his supporters argue that he remains governor until he is convicted and removed from office.  Lieutenant Governor Martin Glynn has demanded that Sulzer surrender the office, rejecting the suggestion that the issue be submitted to the courts, but he has refused to follow the advice of some of his supporters to have the state militia remove Sulzer by force.  A cartoonist summarized the current situation:

The Governor of New York

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John Purroy Mitchel

Governor Sulzer is not the only New York politician who has fallen out of favor with Tammany Hall.  Although Mayor William Gaynor of New York City was elected with Tammany support four years ago, he views himself as a reformer, and has neither sought nor received Tammany's support for reelection this year.  He was disappointed, however, when a coalition of reformers called the General Fusion Committee bypassed him to nominate John Purroy Mitchel, formerly president of the Board of Aldermen and recently appointed by President Wilson as Collector of the Port of New York.  The Republican and Progressive Parties endorsed the Fusion slate on August 19.  Two days later, Tammany Hall selected Edward E. McCall, Chairman of the Public Service Commission, as the Democratic Party's candidate.  Mayor Gaynor, denied the nomination of both his own party and the Fusion Committee, may run for reelection as an independent.

Harry K. Thaw

Harry K. Thaw, the wealthy but unbalanced heir to an immense coal and railroad fortune, shot and killed the celebrated architect Stanford White in the rooftop theater of Madison Square Garden on June 25, 1906.  Thaw had recently married chorus girl Evelyn Nesbit, renowned in modeling and night club circles as "the girl on the velvet swing," and was intensely jealous of White, a former lover of Nesbit's.  After two sensational trials, Thaw was found not guilty by reason of insanity and sent to the Matteawan State Hospital for the Criminally Insane in Fishkill, New York.  On August 17 he walked out of the facility and fled across the border to Quebec, where legal proceedings are under way to secure his return.

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The Pacific Ocean Flooding the Miraflores Locks

Construction on the Panama Canal neared completion as the last barrier at the Pacific end of the Canal was removed on August 31, allowing the water of the Pacific Ocean to fill the Miraflores locks.  Now all that remains to join the oceans is to complete the excavation of the Culebra Cut, upstream from the Pedro Miguel locks, to be followed by the removal of the Gamboa Dike which is holding back the water of Gatun Lake.

On August 2 the Foreign Relations Committee of the United States Senate voted to reject the proposed treaty with Nicaragua imposing a protectorate over that country in anticipation of the canal's completion.  The vote was 8 to 4.

The Exposition Universelle et Internationale in Ghent, Belgium

Invitations by the United States to join in the Pan-Pacific Exposition have received mixed responses.  The latest in a series of world's fairs (1889 and 1900 in Paris, 1901 in Buffalo, 1904 in St. Louis, 1910 in Brussels, this year in Ghent), it is planned to take place in 1915 in San Francisco as a worldwide celebration marking the opening of the Panama Canal.  Russia declined its invitation on August 1, and on August 16 Germany formally announced its decision not to participate due to "lack of commercial interest."  Great Britain announced its non-participation at the end of July.  On August 1 the British Board of Trade issued a statement denying that its decision was related to the tolls controversy, a denial repeated by Foreign Minister Sir Edward Grey in the House of Commons on August 5.  The reasons given for the decision were British manufacturers' participation in this year's world's fair in Ghent and Great Britain's relatively small amount of trade with San Francisco.  Many in both countries think these are poor excuses for the refusal of a major maritime power like Great Britain to join in the celebration of the opening of a great waterway that is expected to revolutionize world trade.

Suffragists Sharing Their Opinions with Prime Minister Asquith in Downing Street

The issue of votes for women continues to compete with Irish home rule at the top of the agenda in British politics.  Mrs. Emmeline Pankhurst, her health damaged by repeated hunger strikes, began a period of rest this month following her latest release from prison.  In an interview before her departure, she spoke of the "Cat and Mouse Act," saying "the Government is now faced with the total failure of the act" and those who passed it "do not understand women."  She said she and hundreds like her are "quite prepared to go through a hunger and thirst strike again," and that the Government is now helpless to stop them, short of making "death the punishment for window-breaking and obstructing the police."  Other suffragists seize every opportunity to remind Prime Minister Herbert Asquith of their campaign.  They frequently accost him on the street, and on August 28, two militants delivered their message on the golf course at Lossiemouth, near Elgin in Scotland, where Asquith was playing a round of golf with his daughter.  Evading police guards, they attacked the prime minister on the seventeenth green, knocking off his hat and hitting him with a book.  They fought off Miss Asquith, who tried to protect her father, and dragged the prime minister around shouting "justice for women" until the police arrested them and took them away.  An angry crowd at the Elgin police station hissed the women and threatened to throw them into the sea.  Back on the course, Mr. Asquith calmly finished his game to the cheers of spectators.

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In the Steps of Phileas Fogg: Nellie Bly . . .

 . . . and John Henry Mears

In his 1873 novel Around the World in 80 Days, Jules Verne tells the story of Phileas Fogg, a fictional character who, starting from London, undertakes and completes the journey described by the book's title.  After the book's publication, sixteen years elapsed before anyone tried to accomplish the feat in real life.  Starting from New York in November 1889, Nellie Bly, a reporter for the New York World, circled the globe in 72 days and later wrote a book about her adventure.  Since then others have attempted the feat, exploiting advances in transportation technology to shorten the time.  On August 6 of this year an American, John Henry Mears, set a new record when he completed a round-the-world journey in less than half the time it took Mr. Fogg: 35 days, 21 hours and 35 minutes.

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Maurice Guillaux

Aviation records continue to fall.  The French aviator Maurice Guillaux set a new record for the longest distance covered in a single day when he flew his monoplane on August 23 from Biarritz to Brussels, a distance of 600 miles.  On the same day Glen Martin, an American aviator, set a record for carrying passengers when he flew his hydro-aeroplane for a little over sixteen minutes with three women on board.  Another record attempt came up short this month when Harry Hawker failed to win the $25,000 prize offered by the Daily Mail to the first person to fly around the British Isles in a hydro-aeroplane in 72 hours or less.

 Sun Yat-Sen

The Manchu dynasty in China was overthrown in 1911 in a revolution led by Sun Yat-Sen and Yuan Shih-Kai.  Sun yielded to Yuan in the ensuing contest for the presidency, but his Kuomintang Party gained a substantial number of seats in the recent parliamentary elections.  Song Jiaoren, the parliamentary leader of the Kuomintang, appeared to be in line to become prime minister when he was shot and killed, probably by someone acting on Yuan's behalf.  A "Second Revolution" then broke out challenging Yuan's increasingly despotic rule.  To escape arrest, Sun Yat-Sen fled to the island of Formosa on August 6.  By month's end he was in Japan, where he continues to direct the revolution and is believed to be receiving covert support from the Japanese and Russian governments.  Back in China, the revolutionists flew their flag over the governor's palace in Nanking on August 13 as Canton was looted by revolutionists and government troops.  Nanking was retaken by government forces on August 31.  In the midst of the increasing turmoil in that country, Paul Reinsch was formally nominated as the new United States envoy to China on August 5.

August 1913 – Selected Sources and Recommended Reading

Contemporary Periodicals:
American Review of Reviews, September and October 1913
New York Times, August 1913

Books and Articles:

Miranda Carter, George, Nicholas and Wilhelm: Three Royal Cousins and the Road to World War I
Christopher Clark, The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914
John Milton Cooper, Jr., Woodrow Wilson: A Biography
John Milton Cooper, Jr., The Warrior and the Priest: Woodrow Wilson and Theodore Roosevelt

Patrick Devlin, Too Proud to Fight: Woodrow Wilson's Neutrality
Charles Emmerson, 1913: The World Before the Great War

Martin Gilbert, A History of the Twentieth Century, Volume One: 1900-1933

Richard C. Hall, Balkan Wars 1912-1913: Prelude to the First World War
August Heckscher, Woodrow Wilson: A Biography
Louis W. Koenig, Bryan: A Political Biography of William Jennings Bryan

Arthur S. Link, Woodrow Wilson and the Progressive Era, 1910-1917

David McCullough, The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal, 1870-1914
Edmund Morris, Colonel Roosevelt
Patricia O'Toole, When Trumpets Call: Theodore Roosevelt After the White House
Michael Perman, Struggle for Mastery: Disfranchisement in the South 1888-1908