Self-parking sedans sound fancy, but where is my jet pack? For all our tinkering, transportation evolves slowly today.
But 100 years ago, it changed at breakneck pace.
Let's glance at three bits of traffic news the Arkansas Gazette published 100 years ago today.
One of these reports would have been more surprising than the others. Guess which one.
Frightened Mule Is Cause of Mishaps
"Imboden, Oct. 9 -- A mule which became frightened and ran away Saturday afternoon started a remarkable series of accidents. Mrs. L.H. Warden, who lives a few miles from town, was driving the mule home. In the runaway she was thrown from the buggy upon some stones at a sharp turn. Her collar bone was broken and her shoulder dislocated, and she was otherwise injured.
"Mrs. Ethel Steele was driving an automobile near the scene and picked Mrs. Warden up and started to a physician. On the way to Imboden, George Phillips' team was frightened by the car and ran away, throwing him out and seriously injuring him. Physicians say his recovery is doubtful.
"In trying to avoid Phillips' team, Mrs. Steele nearly overturned the car in a ditch and Mrs. M.D. Crabtree, Mrs. Warden's daughter, who was in the car with her mother, jumped out and suffered a sprained ankle. Mrs. Warden's injuries are serious, but she will recover unless complications occur, physicians say."
Kansas City Pilot Wins Air Race From Muskogee
"Muskogee, Okla., Oct. 9 -- Landing Sunday at Cascade, Iowa, 510 miles from here, where the start was made Saturday afternoon, Capt. H.E. Honeywell, pilot of the Kansas City balloon, won the annual international balloon race.
"The last of the balloonists to report was Capt. John Berry, of the Million Population Club balloon of St. Louis. Captain Berry was not heard from until tonight, when he arrived at St. Louis, and for a time it was feared that he had met with an accident. Captain Berry landed in Harrison county, Missouri, yesterday morning, but did not report his landing. His distance was 330 miles.
"When Captain Berry left here he carried two carrier pigeons, which were to have been released when the big gas bag came down, but the birds have not yet appeared."
...
It will help to keep in mind when reading the third item that World War I was more than two years old. The United States under President Woodrow Wilson was staunchly neutral as the Allies (France, Great Britain and Russia) faced off against the Central Powers (Germany and Austria-Hungary).
So long as those combatants did not violate U.S. rights under international law, Wilson said, we would sit back and watch. (See "Lusitania, sinking of" in May 1915.)
Submarines Idle After Busy Day
"New York, Oct. 9 -- Apparently satisfied with the record of at least six boats sunk yesterday, or possibly short of torpedoes, the German submarine raids on steamers off Nantucket were not continued today.
"Details of the sinking of the four British and two neutral vessels, which have been brought in by persons who were aboard some of them, indicate that no lives were lost in the hurried transfer from the steamers in the ships' small boats. Torpedo boat destroyers have not located the crew of the steamer Kingstonian, but it is believed the men may have been picked up by some east-bound merchantman.
"When Lieutenant Capt. Rose went warring on enemy shipping he placed the submarine U-53 in a position to command both the incoming and outgoing lane of what is known as the 'outside course' of Atlantic travel.
"Operating off Nantucket lightship, he was much further from the American shore than the descriptions of his activities suggest."
These merchant ships had just left U.S. ports. One was an oil tanker, the Christian Knuden. Witnesses said the German U-53 spent about 45 minutes commandeering its oil before turning around to torpedo another steamer.
SILENT, CLEVER, DEADLY
I think we can agree that an annual balloon race wouldn't have been a shocker in 1916.
As for the mule, there was more than one physician in Lawrence County in 1916, so that reference to "physicians," plural, seems normal. Nor is the mule item an eye-opener based on the questions it leaves unanswered (Where was Mr. Lark Warden? What spooked the mule? How did Maggie Crabtree wind up in the car?).
A search of Gazette archives found 109 reports of runaway horses and mules between 1880 and 1916 (including one involving circus camels). In contrast, the word "submarine" turned up in 2,669 stories from 1869 to 1916. As we say in the business, "Dog bites man" is not news. Runaway mules were so common that only the most destructive deserved notice.
Pretty much anything any submarine got up to appears to have made it into print.
In its early days, the submarine had been the little death trap that couldn't. Some scored kills, but subs were better known for leaking, overheating or through some other frailty dooming everyone on board. Then technology improved in the 1890s.
By October 1916, Germany had an armed submarine that could slip Allied blockades, cross the vast ocean, sneak up on wary merchantmen, torpedo them while (should it so choose) sparing their crews and also refuel itself on the high sea -- while close enough to U.S. territorial waters the reporter took note that it had stayed outside. Whoa.
That sort of news makes the world a suddenly smaller place.
THE MULE OF OPINION
Which is why it is also interesting to see that same Oct. 10 Gazette reporting that 200 delegates were expected in Little Rock for the seventh annual observance of German Day by the German-American Federation of Arkansas and its Catholic confrere.
There were programs in St. Edward's Hall at Ninth and Ferry streets, and at Turner Hall at 14th and Commerce streets. Local clubs planned plays, concerts and a grand ball.
Federation president Frederick Hotze of Little Rock would explain how Germans in all parts of the United States had decided to celebrate "one day in each year in honor of German settlements and achievements in America."
The Oct. 11 Gazette reported more than 900 delegates attended.
Germans were not "the bad guys" when their amazing warships started hunting just off U.S. shores. Not in Arkansas, not quite yet.
Next week: Ministers Cause Closing of Fair
ActiveStyle on 10/10/2016