Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez called for the formation of a “Fifth International” of left parties and social movements to confront the challenge posed by the global crisis of capitalism.

The president made the announcement during an international conference of more than fifty left organisations from thirty-one countries held in Caracas over November 19-21.

“I assume responsibility before the world. I think it is time to convene the Fifth International, and I dare to make the call, which I think is a necessity. I dare to request that we create my proposal,” Chavez said.

The head of state insisted that the conference of left parties should not be “just one more meeting,” and he invited participating organizations to create a truly new project. “This socialist encounter should be of the genuine left, willing to fight against imperialism and capitalism,” he said.

During his speech, Chavez briefly outlined the experiences of previous “internationals,” including the First International founded in 1864 by Karl Marx; the Second International founded in 1889, which collapsed in 1916 as various left parties and trade unions sided with their respective capitalist classes in the inter-imperialist conflict of the First World War; the Third International founded by Russian revolutionary Vladimir Lenin, which Chavez said “degenerated” under Stalinism and “betrayed” struggles for socialism around the world; and the Fourth International founded by Leon Trotsky in 1938, which suffered numerous splits and no longer exists, although some small groups claim to represent its political continuity.

Chavez said that a new international would have to function “without impositions” and would have to respect diversity.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in San Carlos.

Representatives from a number of major parties in Latin America voiced their support for the proposal, including the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) of Bolivia, the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) of El Salvador, the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) of Nicaragua, and Alianza Pais of Ecuador.

Smaller parties from Latin America and around the world also indicated their support for the idea, including the Proposal for an Alternative Society (PAS) of Chile, New Nation Alternative (ANN) of Guatemala, and Australia’s Socialist Alliance, among others.

Sandinista leader Miguel D´Escoto said, “Capitalism has brought the human species to the precipice of extinction… we have to take control of our own destiny.”

“There is no time to lose,” D’Escoto added as he conveyed his support for the proposal of forming a fifth international. “We have to overcome the tendency of defeatism. Many times I have noted a tendency of defeatism amongst comrades of the left in relation to the tasks we face,” he continued.

Salvador Sánchez, from the FMLN, said “We are going to be important actors in the Fifth International. We cannot continue waiting – all the forces of the left. The aspiration of the peoples is to walk down a different path. We must not hesitate in forming the Fifth International. The people have pronounced themselves in favour of change and the parties of the left must be there with them.”

Other organisations, including Portugal’s Left Block, Germany’s Die Linke, and France’s Partido Gauche expressed interest in the proposal but said they would consult with their various parties. A representative of the Cuban Communist Party described the proposal as “excellent,” but as yet the party has made no formal statement.

Many communist parties, including those from Greece and Brazil, expressed strong opposition to the proposal. The Venezuelan Communist Party said it was willing to discuss the proposal but expressed strong reservations.

The Alternative Democratic Pole (PDA) from Colombia expressed its willingness to work with other left parties, but said it would “reserve” its decision to participate in an international organisation of left parties.

Valter Pomar, a representative from the Workers Party of Brazil (PT), said its priority is the Sao Paolo Forum – a forum of various Latin American left, socialist, communist, centre-left, labour, social democratic and nationalist parties launched by the PT in 1990.

A resolution was passed at the conference to form a preparatory committee to convoke a global conference of left parties in Caracas in April 2010, to discuss the formation of a new international. The resolution also allowed for other parties that remain undecided to discuss the proposal and incorporate themselves at a later date.

Chavez emphasised the importance of being inclusive and said the April conference had to go far beyond the parties and organisations that participated in last week’s conference. In particular, he said it was an error that there were no revolutionary organisations from the United States present.

The conference of left parties also passed a resolution titled the Caracas Commitment, “to reaffirm our conviction to definitively build and win Socialism of the 21st Century,” in the face of “the generalized crisis of the global capitalist system.”

“One of the epicentres of the global capitalist crisis is the economic sphere. This highlights the limitations of unbridled free markets dominated by monopolies of private property,” the resolution stated.

Also incorporated was a proposed amendment by the Australian delegation which read, “In synthesis, the crisis of capitalism cannot be reduced to a simple financial crisis, it is a structural crisis of capital that combines the economic crisis, with an ecological crisis, a food crisis and an energy crisis, which together represent a mortal threat to humanity and nature. In the face of this crisis, the movements and parties of the left see the defence of nature and the construction of an ecologically sustainable society as a fundamental axis of our struggle for a better world.”

The Caracas Commitment expressed “solidarity with the peoples of the world who have suffered and are suffering from imperialist aggression, especially the more than 50 years of the genocidal blockade against Cuba… the massacre of the Palestinian people, the illegal occupation of part of the territory of the Western Sahara, and the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan, which today is expanding into Pakistan.”

The conference of left parties also denounced the decision of the Mexican government to shut down the state-owned electricity company and fire 45,000 workers, as an attempt to “intimidate” the workers and as an “offensive of imperialism,” to advance neoliberal privatisation in Central America.

In the framework of the Caracas Commitment, the left parties present agreed, among other things, to:

• Organise a global week of mobilisation from December 12-17 in repudiation of the installation of U.S. military bases in Colombia, Panama and around the world.

• Campaign for an international trial against George Bush for crimes against humanity, as the person principally responsible for the genocide against the people of Iraq and Afghanistan.

• Commemorate 100 years since the proposal by Clara Zetkin to celebrate International Women’s Day on March 8, through forums, mobilizations and other activities in their respective countries.

• Organise global solidarity with the Bolivarian revolution in the face of permanent imperialist attacks.

• Organise global solidarity with the people of Honduras who are resisting a U.S.-backed military coup, to campaign for the restoration of the democratically elected president of Honduras, José Manuel Zelaya and to organise a global vigil on the day of the elections in Honduras, “with which they aim to legitimise the coup d´etat.”

• Demand an “immediate and unconditional end to the criminal Yankee blockade” of Cuba and for the “immediate liberation” of the Cuban Five, referring to the five anti-terrorist activists imprisoned in the United States.

• Accompany the Haitian people in their struggle for the return of President Jean Bertrand Aristide “who was kidnapped and removed from his post as president of Haiti by North American imperialism.”

“La Tour Eiffel, dont la commerciale Amérique elle-même ne voudrait pas, c’est, n’en doutez pas, le déshonneur de Paris” : l’accueil fut plutôt froid, au lancement du projet !

La phrase est tirée d’un manifeste corsé et très clair sur son intention de faire capoter le projet, signé par des personnalités comme Guy de Maupassant ou l’architecte de l’opéra Charles Garnier. D’après eux, on n’aurait pu choisir pire projet, alors que 107 propositions avaient été déposées pour la construction d’un bâtiment destiné à marquer la grandeur de la France, lors de la prochaine Exposition Universelle.

Peine perdue, “l’odieuse colonne de tôle boulonnée”, comme ils la nommaient, vit bel et bien le jour en 1889. Pire ! La concession accordée pour 20 ans fut finalement prolongée à 70 ans en 1910, avant qu’elle devienne permanente. Il faut dire que l’ingénieur Gustave Eiffel a tout fait pour rendre son œuvre indispensable : vu les critiques, il savait que pour le salut de sa tour, il fallait lui donner une utilité technique et scientifique. Dès le début, il installe une station météorologique à bord, grâce à laquelle il multiplie les expériences (sur la résistance de l’air surtout). La tour est équipée d’une station de TSF en 1898, puis après la mort d’Eiffel, en 1925, sont installées les premières stations radio et TV. Aujourd’hui, celle qui s’est imposée comme LE symbole de Paris et de la France, est aussi un super émetteur pour la grande majorité des chaînes de télé et de radio.

Et puis la tour, elle présentait bien : c’était la preuve de la fougue Française, de sa maîtrise de la technologie et de la modernité du pays. Bon, les fondations ont été creusées à la pelle (véridique), mais pour le reste, le montage du Meccano géant était ul-tra moderne ! La tour Eiffel a conservé la palme du plus haut édifice du monde jusqu’en 1929, date de la construction de l’immeuble Chrysler à New-York. A sa construction, c’était “the place to be”, au point que le Figaro installera son imprimerie au 2eme étage en 1889 !

Des exploits ont émaillé l’existence de l’édifice, ils n’ont pas tous brillé par leur réussite : en 1912, l’homme oiseau se jette du 1er étage pour une démonstration et s’écrase lamentablement au sol devant un parterre de curieux, de journalistes et… de la première caméra. L’homme était en fait un tailleur d’origine autrichienne qui avait sur le dos ni plus ni moins qu’un poncho amélioré. Poncho qui ne lui aura pas évité la mort.

En 1984, deux britanniques prennent plus de précaution en choisissant le parachute pour sauter clandestinement depuis le 3ème étage. Cinq ans plus tard, Philippe Petit part du Trocadéro pour rejoindre le 2ème étage de la tour Eiffel sur son fil : le funambule parcourt 700 mètres sans protection !

Supplément crânerie : En 1953, le 25 millionième visiteur de la Tour Eiffel reçut comme cadeau une voiture, quelle surprise ! Quelle suprise aussi en 1983 pour le cent millionième visiteur qui eut… Mireille Mathieu comme hôtesse pour sa visite sur la tour… Quant au 150 millionième visiteur, en 1993, il ne reçut rien, ni Mireille Mathieu, ni voiture : tout se perd ma bonne dame !

Truc utile : la tour Eiffel, c’est toujours bondé. Pour avoir une chance de moins faire la queue, il faut choisir le pilier sans ascenseur : on gravit les étages à pied, ça maintient en forme et on n’a pas l’impression de faire partie d’un troupeau de moutons géant. C’est plus gratifiant, quelque part !

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"O Imperador voltou?"

Neste domingo, 15 de novembro, como já é de costume, resolvi dormir até mais tarde – afinal, sábado não é dia de ir cedo pra cama. Passei um pouco do ponto e só fui despertar lá pelas quatro e meia da tarde. Mas eu ainda não estava saciado e resolvi cochilar por mais uns 5 minutinhos, porém mal sabia eu que estes poucos minutos se transformariam em horas do terrível pesadelo que irei lhes contar por meio deste post.

Bom apreciador da história que sou e aproveitando a data comemorativa, já havia preparado um texto sobre a proclamação da república – que este ano completou 120 anos. Iria questionar o golpe que a implementou, suas falhas, suas carências e os paradoxos que envolvem a república brasileira. Mas não é que sou surpreendido por gritos tais como “o imperador voltou, o imperador voltou, o imperador voltou!”.

Jornais, sites na internet, tweets, blogs, noticiários nas rádios e na televisão anunciavam aos quatro cantos a felicidade da família real que, eufórica, comemorava a chegada, a volta ao Brasil do imperador. Pronto, pensei eu, justo no dia em que celebraríamos o 120º aniversário da república no Brasil os monarcas reassumiriam o poder? Somado a isso, questiono como ficará a política brasileira nas vésperas das eleições presidenciais?

Fudeu! Já era! Vou rasgar meu título de eleitor. Tanto faz saber se será Aécio, Serra, Dilma, Marina, Cleverson ou mesmo Thiago que irão guiar o Brasil rumo à prosperidade. O imperador havia voltado e, pelo que dizem, já conquistou o carinho e a admiração do povo carioca – fundamental para o restabelecimento do governo imperial e da cidade do Rio de Janeiro como capital brasileira.

Resolvi andar pela cidade e saber um pouco mais sobre o que estava acontecendo, afinal de contas eu precisava saber a melhor maneira de me portar neste novo governo. Eis que do nada me deparo com uma placa que indicava “Morro do Imperador” e penso que tudo aquilo que vi na TV não se tratava de mera ilusão. Continuo a caminhada por Juiz de Fora e o que mais vejo são estabelecimentos ligados à família imperial – “Vixe!” 

Como disse no início isto foi apenas um pesadelo influenciado pela transmissão da partida entre Náutico e Flamengo que na TV ligada e com o volume nas alturas inspirava o meu sono. Mas, pesadelos à parte e bem acordado, penso que a república brasileira está longe de ser considerada um sonho feliz, por sua vez o povo brasileiro parece estar em um sono profundo e esperando para acordar. 

A família real recepciona o novo imperador…

Listen: On our first Thursday of Meet The Need, we feature number 4 of 50, The Salvation Army of Greater Milwaukee. Whether it be their thrift shops, the countless popular cultural references to their organization (Guys and Dolls?), or their presence in countries all over the world, you probably know the Salvation Army name. But do you know what they do here in Milwaukee?

Despite the large size of their international operations, each local branch is committed to the particular needs of the community where they have a presence. They tailor their services to need. Personally speaking, our interview with Faithe Colas, the Communications Director of Milwaukee’s Salvation Army, revealed many sides of the organization I’d never seen. Take a listen:

-The Salvation Army does a lot of different things in a lot of different areas in the Greater Milwaukee area:

-Faithe tells the story of a homeless young man she met at their Emergency Lodge when she first arrived at the Salvation Army:

-The Salvation Army started in Milwaukee in 1889 on Water Street — some history:

-Many times, discussions in about people in need are limited to people of color. Faithe addresses that perception:

-Faithe paints a picture of the work they do at Emergency Lodge:

For more information on The Salvation Army Of Greater Milwaukee visit their website, and if you’d like to help The Salvation Army meet their needs this holiday season, learn how you can help here.

Produced by: Adam Carr

120 years ago, on November 11, 1889, Washington Territory, which had existed since 1853, was admitted to the Union and became the 42nd U.S. state.
The two images below — a lantern slide and a bird’s-eye view — picture Seattle (the largest city of Washington Territory) and Mt. Vernon (one of the Territory’s smaller towns) shortly before admission to the Union. Seattle was incorporated 20 years, and Mt. Vernon only 4 months before the Washington Territory became Washington state. Images courtesy of King County Snapshots digital collection and Western Waters Digital Library.

Horse-drawn streetcar at Front Street and James, Seattle, ca. 1887

Mt. Vernon, Washington territory (1889)

Thanks be to dennisovich for documenting the performance!

We love it when our sponsors get the press they deserve. Like Ameripride. They’ve been one of our partners from the beginning of our show, and they were just featured in the money section of the Omaha World Herald. So now you can all read how great of a company they are.

Like this fun fact: They were actually started in Lincoln in 1889. Making them the oldest company in the uniforms and linens industry.

Read the article. >

Thanks again, Ameripride, for your continued support of the Weekly Grind.

Band: Chatham City Band
Formed: 1889
Members:18

April 2 1889 is recognized as the date the Chatham Band association formed.
By 1894, 40 members made up the band.
The band played at Toronto and London fall fairs.

Photo Mr. G. W. Cornell  President
Band Photo by J.T. Baikie
Both photos taken in or around 1895
Info from the July 10th 1895 article in The Chatham Planet

____________________

Image from http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com

LOOK OUT FOR THE CENSUS MAN!

JAMES HITCHCOCK and WALTER C. HOOD are the Census Marshals for Scioto county. Mr. HITCHCOCK has the townships of Clay, Jefferson, Madison, Nile, Washington, Union, Morgan and Brushcreek. Mr. HOOD takes the city of Portsmouth and the townships of Wayne, Porter, Green, Bloom, Vernon and Harrison. This week we republish the leading questions — and it is hoped that all will try to have the exact answers ready in time for the Marshal when he comes.

*****

Count up Your Cattle, Children, Corn, Acres, &c., for the Census Man.

IN arranging the heading of this item, we have had respect to the relative degree of interest usually taken in the subjects. This year will occur the decennial census of the United States, the first object of which is the apportionment of representatives in Congress. Persons will be appointed for every locality in the States and Territories, to gather statistics of the inhabitants, and of all the agricultural productions, manufacturers, &c. Every cultivator will be asked for a concise, accurate statement of land occupied by him, the number of acres and the amount of each crop raised during the year ending June, 1859. As these reports will be called for in June, it will be necessary to give in the crops gathered last year, and the suggestion we would now make is, that cultivators write down, while fresh in their mind, the number of acres under cultivation, including the wheat, &c., gathered. The number of acres of each kind, the amount per acre, and the gross amount, will be required. The milk products also, and the amount of pork, beef, &c. will be asked for; also, the number of persons, male and female, and their ages, in every house. — Advanced spinsters, and middle-aged bachelors, widows and widowers, will undoubtedly cordially do their best to enlighten the census-takers as to their ages.

*****

THE editor is busy, — taking the Census. Can’t do much in the line of writing this week.

*****

WE have a number of items, touching our experience and observations while taking the census of the First Ward in this city, but must defer their publication to a “more convenient season.” All in time, however.

The Portsmouth Times (Portsmouth, Ohio) Jun 9, 1860

From The Evening Independent (St. Petersburg, Florida) apr 5, 1930

The Census-Takers and the Public.

IT would seem that a good many people have not yet got over their fright of 1840. Twenty years have not obliterated from the tablets of their memory the impressions put there by the Opposition papers and stumpers of that day. They were then told that the census-takers were mere spies of the General Government to find out the substance of the people for the purpose of taxing it.

The babies were to be taxed, the ducks were to be taxed, the corn was to be taxed, the pigs were to be taxed, every thing was to be taxed, and if the taxes were not paid, that their property would be seized and sold to pay them.

It seems that the belief they were then scared into sticks to them, and the census-takers now find considerable opposition from ignorant people. They will not give the information required by the law. It is surprising that at this day any persons can be found who would refuse to comply with the requirements of the law by answering the questions put by the census-takers. The object of the law is a good one, and all good citizens will give the census-takers a helping hand.

*****

The Decennial Census.

THE United States Marshals and their assistants began, on the 1st of June, the task of taking the seventh decennial census of our people. The different censuses aggregate as follows:
1790……….3,929,827
1800……….5,305,925
1810……….7,280,314
1820……….9,638,131
1830………12,858,670
1840………17,068,666
1850………23,257,273

Unusual care has been taken in the preparation of the schedules of questions, and it is to be hoped that the aggregate statements will be ready for publication at an earlier day  than those of 1850. A circular containing a list of the queries in Schedule 1 has been prepared for circulation among manufacturers, and will be placed in their hands in time to prepare complete replies, as it is very desirable that as correct a return as possible may be made of every description of articles manufactured with the value of each. In case the information is withheld, or false returns made designedly, the following penalty is affixed by the fifteenth section of the Act of Congress:

“Each and every free person more than twenty years of age, belonging to any family residing in any sub-division, and in case of the absence of the heads and other member of any such family, then any agent of such family, shall be, and each of them is hereby required; if thereto requested by the Marshal or his assistant, to render a true account to the best of his or her knowledge, of every person belonging to such family, in the various particulars required in and by this act, and the tables thereto subjoined, on pain of forfeiting thirty dollars, to be sued for and recovered in an action of debt by the assistant, to the use of the United States.”

The first schedule will require answers as follows:

The name of every person whose usual place of abode on the first day of June was in the family.

The profession, occupation, or trade of each person, male or female over fifteen years of age.

Value of all real estate, wherever located, and all personal estate.

Place of birth.

Married within the year.

Attended school within the year.

Persons over twenty years of age who cannot read or write.

The manufacturers’ schedule requires the name of business; amount of capital invested; raw material used, either in manufacture directly or as fuel; the kind and value of raw material; kind of motive power, or resources, as furnaces, bloomeries, etc., number of hands employed; wages paid them; and the quantity, number and value, at the manufactory, of the articles manufactured.

This is the most important schedule, and it is of the utmost importance that all the required information should be fully and accurately given. By this table the entire labor product of the country — its real wealth — is to be determined.

The Portsmouth Times (Portsmouth, Ohio) Jun 16, 1860

Image from http://househistoryman.blogspot.com

THE census takers will soon be around with all sorts of questions, and the ladies are advised to “get their ages ready.”

The Portsmouth Times (Portsmouth, Ohio) May 28, 1870

The census-taker in Davis county, Iowa, asked a woman at a farm house the age of her oldest child, and the reply was: “You have come around a month too soon.”

Galveston Daily News (Galveston, Texas) Jun 30, 1870

TWENTY-SIX is the maximum age attained by any unmarried ladies, say the census takers.

The Portsmouth Times (Portsmouth, Ohio) Jul 23, 1870

Image from www.digitaljournalist.org

A Southern census taker says:

As for the ages of the negroes, that is almost entirely a matter of conjecture. So far as my experience goes, nineteen out of twenty cannot tell within then years how old they are, nor are their parents more accurate even with regard to their very young children, “John was born in cotton pickin’ time, de year before freedom struck de earth;” “Jenny was two monts old when Massa Charley got wounded in de war;” “Sal was born ’bout de time massa built him new gin house;” “Jime was born in de Christmas week of de year when frost killed de taturs;” such are the data from which to collect the ages of children, while the years of older persons are a matter of more uncertain conjecture.

Galveston Daily News (Galveston, Texas) Sep 21, 1870

The Census.

The census taker complains of difficulty in ascertaining the number of persons in many families, because of the impression that the information is to be used for political purposes…

Galveston Daily News (Galveston, Texas) Nov 23, 1873

Image from http://img.tfd.com

A SUGGESTION TO THE CENSUS-TAKER.

The work of taking the national census will be commenced in June, and when completed will furnish a great deal of valuable and instructive information, as a comprehensive review of almost everything relating to the material prosperity of the country.

The number of acres under cultivation and the acreage of each particular crop will be given.

The people will also be able to post themselves with regard to the quantity and quality of the weather they have used up in the past, so to speak, and form conjectures as to what they may expect in the future.

All this information can not fail to be useful, and will create a demand throughout the country for more censuses, at shorter intervals than has been customary heretofore.

The field of inquiry might be advantageously extended into other departments of knowledge, and thus the sphere of usefulness of the census-taker widened out very perceptibly.

For instance, a good many believe in the truth of phrenology, and popular parlance sustains this belief. How often we read of a wise man being “a man of brains.” Daniel Webster, Napoleon the First, and almost all other men of remarkable ability had, or are supposed to have had, very large heads. Perhaps, if the census-taker were to present a tabular statement of the exact dimensions of the heads of the members of congress and of our sixteenth legislature, some data might be obtained that would be useful to the state and country, and more than repay the additional expense incurred in obtaining the desired measurements. The people would have some clew by which to go in selecting the next batch of representatives.

Or, let up suppose that the census-taker were to turn his attention to another class of offenders. How instructive, and even amusing, it would be to peruse a tabular statement showing at a glance how many murderers have been tried in Texas during the past few years; how much, in dollars and cents, each murderer was worth; what the action of the courts was in each case; how many lawyers each murderer had to assist him; how long he was in jail before he got his final trial, etc. In that case the relations between big fees, frequent continuances, and foul acquittals could be ascertained. There would be no difficulty in finding out how many wealthy and influential murderers have been executed during the last ten years, and how many indigent and friendless ones honorably acquitted.

Galveston Daily News (Galveston, Texas) Feb 12, 1880

Image from http://globalgenealogy.com

Census Taker – Married or single, ma’am?

Woman — Married.

Census Taker – Any children?

Woman – No.

Census Taker – Husband living?

Woman – Yes.

Census Taker – Has he any children?

Epoch.

Galveston Daily News (Galveston, Texas) Dec 17, 1889

The Brunet of the Species is More Deadly Than the Blond.

A woman in Lowell, Mass. replied to the census taker’s question, “To what race do you belong?” by writing down brunet. — Indianapolis News.

Appleton Post Crescent (Appleton, Wisconsin) Feb 20, 1920

The  southern view from Walkway Over the Hudson shows the Mid-Hudson Bridge.

Way back in 1889, the Poughkeepsie Railroad Bridge opened,  spanning the Hudson River and linking New York and New England to an extensive railway network for both passengers and freight.

The bridge was considered an engineering marvel of the day, and at one time was the longest bridge in the world. It features seven main spans with a total length is 6,767 feet, including approaches, and the deck is 212 feet above water.

The bridge remained as the only Hudson River crossing south of Albany until the construction of the Bear Mountain Bridge in 1924. Throughout World War II, the  Poughkeepsie bridge carried troops to be shipped overseas. At the zenith, 3,500 train cars crossed the bridge on a daily basis.

And now, after decades of inactivity following a fire in 1974, the bridge has been transformed into the Walkway Over the Hudson, the world’s longest elevated pedestrian bridge and a New York State Historic Park. The Walkway provides access to the breathtaking Hudson River landscape for pedestrians, joggers and bicyclists.

And what an incredible view, more than 200 feet above the river. Vistas everywhere, from the Mid-Hudson Bridge and Poughkeepsie skyline to the south, to the bluffs of the Hudson and the Catskill Mountains to the north, shown below. Priceless.

The World in 1889
The world was a lot different in 1889, some 120 years ago, when the Poughkeepsie Railroad Bridge first opened. That year for instance, President Grover Cleveland signs a bill admitting North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana and Washington as U.S. states, before turning over the reins to Benjamin Harrison.

That same year, The South Fork Dam collapsed in western Pennsylvania, killing more than 2,200 people in the Johnstown Flood.

Meanwhile, the Coca-Cola Company was incorporated in Atlanta. The Wall Street Journal was established in 1889, and Herman Hollerith received a patent for his electric tabulating machine, an early precursor to the computer.

In the world of sports, there was no NFL and no Stanley Cup. And basketball was still just a gleam in the eye of James Naismith. The first Olympics, in Athens, was still seven years away.

In 1889, the New York Giants, leaders of the National League defeated the Brooklyn Bridegrooms of the American Association,  6 games to 3, in an exhibition series for the championship of baseball. Dan Brouthers of the Boston Beaneaters hit .373 to win the National League batting title, while Tommy Tucker of the Baltimore Orioles led the AA with a .372 average. John Clarkson of Boston and Bob Caruthers of Brooklyn won 40 games apiece to pace their respective leagues.

As trains rumbled over the Poughkeepsie Railroad Bridge, shown above, Spokane won the Kentucky Derby, Willie Renshaw took the last of his seven Wimbledon crowns, and Willie Park Jr won British Open in a playoff.

And undefeated Princeton won 10 games to win the college football championship (there was no playoff system in 1889 either fans).

In de botervloot die staat te fonkelen op de foto zit het product van de week van deze week. Lekker Op Brood is de naam. Wat Lekker Op Brood precies is, is stevig verpakt in voorzichtige formuleringen. Op de onderkant van de vloot staat boven de declaratie van ingrediënten: “Product voor op brood.”

De ingrediënten – water, oliën, vetten, zetmeel, zout, emulgator, aroma’s, voedingszuur, soja-eiwit, conserveermiddel, caroteen en twee vitamines – zeggen weinig over de smaak van Lekker Op Brood.

Een eenvoudige test leert dat Lekker Op Brood zich makkelijk laat uitsmeren op brood, en naar de mening van het testpanel smaakt het ook prima op brood. “Niet lekker, maar prima, mits samen met beleg, hartig of zoet,” oordeelde één van de panelleden letterlijk.

Lekker Op Brood is boterachtig, maar mag geen boter heten, want het is geen boter. En de boterwet, aangenomen in 1889, verbiedt kruideniers om producten die op echte boter lijken, maar geen echte boter zijn, als boter te verkopen. Vandaar de voorzichtige formuleringen. Het blijft verbazingwekkend wat men na de geboorte allemaal te weten komt.

excerpted from Lapham’s Quarterly Summer 2009

SAFE CONDUCT

Much has been said about the danger to women, especially young women, traveling alone of annoyance from impertinent or obtrusive attentions from travelers of the other sex. I can only say that in any such case which has ever come within my personal knowledge or observation, the woman has had only herself to blame. I am quite sure that no man, however audacious, will – at all events if he be sober – venture to treat with undue familiarity or rudeness a woman, however young, who distinctly shows him by her dignity of manner and conduct that any such liberty will be an insult. As a rule, women traveling alone receive far more consideration and kindness from men of all classes than under any other circumstances whatever, and the greater independence of women – which permits even young girls in these days to travel about entirely alone, unattended even by a maid- has very rarely inconvenient consequences.

Warren Tribune, PA 1927

National Labor Day.

In 1883 Mr. P.J. McGuire of New York, originated the idea of an annual celebration in all the Union by members of the various trades and labor organizations. Further, the time to be fixed for this should be the first Monday in September. Mrssrs. P.J. McGuire, Samuel Gompers and Robert Blissert were the principal framers of the plan adopted, and these gentlemen, prominent workers in the labor cause, first gave it publicity.

The day was to be a grand holiday, like the Fourth of July or Christmas. It was to be celebrated by music, festivals, speaking and great processions of the labor organizations. The parades were to be a leading feature. Members of all the industrial trades, formed in battalions and divisions, were to march through the streets, with music playing and banners flying. Upon the banners were to be inscribed terse words, showing the mottoes and aims of the great labor unions. Among such were the following:

“Compulsory Education,” “No Child Labor,” “Sanitary Inspection of Factories,” “Eight Hours a Day.”

The idea caught the public favor at once. That first year and every year since Labor day has been celebrated. It grows in favor, and its observance becomes annually more imposing. No more instructive or interesting sight is witnessed than these long battalions of faithful workers. Some of the bands are white faced and stooped from long hours of bending over indoor tasks. Others are ruddy and strong and erect. Far too many, as they march, show the cramping, stiffening effect of years of toil on their muscles.

Labor day is now a legal holiday in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Wisconsin, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, Colorado, California and sever other states. It should be set apart in all the states as the day belonging to those who make the nation’s wealth.

The News (Frederick, Maryland) Aug 27, 1889

Image from www.ashp.cuny.edu

One of the mottos borne in the Labor Day parade in Chicago read:

“eight hours’ work, eight hours’ pay, eight hours’ sleep and eight dollars a day.”

When these conditions come to pass the millenium will not be far off.

Edwardsville Intelligencer (Edwardsville, Illinois) Sep 14, 1892

LABOR DAY ANNIVERSARY.

The first of September is a very fitting time for the “Labor Day” observance. It is the beginning of the harvest season when the fruits of the earth are gathered into barns, and the reward of the year’s husbandry is paid to agricultural toil, from of old and ever to be the only essential provider for human want.

And it is well to observe “Labor Day” with gratitude and jubilation, as it was well for this nation to observe Fourth of July. But, as Fourth of July was devoted to a consideration of the causes and the obligations of American independence, so it were well for “Labor Day” to consider how it was and by what means its present advantageous estate has come to be.

It has taken much time to bring round this festivity of labor. Reckoning from the birth of Christ at Bethlehem in Judea, nearly nineteen hundred years have labored to bring it forth. And but for the transforming power of those years of ministry, but for that birth in the manger and that death on the cross, not nineteen centuries, but much more extended and weary travail would have awaited human labor, before, in this land and in this time, it could have had any such anniversary as it now observes. Outside of all theology and creeds, as the most certain fact in history, the beginning of the amelioration of labor starts from the person and the message of the Son of Man. Of all mankind, those who have been bowed down and heavy laden should most revere and cherish that benignant goodness and wisdom.

But it has not been wholly the institutions directly connected with christianity, from which the amelioration of labor had come. That liberation and development of the human mind which christianity has caused has contributed in these later centuries more visibly than the church. For, left to its own resources, there is nothing in the mere numbers of human labor that would have brought it to what of advantage it now enjoys. It is because the constantly increasing intelligence of mankind in the end benefits labor, that its past has been progressive and its future is bright with hope.

Despite christianity, it was not until the use of gunpowder in warfare that the toiling masses of Europe had any fair chance of freedom. The warrior aristocracies in their suits of ma??, and trained to arms as a jealously exclusive profession, could never have been thrust from their place of power by the multitudes whose labor they exacted and whose gains they lavished. Gunpowder was the first great equalizer of persons, and modern democracy begins with its use in war.

*emphasis mine

But gunpowder could not undo all the past. It had been in use several hundred years before the Reign of Terror in France, and labor had its heaviest burdens still to bear. For that outburst of tumult and revenge was but the recoil of outraged and overburned human toil, forced upon one-third of the soil of France, and under most oppressive restrictions, to support in idleness and waste the Nobles and the Clergy, who monopolized all privileges and occupied two-thirds of the land.

Clearly invention and intelligence alone could not deliver labor from the pit into which it had fallen, or rather had been forced. Besides aid, it needed opportunity, and this it could not find in Europe where aristocracy and privilege were organized and intrenched. This opportunity the United States has furnished to a greater degree than the world has thus far known.

But here also the conflict of rival principles had to be fought out. In the Mayflower came republican institutions based upon free and respected labor, and at Jamestown, in Virginia, was begun the toil of slaves. Our civil war grew out of these two facts, and was fought for the cause of labor. In that war the Mayflower and the Pilgrims triumphed, and labor has the benefit of the blood and the treasure that were spent.

If anywhere in this world among human institutions and the places connected with their birth, the reverence and gratitude of laboring men should go out toward Plymouth Rock, and the principles of government and social order which the founders of Massachusetts first planted on this soil. If any state should have the loyalty of its laboring men, Massachusetts should. If any citizenship should feed constantly from the fount of early purpose and aspiration, her citizenship should. And, of all her citizens, those who celebrate “Labor Day” should most reverently do this, for under her leadership and influence has come to them most of what that anniversary stands for.

North Adams Transcript (North Adams, Massachusetts) Sep 2, 1895

P.J. McGuire - 1896

TOILERS HONORED BY AMERICA FIRST

SAMUEL GOMPERS GIVES OUT INTERESTING HISTORY OF LABOR DAY.

FIRST OBSERVED IN 1882 IN NEW YORK CITY — NOW NATIONAL HOLIDAY

WASHINGTON, D.C., Sept. 4. — Samuel Gompers, founder and president of the American Federation of Labor, gave out for publication today some interesting historical matter on the observation of Labor Day.

“Undoubtedly the first suggestion of setting apart a day in each year to be observed as Labor Day,” said Mr. Gompers, “was conceived by the late P.J. McGuire, who was at that time secretary of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters. The suggestion occurred during the period when the Knights of Labor was in existence, P.J. McGuire being a member of that organization.

“Writing for the American Federationist in 1902 P.J. McGuire had this to say:

“‘Pagan feast and Christian observance have come down to us through the long ages. But it was reserved for this country, and for the American people, to give birth to Labor Day. In this they honor the toilers of the earth, and pay homage to those who from rude nature have delved and carved all the comfort and grandeur we behold.

“‘More than all, the thought, the conception, yes, the very inspiration of this holiday came from men in the ranks of the working people, men active in uplifting their fellows and leading them to better conditions. It came from a little group in New York City, the Central Labor Union, which had just been formed, and which in later years attained widespread influence.

“‘On May 8, 1882, the writer made the proposition. He urged the propriety of setting aside one day in the year to be designated as ‘Labor Day,’ and to be established as a general holiday for the laboring classes. He advised the day should first be celebrated by a street parade, which would publicly show the strength and esprit du corps of the trade and labor organizations. Next the parade should be followed by a picnic of a festival in some grove the proceeds of the same to be divided on this semi-co-operative plan.”

“It was further argued Labor Day should be observed as one festal day in the year for public tribute to the genius of the American industry. There were other worthy holidays representative of the religions, civil and military spirit. But non representative of the industrial spirit, the great vital force of every nation.

He suggested the first Monday in September of every year for such a holiday, as it would come at the most pleasant season of the year nearly midway between the fourth of July and Thanksgiving and would fill a wide gap in the chronology of legal holidays. Many were the cogent reasons he advanced and at once the idea was enthusiastically embraced.

The first Labor Day parade and festival of the Central Labor Union of New York City on September 5, 1882, was simply an imposing success. From that day on, it became a fixed institution in the United States observed today in every city of the land. The plan was next endorsed by the annual convention of the American Federation of Labor and the general assembly of the Knights of Labor. IT spread rapidly from city to city and from town to town. City councils and state legislatures took it up and made it a legal holiday, until finally, June 28, 1894, it became a national holiday by act of congress.

“The initial action taken setting apart one day in the year on which to review the activities and beneficial influence of Organized Labor occurred at the afternoon meeting of the third day of the fourth annual session of the Federation, October 9, 1884, the convention being held in Schloesser’s Hall, Chicago, Ill. The resolution creating Labor Day was introduced in the convention by A.C. Cameron, a delegate from the Chicago Trades and Labor Assembly, and was as follows:

“‘Resolved, that the first Monday in September of each year be set apart as a laborers’ national holiday, and that we recommend its observance by all wage-workers, irrespective of sex, calling, or nationality.’***”

Eau Claire Leader (Eau Claire, Wisconsin) Sep 5, 1915

Decatur Weekly Republican 29 Oct 1896

LABOR DAY’S ANNIVERSARY.

The first Labor Day was instituted in 1887, when the New York legislature passed an act recognizing that occasion as a holiday. But the movement for this occasion may fairly celebrate its semi-centennial this year, since it was in 1882 that Matthew Maguire, secretary of the Central Labor union of New York, began correspondence with various labor unions, in the effort to secure such a public occasion.

The original idea of the movement was to establish a public occasion which should dignify labor, call attention to the needs and rights of wage-earners, strengthen their organizations, and encourage them in their struggle for better conditions.

Since that time enormous progress has been made by the workers. Hours of labor, which were inordinately long, have been greatly reduced. Working conditions have been made healthier and pleasanter. Women and children are protected from the more severe demands of toil. Wages average three to four times as much as was ordinarily paid 50 years ago. The wage-earners of the country enjoy many benefits that the workers of 50 years ago never dreamed of.

The Frederick Post (Frederick, Maryland) Sep 3, 1932

A PRINTER THE LEADER

First Labor Day Parade Was Held Sept. 5, 1882

The first celebration of Labor day in America was on Sept 5, 1882, when a parade was held in New York under the auspices of the newly organized Central Labor union of the metropolis. P.J. McGuire first made the suggestion of a parade of organized labor. William McCabe, who was chosen to lead the procession as grand marshal, had only a small company of men behind him when the parade started from City Hall; and they came in for much jeering from the crowd. At Astor Place a number of organizations joined the marchers, and when the parade passed in review at Union Square there were 2,500 men in line. William McCabe, the leader of this pioneer parade of organized toilers, was a printer by trade, and a native of New Zealand. Coming to America in 1840, when two years old, his parents settled in California. At the age of fifteen he enlisted in a cavalry troop which served in the civil war. Later he fought the Indians in the northwest, and then received a commission in the patriot army of Mexico, which was engaged in driving out the European invaders. He then became a printer, first in San Francisco and later in New York. P.J. McGuire, the father of Labor day, was for some time secretary of the American federation of labor, and worked unremittingly to secure the general adoption of the labor holiday.

During recent years also, the labor movement has become less disposed to seek its ends by fighting employers, more disposed to get results by co-operating with them. With that plan, it will go on to still greater successes, as little is usually gained when the industries are tied up by strikes.

It is a delightful thing to see our people enjoying the Labor holiday, though this year, unfortunately, many idle ones have had more holidays than they desire. However, that is probably only a temporary misfortune. Labor day, 1933, with the prospects for improvement now in sight, should see the annual September holiday welcome as a pleasant relief from toil.

Tyrone Daily Herald (Tyrone, Pennsylvania) Sep 4, 1916

Rabbit's Foot (Image from www.viachristachains.com)

A Rabbit’s Foot.

Col. Charles Y. Wilson, Kentucky’s state agricultural commissioner, has a rabbit’s foot with a history to it, which he intends to present to the next speaker of the house of representatives, with the request that it be handed down in the direct line of succession each subsequent term of the legislature. The rabbit had but three legs, and was caught in the cemetery at the dead hour of midnight by a one-legged man.

Before he got it the whole neighborhood had been praying for rain to save the crops. But when he took the rabbit’s foot in his hand, rubbed the rubbed the fur and made a few mystic signs, to his astonishment in a short while the great clouds began to pour a deluge of water over the thirsty land. Col. Wilson had it tipped with silver for a talisman to be suspended as a watch charm and used by the speaker of the house, like the magical ring in the “Arabian Nights.”

Indiana Weekly Messenger (Indiana, Pennsylvania) Dec  25, 1889

I hear the Savior say,
“Thy strength indeed is small;
Child of weakness, watch and pray,
Find in Me thine all in all.”

Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.

2. For nothing good have I
Whereby Thy grace to claim,
I’ll wash my garments white
In the blood of Calv’ry’s Lamb.

3. And now complete in Him
My robe His righteousness,
Close sheltered ’neath His side,
I am divinely blest.

4. Lord, now indeed I find
Thy power and Thine alone,
Can change the leper’s spots
And melt the heart of stone.

5. When from my dying bed
My ransomed soul shall rise,
“Jesus died my soul to save,”
Shall rend the vaulted skies.

6. And when before the throne
I stand in Him complete,
I’ll lay my trophies down
All down at Jesus’ feet.

Elvina M (Rey­nolds) Hall died this date, 7/18/1889, Ocean Grove, New Jer­sey was a Methodist, hymn writer.  Her first husband was Ri­chard Hall also from Virginia.  After his demise she married Thom­as Mey­ers, a Meth­od­ist min­is­ter of the Bal­ti­more, Ma­ry­land Con­fer­ence.  She was born 6/4/1822 at Al­ex­an­dria, Vir­gin­ia.

8 Luglio 1889, esce il primo numero del ” Wall Street Journal ” , quotidiano internazionale. E’ stato per molti anni il quotidiano più venduto negli Stati Uniti, raggiungendo una media a livello mondiale di oltre 2 milioni di copie stampate. Lo fondarono Charles Dow, Edward Jones e Charles Bergstresser, vincendo per ben 29 volte il premio Pulitzer. Rivale storio in ambito europeo e non solo del Financial Times di Londra. Nel 2007 la New Corporation di Murdoch, che ha lo scopo di riportarlo ai fasti di un tempo.

Cannonball Crane vs Adonis Terry 10/23/1889, @, Brooklyn Park

GIANTS BRING OUT THE BROOMS TO FINISH THE GROOMS

Iambic pentameter aside, the Giants scored early and then pushed across a run in the 9th against a wild Adonis Terry to win their 1st DMB World Series.

With the bases loaded in the 1st, Roger Connor smacked a bases clearing triple off the centerfield wall and later scored to put the Giants up 4-0. The Bridegrooms pecked away, scoring runs in each of the 1st 4 innings as Cannonball Crane struggled with his control giving up a DMB World Series record 9 walks.

With 2 outs in the 8th Crane walked the next 2 batters and Dave Foutz grounded a single into right to tie the score at 5.

In The Giants 9th John Ward stroked a single to center to lead off the inning. He stole 2nd and then Adonis Terry walked his 6th and 7th batters to load the bases. George Gore hit a flyball to score Ward with the winning run.

With 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th, just to make things interesting Crane walked Pop Corkhill and Bob Clark. Joe Visner flew out to left to end the game.

SUMMARY: The Bridegrooms did not hit, batting only .190 as a team. Both pitching staffs struggled with control, allowing 40 walks in the 4 games.  Mike Tiernan and Roger Connor provided plenty of offense for the Giants, combining to drive in more than half the runs that the Giants scored in this series.

MVP is another tough one. Cannonball Crane won 2 games but didn’t dominate. George Gore led all batters with a .538 average. But Roger Connor and Mike Tiernan did the most damage. I could give co-MVPs, but……why not??? Since MLB started giving out the award starting with the 1955 World Series there have been Co-MVPS twice. Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling in 2001(Don’t remind me) and in 1981 there was Co-Co-MVPs  with Ron Cey, Pedro Guerrero, and Steve Yeager(I lost $20 on that World Series)

So Mike Tiernan and Roger Connor will share the 1889 MVP Award

                                    Co-MVPs-Mike Tiernan         Roger Connor

                                                 .368, 7 rbis            .438, 5 rbis

10/23/1889, NYG89-BKL89, Brooklyn Park
                       1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9     R  H  E   LOB DP
1889 Giants            4  0  0  1  0  0  1  0  1     7 10  3    10  1
1889 Bridegrooms       1  2  1  1  0  0  0  1  0     6  8  2    11  1

Giants               AB  R  H BI   AVG    Bridegrooms          AB  R  H BI   AVG
Tiernan           rf  4  2  1  1  .368    Collins           2b  3  0  1  2  .200
Ward              ss  5  2  2  0  .316    Foutz             1b  5  1  1  0  .176
O’Rourke          lf  4  1  1  0  .294    Burns             rf  4  1  2  0  .118
Connor            1b  4  1  3  3  .438    O’Brien           lf  4  1  2  2  .389
Ewing             c   1  0  0  0  .250    Pinkney           3b  5  0  0  0  .118
Gore              cf  2  0  1  2  .538    Corkhill          cf  4  0  0  0  .267
Richardson        2b  4  0  1  1  .235    Smith             ss  3  0  0  0  .067
Whitney           3b  4  1  1  0  .133     Clark            ph  0  0  0  0  .000
Crane             p   4  0  0  0  .125    Visner            c   4  1  1  1  .182
                     32  7 10  7          Terry             p   3  2  1  0  .125
                                                               35  6  8  5

Giants                           INN  H  R ER BB  K PCH STR   ERA
Crane            W 2-0           9.0  8  6  3  9  2 176  89  2.00
                                 9.0  8  6  3  9  2 176  89
Bridegrooms                      INN  H  R ER BB  K PCH STR   ERA
Terry            L 0-2           9.0 10  7  6  7  3 143  82  3.98
                                 9.0 10  7  6  7  3 143  82

BKL: Clark batted for Smith in the 9th
E-O’Rourke, Connor, Richardson, Collins 2. 2B-Burns, Terry. 3B-Connor.
SB-Ward(3). K-O’Rourke, Ewing, Whitney, O’Brien, Visner. BB-O’Rourke, Connor,
Ewing 4, Gore, Collins 2, Burns, O’Brien, Corkhill, Smith, Visner, Terry,
Clark. SH-Whitney. SF-Tiernan, Gore, Richardson. HBP-Gore. HB-Terry.
WP-Crane 2, Terry.
GWRBI: Gore
Temperature: 68, Sky: clear, Wind: right to left at 6 MPH

DMB team batting — 1889 New York Giants                             
                              League championship — as of 10/23/1889                              

S Name               P    AVG   OBP   SPC    G   AB    H  2B  3B  HR    R  RBI   BB    K HBP  IW  SB  CS
  Welch              sp  .667  .667  .667    1    3    2   0   0   0    0    0    0    1   0   0   0   0
  Gore*              cf  .538  .611  .615    4   13    7   1   0   0    5    3    3    0   1   2   0   0
  Connor*            1b  .438  .524  .688    4   16    7   2   1   0    3    5    4    0   0   1   0   0
  Tiernan*           rf  .368  .381  .474    4   19    7   2   0   0    3    7    1    0   0   0   0   0
  Ward*              ss  .316  .381  .368    4   19    6   1   0   0    4    3    2    0   0   1   3   1
  O’Rourke           lf  .294  .400  .353    4   17    5   1   0   0    2    0    3    5   0   1   2   0
  Ewing              c   .250  .429  .250    4   16    4   0   0   0    1    1    5    1   0   0   0   0
  Richardson         2b  .235  .263  .294    4   17    4   1   0   0    2    3    1    2   0   0   0   0
  Whitney            3b  .133  .235  .133    4   15    2   0   0   0    2    1    2    3   0   0   0   0
  Crane              sp  .125  .125  .125    2    8    1   0   0   0    2    0    0    0   0   0   0   0
  Keefe              sp  .000  .000  .000    1    5    0   0   0   0    0    0    0    2   0   0   0   0
  Total                  .304  .385  .372    4  148   45   8   1   0   24   23   21   14   1   5   5   1

                           DMB team batting — 1889 Brooklyn Bridegrooms                           
                              League championship — as of 10/23/1889                              

S Name               P    AVG   OBP   SPC    G   AB    H  2B  3B  HR    R  RBI   BB    K HBP  IW  SB  CS
  Caruthers*         sp  .500  .500 1.000    1    4    2   2   0   0    0    1    0    1   0   0   0   0
  O’Brien            of  .389  .421  .389    4   18    7   0   0   0    3    2    1    4   0   0   0   0
  Corkhill*          cf  .267  .353  .267    4   15    4   0   0   0    0    1    2    0   0   0   0   1
  Collins            2b  .200  .400  .200    4   15    3   0   0   0    2    2    5    0   0   0   1   0
  Visner*            c   .182  .286  .455    3   11    2   0   0   1    3    3    2    3   0   0   0   0
  Foutz              1b  .176  .222  .294    4   17    3   0   1   0    1    2    1    0   0   0   0   0
  Terry              sp  .125  .222  .250    3    8    1   1   0   0    2    0    1    0   0   0   0   0
  Burns              rf  .118  .211  .176    4   17    2   1   0   0    1    0    1    1   1   0   0   0
  Pinkney            3b  .118  .211  .176    4   17    2   1   0   0    0    0    2    1   0   0   0   0
  Smith              ss  .067  .176  .067    4   15    1   0   0   0    1    0    2    2   0   0   0   0
  Clark              c   .000  .500  .000    2    2    0   0   0   0    0    0    2    0   0   0   0   0
  Hughes             sp  .000  .000  .000    1    3    0   0   0   0    0    0    0    0   0   0   0   0
  Total                  .190  .288  .261    4  142   27   5   1   1   13   11   19   12   1   0   1   1

DMB team pitching — 1889 New York Giants                             
                              League championship — as of 10/23/1889                              

S Name               P     ERA   W   L   S   G  GS  CG SHO     INN    H    R   ER   BB    K  HR GDP    BF
  Welch              sp   0.00   1   0   0   1   1   1   1     9.0    3    0    0    2    2   0   0    33
  Crane              sp   2.00   2   0   0   2   2   2   0    18.0   16   10    4   11    8   0   1    85
  Keefe              sp   2.45   1   0   0   1   1   1   0    11.0    8    3    3    6    2   1   2    46
  Total                   1.66   4   0   0   4   4   4   1    38.0   27   13    7   19   12   1   3   164

                           DMB team pitching — 1889 Brooklyn Bridegrooms                          
                              League championship — as of 10/23/1889                              

S Name               P     ERA   W   L   S   G  GS  CG SHO     INN    H    R   ER   BB    K  HR GDP    BF
  Caruthers          sp   1.00   0   1   0   1   1   1   0     9.0   12    7    1    0    0   0   1    41
  Terry              sp   3.98   0   2   0   3   2   2   0    20.1   20   11    9   15   11   0   3    96
  Hughes             sp   6.14   0   1   0   1   1   0   0     7.1   13    6    5    6    3   0   1    40
  Total                   3.68   0   4   0   4   4   3   0    36.2   45   24   15   21   14   0   5   177

Cap Anson and Buck Ewing downing some ale, or maybe a lot of ale, based on the empties.

With the completion of the 1889 World Series, this is your last chance to enter The DMB World Series Trivia Contest.

The winner will be announced on Friday. Take a chance, it only requires a guess of 2 numbers. And so far, nobody has given the right answer.

Mickey Hughes vs Mickey Welch 10/22/1889, @ Polo Grounds

WELCH TOSSES A GEM AS GIANTS WIN EASILY

Mickey Welch threw no hit ball into the 7th inning and finished with a masterful 3 hit shutout. His counterpart Mickey Hughes, despite only 9 regular season wins  got the surprise start and struggled through 7 innings, allowing 13 hits and 6 walks.

The Giants scored all the runs they needed in a 3 run 3rd. Mike Tiernan drove in 2 more runs with a single, his 7th rbi in this series.

10/22/1889, BKL89-NYG89, Polo Grounds
                       1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9     R  H  E   LOB DP
1889 Bridegrooms       0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0     0  3  3     6  2
1889 Giants            0  0  3  0  1  0  2  0  x     6 13  2    11  0

Bridegrooms          AB  R  H BI   AVG    Giants               AB  R  H BI   AVG
Collins           2b  4  0  1  0  .167    Tiernan           rf  4  1  3  2  .400
Foutz             1b  4  0  0  0  .167    Ward              ss  5  1  1  1  .286
Burns             rf  4  0  0  0  .000    O’Rourke          lf  3  1  2  0  .308
Pinkney           3b  4  0  0  0  .167    Connor            1b  2  0  1  2  .333
O’Brien           lf  4  0  2  0  .357    Ewing             c   5  0  1  0  .267
Smith             ss  4  0  0  0  .083    Richardson        2b  4  1  0  0  .231
Corkhill          cf  2  0  0  0  .364    Whitney           3b  2  1  0  0  .091
Clark             c   2  0  0  0  .000    Gore              cf  4  1  3  1  .545
Hughes            p   3  0  0  0  .000    Welch             p   3  0  2  0  .667
Terry            p   0  0  0  0  .000                         32  6 13  6
                     31  0  3  0

Bridegrooms                      INN  H  R ER BB  K PCH STR   ERA
Hughes           L 0-1           7.1 13  6  5  6  3 148  82  6.14
Terry                            0.2  0  0  0  0  0   1   1  2.38
                                 8.0 13  6  5  6  3 149  83

Giants                           INN  H  R ER BB  K PCH STR   ERA
Welch            W 1-0           9.0  3  0  0  2  2 121  75  0.00
                                 9.0  3  0  0  2  2 121  75

E-Foutz, Clark 2, Richardson, Whitney. 2B-Ward, Connor. SB-O’Rourke 2(2).
CS-Corkhill, Ward. K-Burns, Smith, Richardson, Whitney, Welch. BB-Corkhill,
Clark, Tiernan, O’Rourke, Connor 2, Whitney 2. SH-O’Rourke, Welch. SF-Connor.
GWRBI: Tiernan
Temperature: 70, Sky: clear, Wind: in from left at 10 MPH.

This is a display poster(only 6 are known to still exist) for the 1887 Allen and Ginter tobacco card set, the 1st nationally distributed card set. It  featured not only baseball players, but wrestlers, boxers, rowers, and billiard players. The  irrepressible wrestler Matsada Sorakichi is pictured in the middle of the display, just below Annie Oakley, the only female in the set.

Don’t forget to enter the DMB World Series Replay Trivia Contest. It’s free, it’s fun, and all it takes is a guess and you could be the big winner.

Cannonball Crane vs Bob Caruthers 10/19/1889, @ Brooklyn Park

TIERNAN DRIVES IN 4 AS GIANTS TAKE GAME 2

Mike Tiernan’s 2-out double in the 6th drove in the final 2 runs of a Giant 4 run outburst that erased a 4-2 Bridegroom’s lead. The Bridegrooms had scored in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th innings to take a 2 run lead, but Cannonball Crane threw shutout ball over the final 5 innings to get the win.

10/19/1889, NYG89-BKL89, Brooklyn Park
                       1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9     R  H  E   LOB DP
1889 Giants            0  0  2  0  0  4  0  1  0     7 12  5     7  0
1889 Bridegrooms       0  1  1  2  0  0  0  0  0     4  8  4    10  1

Giants               AB  R  H BI   AVG    Bridegrooms          AB  R  H BI   AVG
Tiernan           rf  5  0  2  4  .273    Collins           2b  4  1  1  0  .125
Ward              ss  5  0  0  1  .333    Foutz             1b  4  0  1  1  .250
O’Rourke          lf  5  0  2  0  .200    Burns             rf  4  0  0  0  .000
Connor            1b  5  1  1  0  .300    Pinkney           3b  4  0  1  0  .250
Ewing             c   5  1  2  1  .300    O’Brien           lf  5  1  1  0  .300
Richardson        2b  4  0  2  1  .333    Smith             ss  4  1  0  0  .125
Whitney           3b  4  0  0  0  .111    Corkhill          cf  4  0  2  0  .444
Gore              cf  4  3  2  0  .429    Visner            c   3  1  0  1  .143
Crane             p   4  2  1  0  .250    Caruthers         p   4  0  2  1  .500
                     41  7 12  7                               36  4  8  3

Giants                           INN  H  R ER BB  K PCH STR   ERA
Crane            W 1-0           9.0  8  4  1  2  6 147  90  1.00
                                 9.0  8  4  1  2  6 147  90
Bridegrooms                      INN  H  R ER BB  K PCH STR   ERA
Caruthers        L 0-1           9.0 12  7  1  0  0 126  88  1.00
                                 9.0 12  7  1  0  0 126  88

E-Ewing 2, Richardson, Whitney, Crane, Pinkney 2, O’Brien, Smith. 2B-Tiernan,
O’Rourke, Connor, Richardson, Caruthers 2. SB-Collins(1). K-Pinkney,
O’Brien 3, Visner, Caruthers. BB-Collins, Pinkney. SH-Foutz. SF-Visner.
HBP-Burns. PB-Visner 3. HB-Crane. WP-Crane 2.
GWRBI: Tiernan
Temperature: 72, Field: wet, Sky: partly cloudy, Wind:
in from center at 21 MPH.

Don’t forget to enter the DMB World Series Trivia Contest. Guess right and you’ll achieve fame and fortune.

In a blatant attempt to drive readership to this blog I’ve decided to run a trivia contest, with an actual prize. You could be the proud owner of a set of 60, that’s right 60 return address labels with your favorite 19th century ball player prominently displayed on each label. These labels are 2/3”x1 3/4”  in size and will look fantastic sitting in the left hand corner of all your correspondence. 

      The label will look better than the label shown above.

Here are the rules for your chance to win this one of a kind piece of Baseball Americana:

1. Correctly answer the trivia question in the comments section.

2. The 1st correct answer is the winner.

3. One guess per person.

4. No googling……I’d like a gentlemen’s agreement that your answer will be strictly based on a guess.(I…….state your name…….promise to guess and only guess the answer to this trivia question)

5. Tell a fellow baseball fan(or several) about this blog, and have them submit a guess. (Again….I’m trusting you on this one) 

6. The winner will be announced at the end of the 1889 World Series.

7. The winner will have to contact me via email with your address, and the ball player(s) that you would like displayed on your label.

8. The answer to the trivia question is based on my research, so there is a slight chance my research could be flawed. Hey…mistakes happen !!

9. In the event that nobody gets the correct answer, the person closest to the actual answer will be the winner.

THE QUESTION:

If you’ve been following this blog, then you know I have a thing about the high percentage of mustaches on the 19th century ball player. So of course this question has nothing to do with mustaches, but it does have something to do with beards.

There are 286 plaques hanging in the Hall of Fame, a lot of which have the person displayed with a mustache, some with glasses, some with a full beard, and one displaying a female(Eppa Manley).

How many people are wearing glasses?(if any)

How many have a full beard?(if any)

When placing your guess in the comments section answer the question like so:

Glasses-(#)

Beard-(#)

Your Name

Remember these are only people that have plaques: players, executives, pioneers, and umpires. This does not include writers or announcers.

Good Luck……No Googling……..and tell a friend.