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The Daily Colonist, March 30-April 5, 1915

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#dailycolonist1915 - The news out of Victoria, British Columbia, 100 years ago:

Stories of German submarines sinking British merchant ships without allowing the crews and passengers to get to lifeboats dominate the paper this week. I've only made a couple of small selections on this subject to get at the gist of it, but it is a big deal nonetheless, and a very important milestone in the shift from ancient warfare to the brutal nature of modern warfare.

  • Tuesday, March 30, 1915
    • Dr. Sun Yat Sen urges the population of China to revolt against the current Chinese government and prevent Japanese encroachment into China that he feels will pave the war for other encroachments by European imperial powers and lead to the "dismemberment" of China.
    • A portion of an ad for home furnishings aimed at spring newlyweds.
       
  • Wednesday, March 31, 1915
    • Front page map of the Dardanelles showing the progress of the Anglo-French fleet.
    • Editorial on the sinking of British merchant ships my German submarines that covers off why this is "contrary to all the principals that have hitherto observed in warfare" and tantamount to murder and piracy.
    • An ad for a spring hats for Easter
    • An ad for men's Easter suits
       
  • Thursday, April 1, 1915
    • Small story about military railway construction by German-Ottoman forces being delayed by locusts (and with an implied subtext of just who God is backing in the war).
    • Call to British born aviators in America and Canada to enlist, clearly aimed more at Americans than Canadians, and apparently written by an American who incorrectly uses "quid" as slang for a shilling rather than "bob" ["quid", then as now, means "pound".]
       
  • Friday, April 2, 1915
    • B.C. Tel and Pacific Telephone and Telegraph of San Francisco complete a telephone line connecting Vancouver and Victoria to San Francisco. With San Francisco also connected to New York it is now possible for the first time to place a transcontinental telephone call from British Columbia to the Atlantic coast. 
       
  • Saturday, April 3, 1915 
    • Small front-page article on the implications of German submarine attacks on unarmed merchant ships on the rules of engagement.
    • Illustrated ad for house-dresses [i.e. women's casual wear of the time]
       
  • Sunday, April 4, 1915
    • Front page map of the Carpathian region.
    • [Another interesting propaganda 1-2 punch aimed at Americans] A small front page story about Belgians wearing American flags followed by a length second-page story of the war-crimes and outrages witnessed by and committed against an American citizen of Belgian birth while he was doing relief work in Belgium.
    • Full-page shot of the entertainment page [which for the first time is starting to look like modern entertainment sections with large ads for movies and plays.]
    • Portion of a larger ad announcing that "The Live Model Demonstration of Bon Ton Corsets Will Be the Most Interest Event During the Present Week".
    • ["Life-Hacks" from 1915] Selections of housekeeping hints from the Sunday magazine section.
       
  • Monday, April 5, 1915
    • [no paper on Mondays]