#dailycolonist1915 - The news out of Victoria, British Columbia, 100 years ago.
[A big update as I try to catch up, ending on the anniversary of the event the started the war.]
- Thursday, July 15, 1915
- The war in the air: French aviators make a reconnaissance flight believed to be part of a plan to attack the main German gun factory; German facilities in Ghent are bombed; the public release of British dockyard expenditures reveals that Britain had a fleet of 16 airships in 1914.
- The war in the air: French aviators make a reconnaissance flight believed to be part of a plan to attack the main German gun factory; German facilities in Ghent are bombed; the public release of British dockyard expenditures reveals that Britain had a fleet of 16 airships in 1914.
- Friday, July 16, 1915
- It is rumored via a friend of King Albert of Belgium that the French government is considering the use of "turpenite" in retaliation for German chlorine attacks. (Turpenite is a neurotoxin first reported in the Colonist on September 27, 1914 that kills so suddenly that those exposed "maintained a standing posture and retained their rifles in their hands.")
- The Governor General gives the Minister of Justice is given the power to detain and imprison alien enemies "at will". As a result the habeas corpus application by two Austrian miners detained in Fernie is nullified. Now Germans, Austrians and subjects of other enemy countries can be detained for no other reason than their citizenship, with no legal recourse against the detention.
- It is rumored via a friend of King Albert of Belgium that the French government is considering the use of "turpenite" in retaliation for German chlorine attacks. (Turpenite is a neurotoxin first reported in the Colonist on September 27, 1914 that kills so suddenly that those exposed "maintained a standing posture and retained their rifles in their hands.")
- Saturday, July 17, 1915
- Two articles on back-handed and unscrupulous tactics to force men into army without enacting conscription. The first is a small front page article on how the city of Hamilton is firing single men employed in their works department "as a hint that the Empire needs them." The second is a lengthier article on the Montreal Stock Exchange encouraging its members to use the same tactic. The Montreal Trades and Labour Council calls for protests.
- Two articles on back-handed and unscrupulous tactics to force men into army without enacting conscription. The first is a small front page article on how the city of Hamilton is firing single men employed in their works department "as a hint that the Empire needs them." The second is a lengthier article on the Montreal Stock Exchange encouraging its members to use the same tactic. The Montreal Trades and Labour Council calls for protests.
- Sunday, July 18, 1915
- Canadian casualty list tops ten-thousands men. Article includes statistics broken down by regiment.
- Two-page photo-spread on dead soldiers from Victoria.
- Canadian casualty list tops ten-thousands men. Article includes statistics broken down by regiment.
- Monday, July 19, 1915
- [no paper on Mondays]
- Tuesday, July 20, 1915
- Tiny little bottom-of-the-column filler article on an attempted assassination by bomb of the Governor General of Canton [Guangdong].
- Lawyers for a man hit by a car-for-hire argue that in the abscence of regulations, the city is liable for damages [another case of the problems faced 100 years ago with unregulated "ride sharing" that companies like Uber are reintroducing.]
- Tiny little bottom-of-the-column filler article on an attempted assassination by bomb of the Governor General of Canton [Guangdong].
- Wednesday, July 21, 1915
- Terrorist bombing of ships leaving New York for Europe have prompted the implementation of extraordinary measures to inspect cargoes, including using an X-ray machine to search for concealed bombs.
- Bodies from the sinking of the Lusitania on May 7 are still washing ashone in Ireland.
- Terrorist bombing of ships leaving New York for Europe have prompted the implementation of extraordinary measures to inspect cargoes, including using an X-ray machine to search for concealed bombs.
- Thursday, July 22, 1915
- Alberta passes province-wide prohibition to go in effect July 1, 1916. The only city where voting was not in favour of prohibition was Lethbridge.
- Alberta passes province-wide prohibition to go in effect July 1, 1916. The only city where voting was not in favour of prohibition was Lethbridge.
- Friday, July 23, 1915
- In their ongoing war-of-words with Germany, the United States issues a note saying that further loss of life through the sinking of American ships will be considered an "unfriendly act."
- In their ongoing war-of-words with Germany, the United States issues a note saying that further loss of life through the sinking of American ships will be considered an "unfriendly act."
- Saturday, July 24, 1915
- The complete text of the American diplomatic note to Germany is printed on the front page.
- The complete text of the American diplomatic note to Germany is printed on the front page.
- Sunday, July 25, 1915
- An excursion steamer carrying 2,500 people, mostly employees of the Western Electric Company on a company outing, overturns while leaving the wharf, killing almost one thousand people. The article is lengthy, detailed and rather gruesome. [In an article on Tuesday that I have not reproduced, it is concluded that the ship was overloaded and not carrying enough ballast in order to clear the bottom of the river with the extra weight.]
- An excursion steamer carrying 2,500 people, mostly employees of the Western Electric Company on a company outing, overturns while leaving the wharf, killing almost one thousand people. The article is lengthy, detailed and rather gruesome. [In an article on Tuesday that I have not reproduced, it is concluded that the ship was overloaded and not carrying enough ballast in order to clear the bottom of the river with the extra weight.]
- Monday, July 26, 1915
- [no paper on Mondays]
- Tuesday, July 27, 1915
- German spies are operating out of Vermont and New Hampshire. "...evidence that these sections bordering upon Canada are infested with German spies."
- A romantic ad for Chiclets.
- German spies are operating out of Vermont and New Hampshire. "...evidence that these sections bordering upon Canada are infested with German spies."
- Wednesday, July 28, 1915
- Images on the front page marking the anniversary of the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand and his wife in Sarajevo.
(Also, British forces in Mesopotamia [Iraq] take the town of Nasiriyah.) - Germans are reported to have invisible aeroplanes, made by using a sort of cellophane instead of canvas.
- Images on the front page marking the anniversary of the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand and his wife in Sarajevo.
[ source: http://www.britishcolonist.ca/dateList.php?year=1915 ]