May 7, 1915 - The Sinking of the Lusitania

On November 1, 1914 I posted the postcard that Joe sent Helen. I think his joy of making it to Roycroft is obvious. On May 7, 1915 Joe's dreams of seeing Hubbard again were dashed. Hubbard and his wife were on the Lusitania when it went down; neither survived.
The strange part of this story is that Elbert Hubbard had to go to great lengths to get his passport reinstated so he and his wife could take this journey. The articles below explain why he did not have a passport and how he got it back.

 

FAMOUS WRITER WAS ON THE LUSITANIA

ELBERT HUBBARD and his wife were among those who went down when a German torpedo
struck the Lusitania, according to reports from Queenstown.

Elbert Hubbard, the seer of East Aurora, created for himself a unique place in American letters by his wit and epigrams and lately by his philosophy of Big Business. First noted for his pamphlet, "The Philistine," with its keen satire, he later published many books and made a success o£ his own publishing and printing business in East Aurora, where he established a settlement of his workers known as the Roycrofters.

He was born, in Bloomington,Ill on June 19, 1859,and had only a common school education, but he was honored with the degree of master of arts by Tufts college. He started a newspaper career in the West, but went to East Aurora, and from there built up his printing establishment for the publication of de luxe editions and published most of his books.

Of late Fra Elbertus, as he had been known, had written much in defense of leading men in business life and of their business methods, although his early writings were considered radical.

HUBBARD JUST PARDONED.

President   Restored   Citizenship to Give Passport for Trip.

Special to The New fork Times.

WASHINGTON, May 8. The report that Elbert Hubbard was among those lost on the Lusitania brought out today the fact that six weeks ago President Wilson granted a pardon to "Fra Albertus," who had been convicted of an offense against the postal laws, in order to restore his citizenship so that he could obtain a passport for the trip on which he lost his life.

As the story was told today for the first time, Mr. Hubbard came to Washington in March to obtain a passport. When he made his application he was asked the usual question whether he had ever been convicted of a crime and thereby forfeited his citizenship and he then explained that he had been charged two years ago with violating the postal laws and on the advice of his lawyer had pleaded guilty and had been let off with a fine. Subsequently, he said, he had learned that the offense to
which he had pleaded guilty was a felony, and that he had been deprived of his rights as an American citizen.

When Mr. Hubbard learned that he could not obtain a passport he went to the White House and laid his trouble before Joseph P. Tumulty, the Secretary to the President. He suggested to Mr. Tumulty that the only way to obtain the passport was through a pardon from the President (Woodrow Wilson) for the offense of which he had been convicted. Mr. Tumulty was sympathetic and went immediately to the Cabinet room, where the Cabinet was in session, and laid the case before the President, Secretary Bryan, and Attorney General Gregory. He found a ready response to his statement of the plight in which Mr. Hubbard found himself. The Attorney General recommended a pardon, and the following day the
pardon was granted. Mr. Hubbard had no difficulty after that in getting his passport from the State Department.

The official record in the case shows that on Jan. 11, 1913, Elbert Hubbard was charged in the United States District Court for the Western District of New York, sitting at Buffalo, with having committed an offense against the postal laws, that he pleaded guilty, and was sentenced to pay a fine of $100 the same day. In February, 1913, President Taft declined to grant a pardon to Mr. Hubbard on the ground that the application was premature. On March 22, 1915, the Attorney General recommended-to the
President that Mr. Hubbard receive a pardon to restore his civil rights. The pardon was granted by the President on March 23 and the fact recorded in the Department of Justice on March 25.

Hubbard Foresaw Danger.

CINCINNATI, Ohio, May 8.

"I may meet with a mine or a submarine over there, or I may hold friendly converse with a stray bullet in the trenches." Thus wrote Elbert Hubbard to his friend, E. W. Edwards of this city, shortly before he boarded the Lusitania last Saturday. The letter, now in the hands of Mr. Edwards, was one of the last things that Mr. Hubbard ever penned. He wrote Mr. Edwards about his plans for getting interesting inside news and views of the great war at first hand, and said he intended to " store the information in my head so as to escape the censor." He concluded his letter by saying: "I shall return June 20, perhaps."


For obvious reasons I am not transcribing these next two articles.

Knowing how Joe felt about Elbert Hubbard this must have been devastating news.

The next post will be an article on June 1.

March 23, 1915 - Out west again . . .

Here is a brief postcard Joe sent Helen on a business trip out west. This is actually the third post card that she has received from Peru, Indiana.

On May 7, 1915 there was an interesting historical event that really rocked Joe's world.

March 15, 1915 - H.M.S. PINAFORE

As you may have noticed there was not much correspondence between Joe and Helen of late. That is not to say that there was none, but that none survived.

Helen was going through a major life change at this time. It was rare for a girl to have the opportunity to attend college, let alone Barnard College. Helen was doing well in her studies and yet she chose to withdrawn of her own choice to pursue her love of music and singing. Helen was an independent thinker; ahead of her time. She was immediately cast in a production of H. M. S. Pinafore. Below you will see the scan of the original program cover and the inside that lists the cast. Helen was 21 years of age.

Helen was cast in the lead role as Josephine, the Captain's daughter. Her decision to leave school must have seemed to make sense to her. In reading the cast names I noticed that her 15 year old sister Lillian Rosenstein had a minor role in the opera. Lillie had a great theatrical personality and I am sure looked up to her older sister.

Here is an illustration that  I found of the Lexington Opera House (Terrace Garden) where Helen performed. I guess we will never know if Joe was in attendance.

The next postcard from Joe will be on March 23rd.

December 31, 1914 - With best wishes for a Happy New Year

It has been some time since I have made an entry on the blog. There were no letters that I have and time has not allowed me to post articles. Perhaps I will catch up on some of the interesting articles in the future. Here is a letter Joe wrote Helen as 1914 was coming to a close. As you can see from the postmark this was sent at 11:30 PM just before 1915 rang in.

This is a very little envelope, measuring 4" by 2 3/4". That would not make it thru our mail system today. I am assuming that was what he had at hand at the time. I love the nice little touch with the sealing wax in the corner of the front page with his initial S in gold.

December 31, 1914
Dear Helen,
I haven't written sooner, because I have been expecting daily to go to New Hampshire, and though I had an appointment to be there last week, the attorney wired that he would be away a couple of days, and that I could see him this week. Yet this week, and I might add, this year, is almost ended and no word has been received.

The chances are that it will be next week but I will make sure that it will not be on Friday.

I shall now endeavor to go there on the 11th and so dispose of it.

Last Saturday I not only had your invitation; but also two here, but I was so occupied that I couldn't get to any place at all. You must have had a great time at the house and I regret my inability to be present.

I almost went to New York today, which would have given me a chance to see the New Year in, in the big City, but my brother took advantage of that.

However, I have been invited to hear "Manon Lescaut" tomorrow night - with Caruso in the cast, and I will be in New York for that event.

Last Sunday I met a very brillant young man - Felix Frankfurter of N.Y. He graduated from Harvard in 1906 Law, received cum laude, he has a key; and this fall was elected to a profesorship in the Harvard Law School. He gets to New York occasionally and I expect to meet him there in a few weeks. With this in mind I will not speak of school matters. With best wishes for a Happy New Year

I am sincerely,
Joe

I have included link to the opera "Manon Lescaut" and one to Caruso for information on the amazing performance Joe mentions in the letter.
I have also included a link to information on Felix Frankfurter whose name may sound familiar. Joe was right in his insight of this 32 year old attorney. As you will see he went on to have a very brilliant career.
Here is a photo of Felix Frankfurter in later life.

The next letter that I have is from March 23. My hope is to post more articles to fill in in the meantime.

November 1, 1914 - Finally here in Paradise!

This was an amazing postcard for me to find. We knew of Joe's strong connection to Elbert Hubbard. From what we can surmise he did secretarial work for Hubbard in the New Haven area when Hubbard was lecturing at places like Yale. His dream was to travel to Roycroft in Aurora, New York. As you can see from the postcard this dream was realized.

 

 

 Finally here in Paradise!

Joe

I truly wish we had more information about this journey. The fact that he was able to see Hubbard in his home environment must have had a big impact on him. Information about Roycroft can be found with this link. 

I found this photograph on line of the chapel today. The website for Roycroft states that the chapel is currently being restored.

The next letter is December 31 so I will continue to fill in with some articles about Joe's law practice that continue a picture of his life in 1914.

October 19, 1914 - Killing Song Birds Proved Expensive

Here is an article that I thought was interesting. With all of the talk today about gun laws it seems that they were in place 100 years ago.

KILLING SONG PROVED EXPENSIVE

TWO MEN WERE FINED IN HUNTINGTON TOWN COURT ON SEVERAL COUNTS.

Went Out with Rifles on Sunday, But Failed to Secure Licenses First

Game Warden Perrett of Stratford Caught Them Yesterday

Judge Dillon Warns Future Offenders.

Hunting on Sunday without a license and having possession of a mess of dead song birds made an expensive outing for Dominic Ferraro and Anelio Gallo who were arrested in Huntington by Deputy Game Warden Perrett of Stratford yesterday, for as a result of a hearing this morning before Judge J, B. Dillon fines and costs amounting to $44 and $27 respectively were imposed on the accused. Prosecuting Attorney Shapiro represented the state. Both the accused pleaded guilty to the charges of hunting on Sunday, hunting without a license and Gallo pleaded guilty to having killed song birds.

Assisting the prosecution was Wilbur F. Smith of Norwalk who is the county warden for Fairfield county. County Warden Smith identified three song sparrows, four warblers, one yellow throated virio and two white throated sparrows. Mr. Smith who has made a special study of birds said that all the species found on Farraro were insectivous birds and of great value in the extermination of insect pests.

Arrest Made Sunday.

The arrest was made early yesterday morning. Ferraro and Gallo both had small rifles. Each told a different story in court as to which proposed the hunting trip. Gallo is a greenhorn who has resided here only about eight months, while Ferraro has lived in the country 23 years and around this section for the past eight years. There was no question about the circumstances of the acts which caused the arrests in each case and the evidence offered tended to establish just what were the extenuating circumstances in the case. Warden Smith explained that the killing of song and birds of an insectivorous nature was a thing which the state board of fisheries and game was especially anxious to stop.

Fines Imposed.

Ferraro was fined $10 and costs on two counts and $7 on another and his bill amounted to $44 which was raised by friends. Gallos was fined on two counts, $10 each for hunting on Sunday and hunting without a license. This amounted to $27, which the accused hoped to raise before the day was out.

The court gave the accused men to understand that the shooting of song birds was a thing which had to be stopped and that the law in regard to Sunday and other unlawful hunting must be obeyed. It is hoped by County Warden Smith that the fines meted out in the local court, which were minimum in this case on account of the families of the accused, will have a salutary effect in preventing further violations of the game laws.

The birds secured by the two accused were absolutely no good for eating purposes, as the whole mess of ten birds, in the opinion of Warden Smith, would not yield enough flesh to feed a kitten.

The idea of going through the woods and practicing on song birds and otherwise taking chances contrary to the law seems to be too much of a temptation for a certain class of citizens as well as aliens and the superintendent of the fisheries and game commission has instructed the different county wardens to see that the deputies were kept on a lookout for violators of the law, as it is the intention of the authorities to break up the practice of unlawful hunting.

Stole a Boat.

Another case which occupied the attention of the town court was that of Chauncey Bush, formerly of Shelton, who was charged with the stealing of a duck boat owned by Joseph Carney of Shelton. Mr. Carney testified that he had tied his boat up to a tree at Oronooque cove. A chain and the padlock were missing when Mr. Carney recovered the boat I at John Bond's dock in Stratford about three weeks after it was stolen on August 29. Mr. Carney learned from Miss W. Mustapha of Stratford that Bush claimed to own the boat. On inquiry Bush claimed that he found the boat floating in the river and had witnesses present to substantiate his story.On the other hand State had witnesses, friends of Bush's who told a different story, and this, added to the fact that Bush took the boat to Bond's dock five miles away from where he alleges to found it floating, did not tend to convince the court that he was innocent and claimed to have advertised the loss in the Bridgeport Standard. A fine of $5 and costs was imposed.

 The next postcard will be on November 1.

September 16, 1914 - On the road again and in the news.

Here is a postcard from a business trip that Joe took up thru Connecticut into Massachusetts. It is a short note but keeping her in the loop. The postcard is followed by an article about Joe from a local newspaper on the same day.

9/16/14
In Waterbury Monday, Holyoke yesterday,
& will be here today.
Leave for home
late today. J.G.S.

ADDRESSED  B'NAI  B'RITH.

Members Urged to Mobilize for Fall and Winter Work and Be Prepared to Assist War Victims.

Prosecuting Attorney J.G.Shapiro of Shelton, Conn., spoke before the local lodge of the B'nai B'rith last night in place of his brother, Charles H. Shapiro of Bridgeport who was unable to be here. Mr. Shapiro urged upon all the necessity of mobilizing their forces so as to increase their membership at once and be thus the better prepared to give help to their brothers who would suffer on account of the war.

"Mobilize now, but not for war," said he. "Take advantage of the time and mobilize for a peaceful campaign to increase your membership and funds."

Mr. Shapiro says that nearly half the Jews in the world live in Russia and the order has very many members there. Many of them are fighting in this war and the order will soon be called upon to extend relief to their families.

President Morris Hirsch of the local lodge, reviewed the work that has been accomplished the past year, and also gave an outline of the work that is to be accomplished during the coming months.

Henry Lasker of. Springfield delivered a message from the grand lodge in Washington to the local lodge. Refreshments were served and an entertainment followed.

This is the first time that Joe has mentioned the war, which started in the summer of 1914. He was, as it seems from his quote, against war. Life as they knew it was about to change.

The next article will be October 19.

August 29,1914 - Helen's Family Summer Photos

Here is a wonderful collection of photographs that we have of Helen and her family at the end of the Summer of 1914.  Most of the photos have Helen and Florrie but I think Lillie was a little young to hang out with her older sisters. According to Helen's date book Abe came out to Far Rockaway on August 29th. Just in time for the photos. Perhaps her mother Bertha was the photographer because she does not appear in any of the photographs.

 Here is a group photo where I marked the people that I can identify.

From left to right: Helen (age 20), Netty, Lillie (age 14) and Florrie (age 19).

Netty Matier was a friend of Helen's that she met while at Barnard. Since Netty was French and they spoke French together. They also shared their love of music and the piano. Netty eventually married and became Netty Munk and taught piano to all of Helen's children. She would travel out of New York City by train to give them lessons. I will soon follow up with a photograph that I took of her in the late 1970s in her New York apartment. Netty and Helen remained friends until her death in 1984 at the age of 93.

Florrie and Helen

Helen, Abe (age 15) and Florrie

Helen, John Rosenstein (their father) and Florrie

Fun beach snapshot of friends.with Florrie and Helen at the top.

Hanging out on the beach with friends. Florrie is in the center and Helen is on the far right.

I noticed that on the umbrella that they were under a store had sponsored the advertising. So I did a little research and discovered that the store was called Casperfield and Cleveland. It was a jewelry store located in lower Manhattan. Below is an article that I found from the New York Times archives that gave proof to the store's existence.

So this ends the summer of 1914 and soon Helen and her siblings will be back at school in NYC.

The next letter will be on September 16.

August 21, 1914 - "Here with a loaf of bread beneath the bough . . ."

This copy of a letter Joe wrote his good friend Henry Saltman. The paper is fragile, but survived. He must have used carbon paper when he typed this. I am not sure why he wanted a copy but it is really quite humorous and shows how differently people communicated 100 years ago. Or at least how Joe communicated.

August 21, 1914.
Dear Henry:
I have just received the official announcement of your betrothal, and it caused me the same amount of surprise to learn this happy fact as it causes a prospective candidate for the Presidency of the United States to receive his Official Notification that he was nominated to the national Convention held three months previous, at and about which time he probably had many sleepless nights and corresponding days of agony over the outcome of his claims.

However, I presume that I ought therefore to officially acknowledge receipt of this intelligence and also again officially congratulate you in the warmest and most ardent possible way; but language was “made to conceal thought” and so am at a loss to adequately soliloquize on your good luck and happiness in this written form.

And yet, I believe that you must feel like that handsome young Omar did when he sent that little piece of parchment to the Princess-that sweet faced damsel sitting over on the left-side of the stage amid that beautiful Persian landscape and scenery-on which he had written

"Here with a loaf of bread beneath the bough,
A flask of wine, a book of verses, and thou
Beside me singing in the Wilderness
And wilderness is Paradise *enow."

And I suppose that Rose at- this moment enjoying herself up in Vermont as she sits occasionally and talks to her friends, or sits at the piano and plays, maybe ‘Just a Little Love, a Little Kiss’ suddenly stops and her mind wanders towards fair Connecticut, just as Marguerite’s did on a somewhat similar occasion while singing the Thule Song, then suddenly says, ‘How foolish’, or something else as silly but which she does not really mean, and starts to spin again.

Well; I needn't write any further for you know I wish you joy; and as the poet once said

"I think I'll wander down to see you,
When you're married, eh, my boy?"

You just bet I will.
Sincerely yours,


* enow means enough
This is an excerpt from The Rubaiyat by Omar Khayyam.


The next post will be photographs of Helen and her family on summer vacation on August 29.

August 18, 1914 - Unmuzzled Dog

Here is a funny article the was clipped from the newspaper on August 18, 1914. Working in the court certainly had a wide range of cases.

UNMUZZLED DOG.

Was in Leash on Street But Owner Was Fined In Court  Aug. 18, 1914

Dog warden Monell has decided that the people of Shelton have had about time enough to comply with the law  in regard to the muzzling of dogs according to the order of the cattle commissioner which was issued last month to take effect on August 1, and accordingly took the first steps yesterday towards bringing about a compliance with the law when Charles Marsden of Riverview Park was arrested for not having his dog muzzled. In the town court this morning before Judge J. B. Dillon and with Prosecutor Shapiro prosecuting, Marsden was fined $5 and costs.

Marsden's dog was hit by an automobile on Saturday and took a fit. The dog was being lead by Marsden's little girl on a leash but had no muzzle on. Marsden plead not guilty and set up that he had been keeping his dog on the veranda and that the dog was led out unknown to him and contrary to his desires in the matter. Dr. Monell testified as to the circumstances on which the complaint was based and the court found the accused guilty.

Marsden according to the town authorities has owned dogs in the past which have done damage to live stock for which the town had to pay.

It is generally admitted that the order of the cattle commissioner to have all dogs in the town of Huntington muzzled is taken as a big joke. It is understood, however, that dog owners of the town will be given a chance to find out whether it is a joke or not within the next week for it is proposed by the officials that there be a more strict compliance with the law.

Yesterday Dog Warden Monell shipped the head of a young dog owned by J. Kotch, the Center street tailor, to the state chemist as the dog had bitten Mr. Kotch's little daughter. The dog is but a few months old but in as much as there were several dogs which had rabies in that section, precaution is being taken.

Dr. F. I. Nettletown has.finished giving treatment to prevent the development of the rabies to Charles Stevens and little Edward Sochon who were bitten about a month ago, by a rabid dog. The last injection was given this morning. Both took the treatment well and suffered no ill effects.

The next post will be a letter Joe wrote his good friend Henry Saltman on August 21.