Sunday 1 July 2012

Japanese Emperor's Funeral

The Daily Mirror dated Tuesday October 1st 1912
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This is the funeral of the Mikado or Emperor of Japan Mutsuhito – known after his death as Emperor Meiji. He'd been born in 1852 and had been Emperor since 1867, ruling Japan during a period of immense political, economic and cultural change from isolated feudal farming country to industrialised World power. Just a year before his death, by natural causes, 12 anarchists were executed for plotting to assassinate him.

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A handy map to tell you where the trouble is and hours of fun for the kids cutting out the pictures of the leaders and sticking them on the right country.
Seriously though this was just one of a series of Balkan crises that culminated in the First World War.

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A nice concise explanation of what was going on. Sort of. If you know which side to believe.

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The Dutch Baroness Charlotte Van Coehoorn had fallen in love with her chauffeur and in August 1912 had tried to elope with him, but she was intercepted at Ostend a few days later and returned to her family who immediately had her sent to an insane asylum (as you do). The family’s action was very unpopular and with the help of sympathisers she escaped and joined her lover who was waiting outside in a car. Unfortunately I can’t find anything about what happened next. A 1922 newspaper article found online mentions a Baroness Van Coehoorn on a World tour, but whether this is the same person or not, I don’t know.

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Florence Alice Bernadette Stiles who went by the stage name of Florence Dudley was shot three times in a taxicab as it pulled up in Farringdon Street. She died later in hospital. Her assailant was her married boyfriend Edward Hopwood and after shooting at a policeman he shot himself. He survived and was arrested for murder. His defence was that Florence was shot accidentally while trying to stop him committing suicide over the end of their affair. He was found guilty and hanged on 1st February 1913.

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There must be a moral here but I can’t see it. ‘You can’t take it with you so why not have it destroyed by an earthquake’?  ‘A relative in need is a money grabbing good for nothing’?

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These pictures of a deer hunt remind me of Oscar Wilde’s take on fox-hunting – if I may miss-quote ‘The unspeakable chasing the rather quite tasty.’ Leave the deer alone and go and get a MacDonalds. 

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Electric socks!! 
I don’t have rheumatism but I must have a pair of damp-defying electric socks for Christmas.
‘Do not fill up boots’ – with what? Electricity? Uric Acid? Sockiness?

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It’s all lies I tell you! The headline says ‘McGrath's New Hammer Record’; the text says ‘it will not be recognized as a record’.  It’s a pity for the headline writer that the ironic suffix ‘Not!’ had yet to be invented. There is a photo of Matt McGrath here

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For a 1912/13 Arsenal team picture scroll down this page and for Chelsea this page
Arsenal ended the 1912/13 season bottom of the First Division and Chelsea were third from bottom. 
This article manages to make a game of football actually sound exciting. I might even watch a game one day. Are Arsenal and Chelsea still around?

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