''Failure of Indians as Soldiers'' (The Literary Digest, 1897)"The last of the companies of Indians enlisted in the regular army of the United States has been mustered out after six years trial, at Omaha, Nebraska. The Omaha WORLD-HERALD intimates that the failure of the experiment may not be entirely due to the Indians."
The journalist reporting on this matter opined that all subjugated people should never be expected to fight for a tyrannical government. An Islamic View of Christianity (The Literary Digest, 1897)The credited source for the attached article was a Christian cleric in Baku by the name of Pastor von Bergmann, who, having lived among the "Mohammedans" for some time, had gained a unique understanding as to their creed:
"But, by the rejection of the great grace of God through Mohamed, Christians and all other unbelievers have become such gross criminals that their lives have no worth or value whatever...It is a terrible sin to regard the Christians as equal to a Mohammedan or to consider them entitled to any rights over against the latter."
An article about the Muslim opinion concerning colonialism can be read here...
Impressions of John Brown (Literary Digest, 1897)This article from 1897 is a digest of "Cheerful Yesterdays", a longer piece by Colonel Thomas Wentworth Higginson (1823 – 1911) originally appeared in The Atlantic Monthly. Having served actively in the anti-slavery movement during the days leading up to the Civil War, Higginson put to paper his memories of famed abolitionist John Brown, wishing to banish all thoughts that the man was mad.
''A Negro Poet'' (NY Times, 1897) Here is the NY Times review of Lyrics of Lowly Life (1897) by Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872 - 1906), who was a distinguished African-American poet, novelist, and playwright of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. If Helen had the face that launched a thousand ships, then Dunbar had the poetry to launch at least twenty thousand schools - for it seems that is about how many there are named for him. The Case Against Football (Literary Digest, 1897)Today the word "football" summons forth images of gigantic, vigorous and fully televised athletes sporting protective padding while surrounded by enthusiastic fans and well-compensated cheerleaders; yet, one hundred years ago, that same word made one think of embalmers, tombstones and weeping mothers. Football's popularity had been increasing since the 1870s, and by the end of the Nineteenth Century the sport had amassed a lengthy casualty list. Footballers continued to keep the American medical establishment and sundry funeral directors fully employed up to the year 1910, when helmets and padding were introduced with some success.
The attached article is from an 1897 issue of THE LITERARY DIGEST and it reported on a strong civic movement to ban the sport of football. Click here if you would like to see three editorial cartoons denouncing football from the same era.
Must England Destroy Germany? (Literary Digest, 1897)"Bismark (1815 – 1898) has long since recognized what at length the people of England are beginning to understand, that England and Germany must come to blows over the right to levy from the whole world the tribute of commerce..."
Germany and the German-Americans (Literary Digest, 1897)The attached article briefly recalls the general discomfort that the German government experienced when confronted with a unique social sect called German-Americans. As handsome and affable as they might have been, these "volk" still irked the Kaiser and his administrators to a high degree, although this article points out that the Fatherland was warming to them slowly.
This article makes a number of references to the Bancroft Treaty and how the agreement pertained to a particular German-American family named Meyer. After years spent in the U.S., Meyer the elder returned to Germany along with his wife and children - the story became a news-worthy when it was revealed that his draft-age son, a naturalized Yank, resisted military conscription and was thrown in the hoosegow. It was at that moment when the American embassy stepped forward.
Not surprisngly, Hitler didn't like German-Americans any better than the Kaiser... Dogs as a Source of Food (Literary Digest, 1897)This article originally appeared in a French magazine and it lists numerous cultures, both ancient and modern, that eat dogs regularly:
"We do not know the edible dog or the edible cat, in France, and probably since the siege they have been little served (openly at least) on the tables of Paris restaurants. At Peking, and throughout China, there is no dainty repast without its filet or leg of dog; the cat is rather a dish of the poorer classes." Lynch Mobs in Ohio and Elsewhere (Literary Digest, 1897) Anti-Football Cartoons from 1897 (Literary Digest, 1897)Here are three forceful gags from 1897 in which the cartoonists clearly indicated a desire that football be banned from the all colleges, if not made illegal throughout the entire nation.
The Catholic Devotion to Mary (Literary Digest, 1897)Many and myriad are the reasons Roman Catholics and Protestants worship differently - one of them is the idolization of the Virgin Mary.
This article from 1897 outlines the reasoning behind this uniquely Roman Catholic brand of piety that emphasizes the Virgin Mary while numerous other Christian faiths have long held that this extracurricular devotion merely serves to upstage Christ and His message. The column is composed of numerous passages from an open letter written by Pope Leo XIII (1878 – 1903) clarifying the need for the Catholics to understand the importance of the Virgin Mary:
"From all eternity He chose her to become the mother of the Word who was to clothe Himself in human flesh..."
The Forgotten Midshipman (Literary Digest, 1897)This column emerged from the mists of time, telling us a story that had long been forgotten. Reading this column, we are able to piece together that there once lived an African-American fellow named R.C. Bundy, who let it be know that he wished to attend the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis. It gets fuzzy from here as to whether he had sponsors backing him or if he never even took the entrance exam - the shouts from the press were so loud and cruel on this topic from the start. We found no other information of the young man. The first African-American to graduate Annapolis did so decades later, in 1949.
Click here to read about the first Black Marines.
British Praise for General Grant (Literary Digest, 1897)When the Grant Memorial in New York City was first presented to the public during the Spring of 1897, few could have guessed that one of the places most excited about the monument would be Great Britain. An American journalist posted to that distant isle filed the attached article, quoting from as many as eight British newspapers that saw fit to liberally sprinkle their pages with a variety of laudatory adjectives in praise of General Grant:
"He sprang from the people, he was the son of a plain farmer, and had 'driven team' in his day. Yet he was also a trained soldier. But, from first to last, he was merely the citizen in arms, and with the mighty array he commanded, he resumed his position in civil life as soon as his work was done...The giants of the Civil War were probably the last of a great race."
Click here to read Grant's recollection of the first time he met President Lincoln.
The Franco-Russian Alliance (Literary Digest, 1897)The Franco-Russian Alliance (1892 - 1917) was a military partnership uniting the Russian empire of Alexander III Alexandrovich and the French Third Republic under President Marie François Sadi Carnot. It was a key element that contributed to the deep sense of insecurity experienced by Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany. When one reads the attached article from 1897, with it's strong anti-German language, you will come away wondering why the First World War didn't begin sooner:
"France may now hope to regain her lost provinces with the help of Russia. The hour of revenge has come. Alsace Lorraine will once more be French..." The Atlantic Monthly in the Beginning (Literary Digest, 1897)"Forty years ago the Boston publisher, Phillips, with the assistance of that famous coterie of American writers that included Longfellow, Lowell, Emerson, Whittier, Holmes, Motley, Quincy, Parker, Cabot and Underwood launched
The Atlantic Monthly" "It was Holmes who named the magazine, and it was he, probably, more than any other, who assured its success... The prime object of The Atlantic was in the beginning and has continued to be the making of American literature, 'to hold literature above all other human interests.'"
Click here to read the articles from The Atlantic Monthly Why Englishmen Resist Socialism (Literary Digest, 1897)Attached are the thoughts of German socialist Karl Liebknecht (1871 - 1919) concerning the matter as to why he believed the British working classes seemed so thoroughly unenthusiastic about launching a socialist rebellion in their country. John Philip Sousa: The March King (The Literary Digest, 1897)This 1897 profile of composer John Philip Sousa (1854 – 1932) was written shortly after his triumphal return from Queen Victoria's Jubilee, where he was feted like a native son for all his glorious march compositions - particularly "The Washington Post March", which was performed while her household infantry passed in review: "There is probably no composer in the world with a popularity equal to that of Mr. Sousa. Tho he sold his 'Washington Post' march outright for $35.00, his 'Liberty Bell' march is said to have brought him $35,000...At the age of twenty-six Mr. Sousa became the leader of the United States Marine Corps Band. In the twelve years of his leadership,he developed this unimportant organization into one of the best military bands in the world." | 
