In the news - January, 1914

Photo of 1909 newsgirls courtesy of Shorpy 

I've been reading a bit of the Detroit Free Press from 1914 every day for about a month now in search of tidbits to share. But these themes come up so often that, if you hear nothing else, at least one of these were mentioned (listed in the general order of frequency).

Welcome home, Mona Lisa - January 1, 1914

In case you've been living under a rock since 1911, the Mona Lisa has been stolen! Just over two years ago, on August 21, 1911, Vincenzo Peruggia, a former employee of the Louvre who also fancied himself an Italian patriot, "rescued" the Mona Lisa from her French captors. In classic caper tradition, he had hid out in a broom closet, swiped the fair maiden with the help of janitorially costumed accomplices, and sidled off with her under his coat after hours.

But Vincenzo was not a patient (or particularly noble) man and, after two years of waiting for the right moment, he tried to hock ML to the Uffizi. For his trouble, he was arrested in flagrante dilecto with the masterpiece in his hotel room, got six months in jail, and, in classic Italian tradition, was hailed as a national hero. Today, January 1, 1914, all of France rejoices as La Jaconde is restored to her familiar roost in the Louvre (by way of a brief tour of Italy).

In news stateside,

• The cost of a dozen eggs is expected to go up to $1 ($23 in 2012 dollars), as supply is not keeping up with demand.
• The Detroit police commissioner resolves to reduce reckless driving and put an end to the social custom of the exchange of pleasantries, small talk, and cards between police officers and motorists involved in accidents.
• To add salt to the wound of the the Michigan labor movement, the Calumet coroner absolves opponents of the copper miners' strike (accused of falsely shouting "Fire" in a hall hosting a Christmas Eve dinner for the strikers and their families) of causing the panicked stampede deaths of 74, including many children.

Cleanliness: The National Past-time

What better place to begin to relive the year 1914 than in 1913. Every December, year-in-review lists are in vogue, and 1913 journals are no exception.

The most popular method of offing oneself was
carbolic acid (a disinfectant, readily available at
pharmacies, that causes severe chemical burns
and Oscar-worthy death scenes--think "drain
cleaner" from "Heathers").

Of the more tantalizing stats, the Detroit Free Press reports some record-breaking highs in "necrology" (obituaries) in the Detroit area for 1913. In particular, there were 569 lives lost violently; 106 suicides (both numbers a bit higher than the national average); a doubling of drownings, homocides, and automobile deaths (which, for the first time, exceed injuries by any other vehicle, horse-drawn or otherwise); and a rise in train and miscellaneous fatal accidents (including drinking poison mistaken as medicine).

Just to put the stats into perspective: Detroit in 1913 is already a prospering manufacturing center and is about to get more so thanks to the coming boom in the automobile industry. The city has been growing by 3,000 people a month for a few years, and has reached 80% of its 2010 population, but packed into 1/3 of the space.