Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Wilson’s canceled speech due to ‘secret’ stroke
Sept. 26, 1919, the day before he and Mrs. Wilson were to visit Little Rock, President Woodrow Wilson was sent home by his doctor. They didn’t even get off the train at Wichita, Kan. It sat on the tracks for two hours, then headed for Washington.
Official word was the president had worked too hard. Three weeks on his rail car, aka the Mayflower, 40 speeches all over the country, aimed at softening opposition to the Treaty of Versailles and the League of Nations — on top of six months in Europe spent hammering out the treaty and the league — while surviving the flu … it had been too much public service for any man.
Today it’s believed the 62-yearold president had a small stroke Sept. 25 after a speech in Peublo, Colo. Within a week, a great big stroke would paralyze him on one side, blinding one eye. That information would be suppressed (see arkansasonline.com/923wilson).
Pop quiz! What was Mrs. Wilson’s first name?
News of his stroke did not get out for another six months, and then it was downplayed. He suffered setbacks, including another bout of flu, and never fully recovered. Meanwhile, Mrs. Wilson covertly ran the administration with help from Wilson’s personal secretary, Cabinet members and staff. Q: Who was the United States’ first (unelected) female president? A: Edith Bolling Galt Wilson.
BEST LAID PLANS
That long-ago Sept. 26, an Arkansas Democrat reporter walked an Associated Press dispatch about Wilson’s cancellation over to Second and Spring streets to get a comment at the city Board of Commerce. He passed a long line of people waiting for tickets to festivities planned in the president’s honor.
A crew of men was busy Friday morning placing flags along Main street and truck loads of chairs were being unloaded at Liberty Hall, Second and Spring streets, where the president was to have made his address Saturday afternoon. Plans, according to the Arkansas Gazette, also included giving Wilson his very own bald eagle. Captured near Imboden by one J.D. Arnold, the eagle was waiting in a room at the Gleason Hotel.
As described by Louis Sharpe Dunaway — who is described variously as the Gazette’s traveling circulation manager, chief subscriber rustler, sometime columnist, animal hoarder and practicing naturalist, and who was spelled “Sharp” as often as he was spelled “Sharpe” … wait. Let’s start over. “Sharp” had declared this was an 18-month-old “lady’’ eagle weighing 54 pounds and measuring 7 feet, 3 inches wingtip to wingtip.
So what did they do with the eagle?
I had hoped there was no answer to be found in print (and
Patient Reader will understand why in about 52 words) but, alas, there was, published Oct. 16: Dunaway had traded that eagle to W.B. Caraway of Alma in exchange for a ’possum dog.
Caraway then (reportedly) entered the eagle in a poultry show at Fort Smith, where it won first prize, as it had no rivals in its category.
ANSWERS
Need answers? We have answers.
The Answers column was a steadfast feature of the Gazette from August 1908 through September 1944. It was a syndicated service supplied by Frederic J. Haskin of Washington, D.C., who in the pages of the Gazette styled himself “the Arkansas Gazette Information Bureau.”
He or his outfit — he had a team of assistants — wrote conveniently long and timely explainer articles for about 100 newspapers (see arkansasonline.com/923haskin). Haskin also fielded questions from all and sundry in exchange for return postage. The range of topics and the depth of the replies are of a quality that speaks for itself. For example:
Q: What will soften the shell of an egg so it can be squeezed through the neck of a small bottle without breaking?
A: This may be accomplished by the use of acetic acid, or very strong vinegar.
Below are some Answers published the week of Sept. 21, 1919 — just the answers. Have fun guessing the questions.
A: This is naturally a subject upon which there would be much debate. Justice, however, is undoubtedly a competitor for the honor, as is right, truth, love, God.
A: The following is highly recommended: Stir with a half pint of hot water a level teaspoonful of boric acid powder. Add 20 drops of carbolic acid and shake well. The solution should be dabbed on the inflamed skin with a small piece of cotton or sprayed with an atomizer every hour if convenient. It should not be rubbed into the skin. If no medicine is available cold compresses will give relief.
A: Connecticut is an Indian word meaning long river; Maine is regarded as of French origin from the province of Maine; Massachusetts is an Indian word meaning “Place of Great Hills”; New Hampshire is English, coming from Hampshire County, England; Vermont is French, “Vert mont” meaning “green mountain.” With reference to Rhode Island there is a difference of opinion, some claiming that it was named for the island of Rhodes and others for a prominent settler named Rhodes.
A: Rub lard thoroughly on the tar, then wash with hot water and soap. Repeat this treatment if necessary. Turpentine is sometimes applied in similar cases, but no concentrated acid should ever be put on the flesh of a horse. A: The government redeems all torn or mutilated money if there is enough of it left to identify it. A: A dense growth of ivy will undoubtedly weaken the tree, if it does not kill it. The growth of the ivy should be watched carefully and some of it cut out when it gets too dense.
A: The water cure was a form of punishment said to have been administered to natives in the Philippines after the United States took over those islands. It consisted in running water into the victim until his discomfort or fright led him to confession or adequately punished him for his offense.
A: On account of this wood being so extensively used for furniture, you can undoubtedly market it to much better advantage than to sell it as firewood.
A: All bans have been raised, and there is no censorship either way. A: This is a term applied to the execution of offenders, real or alleged, without due process of law. It is not law, of course, but a violation of law.
A: The Coast Guard was returned to the Treasury Department on Aug. 28 last year. During the war it was put under the authority of the Navy Department that it might be more conveniently fitted into the requirements of that emergency.
A: The largest popular vote was that received by President Woodrow Wilson in 1916, amounting to a little over 9 million. Four years earlier Wilson had received about 7.5 million while Taft, 1908, received a little over 6.25 million. The increase is due to the growth in population and the admission of women to suffrage. A: These words are from ancient Gaelic and mean “for ourselves alone.”