Evening star., 1950-01-01
1e10-le20

1910-1920
The S. S. Titanic, unsuitable
floating palace" steamed from
England on her maiden voyage.
On April Is, 1912, she hit an ice
berg off Newfoundland. More
than 1,500 of the 1900 aboard
were lost. Across the dark, icy
water survivors in lifeboats heard
the ships orchestra intoning
Nearer My God to Thee"
President Woodrow Wilson. vic
tor because of the Taft-Roosevelt
break and the Bull Moose move
ment. launched his New Free
dom" program. The Federal in
come tax, Federal Reserve Sys-
tenn. direct election Of Senators,
the Labor Department, parcel
post, Federal Trade Commission
and Clayton Antitrust Act ma
terialized in his first two years,
although some had originated
years before. But what,the coun-
try really needed, Vice President
Marshall remarked, was "a good
Scent cigar"
Belgium Invaded
The President, confronted with
a Mexican mixup, heard himself
nicknamed "Watchful Waiting
Woodrow"
Sunday. June %, 1914. seemed
quiet and peaceful. A reported
tragedy in the Austrian Habs-
burg family did not sound
especially unusual. The Archduke
Ferdinand, heir to the throne of
Emperor Franz Joseph, was shot
to death with his wife at Serajevo
by a Serb student, Gavrillo Prin-
Clip.
A month later Sir Edward Gray,
British Foreign Secretary. noticed
a London lamplighter making the
rounds but saw only that the
lights were going out around Eu-
rope.
Austria, having hurried an ulti-
matum to Serbia, declared war
July %. Within six days Ger
many, Russia, France and Britain
were UP in arms. The Kaiser's
legions invaded Belgium. Scrap
of-paper" promises scattered in
the whirlwind.
Gen. Won Hindenberg crushing
ly defeated the Russians at Tan
nenburg on August 81. The Ger
mans were at the Marne River,
threatening Paris in the first week
in September. In one of the de-
cisive battles of history, the
French held-with the aid of Paris
taxicabs that hauled poilus to the
front. "They shall not pass" re-
sounded again and again at hun
dreds of torn spots somewhere in
France"
Lusitania Torpedoed
Americans protested. or swal-
lowed propaganda that flooded
them from the belligerents. In
their preoccupation with isolation,
most agreed with President Will
son that there is such q thing as
a man being too proud to fight. -
The British liner Lusitania sailed
from New York with many Amer
leans and other passengers who
scoffed at German warnings not
to venture on the seas. A U-boat
torpedoed the ship off Ireland
May 7. 1915, and 1,195 died, in
cluding 124 Americans.
The fate of the Lusitania, de-
spite indications she cargoed mu-
nitions, and the German execution
Of british Nurse Edith Cavell as q
spy in Brussels in October, 1915
profoundly affected sentiment in
the United States-but not to the
degree of prompting a sudden
jump into "Europe's war"
Secretary of State Bryan re-
signed, believing President Will
sons sitter warning to Germany
might lead to involvement.
The slogan, "He kept us out o1
war;" helped President Wilson stay
in the White House. During 1916
he tried hard to live UP to it In
the face of about submarine war
fare by the Germans and puni-
tive expedition under Gen. John
j. Pershing into Northern Mexico
after Villa raided Columbus, N
Mex, and killed Is Americans.
Preparedness parades grew
longer and more sfrequent. The
one in San Francisco in July
1916, touched off a satchel bomb
that echoed long after the war
itself. Thomas j. Mooney and
Warren Billings were convicted OF
murder In the death Of 10 spec