November 4

On the 4th in 1825, the Erie Canal was officially completed. New York Governor DeWitt Clinton officiated at the Wedding of the Waters ceremony during which he poured water from Lake Erie in to the water of New York Harbor. It is unusual that they held a wedding ceremony because the Erie Canal can’t really be said to be straight.

November 3

Anyone who writes seriously, in my opinion an extraordinarily foolish thing to do, will at times feel compelled to place his or her work in a public forum and subject it to scrutiny. As Robert Heinlein pointed out, writing is nothing to be ashamed of, but it should be done in private and you should wash your hands afterwards. Putting that to the side for the moment, once what you have written is exposed to the gaze of the world at large you have to expect to receive criticism of your work. Some people will like it and others will despise it. Marie Gouze, a playwright, journalist and feminist, writing as Olympe de Gouges in the eighteen century, wrote a great deal and received a great deal of criticism of her literary oeuvres. Criticism can at times be very cutting, at times more cutting than one would reasonably expect. On the 3rd in 1793, poor Marie was guillotined for her literary efforts. It seems that the publishing tool ‘Sorry, not for us. Better luck elsewhere’ had yet to be invented.

November 2

Radio station KDKA, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was the first licensed commercial radio station. On the 2nd in 1920, the station began its life by broadcasting the results of that year’s Presidential elections. Warren G. Harding decisively beat Franklin D. Roosevelt with a score of 404 electoral votes for Harding and 127 for FDR.

November 1

Boies Penrose was born on the 1st in 1860. As an adult, he would serve in the United States Senate from 1897 until his death on December 31, 1921. His contribution to Public Service can best be summed up in the following quote, delivered in a speech Penrose gave in 1896: “I believe in the division of labor. You send us to Congress; we pass laws under which you make money…and out of your profits, you further contribute to our campaign funds to send us back again to pass more laws to enable you to make more money.” It is unnecessary to mention that Penrose was a Republican.

October 31

Everything old is new again
On the 31st in 1968, President Lyndon Johnson addressed the nation to inform the populace that due to the progress achieved at the Paris Peace Talks he was ordering the complete cessation of “all air, naval and artillery bombardment of North Vietnam.” Things went from bad to worse after his announcement of this good news, the first good news in a very long time, and the war in Vietnam would continue and escalate, with ever-growing ferocity, until April 30, 1975. Johnson’s address was the 60s version of President Bush’s appearance on a naval vessel standing beneath a banner proclaiming “Mission Accomplished”.

October 30

John Joseph Caldwell Abbott died on October 30, 1893. He was a Canadian lawyer and politician who had an interesting career. As most people recognize, France has long been a haven for terrorists and malcontents with a generally anti-American bent. Canada, on the other hand, has been a haven for American political dissidents with a somewhat less violent bent. There are exceptions however. In the 1880s, John Joseph Caldwell Abbott was Canada’s Prime Minister. Like so many other politicians, Abbott began his career as a lawyer. He was a signatory of the Montreal Annexation Manifesto, which sought to have Canada become one of the United States. One of Abbott’s most high-profile cases involved the representation of the participants the robbery of three banks in St. Albans, Vermont, United States. In 1864, Americans from the recently formed Confederate States of America began to congregate in St. Johns, Canada, just across the border from St. Albans. On October 10, 1864, this band came across the border and checked in to a hotel in St. Albans. On the 19th, they simultaneously staged armed robberies at three of St. Albans banks, netting a total of $208,000. I mean, really now, waging a civil war is not cheap and the arms suppliers really appreciated it when the armaments they sold were paid for. While the banks were being robbed, some of them ushered the towns' folk to the village green so that those robbing the banks could, when they had a spare moment, round up and steal all of the residents' horses. The group then re-crossed the border and returned to Canada where they were promptly arrested. The United States soon sought to have them extradited. Abbott, a sort of 19th century version of William Kunstler, was counsel for the raiders at their trial. He successfully argued that the men were belligerents operating under military orders and Canada, a neutral nation, blocked their extradition. The raiders were freed, but $88,000, all that remained of the $208,000 stolen, was returned to St. Albans. The balance, it may be assumed went for lawyers’ fees. 20th century American lawyer, Maurice Nadjari noted, “You can’t make a living defending an innocent client” a fact that Abbott had also observed. Their lawyer had to get his fee, didn’t he? Having to return the money probably really ticked the raiders off.