Halloween 2023 -- October 31, 2023

coverbrowser.com

Happy Halloween, everyone. The 30-October-1954 cover of The New Yorker features a painting, clearly inspired by "Cinderella," by Charles Addams.

COVID-19, Vaccine, Masks, Church, Baseball and School -- October 30, 2023

cdc.gov

My wife and I have been beset by bad coughs, so we have not yet gotten our new COVID-19 boosters. We hope to get our flu shots at the same time.

The Giants signed Bob Melvin as their new manager. I remember when he played for the Giants. He was very good when he managed the Athletics. Working for a team that pays people in money rather than hot dogs should be even better. 

Bruce Bochy's Texas Rangers beat Dusty Baker's Houston Astros in the ALCS. Dusty Baker announced his retirement. Texas and Arizona played in the World Series. 

We went without a Speaker of the House for most of the month. The guy they chose voted against certifying the election and is a Trump cultist. 

We have been able to use the computer lab at Good Shepherd and it is working well. 

There are reports that Russian troops in Ukraine are performing acts of insubordination..

Bull Moose Jackson and His Buffalo Bearcats -- October 29, 2023

Harrisburg Telegraph, 09-October-1923

The Civic Colored Dance Club in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania sponsored a Columbus Day dance starring saxophonist and singer Bull Moose Jackson and His Buffalo Bearcats. I'll bet it was a good dance. 

I Can't Go on Without You

Some of you may be familiar with his recording of "My Big Ten-Inch Record."

House of David vs Joe Green's Chicago Giants -- October 28, 2023

Saint Joseph Herald-Press, 13-October-1923

The Chicago Giants were an original member of the Negro National League when it was founded in 1920. The team did not have a home field. Joe Green was owner, manager and outfielder. The House of David was a Michigan religious commune that raised money in various interesting ways, including a barnstorming baseball team. Male members of the sect, and players on the team, who were not always members of the sect, were required to wear long beards.

The two teams played a series of five games in Saint Joseph, Michigan, at the House of David Park. I can't find a box score for the fourth game. 

Want to Buy a Battleship? -- October 27, 2023

San Francisco Bulletin, 04-October-1923

The US Navy needed to downsize after World War One because of limits set by the 1922 Washington Naval Treaty and budget constraints, so they held a clearance sale. The battleships and battlecruisers listed as being "On Ways" were not completed. The battleships listed as "Afloat" were pre-Dreadnoughts. 

Base-Ball To-Day, Sacramento vs. San Francisco -- October 26, 2023

San Francisco Bulletin, 11-October-1923

The Sacramento Senators of the Pacific Coast League visited the San Francisco Seals at Recreation Park.

The Seals won 9-5 and clinched the PCL pennant.

New Cat #112 -- October 25, 2023

Halloween is coming.

I took the photo on 17-October-2023.

Brings You the News of the State -- October 24, 2023

Birmingham Age-Herald, 28-October-1923

This dapper gentleman, with his straw boater, white gloves and spats, delivered the news around Georgia, on behalf of the Birmingham Age-Herald.

Favors for Halloween -- October 23, 2023

Casper Daily Tribune, 29-October-1923

Halloween is coming.

100 years ago this month, in October 1923, various stores in Casper, Wyoming offered "Favors for Halloween."

Black Cat Magazine October 1898 -- October 22, 2023

philsp.com

The Black Cat Magazine was launched in Boston in 1895. It published short stories and was known for printing stories by new writers. 125 years ago, the October 1898 issue had five short stories. I like the Autumn inspired decorations. 

Coulter -- Launch of the San Pablo at the Union Iron Works -- October 21, 2023

San Francisco Call, 19-August-1900

WA Coulter did many maritime drawings for the San Francisco Call. 

 LAUNCH OF THE SAN PABLO

AT THE UNION IRON WORKS

New Santa Fe Ferry Steamer, Christened by Miss

Christine Payson, Daughter of the Vice President

of the San Joaquin Valley Road.

THE Santa Fe ferry steamer San Pablo was launched yesterday afternoon at the Union Iron Works under auspicious circumstances. Promptly at 5:34 o'clock the last keel blocks were knocked away and the splendid craft slid slowly and without a tremor down the ways and into the waters of the bay.

The launching was witnessed by several thousand people, gathered inside and outside the yard. Not a delay or hitch of any sort marred the occasion. At the time set almost to the second the last blows of the hammers were struck, starting the San Pablo down the well-greased ways. As the vessel moved Miss Christine Payson, daughter of Captain A. H. Payson, president of the Santa Fe Terminal of California, broke a bottle of California champagne on the vessel's bow and christened it the San Pablo. A great shout went up from the people and the whistles of the Union Iron Works joined the whistles of the tugs and steamers along the front In a deafening screech of welcome.

Irving M. Scott had general supervision of the launch. James Dickie, superintendent of the shipyard, had direct supervision, and at 5 o clock gave the orders that set hundreds of men at work knocking away the keel blocks.

Many Notables Present.

A large party of railroad officials and other notables occupied the raised platform at the vessel's bow. Among them were Captain Payson, vice president of the San Francisco and San Joaquin Valley Railroad and president of tho Santa Fe Terminal Company of California, for whom the San Pablo is being constructed; Mrs. Payson, Miss Christine Payson, Irving M. Scott, Irving M. Scott Jr., W. A. Bissell, assistant general traffic manager of the Santa Fe; Mrs. Bissell, Alexander Mackie. secretary and treasurer of the Santa Fe Terminal Company; Mrs. Mackie and children. Robert Forsyth, general manager of the Union Iron Works; J. O'B. Gunn, secretary of the Union Iron Works; Captain John Metcalfe, Captain John Leale, Howard C. Holmes, chief engineer for the Harbor Commissioners: John Parrott, John C. Coleman, Edward Coleman, Fred A. Gardiner, Dr. E. Calderon, Consul for Honduras, and Dr. N. Rosencrantz.

With the launching party were also S. Miyoshi, professor of naval architecture in the Tokio Imperial University and inspector in chief of the marine bureau, Department of Communications, of Japan; N. Klmura and S. Tsutsumy, inspectors in the Japanese navy, and K. Isaka of the Toyo Kisen Kaisha, who were interested spectators. They were deeply impressed with the perfection of arrangements, as well as with the imposing array of vessels under process of construction, including three torpedo-boat destroyers, the battleship Ohio and the almost completed battleship Wisconsin. The three gentlemen first named are on their way to Europe on a tour of inspection of the great ship yards and the navies.

Besides the spectators who saw the launch from the shore a large number were aboard tugs, excursion steamers and steam launches, all of which craft were bright with flags.

Railroad Men on the Bay.

A number of railroad men were guests of Captain William Leale on the steamer Caroline. Starting from Jackson-street wharf at 4:30 o'clock, the party was given a short pleasure trip and arrived at the Union Iron Works in good time to see the launch. Among those on board were the following:

W. H. Davenport, general agent Union Pacific: C. W. Colby. Pacific Coast agent Erie Despatch; W. T. McGill, contracting agent Erie Despatch; W. R. Vice, Pacific Coast passenger agent Union Pacific; F. W. Prince, cityHICket agent; H. H. Francisco, general agent; N. W. Hall, contracting agent; John L. Truslow, general agent; H. R, Alberger, chief clerk traffic department; W.B. Hinchman, chief clerk freight department -- all of the Santa Fe; Dr. George S. Goodfellow, chief surgeon of the Santa Fe; W. G. Nevin, general manager; J. J. Byrne, general passenger agent; Edward Chambers, general freight agent; W. G. Barnwell, assistant general freight agent; J. P. Greagson, chief clerk general, freight office -- all of Los Angeles; A. S. Hore, contracting agent;, and Harry Blair, W, C. Ashley, Zach George, of the traffic department; and C. F. Tillotson and Misses Ackerman, Powell and Witts of the freight department of the Santa Fe; E. R. Spangler of St. Louis. R. R. Ritchie, general agent Chicago and Northwestern.

The San Pablo will be the finest ferryboat on the bay. It is expected that she will be completed in sixty days and put on the run between Point Richmond and San Francisco. The vessel has a length of 225 feet, 64 feet beam and 17.6 feet depth. Her horsepower Is 2000 and speed fifteen knots. Her keel was laid May 15.

Feathering paddle-wheels are the novelty in the construction of the San Pablo. They are so built as to feather in either direction, as the San Pablo is intended to run either end first. The wheels are very small, permitting gTeater deck room above for the accommodation of passengers.

Work will at once begin in the constructing shed made vacant by the launch of the San Pablo on the freight steamer Alaskan, to be built for the American-Hawaiian Steamship Company, which is to be 489 feet in length.

Saturday Night Massacre 50 Years -- October 20, 2023

Boston Globe, 22-October-1973

50 years ago today, on 20-October-1973, President Richard Nixon instigated the Saturday Night Massacre. Facing an investigation and possible impeachment because of the Watergate scandal, Nixon ordered his Attorney General, Elliot Richardson, to fire Watergate Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox. Richardson refused to comply and resigned on the spot. Nixon ordered Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus to remove Cox. Ruckelshaus also refused and resigned. Nixon then ordered Solicitor General Robert Bork. the senior surviving official in the Department of Justice, to fire Cox. Bork did it and claimed he wanted to resign, too, but Richardson and Ruckelshaus asked him to stay on to protect the DOJ.

Nixon's actions were poorly received by the public. 

In the cartoon, we see Richardson, Cox and Ruckelshaus leaving the sinking White House in a rowboat named Integrity. Editorial cartoonist Paul Szep drew for the Boston Globe for more than 30 years and won two Pulitzer Prizes. 

Albert Bierstadt - Sierra Nevada Morning - October 19, 2023

Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa

Albert Bierstadt painted "Sierra Nevada Morning" in 1870. It is in the collection of the Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Lleve una Kodak Consigo -- October 18, 2023

Cine-Mundial, October, 1923

"Take a Kodak With You." Kodak sold its wares all over the world.

Time Magazine --- Roy Chapman Andrews -- October 17, 2023

Time, October 29, 1923

Roy Chapman Andrews was a naturalist and an explorer. Some people think he was the inspiration for George Lucas' Indiana Jones. Lucas denies it.

To Our Esteemed Moxie Retail Dealers -- October 16, 2023

Boston Globe, 10-October-1923

I have tried Moxie. It tasted funny, but I liked it. I like the lettering. 

Italo Calvino 100 -- October 15, 2023

listal.com

Author Italo Calvino was born 100 years ago today, on 15-October-1923. My sister had a copy of Cosmicomics, with which I struggled.

The Fellow Who Invented Coca-Cola -- October 14, 2023

Photoplay, October 1922

I'm drinking a large Diet Coke from McDonald's while I post this. 

That Vanadium Steel Marvel -- October 13, 2023

San Francisco Bulletin, 11-January-1912

You could buy a Model T Torpedo for $590 in 1912.

Matthew Shepard 25 Years -- October 12, 2023

Time, October 1, 1973

25 years ago today, on 12-October-1998, Matthew Shepard, a student at the University of Wyoming in Laramie, died after being beaten, tortured and hung on a fence six days earlier. The two men who murdered him, Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson, denied that they attacked him because he was gay, but most people assumed that was the reason. Henderson pled guilty and testified against McKinney to avoid the death penalty. McKinney was sentenced to life without parole.

I need to watch the HBO movie again. The Laramie Project was based on a play written by Moisés Kaufman and produced by the Tectonic Theater Project. 

Lynching, the Blight of the South -- October 11, 2023

Richmond Planet, 20-October-1923

This item attributes much of the great northward migration to people of color trying to escape from places where lynching was endemic. 

6 San Francisco Cable Car Riders Injured -- October 9, 2023

Powell Street car 28 was going down Washington Street when the gripman noticed a Tesla stopped in the intersection at Taylor. The gripman had to use the emergency brake, which drops a guillotine-like blade into the slot. The car stopped abruptly and six passengers wound up in the hospital. More than one story I have seen said the conductor applied the emergency brake. Not likely. (Source: KPIX News)

https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/cable-car-6-riders-hurt-conductor-uses-emergency-brake-washington-taylor-streets/

Spiro Agnew Resigns, 50 Years -- October 10, 2023

Time, October 1, 1973

50 years ago today, on 10-October-1973, Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned from office. Good. 

He was accused of taking kickbacks while he help offices in Maryland. He evaded trial and imprisonment by resigning.

Indigenous Peoples’ Day 2023 -- October 9, 2023

twitter.com/IndigPeoplesDay

My Italian-American mother does not like this, but I have stopped calling it Columbus Day and call it Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Happy Indigenous Peoples’ Day to everyone.

Pick Your Pleasure Out of the Air -- October 8, 2023

Birmingham Age-Herald, 07-October-1923

I like the images in the left-hand ad. The guy in the right-hand ad looks scary. 

Famous Colored Jazzists to Play in San Mateo -- October 7, 2023

Redwood City Standard, 04-October-1923

Curtis Mosby was a popular band leader. He did not compose "Maple Leaf Rag," He did make records. 

Redwood City Standard, 06-October-1923

Comic Book -- Tales From the Crypt -- October 6, 2023

Halloween is coming. 

EC was famous for its horror comics, The Vault of Horror, The Haunt of Fear and Tales From the Crypt. These kids are about to learn a lesson about playing in the graveyard. 

Pulp -- Weird Tales -- October 5, 2023

coverbrowser.com

Halloween is coming.

Weird Tales published a lot of weird tales from 1923 to 1954. The guy needs a manicure. 

Feast of Saint Francis, 2023 -- October 4, 2023

www.brainyquote.com

Today is the feast of Saint Francis of Assisi.

"Where there is charity and wisdom, there is neither fear nor ignorance."

Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/francis_of_assisi_392040

Today I was able to attend the blessing of the animals at Good Shepherd School in Pacifica. I have been in all week putting the computer lab back together. 

Toonerville Trolley -- You Gotta Open the Door An' Sign for the Telegram! -- October 3, 2023

Perth Amboy Evening News, 30-October-1923

Halloween is coming. 

I love Fontaine Fox's The Toonerville Trolley That Meets All the Trains but I am interrupting the series this month for a Halloween cartoon by Fox.

Washington Times, 30-June-1918

Krazy Kat -- Annuda Teery Explodid -- October 2, 2023

Washington Times, 13-October-1923

I love George Herriman's Krazy Kat. Click on the image to see a larger version.

Washington Times, 30-June-1918

October, 2023 Version of the Cable Car Home Page -- October 1, 2023

Office of Senator Dianne Feinstein

I just put the October 2023 version of my Cable Car Home Page on the server:
http://www.cable-car-guy.com/

It includes some new items:

1. Picture of the Month: Mayor Dianne Feinstein riding on a California Street cable car (Source: Office of Senator Dianne Feinstein).
2. On the Who page: Added a new article about Senator Dianne Feinstein, who died in September.
3. On the Centennial and Sesquicentennial of the Birth of the Cable Car page:
   Some new items about the Cable Car Sesquicentennial.

Ten years ago this month (October, 2013):

1. Picture of the Month: The interior of the Citizens Traction Company's new carhouse at Penn and Franklin Avenues. (Source: The Street Railway Journal, April, 1894. Volume XI, Number 4.)
2. On the Pennsylvania page: The Citizens Traction Company, Pittsburgh's second Hallidie-type cable car line, including a nice Street Railway Journal article about "A Modern Car House"
3. Added News item about the a derailment on Angels Flight in Los Angeles

Twenty years ago this month (October, 2003):

1. Picture of the Month: Belding silk ad with Chicago cable train
2. On the Chicago page: "Memories" a poem by Franklin P Adams. Also more images, including a stereo view of State and Madison.
3. On the Cable Cars in the Pacific Northwest page, updated article about Tacoma's Steve's Cable Car Room. Thanks to Ron Gates for information and photos about the disposition of the cable car booths.
4. On the California Street Cable Railroad page, I added an item about a former Cal Cable car which was being prepared to promote a restaurant in Portland, Oregon

Coming in November, 2023: More about the 150th birthday of the cable cars

The Cable Car Home Page now has a Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/CableCarHomePage/

The Cable Car Home Page also has an Instagram page:
https://www.instagram.com/cable_car_guy/

Joe Thompson
The Cable Car Home Page (updated 01-October-2023)
http://www.cable-car-guy.com/
San Francisco Bay Ferryboats (updated 31-January-2020)
http://www.cable-car-guy.com/ferry/
Park Trains and Tourist Trains (updated 31-August-2023)
http://www.cable-car-guy.com/ptrain/
The Pneumatic Rolling-Sphere Carrier Delusion (updated spasmodically)
http://cablecarguy.blogspot.com
The Big V Riot Squad (new blog)
http://bigvriotsquad.blogspot.com/