100 years ago: Lawrence man to vote in his 19th presidential election

From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for Oct. 27, 1912:

  • “There is one man in town who is always ready for a political argument and he has so many facts and figures at his command that it is a dangerous thing to take issue with him. D. O. Grant, who lives with his daughter, Mrs. C. G. Lekso at 808 Indiana street, cast his first vote for president in 1840, voting for General Harrison and a week from Tuesday he will cast his nineteenth vote at a presidential election and his ballot will go for Wilson. Mr. Grant has been a Democrat for many years and is a most ardent one. He is of the opinion that the statesmen of today do not stand well in comparison with Webster, Clay, Calhoun and others who were the prominent statesmen of his youth.”
  • “The motion picture camera never filmed a more exciting chase than that which took place on Saturday night on South Massachusetts street, and yet no motion picture machine was on hand to take advantage of the natural setting. A man and woman in a buggy and a taxicab full of policemen played the principal roles in this bit of natural dramatics. To add color to the scene occasional shots were fired by the officers, people rushed to their doors in their night caps, dogs barked and other unseemly midnight noises prevailed. But on and on dashed the horse, every shot called forth another blow while the taxi driver kept letting out more gasoline. The chase finally ended somewhere near the south limits where the taxi at last overtook the fleeing couple and the entire company moved slowly back to the police station. This morning Leslie Chamming pleaded guilty to a charge of being drunk and driving fast. The court assessed a fine totaling $16.50 which the defendant paid and thus closed one of the most exciting events that has occurred in police circles for some time.”
  • “A miniature Grecian army passed through Lawrence this morning on its way to the seat of war in the Orient. Four hundred and fifty men composed this army and it is traveling via special trains from Frisco across the continent and then the ocean and over to the Balkan Empire to join the allied armies in the war against the Ottoman nation. This band of Grecian patriots was mustered at San Francisco for the purpose of returning to the Fatherland to aid in the attempted throwing off of the yoke of Turkish oppression…. The train passed through Lawrence shortly after 11 o’clock. What a motley lot of passengers these were that were on board that train. Dark skinned men, many of them unable to understand the English language, but with a look in their eyes that spelled patriotism. Others were men who had been educated in the schools and by contact with American life and manners for a number of years. Some of them were very intelligent and spoke the English language very fluently. All of them were bent on one purpose. that of having a part in whipping Turkey.”