Evening Star
- QUEEN MARIE DUE HERE TOMORROW IN TOUR OF AMERICA
- 1,200 CHINESE SOLDIERS DIE AS SHELLS SPRAY SHIP IN FIRE
- U.S. CALLS MARINES TO CHECK OUTLAW ATTACKS ON MAILS
The Evening Star's Sunday front page of October 17, 1926, previewed the arrival of Queen Marie of Rumania in Washington the next day at about 6 o'clock, by special train from New York with Princess Ileana and Prince Nicholas. It laid out her formal White House call, the Coolidges' return visit at the legation, and a Tuesday of Mount Vernon, Arlington and a state dinner. An AP dispatch from Shanghai reported that a munitions-laden transport carrying 1,500 of Marshal Sun Chuan-fang's soldiers caught fire and exploded off Kiukiang on the Yangtze, killing 1,200, and that a Chekiang governor had turned against Sun. A third story said President Coolidge and his cabinet had again assigned Marines to guard the mails after a $151,000 mail-truck robbery at Elizabeth, N.J.
Translation
QUEEN MARIE DUE HERE TOMORROW IN TOUR OF AMERICA
a short visit before beginning an extensive sightseeing tour of America. As the official guest of the Nation, her majesty, accompanied by the youthful Princess Ileana and Prince Nicholas and an entourage of 17 [?] will arrive in Washington about 6 o'clock on a special train direct from New York and will go first to the Rumanian legation and immediately afterward to the White House to pay her formal compliments to the Chief Executive of the country which is her host. A few minutes later the President and Mrs. Coolidge, in accordance with official custom, will return the royal visit at the Rumanian legation near Sheridan Circle, which has been fitted out in regal splendor for the entertainment of the Queen and her daughter.
Informal Dinner Later.
The brief formalities over, the royal party will have an informal dinner at the legation before retiring to rest for the strenuous program of entertainment and sightseeing arranged for Tuesday. Her majesty, her royal highness and their ladies-in-waiting will occupy the entire legation building, while Prince Nicholas and his staff will reside at Wardman Park Hotel, temporary headquarters of the legation. The program Tuesday will include visits to Mount Vernon and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington Cemetery, with lunch "somewhere en route," and will be brought to a grand climax with a state dinner at the White House at 8 o'clock, to be a notable event in the history of official society.
1,200 CHINESE SOLDIERS DIE AS SHELLS SPRAY SHIP IN FIRE
Blazing Yangtze River Vessel Also Showers City of Kukiang With Missiles.
Only 300 in Disaster Escape.
By the Associated Press.
SHANGHAI [?] October 16.—A blazing ship [?] laden with munitions, drifted today, an inferno of death for 1,200 Chinese soldiers, as it showered missiles in all directions upon the city of Kiukiang and upon ships in the Yangtze River. The ship was the Kuang Yuang, transporting 1,500 soldiers of Marshal Chuan-fang, ruler of eastern China. Only 300 of the soldiers escaped death by flame, shot or drowning. The ship took fire while anchored before Kiukiang, the flames being thrown throughout the vessel almost immediately by the explosion of its causing considerable loss of life and property damage. Below the city, the vessel grounded upon a mud bank and burned to the water's edge. She was of 3,000 tons and belonged to the China Merchant Navigation Co. Her soldier passengers were to have been used in battle against the Cantonese invaders of Kiangsi province.
MARSHAL SUN BETRAYED.
Chekiang Province Governor Seizes Power and Supplies.
SHANGHAI, October 16 (AP).—Fearing an attack upon Shanghai, troops
U.S. CALLS MARINES TO CHECK OUTLAW ATTACKS ON MAILS
President and Cabinet Decide on Emergency Measures After Jersey Holdup.
GUARDS FOR TRUCKS, CARS AND TERMINALS
Postal Service Also Arming—New to Ask Congress for More Funds in Crisis.
By the Associated Press.
The Marines again have been called into action, as they were in 1921, to guard from bandits the millions of dollars' worth of valuable mail handled daily by the postal service. Stirred by the numerous holdups within the last few months, especially by that at Elizabeth, N.J., when a mail truck was robbed of $151,000, President Coolidge and his cabinet have decided upon extreme measures.
New Makes Announcement.
Postmaster General New made arrangements yesterday, at a conference with Maj. Gen. Lejeune, commandant of the Marine Corps, for the immediate assignment of Marines to
Context
13 minutes at the White House: how Coolidge received the queen
The Star's schedule followed the reciprocal protocol for an "official guest of the Nation": a formal call at the White House, then a return call by the President and Mrs. Coolidge at the legation a few minutes later. Later accounts describe how the visit actually went. Marie landed in New York on October 18, 1926, and in Washington she passed through a double file of Marines at Union Station before going on to the legation near Sheridan Circle. According to American Heritage, Coolidge, who disliked her romantic and flamboyant image, gave her thirteen minutes at the White House and then rose to end the interview. He then paid the return call at a legation emptied of its staff and filled with red dahlias. A separate biographical account also calls the meeting awkward, describing the reserved president as not overly fond of his flamboyant guest. The article's "regal splendor" and a state dinner "to be a notable event in the history of official society" were the paper's advance expectations. By these accounts, the meeting between queen and president was brief and stiff.
Why Marie came to America and why the tour ended early
The Star calls Marie the Nation's official guest but gives no reason for her journey. According to History of Royal Women, she came at the urging of American friends, the businessman Sam Hill and the dancer Loie Fuller. Hill wanted her to speak at the dedication of his Maryhill Museum of Art in Washington State. American Heritage describes the "extensive sightseeing tour" the article foresees as a zigzag journey across the United States and Canada, 8,750 miles aboard her special train, the Royal Romanian. The trip ended earlier than planned: on November 17 she received news that King Ferdinand was ill, and she returned to Europe on November 24. In a farewell radio address from New York, Marie said she had not come for politics but only to make friends. These sources record that public denial and the private invitation behind the trip. They do not identify any specific diplomatic goal the Romanian government attached to the visit.
Sun Chuanfang and the struggle for Jiangxi
The AP dispatch calls Sun Chuan-fang "ruler of eastern China," and in 1926 his coalition held Fujian, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Anhui and Jiangxi. The "Cantonese invaders of Kiangsi" were the troops of the Northern Expedition, which the Kuomintang's National Revolutionary Army launched in 1926 against the Beiyang government and regional warlords. After driving back Wu Peifu, the NRA turned toward Sun's Jiangxi. Jiujiang and Nanchang fell by September 19, helped by the defection of one of Sun's generals. But Sun arrived from Nanjing with reinforcements on September 21 and forced the NRA to retreat. The soldiers aboard the burning transport off Kiukiang were meant for this contested front. The ship disaster itself, and the figures of 1,500 aboard and 1,200 dead, come from this single AP report; the background sources used here do not describe the incident.
'Marshal Sun Betrayed': the Zhejiang revolt of October 1926
The second Shanghai dispatch, cut off at its opening words, reports that a Chekiang (Zhejiang) governor had seized power and supplies. Its date matches the record. Xia Chao, the civil governor of Zhejiang and one of Sun's subordinates, went over to the Kuomintang government in Guangzhou, and on October 16, 1926, he declared Zhejiang independent. The dispatch's mention of troops "fearing an attack upon Shanghai" fits what followed. Xia launched an attack on Sun-held Shanghai but was almost immediately forced back into Zhejiang. Sun's forces then marched on the province and crushed the revolt by October 23. The recovery did not last: by the end of October Sun's armies were again retreating across Jiangxi and Fujian, so the transport disaster and Xia's defection came as Sun's hold on the lower Yangtze was being tested on several fronts.
Marines on the mails in 1921 and 1926
The article's "as they were in 1921" refers to a precedent. In November 1921 President Harding instructed Navy Secretary Edwin Denby to detail Marines as guards for the mails. About 53 officers and 2,200 enlisted men took on the duty, and the Marines were withdrawn by March 1922. The 1926 deployment followed the attack of October 14 at Elizabeth, in which some of the robbers were reportedly armed with submachine guns. Coolidge ordered 2,500 Marines sent to guard the mails, under the command of Gen. Smedley D. Butler, and the postmaster general ordered 200 Thompson submachine guns for them. According to a later account, the Marines returned to their bases at the beginning of 1927, by which time the Post Office had armed and trained guards of its own. The Star's subhead already reported that Postmaster General New would ask Congress for more money; the sources used here do not show what Congress voted.
Original
QUEEN MARIE DUE HERE TOMORROW IN TOUR OF AMERICA
a short visit before beginning an extensive sightseeing tour of America. As the official guest of the Nation, her majesty, accompanied by the youthful Princess Ileana and Prince Nicholas and an entourage of 17 [?] will arrive in Washington about 6 o'clock on a special train direct from New York and will go first to the Rumanian legation and immediately afterward to the White House to pay her formal compliments to the Chief Executive of the country which is her host. A few minutes later the President and Mrs. Coolidge, in accordance with official custom, will return the royal visit at the Rumanian legation near Sheridan Circle, which has been fitted out in regal splendor for the entertainment of the Queen and her daughter. Informal Dinner Later. The brief formalities over, the royal party will have an informal dinner at the legation before retiring to rest for the strenuous program of entertainment and sightseeing arranged for Tuesday. Her majesty, her royal highness and their ladies-in-waiting will occupy the entire legation building, while Prince Nicholas and his staff will reside at Wardman Park Hotel, temporary headquarters of the legation. The program Tuesday will include visits to Mount Vernon and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington Cemetery, with lunch " somewhere en route, " and will be brought to a grand climax with a state dinner at the White House at 8 o'clock, to be a notable event in the history of official society.
1,200 CHINESE SOLDIERS DIE AS SHELLS SPRAY SHIP IN FIRE
The Entered as second class matter post office, Washington, D. C. 1, 200 CHINESE SOLDIERS DIE AS SHELLS SPRAY SHIP IN FIRE Blazing Yangtze River Vessel Also Showers City of Kukiang With Missiles. Only 300 in Disaster Escape. By the Associated Press. SHANGHAI [?] October 16. - A blazing ship [?] laden with munitions, drifted today, an inferno of death for 1, 200 Chinese soldiers, as it showered missiles in all directions upon the city of Kiukiang and upon ships in the Yangtze River. The ship was the Kuang Yuang, transporting 1, 500 soldiers of Marshal Chuan-fang, ruler of eastern China. Only 300 of the soldiers escaped death by flame, shot or drowning. The ship took fire while anchored before Kiukiang, the flames being thrown throughout the vessel almost immediately by the explosion of its causing considerable loss of life and property damage. Below the city, the vessel grounded upon a mud bank and burned to the water's edge. She was of 3, 000 tons and belonged to the China Merchant Navigation Co. Her soldier passengers were to have been used in battle against the Cantonese invaders of Kiangsi province. MARSHAL SUN BETRAYED. Chekiang Province Governor Seizes Power and Supplies. SHANGHAI, October 16 (AP). - Fearing an attack upon Shanghai, troops
U.S. CALLS MARINES TO CHECK OUTLAW ATTACKS ON MAILS
D. C., SUNDAY MORNING, U. S. CALLS MARINES TO CHECK OUTLAW ATTACKS ON MAILS President and Cabinet Decide on Emergency Measures After Jersey Holdup. GUARDS FOR TRUCKS, CARS AND TERMINALS Postal Service Also Arming-New to Ask Congress for More Funds in Crisis. By the Associated Press. The Marines again have been called into action, as they were in 1921, to guard from bandits the millions of dollars ' worth of valuable mail handled daily by the postal service. Stirred by the numerous hold ups within the last few months, especially by that at Elizabeth, N. J., when a mail truck was robbed of $ 151, 000, President Coolidge and his cabinet have decided upon extreme measures. New Makes Announcement. Postmaster General New made arrangements yesterday, at a conference with Maj. Gen. Lejeune, commandant of the Marine Corps, for the immediate assignment of Marines to
Source: Holding institution