Water from the Well

Photos from Marion Davis Photo Album

Drawing water from the well

Undated photo, unidentified woman (Marion?)

Finishing touches

Undated photo, two women fixing up their tent.

On this day - February 20, 1898

William Jurian Kaula diary

20 FEB 1898

The loss of the U.S.S. Maine in Havanna harbor is our absorbing topic.  Even the Zola trial takes a back seat.  The attitude of our government is one of commendable prudence and good temper.  There is nothing to do but to wait until an investigation of the wreck is made by divers.

Yesterday was the twelfth day of the proceedings of the trial of Zola.  His witnesses have all been heard.  Everything of importance in his favor was daily stricken out of the "conclusions."  Nothing remains but to find him guilty of libel and defamation of character.  Zola's lawyer M. Labori is one of the leading lawyers in France.  He too will suffer and has suffered by the one-sided justice of the newspapers.  It is so one-sided that it is a perfect comedy.  This is all relative to Zola's trial.  As for Dreyfuss, he may have been guilty.  At least the French government must know that it would have been much better if he was proven innocent at the time because of the startling nature of his crime of betraying military secrets to the Germans.  The antagonism between the two countries alone is sufficient to produce a constant fever of apprehension without exciting the people with baseless charges against an officer, or the mere suspicion that he was a traitor.  Dreyfus was condemned and it was Zola's intention to prove that he was innocent?  Or was it because Dreyfus was tried by society and that underhanded means were employed to prove his guilt.  As I said, Zola's trial has been a farce because no light has been thrown upon the subject - absolutely forbidden.  Zola proves none of his convictions without evidence from his witnesses and no evidence is allowed that is a "professional secret."  The anti-Semitic outbreak against the News in France is attributed to the fact that Dreyfus was Jew.  The Jews have been persecuted in Algeria recently and the mobs have been violent.  Even in Paris some of the shops kept by Jews have been stoned.

We, all the boys that were in costume at Viti's ball, assembled in Logan's studio to have our photographs taken by Leavitt.  We arranged groups with those whose costumes would go together in groups.  The others, like Cartwright and Allingham were taken alone.  The pictures ought to be picturesque as we used Logan's antique furniture, draperies, and his armor.  The last group was made up of the whole crowd.  It was a frightful mixture of costumes, casts, skeleton, swords, and a magnificent array of bottles in the foreground.

I was invited to go to the theatre tonight to hear M. Coquelin in Cyranco de Bergerac* at the Theatre Porte St. Martin.  Our party consisted of Mr. and Mrs. Lufkin, Miss Lufkin, Mr. and Mrs. Barstow.  Mr. Lufkin has been in Paris almost a week after transacting some business in London.  He brought me some English tobacco which made me happy.  The play was splendid and I like it as much as I did "Tirmedor" which I saw here in November.  I can only speak of Coquelin in the highest terms of praise - I never saw a better actor.  The whole company was good and the stage effects left nothing to be desired.

*By M. Edmund Rostrand.  The "Cyrano" is taken from a well known character of the 17th Century and is supposed to be historically accurate.  He had a very ___________ nature and assisted his rival in making love by impersonating him.  The lover was a stupid ass and not worth it.

On this day - February 20, 1909

James Roger diary entry

20^th (Thursday)

Cold but fair wind N.W. David went out over the sidewalks in morning and out on road roller afterwards with Bill Hudson and Freeman Wright.  I fixed vestry for Sewing Circle and Hall for Grange rehearsal