The New York Times

Articles from The New York Times

Gas Attack Horrors (NY Times, 1915)

French novelist Pierre Loti (né Julien Viaud: 1850 – 1923) filed this dispatch from a forward aid station in the the French sector where he witnessed the suffering of the earliest gas attack casualties:

A place of horror which one would think Dante had imagined. The air is heavy, stifling; two or three little night lamps, which look as if they were afraid of giving too much light, hardly pierce the hot, smoky darkness which smells of fever and sweat. Busy people are whispering anxiously. But you hear, more than all, agonized gasping. These gaspings escape from a number of little beds drawn up close together on which are distinguished human forms, above all, chests, chests that are heaving too strongly, too rapidly, and that raise the sheets as if the hour of the death rattle had already come.


Click here to read about the new rules for warfare that were written as a result of the First World War – none of them pertain to poison gas.

Gas Attack Horrors (NY Times, 1915) Read More »

W.W. I Zeppelin Raids on London (NY Times, 1915)

Printed during the seventh month of the First World War, this is a collection of assorted musings that first appeared in The London Times involving what was known for sure regarding the subject of German zeppelins. In an attempt to understand the true speed, range and fuel capacity of a zeppelin, the author refers to a number of previous voyages that the airships were known to have made during the pre-war years. Concerns regarding the amount of ammunition that could have been carried is also mentioned.

W.W. I Zeppelin Raids on London (NY Times, 1915) Read More »

Submarine Warfare: The First Seven Months (NY Times, 1915)

Information released from the British Admiralty concerning the number of British merchant and fishing vessels lost to German U-boat attacks during the first seven months of the war. The article names eight non-military ships sunk during March 1915. In addition, the Admiralty also stated the total number of British merchant and fishing vessels lost through German naval attacks from the start of the war through March 10, 1915.


Click here to read about the new rules for warfare that were written as a result of the First World War – none of them pertain to the use of poison gas or submarines.

Submarine Warfare: The First Seven Months (NY Times, 1915) Read More »

Kultur (The New York Times, 1915)

During the course of the Great War, few German terms delighted English speaking cartoonists more than the word kultur -which is the Teutonic word for civilization or cultural progress. Prior to being picked up by the New York Times, this cartoon originally appeared in a London magazine called, The Sketch, and was drawn by W. Heath Robinson (dates?).

Kultur (The New York Times, 1915) Read More »

Enrico Forlanini and His Dirigible (New York Times, 1918)

A New York Times photograph and report on the military dirigible designed by Italian Senator Enrico Forlanini (1848 – 1930). A concise account of the differences between Forlanini’s dirigible and the German Zeppelin are listed as well as the speed, altitude and various offensive capabilities. Enrico Forlanini is is best remembered today for his ground breaking work on steam-powered helicopters, hydrofoils and various other aircrafts, such as his 1909 dirigible, Leonardo Da Vinci.

Enrico Forlanini and His Dirigible (New York Times, 1918) Read More »

Flappers Were Nothing New (NY Times, 1922)

Since the preceding article was jam-packed with intolerant remarks from the lip-service corner of the Holier-Than-Thou clerical crowd, it seemed only fitting that we post this article which dwelt upon the far more accepting and just a wee-bit more Christian feelings of yet another clergyman who tended to think that the flappers were not really as queer as everyone liked to think they were.

Painting faces is no new thing except on occasion. Belles and famous beauties of the past painted for State occasions. But then it was not good form to wear paint in daylight. Now it is, apparently. That many young women now carry this to extreme is not unusual…


Click here to read an article about the demise of a popular 1940s hairstyle.

Flappers Were Nothing New (NY Times, 1922) Read More »

The Slaughter of the Aristocrats (NY Times, 1915)

This 1915 article goes into great length listing the names of all the assorted European noblemen and plutocrats who fell during the first year and a half of the First World War.

The great world conflict which broke out soon after [the murder of Archduke Ferdinand] has placed the pall of mourning over every third home in the belligerent countries of Europe… The dreadful slaughter has fallen with especial heaviness on the upper and wealthy classes…


The writer, Charles Stolberg, also included the names of the most admired European athletes who gave their lives for king and country.

The Slaughter of the Aristocrats (NY Times, 1915) Read More »

The Evolution of the Tank (NY Times, 1919)

A three page article concerning the development of tanks during the First World War. While they were being created on the drawing boards of Britain’s W. Foster Company, the code name for these land dreadnoughts was water tanks; hence the name.

The first armored battle cars, or tanks were a British invention developed from an American automobile tractor used for agricultural purposes on the Western prairies. They made their initial appearance at the battle of the Somme (Flers), September 15, 1916.


However, it should be known that they were first used to greatest effect in the Battle of Cambrai (November 20 through December 7, 1917).


Click here to see a diagram of the W.W. I French Renault tank.


Read about the Patton tank in Korea…

The Evolution of the Tank (NY Times, 1919) Read More »

Immigrant Literacy Tests Passed (NY Times, 1915)

In 1915, some newspaper readers might have preferred to interpret the passage of the Smith-Burnett Immigration bill as a legal measure that would insure a higher standard for immigrants to meet in order to guarantee citizenship; while others tended to interpret the legislation as a restrictive law that was intended only to exclude from citizenship Italians and Eastern-European Jews. This article reported on a massive New York protest decrying the Smith-Burnett bill that was attended by Louis D. Brandeis (1856 – 1941; appointed to the Supreme Court a year later), Episcopal Bishop David Hummel Greer (1844 – 1919) and former president of Columbia University Seth Low (1850 – 1916).


Green Card holders are to this day still required to show fluency in the English language, although the swearing-in ceremony and their voting ballots are often in their native language. Go figure.


In this article Vladimir Lenin speaks of his fondness for The New York Times.

Immigrant Literacy Tests Passed (NY Times, 1915) Read More »