The Postcard
A postcard that was published by the Cairo Postcard Trust of Cairo. The card was posted on Saturday the 10th. January 1914. It features a postmark bearing the words 'Colombo Paquebot'.
The card was posted to:
Miss Phyllis Elliott,
c/o Syned Elliott Esq.,
Blakeney Road,
Beckenham,
London,
England.
The message on the divided back of the card was as follows:
"Near Colombo in
Arabian Sea. 9/1/14.
Dear Phyl,
We have been through
this canal & saw arabs
& camels and lots of
donkeys and goats
each side of the desert.
We are having very hot
weather but a lovely
trip - we are all going
onshore for a day
tomorrow at Colombo.
Much love to Mummy
and Dad.
Yours lovingly,
Aunty Kitty".
Port Said
Port Said is a city that lies in north east Egypt extending about 30 kilometres (19 mi) along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, north of the Suez Canal, with an approximate population of 604,000 (2010).
The city was established in 1859 during the building of the Suez Canal. There are numerous old houses with grand balconies on all floors, giving the city a distinctive look.
Port Said's twin city is Port Fuad, which lies on the eastern bank of the canal. The two cities are connected by free ferries running all through the day, and together they form a metropolitan area with over a million residents that extends both on the African and the Asian sides of the Suez Canal. The only other metropolitan area in the world that also spans two continents is Istanbul.
Rudyard Kipling once said:
"If you truly wish to find someone you
have known and who travels, there are
two points on the globe you have but
to sit and wait, sooner or later your man
will come there: the docks of London
and Port Said".
The Battle of Ojinaga
So what else happened on the day that Aunty Kitty posted the card?
Well, on the 10th. January 1914, Pancho Villa led a force of 7,000 troops and captured Ojinaga, forcing more than half of the 4,000 defending federal troops to retreat over the Mexican-U.S. border.
The victory effectively gave Villa control of nearly all of northern Mexico, and cemented his reputation as a great military leader.
The Saverne Affair
Also on that day, a military court in Strasbourg, Germany acquitted commanding officer Colonel Adolf von Reuter and Second Lieutenant Schadt for illegally appropriating the civilian police during and after a public protest on the 28th. November 1913 in Saverne, Alsace.
The Canadian Arctic Expedition
Also on the 10th. January 1914, after drifting in ice for several months in the Beaufort Sea, the polar expedition crew of the ship Karluk were wakened to:
"A severe shudder that
shook the whole ship,".
It was evident that ice was attacking the hull, and at 6:45 am a loud bang was heard, indicating that the hull had been punctured.
Captain Robert Bartlett observed a gash of 10 feet (3.0 m) in length in the ship's engine room. With the pumps unable to handle the inflow of water, Bartlett ordered the crew to abandon ship.
A Rent Strike
Also on that day, rent strike organisers for 300 tenants living in the Burley area of Leeds called for a city-wide protest against a significant increase in rents imposed by the Leeds branch of the Property Owners Association. The strike lasted for eight weeks.
Murders in Salt Lake City
Also on the 10th. January 1914, John G. Morrison and his son Arling were killed in their Salt Lake City grocery store by two armed intruders masked in red bandannas.
Later that evening, labour activist Joel Emmanuel Hägglund, better known as Joe Hill, met a local doctor to be treated for a bullet wound in the left lung.
Hill claimed he had been shot following an argument with a woman, but refused to name her. The doctor later reported to police that Hill was also armed with a pistol.
Police investigators searched Hill's residence and found a red bandanna, but the pistol purported to be in Hill's possession was never found. Hill denied involvement in the robbery and the killing of Morrison.
Hill did not know Morrison, and at his trial, defence lawyers pointed out four other people were treated for bullet wounds that same night, and the entry and size of the bullet wound aligned with Hill's testimony of the circumstances when he was shot.
Oscar Mathisen
Also on that day, Norwegian speed skater Oscar Mathisen set the first of five world records throughout the month of January.
He started with a finish of 43.7 seconds in the 500m in Oslo at the newly re-opened Frogner stadium, which had to be moved to make room for the Jubilee Exhibition.
