May 6. Mayor McClellan of New York City writes as follows: May 6,
1907. To the Honorable, the Board of Aldermen of the City
of New York: Gentlemen:—It is my duty to inform your
honorable body, for such action as you may deem fitting,
of the death of Patrick Keenan, chamberlain of the city of
New York. For seven consecutive terms a member of your
honorable body, once your presiding officer, once clerk of
the county of New York, and thrice chamberlain of the
city, Mr. Keenan enjoyed public confidence to an extent
attained by few men. He died in the fulness of man’s
allotted years, with no tarnish on the honor he prized so
much, and with only words of grief and praise from the
friends who venerated him and the citizens he faithfully
served. It is my privilege thus to express my sorrow at
the loss of a friend whose conduct rewarded the trust I
twice had the honor to repose in him.
Respectfully,
GEO. B. MCCLELLAN, _Mayor_.
May 11. Admiral McGowan, president-general of the Society, sailed
today from New York for Antwerp.
May 13. J. Taylor Ellison, lieutenant-governor of Virginia, for
the Jamestown Exposition officials, has asked the city
of Albany for the loan of the oil portraits of former
governors John Jay, Dewitt Clinton and George Clinton,
and former Mayor Dirck Tenbroeck, which hang in the
common council gallery, and the original Dongan charter
of the city of Albany of 1686, as well as the framed
bill of expense for the trip of Indian chiefs to England
in 1710, which hangs in the mayor’s office. The city
authorities are in doubt whether to comply with the
request. The portraits asked for were painted by artists
from special sittings by the originals and the Dongan
charter is priceless.
May 15. Information comes from Washington, D. C., that Capt. Michael
J. McDonough, Corps of Engineers, is relieved from duty at
the West Point Academy and will join his proper station.
May 18. A dispatch from Washington, D. C., says that it was
announced at the state department today that Thomas J.
O’Brien of Michigan, United States minister to Copenhagen,
will become ambassador to Japan in September, on the
retirement of Luke E. Wright of Tennessee, who has given
notice to the department that he wishes to leave the
service at that time. A successor to Mr. O’Brien at
Copenhagen has not yet been secured.
May 23. Word from Washington, D. C., states that Dr. Maurice Francis
Egan, professor of English language and literature at
the Catholic University of America, today accepted the
post of minister to Denmark, offered to him by President
Roosevelt. The date on which he will enter upon his duties
will be determined by the State department.
May 27. Word comes from Copenhagen that King Frederick has given
a farewell dinner to the retiring American minister,
Mr. O’Brien, and Mrs. O’Brien, Mr. O’Brien having been
appointed American ambassador at Tokio.
June. Army orders this month at the war department, Washington, D.
C., grant leave of absence, from July 15 to August 31, to
Major Timothy D. Keleher. Paymaster Capt. Charles G. Dwyer
is to report to the paymaster-general of the army for
temporary duty at a certain point.
June 9. Col. James B. Quinn of the U. S. Engineer Corps is retired.
June 13. From Washington, D. C., is announced the appointment of
Major Thomas B. Dugan, Twelfth U. S. Cavalry, as a member
of a board to meet at Kansas City, Mo., for inspection
duty. First Lieutenant John C. Murphy, Fourth U. S.
Infantry, having been found incapacitated for active
service from disability, is retired about this date.
June 14. About this date, First Lieut. Thomas F. Ryan, Eleventh U.
S. Cavalry, recruiting officer, Springfield, Mass., is
ordered to Bellows Falls, Vt., to secure certain evidence.
June 24. President Theodore Roosevelt today appointed Michael E.
Bannin of New York a member of the board of Indian
commissioners, to succeed Maurice Francis Egan, who
resigned to accept a diplomatic post. Mr. Bannin is a
member of the American-Irish Historical Society.
July 3. An order issued at the war department, Washington, D. C.,
about this date, provides that Capt. Michael J. Lenihan,
of the general staff, will proceed to New London, Ct.,
and witness and report on joint army and militia post
defence exercises to be held July 15 to July 26. Upon
the completion of his duties at New London, Captain
Lenihan will proceed to the artillery district of Boston
and witness and report on the joint army and militia
coast defence exercises in that district July 28 to
August 3. He will then go to the artillery district of
Portland for like duty.
July 9. It is announced from Washington, D. C., that Major Daniel E.
McCarthy, quartermaster, is relieved from duty in the
Philippine division, to take effect upon the arrival of
Major Bingham of Manila, and will proceed to San Francisco
and report by telegraph to the adjutant-general of the
army for instructions.
July 17. First Lieut. James Bourke, assistant surgeon, is ordered by
the war department to report August 15 to Major William H.
Arthur, president of the examining board, Washington, D.
C., for examination for advancement.
July 17. By orders issued about this date by the war department,
Capt. Michael J. McDonough, when relieved at the U. S.
Military Academy, will proceed to Fort Leavenworth, Kan.,
and report to the commanding officer for duty with the
third battalion of engineers.
July 17. Lieut. Peter J. Hennessey, Fifth U. S. Cavalry, by orders
from the war department, will accompany the two troops of
cavalry and the machine guns, national guard of Rhode
Island, on practice march, commencing July 22, and upon
the completion of this duty will return to Fort Adams, R.
I.
August. Information from the war department, Washington, D. C.:
William J. O’Loughlin, who has been a second lieutenant in
the Second U. S. Infantry, has been promoted to first
lieutenant and assigned to the Fourteenth Infantry. John
J. Ryan, first lieutenant, Twelfth U. S. Cavalry, has been
promoted to captain and assigned to the Tenth Cavalry.
First Lieutenant John G. Donovan, Coast Artillery, is
allowed about this time, with other officers, ten days’
leave of absence. Second Lieutenant James O’Connor has
been assigned to Havana for duty with the Second Battalion
of Engineers.
August. Death of Peter McDonnell, a member of the American-Irish
Historical Society, dies. His death took place aboard the
White Star steamer _Oceanic_, while he was returning from
a visit to Ireland.
August. David McClure of New York City, a member of the
American-Irish Historical Society, participated in the
dedication this month of a monument at Fontenoy. The
monument commemorates the valor of the Irish brigade in
the battle of Fontenoy, 1745.
Aug. 18. There is an article in the Boston _Sunday Globe_ today on
the library of Dr. M. F. Sullivan, Lawrence, Mass. It
is of an appreciative nature and devotes considerable
attention to the publications of the American-Irish
Historical Society.
Aug. 25. Edward A. Kelly died at Cohasset, Mass., about this date.
Mr. Kelly was in the eighth generation from John Kelly,
one of the early settlers of Newbury, Mass., who is
believed to have come to that place about 1635.
Sept. 13. A reunion of the McGillicuddys took place today at Glen’s
Falls, N. Y. The occasion was one of very great interest
to members of this historic old Irish family. An
organization was formed and officers were elected.
Sept. 28. A despatch from Yokohama states that Secretary Taft arrived
there today on board the steamer _Minnesota_ from Seattle,
passing all the signal stations without being sighted.
The reception committees and the members of the American
embassy, who had come there from Tokio to welcome Mr.
Taft, were aroused by rumors, the town was soon enlivened
and the bay crowded with launches displaying American
flags and other colors. Secretary and Mrs. Taft and Thomas
J. O’Brien, the new American ambassador to Japan, and
Mrs. O’Brien met the visitors from the shore in the main
saloon of the _Minnesota_ at 7.30 a. m., while the United
States cruiser _Chattanooga_, anchored in the bay, saluted
Secretary Taft’s flag, as secretary of war, which was
hoisted at the fore.
Oct. 15. William B. Sullivan, Danvers, Mass., reads a paper before
the St. Mary’s School Alumni Association, Salem, Mass., on
“The Early Catholic Church in Massachusetts.” He later had
the paper brought out in pamphlet form. Mr. Sullivan is a
member of the American-Irish Historical Society.
Oct. 19. A telegram published today states that a turret accident on
board the battleship _Connecticut_, similar to those on
the _Georgia_ and several other of the U. S. big fighting
ships, was averted by the presence of mind and heroism of
Lieut. William Pigott Cronan, has just come to light
through the summoning of a board of inquiry at the New
York navy yard. According to the story, Lieutenant Cronan
was in command of one of the eight-inch guns on the
_Connecticut_ during recent target practice off New
England. As the powder charge was thrust into the gun, the
lieutenant noticed that from a small hole in the bag a
quantity of powder had escaped and fallen into the threads
into which the breech-block of the gun screws. Realizing
that the action of screwing the breach-block back home
would ignite the powder before the block could be firmly
screwed home, causing the entire charge to explode back
into the turret, Lieutenant Cronan shouted an order which
stopped every man in the turret, as he stood, except the
man who was closing the breech of the gun. He did not hear
the shout and continued to swing the block home.
Lieutenant Cronan sprang forward and thrust his hand into
the breech of the gun. The breech closed on his hand,
badly mangling it and cleanly cutting off the first
finger, which fell into the grooves and caused the closing
mechanism to clog. The sailor at the breech of the gun
fainted when he discovered what he had done and what he
had narrowly escaped doing. If the breech had been closed
it is likely that every man in the turret would have been
killed. The board of inquiry was called to determine how
the hole came into the powder bag. Cronan is a son of
Patrick J. Cronan of New Haven. During the war with Spain,
Lieutenant Cronan was highly commended for several acts of
bravery. The following is another account: While the
battleship _Connecticut_ was engaged in target practice
off Cape Cod last week, Lieutenant William P. Cronan
undoubtedly prevented a repetition of the fatal explosion
on the _Georgia_ by staying the closing of the breech of
the eight-inch barker in the after turret by inserting his
fingers in the breech grooves just as the heavy butt of
metal was swinging into place. When they swung back the
breech-block the fragments of his first and second
fingers, severed at the first joint, were found ground
into the grooves. The _Connecticut_ had joined the rest of
the squadron in target practice off Cape Cod last week and
all of the eight-inch guns were being worked. The firing
was fast, it being a part of the test that the guns should
be fired as rapidly and as accurately as possible, and in
order to outdo the sailors on the other ships that were
engaged in the practice, the _Connecticut’s_ men were
working hard to load, train and fire the four big tubes in
the starboard and port turrets. The eight men working
under command of Lieutenant Cronan in the aft starboard
turret were swinging to their task like pieces of
mechanism in a single machine. Two men worked the powder
hoist from the magazines below, two swabbed out the gun
after each shot, two lifted the bags of powder into the
breech after the heavy shell had been placed, and one man
swung back and locked the breech for the firing. It was
bang! and in an instant the breech was open and the men
were sucking in the powder fumes while they swabbed and
hoisted and charged the big gun for another shot. The gun
got so hot that it was difficult to place a hand on the
breech without blistering it. The men with the water swabs
kept the temperature down to the safety point inside the
chamber, but even at that it was almost hot enough to
flash powder and a little friction would have been enough
to set off any spare grains.
Nov. 1. Rt. Rev. Mgr. Thomas H. Wallace, a member of the
American-Irish Historical Society, died this evening. He
was rector of St. Patrick’s Church, Lewiston, Me.
Nov. 5. Hon. James H. Higgins is re-elected governor of Rhode
Island. Hon. Patrick J. McCarthy is re-elected mayor of
Providence, R. I.
Nov. 9. Capt. Dennis E. Nolan, Thirtieth U. S. Infantry, has been
ordered to the Philippines as inspector of constabulary.
Nov. 9. A dispatch from Durham, N. H., which was published in the
Boston _Herald_ today, reads as follows: (Special Dispatch
to the _Sunday Herald_.) Durham, N. H., Nov. 9.—For some
years there has been a movement to restore the burial
place of Maj.-Gen. John Sullivan, who died in Durham
January 23, 1795. This labor of love, shared by many
prominent people both in and out of Durham, is now
completed. A substantial wall has been erected around
the little cemetery, the lot has been cleared and graded,
the gravestones reset and iron gates provided at the
entrance. As marking the end of this labor, a Sullivan
commemoration service has been planned for next Monday
afternoon, and an invitation to attend the ceremonies
is extended to all who cherish the dead general’s memory.
Descendants of General Sullivan, members of the Grand
Army posts and various historical societies and many
others have already signified their intention of being
present. The program will include an oration by the Rev.
William Elliot Griffis, D. D., of Ithaca, N. Y., a
celebrated authority on matters pertaining to General
Sullivan. The faculty of the New Hampshire State College
have volunteered to suspend college exercises during the
ceremonies, and the student battalion and college brass
band will perform escort duty. The procession will start
from the Congregational Church at 2.30 o’clock, proceeding
to the cemetery, where the exercises will be held. The
oration will be delivered at the church immediately
afterward. The house General Sullivan occupied will be
open for inspection by visitors during the day, also every
department of the state college and its work, in which
institution patriotism for present day needs is being
nurtured.
December. Death at Quebec this month of the Hon. Felix Carbray, a
member of the Society.
Dec. 2. Congressman Wiley of Alabama introduced the following bill
in the National House of Representatives today. It was
referred to the committee on the library and ordered to
be printed: A Bill for the erection of a monument to
Jeremiah O’Brien: Be it enacted by the Senate and House
of Representatives of the United States of America in
Congress assembled, That the sum of fifty thousand dollars
be, and the same is hereby appropriated, out of any money
in the treasury not otherwise appropriated, for the
erection in the city of Washington, District of Columbia,
of a monument to the memory of Jeremiah O’Brien, upon
which shall be inscribed the words: