information". The British steamer sank in the New Zealand bay of the same name, killing 32 people, although most of the passengers and crew were able to evacuate to shore. One hundred years later, the wreckage is still popular for scuba divers. The first public execution in Paris in 15 years attracted a large crowd despite being held at with short notice. M. Duchemin, who had murdered his mother in 1906, was guillotined in front of the Sante Prison. In Atlanta, the Georgia State Senate voted 37–2 against considering the proposed 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which would authorize an income tax. Georgia ratified the amendment the following year. Died: Miguel Antonio Caro, 65, President of Colombia, 1894–1898 August 6, 1909 (Friday) Vincenzo Sabatassae, leader of the "Black Hand Gang" of Connecticut, was sentenced to 28 years in prison, and his fellow gangmembers were handed jail terms ranging from 3 to 25 years. The gang, which had terrorized the Italian-American residents in and around New Haven for three years, was caught after kidnapping a man in Wallingford. In pronouncing sentence, the New Haven judge described Sabatassae as the worst criminal with whom he ever came in contact. Alice Huyler Ramsey arrived in San Francisco to become the first woman to drive across the United States, having left New York on June 18. August 7, 1909 (Saturday) U.S. President William Howard Taft arrived at the "Summer White House" in Beverly, Massachusetts, on the presidential train car Olympia which traveled as part of the "Federal Express" from Washington to Boston. The rest of the government went on vacation as well, with Vice-President Sherman going home to Utica, New York, House Speaker Cannon home at Danville, Illinois, and all but two Cabinet officials staying in Washington. August 8, 1909 (Sunday) Mary MacKillop, the co-founder of the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart, died in North Sydney, Australia, following a stroke. On January 19, 1995, she became the first native Australian to be beatified by the Roman Catholic Church. Lumber magnate George Van Dyke and his chauffeur, Frederick B. Hodgdon, were killed in a freak accident at Riverside, Massachusetts. Van Dyke had directed Hodgdon to drive to a cliff overlooking the Connecticut River, to watch logs being shipped. When they prepared to leave, Hodgdon pulled the wrong lever and the car went over the precipice. Born: Charles Lyttelton, 10th Viscount Cobham,