documents

It looks like a passport. I wonder if they could use this in place of a passport in some cases.

I decided to do a bit of digging into the LOC photos posted here, as well as into some other materials, to see what I could find relating to the Bain News Service. This photo is a good start, because it shows us George Grantham Bain himself. You can see his signature in the bottom right hand corner of the document, which is from 1912. Here's a brief Wikipedia page about him: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Grantham_Bain I should also mention this page that has information about the Bain collection: lcweb2.loc.gov/pp/ggbainhtml/ggbaintips.html It contains two GG Bain images that I couldn't find uploaded to Flickr: hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ggbain.15074 (a photo of GGB undated) and hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ggbain.06606 (a caricature of GGB undated). Next, comes three photos that are a set: www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/2163811426 www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/2163011685 www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/2163010885 They all show the same man (is he GGB? I don't think so) at the same machine. The first of the three shows the machine facing in a particular direction and also shows some menial peering out of a store room at the photographer. The second of the three shows the machine facing in a different direction and no menial. Someone has written across the top of the photo "Printing the Bain News Service photos" and has also written on the machine "Bain-McDonald auto-printer" (could the man in the photos be McDonald perhaps?). There's also an "X" placed over the store room area. The third of the three photos is the second photo again with bits blanked out. Next comes www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/2163507966 which is a 1910 subscription to GGB's service by a Canadian newspaper. Finally, there is www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/2163813254 which shows firemen on the roof of the Bain News Service Building in 1912, putting out a fire. (Was the building, perhaps, at the address shown in the preceding photo?)

^thanks, that's good information.

interesting to see mr. bain, a new york photographer from chicago, getting a german driving license. I suspect he had to be fluent in german to get it. the license isn't issued by an equivalent to the modern DMV (or KBA in germany) but the local Hamburg police. the stamp with the three turrets, similar to the official sign of the free city, is noteworthy as it has been in use since 1412 until today. I've only seen one other handwritten german document of the time and that's a german passport hanging in the visitor area of the german embassy in new york city. it's dated from a similar or possibly even earlier time and authorizes the document to a gentleman with the expressed purpose of travelling to the united states (aka "Amerika").

Is this what the driver licenses still look like in Germany? What does a driver license in vancouver look like? I will be needing to get one soon since I will be moving there. Thank you for your help!

That should read Pinnacle Street, not Pringle.

From the DIB: He went on the run, hiding in Co. Clare for several months before escaping to Liverpool (this time allegedly disguised as a nun) and on to New York where he worked for John Devoy's (qv) paper, the Gaelic American, writing articles on the Fianna and the Easter rising. In attempting to get to Germany to buy arms (October 1917) he was arrested, along with Dr Pat McCartan (qv), on charges of conspiring to impersonate an American seaman. He spent several weeks in the notorious ‘Tombs’ prison before bail was raised, and was eventually fined $250 in May 1919.

www.burgumfamily.co.uk/ref_sh_philadelphia.php
www.ggarchives.com/OceanTravel/Passengers/Ports/Philadelp...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_City_of_Paris_(1888)
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9c/City_of_paris...
fultonhistory.com/Newspapers%206/New%20York%20NY%20Evenin...

Similar seaman’s papers

www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/artifact/career-papers-of-fre...

I wonder if Edward Moore was a real person or was it just a made up name for the purpose of obtaining the registration card?

Meanwhile, back in Dublin... (I had forgotten Liam Mellows was a TD at this time. And Mellowes versus Mellows.) This is from the Evening Echo, 11 October 1920:

MRS. MELLOWES' HOME
Raided And Searched By Troops.

The house of Mrs Mellowes, at 21 Mount Shannon street, Dublin, was raided by military on Saturday morning from 1 o'clock to 1.30.
The military entered through front and back doors, which they pierced with their bayonets, also breaking windows. Mrs. Mellowes was detained under guard at the front door by military when she opened it.
She is the mother of Mr Liam Mellowes, T.D., at present in the United States.
It is believed that the raiders were in search of Mr Bernard Mellowes, another son of Mrs Mellowes.
There was no one in the house at the time of the raid but the lady mentioned.
The raiders asked Mrs Mellowes where her son Liam was, as they would "like to have met him."
She replied: "He would like to have met you, too."
The raiders searched the house, and caused much damage to articles of food and furniture.
Mrs Mellowes is widow, her husband having died a few weeks ago.