Thursday, May 31, 1934

Walked to and home from school with the kids. Aunt Kate's were by.

Guantanamo Bay, Cuba
AKA "Gitmo"

 On May 31, 1934, the U.S. Congress ratified the U.S.-Cuban Treaty which abrogated the Platt Amendment, a legal document which had been a source of friction between the two countries. U.S. Ambassador to Havana Sumner Welles conducted the negotiations with the government of Carlos Mendieta, reaching an agreement on May 29th. The U.S. government insisted that the Platt Amendment be incorporated in the Cuban constitution in 1901, although the measure undermined Cuban sovereignty. Under this amendment, the Cuban government was not permitted to enter into a treaty with a foreign power which impaired the country's sovereignty, Cubans could not contract excessive foreign debts, the U.S. had the right to intervene to maintain Cuban independence, and Cuban territory had to be leased to the U.S. for naval bases.

Wednesday, May 31, 1933

We got our flag. It is made of silk and has a large pole. Also got our picture. The name of it is Castle of the Maidens by Edwin Abbey.

Sheriff J. W. Freeland, Hill County, Texas issued a Wanted poster for Frank Albert Clause
and Clyde "Champion" Barrow on May 31, 1933. (The date is written on the face of the poster.)
Both members of the "Root Square Gang," the two were wanted for robbery of several
 businesses in and around Dallas, Hillsboro, and Lufkin, Texas. It was during one of those robberies
on April 30, 1932, that Hillsboro shopkeeper J.N. Bucher was murdered. Less than a week after the
murder, Barrow and Clause held up a couple of filling stations in Lufkin. This was, in essence, the
beginning of the infamous Barrow Gang, which included Clyde's partner, Bonnie Parker, and launched
a nationwide campaign of crime that lasted until their deaths in 1934.