Note: This is an encore post from 2007.
March 10, 1907
Los Angeles
Someone who opened the Los Angeles Times on this Sunday might be forgiven for wondering what had become of the world, for Page 1 was full of news about the demise of two religious leaders.
The first was the death of John Alexander Dowie, the founder of Zion, Ill., who considered himself the reincarnation of the biblical prophet Elijah. The second was the decline of Mary Baker Eddy, founder of Christian Science.
Feb. 27, 1947: I missed this ad for Los Angeles Transit Lines in my previous pass through the Sentinel and I just had to run it. Militant Angeleno: This is for you!
Note: This is an encore post from 2006.
I’m blogging in real time as I read Donald H. Wolfe’s “The Black Dahlia Files: The Mob, the Mogul and the Murder That Transfixed Los Angeles.” Wolfe has begun with the butchered, anonymous body and is telling the story in flashbacks—at this point, we’re at Elizabeth Short’s mid- to late teens and she’s about to be reunited with her father, Cleo, who abandoned the family years earlier.
So far, the vote on continuing the blog is entirely favorable, with one request for information about my theory (sorry, I don’t want to mix that with the Wolfe material) and one suggestion for an ad revenue stream. Thanks crime buddy!
Note: This is an encore post from 2007.
March 9, 1907
Los Angeles
The Insanity Begins
Led by I. Newerf and J.B. Dudley, the automobile owners of Los Angeles are fighting a new city ordinance that bans parking within 40 of downtown intersections. Newerf, the West Coast representative of Goodyear Tire Co., and Dudley, a car salesman, received citations for violating the law and have pleaded not guilty.
In April 1909, Dudley pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter after hitting street inspector Woodman J. Thomas on Broadway near 5th Street. He was sentenced to five years’ probation in March 1910.
Note: This is an encore post from 2006.
I’m waiting.
The vote so far:
Keep going: 10 (1 via e-mail).
Stop the insanity! 0
Disclaimer: I’m not a Susan Powter fan. In fact, she drives me crazy.
Special note: Comments are moderated. In other words, nothing gets posted without my prior approval. Anything off-point or extraneous isn’t making the cut.
March 6, 1947: North American Aviation had a male choir called the Navioneers that performed at Second AME church at 43rd Street and San Pedro Place.
On the editorial page, the Sentinel seeks to defuse racial tensions in Little Tokyo (or Bronzeville) over robberies by a black “gang of thugs” preying on Japanese American merchants. The Sentinel says that the holdup gang is robbing Asians because “they are the people who happen to have the money the gangsters want and it is only an accident that the victims are Japanese. The holdups would rob a Negro or any other person as quickly.”
… “there is no reason for hostility between Japanese and Negroes. Both groups are victims of plenty of other discriminations without trying to figure out ways and means of fighting each other.”
Historical note: During the evacuation of Japanese Americans in World War II, African Americans moved into Little Tokyo, which was renamed Bronzeville.
Note: This is an encore post from 2006.
I have been blogging in real time as I read Donald H. Wolfe’s “The Black Dahlia Files: The Mob, the Mogul and the Murder That Transfixed Los Angeles.”
At this point in the story we are deeply mired in Elizabeth Short’s childhood and have just caught Wolfe in an incredible lie:
“Very little is known about Elizabeth’s time in Miami.”
Note: This is an encore post from 2007.
March 8, 1907
Los Angeles
Note: This is an encore post from 2006.
I’m blogging in real time as I read Donald H. Wolfe’s “The Black Dahlia Files: The Mob, the Mogul and the Murder That Transfixed Los Angeles.”
Page 52
Wolfe is using the “Laura” format and we’re at the point in the story where we learn about Elizabeth Short’s childhood. Wolfe has dispensed with her father, Cleo Short, at least for now, and is dealing with Elizabeth Short’s childhood illnesses. The narrative about the murder investigation has gone into hibernation as the book introduces buckets of background material.
Note: This is an encore post from 2007.
March 7, 1907
Los Angeles
A dreadful disease called acute glanders has been discovered in a horse and veterinarian R.J. Ramage ordered that the animal be destroyed immediately.
In addition to rapidly causing death, acute glanders can be spread from horses to humans and there is no known cure, at least in 1907. Apparently several men in Los Angeles County died of acute glanders in 1893.
March 6, 1947: The Onyx Club opens at 109 S. Fair Oaks in Pasadena.
The former site of what was variously called the Onyx Club, Onyx Cafe or Onyx Bar on South Fair Oaks in Pasadena, via Google Street View.
June 1950: Vivienne Miles-El is charged with fatally stabbing her boyfriend Clinton E. “Smiling Jack” Jackson, a well-known gambling figure along Central Avenue.
The Sentinel said: “Jackson, who at the time of his death was married and living at 617 1/2 E. Santa Barbara [now Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard] but who intimates say was ‘running around’ with the willowy Miss Miles-El, was allegedly stabbed to death by the woman in the Onyx Bar, 109 Fair Oaks Avenue, Pasadena, following what witnesses say was a quarrel.”
The quarrel began when Jackson said he didn’t want Miles-El driving other people around in his Cadillac. Jackson slapped Miles-El “many times” a witness testified at the inquest.
Miles-El told friends to “forget” the slapping, the Sentinel said. But 10 minutes later, Miles-El plunged a paring knife into his chest “as she sat facing him on a bar stool,” the Sentinel said.
A cabdriver took Jackson to a hospital and then to Huntington Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Miles-El was found not guilty.
Note: This is an encore post from 2006.
I’m blogging in real time as I read Donald H. Wolfe’s “The Black Dahlia Files: The Mob, the Mogul and the Murder That Transfixed Los Angeles.” At the moment we’re enmeshed in the backstory on 1940s newspapers that hasn’t transfixed anyone.
The two-minute executive summary:
After spending several days slogging through Elizabeth Short’s autopsy and pondering the absence of John Gilmore’s key source on the Black Dahlia’s purported “infantile genitalia,” the nonexistent Detective Herman Willis, we’ve found the late Will Fowler, former Examiner reporter and Dahlia source, played several tricks on Wolfe. We also discovered some more ties between Wolfe’s stepfather and Joseph P. Kennedy, but a troubling disinterest in saying anything about Wolfe’s Great-Uncle Bernard Baruch, one of Kennedy’s close associates.
Note: This is an encore post from 2007.
March 6, 1907
San Francisco (VIA Associated Press)
The Irish of San Francisco are furious over a play at the Davis Theater called “The Belle of Avenue A,” which features a character named Mrs. McCluskey who drinks a glass of beer in the first act.
“Three times, about 40 people charged the stage and the actors and actresses feared they were about to be attacked,” The Times says.
This week’s mystery movie has been the 1944 Paramount film “And Now Tomorrow,” with Alan Ladd, Loretta Young, Susan Hayward, Barry Sullivan, Beulah Bondi, Cecil Kellaway, Grant Mitchell and Helen Mack. The screenplay was by Frank Partos and Raymond Chandler, from a novel by Rachel Field. Music was by Victor Young, photography by Daniel L. Fapp, art direction by Hans Dreier and Hal Pereira, costumes by Edith Head, makeup by Wally Westmore and set decoration by Ted von Hemert. The associate producer was Fred Kohlmar and the director was Irving Pichel.
The DVD is available in the Universal Vault Series.
Flooding in North Hollywood, courtesy of Mary Mallory.
Note: This is an encore post from 2013.
Seventy-five years ago, a deluge of rain hit Los Angeles and the surrounding area, leading to massive floods and causing millions of dollars in damage and a devastating loss of life. Many factors led to this destruction: too much rain, inadequate construction of bridges and roads, and homes and businesses located in flood-prone areas. One of the unfortunate consequences of the floods was the eventual concreting of the Los Angeles River, ruining its beauty.
Although other areas of the country suffered through droughts and dust storms in the 1930s, Los Angeles and Southern California endured large amounts of rainfall. Most years saw higher than normal annual rain levels. 1937 saw 17.85 inches fall by March 1, while 1934 saw the largest amount of rain since the 1860s.
1938 started out with heavy rains, growing worse through February. Small patches of flooding caused concerns throughout the city. On Feb. 28, a severe storm hit the area, leading to five days of disaster.
The March 1, 1938, Los Angeles Times noted that gale winds hit the coast, and more than 2.5 inches of rain fell on Feb. 28. Seasonal rain totals reached 14.43 inches, more than 4 inches above average.
Mary Mallory will present “Washed Away: The Great 1938 Flood and Its Effects on Studio City” at 3:30 p.m. on March 24 at the Studio City branch of the Los Angeles Public Library, 12511 Moorpark St. Admission is free.
Note: This is an encore post from 2006.
I’m blogging in real time as I read Donald H. Wolfe’s “The Black Dahlia Files: The Mob, the Mogul and the Murder That Transfixed Los Angeles.”
At this point in the story, Elizabeth Short’s body has been discovered in Leimert Park, and it has been taken to the morgue and identified. However Elizabeth Short has virtually disappeared as Wolfe bogs down in an explanation of competition between the Los Angeles newspapers in the 1940s.
Note: This is an encore post from 2007.
March 5, 1907
Los Angeles
What shall we do with Emma? She’s gone off to New Mexico and married a Chinaman. Her horrified mother hopes to get the marriage annulled, but Emma is an independent-minded young lady.
Emma’s mother, Mary Culver of Monrovia, says she will do everything she can to undo her daughter’s marriage to Frank Chew, which The Times describes as “a sort of missionary revivalist,” noting that “Miss Emma had longings to help the heathen herself.”
Continue reading
Note: This is an encore post from 2006.
I’m blogging in real time as I read Donald H. Wolfe’s “The Black Dahlia Files: The Mob, the Mogul and the Murder That Transfixed Los Angeles.”
We’re at the part of the story, being told in flashback, where Elizabeth Short has been identified, her mother has learned about the murder from the Examiner, and now there’s bruising competition among the newspapers to find out everything about the murder victim. I’m guessing the yarn of Bevo Means and the Black Dahlia nickname should be next or at least soon.
Note: This is an encore post from 2006.
I’m blogging in real time as I read Donald H. Wolfe’s “The Black Dahlia Files: The Mob, the Mogul and the Murder That Transfixed Los Angeles.” So far we have seen very little of “The Mob” and nothing at all of “The Mogul.” There has been a murder but Los Angeles has yet to be transfixed.
This is tediously slow work and all I can say is that what I’m doing is absolutely the worst way to read a book; most shouldn’t be read at the molecular level, but “Mogul” demands nothing less. In fact, as I looked down Page 42, I saw an incredible whopper. It’s stupefying that someone could run all the Black Dahlia books through a blender, toss in some outright fabrication and come up with such a mishmash covered with a veneer of “research,” but Wolfe has done it.
Note: This is an encore post from 2007.
March 3, 1907
Los Angeles
Stroll into the Los Angeles Public Library on Central Avenue with me for a moment, over to the children’s section. The librarian says there are about 15,000 to 16,000 books, only half of what is needed, because about third of them are checked out every month.
The most popular titles are “Little Women,” “Little Men” and “Old-Fashioned Girl,” The Times says. Although the library has 25 copies of each book, it’s rare to find them on the shelves.
ladailymirror.com 