Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project.
NEURNBERG, Oct. 17 (A.P.)—S.S. Gen. Erich Naumann, whose commandos killed thousands of Jewish men, women and children on the eastern front, told a war crimes court today he saw nothing wrong with that.
He was one of the leading defendants in the case against the Einsatz command groups which Gestapo Chief Heinrich Himmler formed to eradicate whole races.
October 18, 1943: Los Angeles is in the middle of a paternity suit brought by Shirley Evans Hassau, 21, against Errol Flynn. Hassau charged that Flynn was the father of her daughter Marilyn, who was 3. Hassau was seeking $1,750 a month child support, $10,000 in attorneys fees, $5,000 for hospital expenses and $2,000 in court costs.
An aunt, Florence Muller of San Francisco, had raised Marilyn since she was 5 weeks old and refused to let Hassau see her, The Times said.
Hassau’s suits against Flynn were dismissed in 1951. In 1940, two weeks after Marilyn was born, Flynn agreed to pay Hassau $2,000 although he denied being the father. The actor said he wanted to avoid a long court trial and adverse publicity.
Note: This is an encore post from 2006.
October 18, 1907
Los Angeles
For the last month, the pages of The Times have been peppered with pen-and-ink cartoons signed Gale—in fact some of them have already appeared in the blog, with Nathan’s post on Japanese hobos and mine on Marco Vessella. But that was only the beginning. By the end of the month, Gale’s cartoons have become a regular feature of The Times, usually paired with text by Harry Carr. Gale specializes in ethnic caricatures: Chinamen with long queues, bucktoothed Japanese, Mexicans with sombreros—and don’t even ask how he draws African Americans.
His name was Edmund Waller Gale, but he was known as Ted or “Cartoonist Gale” and he was an institution at The Times, drawing editorial cartoons for decades, on an irregular basis before they became a daily feature in 1922.
Oct. 17, 1957
It was recently stated here that the origin of Murphy’s Law, a derisive bit of whimsy among airplane people, was unknown. The “law” states, “If an aircraft part can be installed incorrectly, someone will figure out how to do it.”
Now the man who formulated this precept of human fallibility, George B. Murphy of Venice, an aircraft factory inspector, has come forward to acknowledge responsibility. He has also recounted a recent experience bearing on the same subject.
A young machinist brought him a part to inspect and he found it was out of tolerance by .001 of an inch and rejected it.
The youth insisted it was in tolerance because he handled .005. Continue reading
Oct. 17, 1957
He sat nervously in the chair opposite me. The staccato beat in his speech reflected his anxiety.
“Nothing would ever have happened to me,” he said, “except that on her dead body was found my name.
“I had a job and everything was nice. I was living in Jersey, in Newark.
“It was headline in all the papers–that she was murdered.
“She lived in Phoenixville, in Pennsylvania, but it wasn’t far from Newark. Sixty, 70 miles.”
“When?” I interrupted. “When was all this?”
The young man paused. “That was…let’s see–March of ’54.” Continue reading
Note: This is an encore post from 2006.
October 17, 1907
Los Angeles
Mr. Woolin, left tackle of the USC team, took great exception to be tackled by one of the black players on the Whittier State team (one of Whittier’s five black players) and voiced his displeasure, emphasizing his point with his fist.
Whittier’s coach, Mr. McLouth, rushed to intervene, whereupon Mr. Woolin further expressed his disdain by striking him in the face. Coach McLouth responded in kind. Peace was eventually restored until Whittier’s water boy came onto the field and retaliated against Mr. Woolin, and had the Whittier team not retreated from the field, the unpleasantness might have continued.
Continue reading
October 16, 1957
On a recent clear evening about an hour after sunset, Chet Kennedy of Sun Valley looked up and apparently saw not only Saturn but some of its rings.
The planet was a bead “blazing with bright glory in the southwest sky,” he said. Nearby was a smaller bead, possibly one of Saturn’s 11 moons. The rings on the left side, he said, seemed to be in shadow. There also was a dark streak across the center of the planet.
Unwilling to accept the verdict of his own eyes, he pointed out the unusual sight to neighbors and they said they saw the same thing.
“Here’s this wonderful object spinning away at its business,” said Chet, “and here we are worrying ourselves sick about Sputnik.” Continue reading
October 16, 1957
At 3:24 a.m., the ambulance arrived.
The victim was rushed to Hollywood Receiving Hospital for emergency treatment. His condition was critical. He was then taken to General Hospital.
Nine hours later, he was pronounced dead.
That was still quite a few hours before his letter reached me. When it came, I read it a couple of times.
Then I called his wife.
“I’ve been expecting your call,” she told me. “He mentioned it–that you’d contact me–in the note he left me.” Continue reading
Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project.
Sixteen policewomen who will be graduated at 3 p.m. tomorrow from the Police Academy after their training course visited the City Attorney’s office yesterday to receive instructions in legal procedure.
The class is the first to wear the new uniform recently adopted by the Police Commission and the first group of women to receive pistol training at the academy.
This is a puzzlement. Does this mean policewomen didn’t carry weapons before 1947? Stay tuned.
Answer: Yes! In 1947, the LAPD changed the uniform for policewomen and gave them a shoulder-slung black purse with a .38 revolver and handcuffs.
Quote of the day: “I Like Ike”
New slogan of the Draft Eisenhower for President League.
Note: This is an encore post from 2006.
October 16, 1907
Santa Ana
George S. Best is a great believer in marriage and strongly opposes divorce, which is why he has three of one and none of the other.
His most recent troubles began when his wife Anita discovered that he had married young Cecile Fleming, the daughter of a prominent local businessman. Upon investigation, Anita Best of Los Angeles and Charles Fleming of Santa Ana discovered that Best had married Cecile in back of the county clerk’s office. After returning to Los Angeles long enough to get his belongings, avoiding his mother and his wife Anita, Best and Cecile left for San Francisco, where he was arrested for bigamy.
How, under the law, can a man be left dangling between life an death for 11 years? That’s what people are asking in the strange case of Caryl Chessman, due to be gassed in San Quentin Oct. 23. And why is Chessman himself protesting a move toward clemency that might mean life imprisonment?
The answer lies in a mountain of legal evidence and opinions which have piled up since he was convicted in 1948 of rape, kidnapping and robbery. And yet, not all the answer is there, either.
It is unwise to oversimplify such a tangle but attorneys, discussing the case objectively, put a finger on the law itself. Continue reading
Annual reminder: Don’t dress up like the Black Dahlia for Halloween. It’s not the lewk you want. Don’t do it.
Oct. 15, 1944: The NBC Symphony Orchestra, with guest Marian Anderson, conducted by Frank Black. Courtesy of otronmp3.com.
Note: This is an encore post from 2006.
October 15, 1907
Los Angeles
On a rainy night in Los Angeles, a fire broke out in the four-story brick office building at 235 S. Spring St. housing the Orpheum Theater and the Elks Hall, which was engulfed in panic as visitors at a Japanese festival rushed for the exits. The second-floor hallways were so jammed that members of the Elks Club rushed to the rear of the building to use the fire escapes.
At Orpheum, on the floor above the Elks Club, veteran actress Minnie Seligman calmly made the smoke and the sound of fire engines part of her skit. Rushing offstage for a moment, she returned covered with soot and announced: “Oh the gasoline stove exploded. It will break up housekeeping for good!”
October 14, 1957
A few weeks ago, Jules Goldstone, producer of the TV show “The Court of Last Resort,” was driving along Sunset Boulevard near Hilgard when a car doing about 60 mph came around a curve from the opposite direction, went out of control and smashed into his car, rolling it over twice.
“We both should have been killed, but miraculously we weren’t,” said Goldstone.
His car was demolished, but he received only a bad cut on the arm and bruises.
Since the accident, grateful to be alive, he has become more sharply aware of the possibility of unexpected death on the streets. Continue reading
October 14, 1957
SUBJECT’S NAME–Rosalee Cartwright
SUBJECT’S DESCRIPTION—Age, 14. Height, 5 feet, 4 inches. Weight, 118 pounds. Blond hair.
Subject was last seen five weeks ago.
Any person with information concerning whereabouts of subject is requested to contact subject’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. Hugh Cartwright, 846 S. Greenberry Drive, West Covina. Phone EDgewood 8-5798.
Rosalee Cartwright ran away.
She did so after being struck by a malady not uncommon among 13 and 14-year-old girls. Continue reading
Note: This is an encore from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project.
Hm…. U.S. prison population up for the first time since World War II…. Lawsuits over deed restrictions in South Pasadena…. A 35-year-old merchant seaman in San Francisco is badly injured while walking down a street when he’s struck by a 67-year-old woman who committed suicide by jumping from a 10-story building….
But the story I’ve been anticipating—one of the biggest of 1947—can’t be found: Capt. Charles E. Yeager breaking the sound barrier Oct. 14, 1947. In fact Yeager’s name didn’t even appear in The Times in 1947, at least according to a Proquest search, which admittedly is less than perfect.
October 14, 1944:
Danton Walker says: David Sarnoff, RCA president, predicts a television gadget that will be worn on the wrist but contains a practical television screen.
Louella Parsons says: Constance Moore and Dennis O’Keefe report next week for “The Earl Carroll Vanities” — but hold everything! Republic has just bought the rights to the title and there’s not a single Carroll beauty in the lineup. And Earl, himself, will be conspicuously missing. I can’t think of anything funner, except a Ziegfeld Follies movie without a Follies girl!
From the Philadelphia Inquirer via Fultonhistory.com.
Continue reading
Note: This is an encore post from 2006.
October 14, 1907
Los Angeles
“In nine cases out of ten, where there is a shooting, there is also a woman,” said The Times.
In this case, there was Oscar E. Otto, a young chauffeur with a hot temper and a gun. There was his 19-year-old wife, the former Irene E. Jester, “a silly little creature with futile tears and French heels.” And there was J.C. Henderson, another chauffeur with a gun and better aim or more luck.
Note: This is an encore post from 2005 and originally appeared on the 1947project.
San Francisco has long claimed the first American performance of Puccini’s “La Boheme” in March 1898 and is given credit for that distinction in various works of reference, including the Victor Book of the Opera.
The recently discovered evidence, however, seems to prove conclusively that the honor goes to Los Angeles, the first North American performance having been given by the Del Conte Italian Grand Opera Company, which had been brought from Lima, Peru.
The performance took place in the New Los Angeles Theater Oct. 14, 1897. The treasurer’s statement showed a gross intake of $436.25 ($9,665.38 USD 2005).
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