Note: This is an encore post from 2006.
December 1, 1907
Los Angeles
The Times runs a small blurb on writer Willis George Emerson, noting that the National Magazine has begun serializing a new story, “The Smoky God.”
The Times notes: “The story has to do with the discovery of the North Pole, and inhabitants of the interior of the Earth. It is the supposed story of Olaf Jansen, a Swedish sailor, and is told by Mr. Emerson as selections from papers left by the adventurer.”
Ever since the Russians launched their first Sputnik there has been a furor in American education.
It has been charged that students graduate from high school without a knowledge of fundamentals necessary in today’s society.
It has also been stated that they are coddled and that schooling to most of them is little more than a pleasant social experience. If we are to meet Russia on equal terms, the outcry goes, we must tighten up, particularly in math and science.
Let us now pay attention to the mother of a child in a west side junior high school. Continue reading
It’s every reporter’s dream to lay aside his battered old felt hat, shred his press card into confetti, turn his World War II surplus trench coat over to the Salvation Army, take his smudgy copy pencils one by one and snap them into little pieces, and — casting a defiant look at his city editor as he leaves — go home, strip down to his waist, put on his imported silk smoking jacket, retreat up to the attic with his favorite pipe, wipe the dust off his lonely, long-idle portable, sit down, squeeze into his slippers, and knock out the great American novel.
(And if his novel includes one sentence like the above, he might just as well forget the whole thing.)
Anyway, that’s every reporter’s dream — but mine.
This is one of those stories where I wouldn’t change a word. We can only speculate as to who the anonymous rewrite man was, but he did a first-class job. All I can say is the obvious, which is that it’s tragic for everyone involved.
Here’s the former Calvary Presbyterian Church in South Pasadena, now the Grace Brethren church.
Note: This is an encore post.
November 30, 2006
Los Angeles
I don’t think anyone who knows both of us will ever confuse me with Nathan Marask; certainly not when it comes to architectural photography. In fact, I don’t really do architectural photography. I take snapshots of buildings—and lousy ones at that. Nor do I have Nathan’s charm in wangling my way into historic structures (see the 1947 Project entry on the “Cafeteria of Doom!” for example)
But I do have a couple of pictures to share. Continue reading
Note: This is an encore post from 2006.
November 30, 1907
Los Angeles
A secret witness in the trial of the Mexican revolutionaries—kept under close guard because his life has been threatened—went into convulsions shortly after eating a meal that apparently contained strychnine.
Trinidad Vasquez, identified by The Times as a member of the Mexican Secret Service, has been accompanied everywhere by Detective Thomas Furlong. But after a stormy court session, Vasquez complained of being hungry and was allowed to go to a cafe on 5th Street near Olive, where he had a ham and cheese sandwich with a cup of coffee.
Note: This is an encore post from 2008.
O.J. Simpson won the Heisman Trophy as the best college football player of 1968 after a remarkable two-year USC career.
Dwight Chapin’s story in The Times portrayed the lack of suspense–even Simpson said he was “pretty confident.” Who could blame him? After all, he set NCAA records in 1968 for yards gained and carries and scored 21 touchdowns.
Looking back on any Simpson story has its weird elements. Chapin’s story recounted a friendly exchange between Simpson and LAPD Chief Tom Reddin who said at one point, “I’m so happy for you. I’m a hero worshiper and you’re the greatest.”
And there’s a quote from Simpson about his former surroundings: “I go home to my old area and some of my friends actually hide from me. I guess maybe it’s that I’m different now. They’re doing the same things I used to do but they’re still doing them. I’m not.”
Note: This is an encore post from 2009.
November 27, 1964: The death of Joyce Gayle Walker is one of the more haunting killings of the 1960s. I’m not sure it was ever solved. I can’t find any follow-up stories on it.
Update: There are a few stories about a false confession in the case, but that’s about all.
“This murder is one of the toughest we’ve ever had,” sheriff’s Homicide Detective James Hamilton said in 1967.
November 27, 1941: The Pacific Electric and Los Angeles Railways ask the City Council to repeal a ban against buses operating in downtown Los Angeles. Pacific Electric officials said the ban prevented them from routing the line from Los Angeles to Alhambra, San Gabriel and Temple City out of Main Street. The repeal would also allow Pacific Electric to turn its station at 6th and Main Streets into a bus terminal, The Times said. (Are you surprised that the campaign to convert streetcar lines to buses started before World War II?)
Tom Treanor, who was killed covering World War II for The Times, tells the story of seven recruits about to take an oath to join the Marines.
Jackie Cooper and Susanna Foster star in “Glamour Boy,” with Skinnay Ennis and his orchestra live on stage at the Paramount!
Jimmie Fidler says: Wot a jaunt around the Caribbean bases that must have been for Oliver (oh-so-fat) Hardy. During one hop in a too-small plane he had to stand for seven hours because he didn’t fit in the seats and there was no room on the floor.
Note: This is an encore post from 2013.
A wartime Thanksgiving in Los Angeles, with many service personnel welcomed into people’s homes for a holiday meal.
The Times published cooking tips for war workers, advising cooks who were otherwise engaged “for the duration” to use prepared mixes, packaged pie crust and canned pumpkin to cut preparation time.
Note: This is an encore post from 2006.
November 27, 1907
Los Angeles
A shadowy, global conspiracy of anarchists is being described in the trial of revolutionaries Ricardo Flores Magon, Antonio Villareal and Librado Rivera in federal court. The fourth defendant, L. Gutierrez De Lara, was charged separately with committing larceny in Sonora, Mexico.
“The first positive evidence of a gigantic conspiracy to overthrow a friendly government was legally introduced,” The Times said. “Although there has been intimation of the danger[ous] character of the three men under arrest, and a partial expose of their cowardly plans to [overthrow] the presidents of this country and of Mexico, the far-reaching character of the junta has hardly been realized, even by government officials.”
Note: This is an encore post from 2011.
Here’s a traditional roast turkey recipe from the “Every-Day Cook-Book and Family Compendium,” written about 1890 by Miss E. Neill. Be sure your fire is bright and clear and watch out for the gall-bag.
Continue reading
The San Francisco Silent Film Festival offered a tantalizing Grand Tour across the cinematic universe in their recently concluded festival, educating and edifying audiences with thoughtful programming, excellent film accompaniment, and the chance to connect with other silent film cineastes.
This year’s timely theme centered around the grind and struggles of working class people just trying to survive hardships and adversity with character and morality intact. Life was about serving community not self, bettering the lives of others. Mini themes revolved around the Klondike, independent, take charge women, seedy/cut-rate carny/circuses, and the threatening sea.
Citizens can be thankful for policemen like Dalton Robert Patton, whose funeral was held yesterday.
Patton, 58, who retired from the LAPD in 1943, was not a “front page cop.” He preferred to work quietly, without fuss.
Friends yesterday recalled his classic encounter with a safe cracker. Patton, detective captain at Hollywood station, spent months tracking him down and had him, as the saying goes, “dead bang.”
But to everyone’s consternation a jury acquitted him. After the trial the burglar said, “No hard feelings, captain. And I want you to know I’ll never crack another safe in your division .”
It’s my guess that E.B. (Jet) Simrell — the 46-year-old ex-market owner who surrendered to the FBI yesterday after having threatened the lives of seven judges — figures he’s got one big card to play in his crusade against the “un-feminine, all-powerful American woman.”
And it’s my opinion that he’s sadly wrong.
If Simrell carries out his plan to “fast until death to win unanimous approval of the truths for which I fight,” he might win himself a little public pity.
But that’s all.
Long ago, he lost sight of the objectives of his fight. And with them, he lost everything, including, possibly, his sanity. Continue reading
Note: This is an encore post from 2008.
Police Sgt. Gene T. Nash died after a shootout with robbery suspects in an apartment house on Budlong just south of Adams. In a televised ceremony, Police Chief William H. Parker presented his widow, Cynthia, with her husband’s Medal of Valor.
But that’s only the beginning of the story. Unfortunately, many pieces of the puzzle are missing from The Times, so the picture is incomplete.
This is what we know:
Nash, 32, and Sgt. W.F. Bitterolf of the Robbery Division, accompanied by Sgts. S.O. Eastenson and C.E. Leonard, went to the apartment house at 2723 S. Budlong Ave. to investigate whether members of a crime ring were hiding there. According to The
Times, a group of robbers had been holding up crap games, taking $7 to $140. Continue reading
Photo: The 1200 block of Innes Avenue, home of the George F. Harrington/Kitty HQ, via Google Street View.
Note: This is an encore post from 2011.
November 26, 1941: Kitty may not be a typical name for a dog – but then George F. Harrington is an unusual fellow, for he claims that owning a dog is a constitutional right. Threatened with a 30-day jail sentence for not licensing Kitty, Harrington took his battle to the U.S. Supreme Court, which refused to hear his case. Harrington, of 1203 Innes Ave., decided to pay the $4 fee and take his fight to Sacramento. Continue reading
No, the object at left is not a flying saucer on a stick. It is, in fact, Los Angeles’ earliest attempt at street lighting in which carbon arc lights were mounted on tall poles around the city. This one was near 7th Street and Alameda, where a 20-story wireless telegraph antenna was being built. That’s some skyhook, folks.
And a milestone in women’s history: “The first women’s campaign committee ever formed in Los Angeles for the purpose of doing a definite work in an election.”
The Times is careful to note that these women can’t actually vote!
In the broad scheme of things, the Fern Dell water hole isn’t very important. But people who knew about it and went there to fill their jugs with cool, fresh spring water are disquieted since the Health Department declared it unfit to drink because of pollution.
The spring represented to people a renewed contact with nature and, symbolically perhaps, purity in a poisoned and synthetic world. Also, as one man commented, “It was the last thing around here that was free.”
The word from the Recreation and Parks Department is that the Health Department is working on the job but the contamination is difficult to trace. It’s not a simple matter of replacing the old, possibly rusted outlet pipe. First, the source of the spring, somewhat high in the hills, must be traced. Then the possibility of seepage into it from a sewer must be checked.
Vice President Richard Nixon will be grand marshal of the Rose Parade!
(News item) Mrs. Carol Carpenter, 19, was arraigned in Los Angeles Municipal Court yesterday on felony child-desertion charges . . .
Today, I took a one-lesson course on How to Turn a Law-Abiding Citizen Into a Criminal.
I talked with Mrs. Carpenter. What I learned, I’ll pass on to you.
Then, if you will, judge the woman. Judge the law. And judge the morality of the society which has branded her a criminal.
As background to the case, I’ll tell you that Carol Carpenter and her husband, Daniel, were married four years ago, while he was in the Army. She was a month short of 16 at the time. He was 18. Continue reading
