Architectural rambling

Posted on July 12, 2008 by lmharnisch
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1907_rubidoux Dropcap_i_eastside t’s difficult to be certain, but I believe the house shown in Google maps’ street view is the one designed by Clara Content Alden. Fortunately, Riverside County has posted its historic maps online, so I was able to find the River Crest Tract. It took a bit of detective work to locate the homes, however, because all the streets have been renamed. I try to note women’s history whenever I get a chance and hoped to write about Alden, but there is nothing to be found of her in The Times. I can only recall one other woman in this period whom we wrote about as an aspiring architect, Penelope Murdoch. Nor is there much in The Times about Harry Hawes, although I learned about a man by that name who was the attorney for Mrs. Adolphus Busch and was a senator from Missouri.

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Topanga Canyon blaze

Posted on July 11, 2008 by lmharnisch
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Dropcap_a_packard spark from an electrical short in the pump house at Hertz Ranch was blamed for a fire that burned 125 acres before it was contained, The Times says.

Six other fires were also burning in Southern California, The Times says. In one of the most dramatic moments, a helicopter dropped firefighters on Mt. San Gorgonio ahead of the advancing flames in the San Bernardino Mountains.

Hertz Ranch was owned by John D. Hertz, the founder of Hertz Rent-a-Car and owner of Yellow Cab Co., who died in 1961. Hertz built an elaborate fallout shelter on the Shoup Avenue site before selling it in 1959 for the Pinecrest School.

Bonus fact: Harry James once boarded his horses there, but I can’t find any information about it being a movie ranch.

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Nuestro Pueblo

Posted on July 11, 2008 by lmharnisch
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4139 Bandini Blvd., the location of the Bandini Fertilizer Co. in 1938, via Google maps’ street view feature. I was unfamiliar with the terms "Bandini Mountain" and "Mt. Bandini" until now.

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July 11, 1938

Posted on July 11, 2008 by lmharnisch
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"I’m afraid you didn’t get my name. I’m a personal friend
of the mayor," one caller said. 
1938_0711_page Dropcap_p_packard erhaps someone in LAPD communications will enjoy discovering that crackpots haven’t changed much in 70 years. Above, Howard C. Nutt takes the calls.

At left, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Gates wants to return to the whipping post for a husband who spent most of his earnings from a WPA job on drinking and gambling.

And the Park Commission will plant 20 Cape Chestnut trees along 65th Street between Vermont and Kansas.

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July 11, 1908

Posted on July 11, 2008 by lmharnisch
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Above, a mangled mystery — a wrecked car on San Fernando Road, stripped of anything that might identify the owner. But to no avail, for the truth will out.
1908_0711_page Dropcap_f_gump ive people riding in an auto are badly hurt when the driver tries to pass a wagon on San Fernando Road and hits a utility pole.

"Although the victims were all seriously injured, not one was taken to a hospital for treatment through fear that names would become known," The Times said.

It was soon learned that chauffeur C.L. French went off on a joy ride in the car of his employer, insurance executive George Ira Cochran, after taking the Cochran family to the theater, and he was racing back when the accident occurred.

Vaudeville actress Minnie Grace was pinned beneath the car in the crash; D.H. Christie suffered a fractured pelvis and his sister, Alma, was badly bruised on the head. Frank Dolan and another couple in the car were also injured, The Times said.

Cochran fired French and was weighing whether to take legal action, The Times said.

Apparently the Armour car repair shops, where the crash occurred, were so well known that The Times didn’t need to say where they were. Today, unfortunately, the location is a bit more obscure.

Bonus fact: George Ira Cochran died in 1949 at the age of 86. He was a University of California regent from 1919 to 1946.

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July 10, 1958

Posted on July 10, 2008 by lmharnisch

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July 10. 1938

Posted on July 10, 2008 by lmharnisch
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Now I’ll have to start checking the crowd scenes in D.W. Griffith’s films. Former Keystone Kop Edward Cline, director of "My Little Chickadee," "The Bank Dick" and "Never Give a Sucker an Even Break" says that Mack Sennett used to get in costume as a police officer and sneak into the background when Griffith was filming.
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July 10, 1908

Posted on July 10, 2008 by lmharnisch
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A meeting of ranchers from the Los Nietos and La Habra valleys. Although the image is murky, it’s possible to make out one wagon and one automobile.
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Dropcap_w_hamburger arning: Some readers aren’t going to like this post because it contradicts today’s popular wisdom that the wealthy led the campaign for better roads to accommodate their fancy new automobiles.

Don’t blame me; blame John Scott, a rancher from La Habra. Scott addresses a meeting of ranchers from the La Habra and Los Nietos valleys urging support for a bond measure for a massive road-building project throughout Los Angeles County. 

Selections from his speech:

"The question of good roads is one the importance of which cannot be overestimated. To no class of people are they of greater moment than to the rancher. We will profit by the system of highways to a greater extent than any other class of people and it is but right that we should bear a good share of the brunt of the campaign."

"Roads with us are public utilities and not ornaments. The pleasure carriage and the automobile are not the chief vehicles that pass over our highways. I venture to say that, many as they are, they are greatly outnumbered by the fruit and grain wagons.

"A six-horse wagon, loaded with sacks of grain, makes no light load, and it is a heavy tax on any road’s surface. We all of us know what it is to be delayed by mud in winter and smothered by dust in summer."

""If there were nothing to be considered but the comfort and the welfare of the ranchers, the highways would certainly be worth all they will cost. They will mean that we can transport our crops to the railroads with the greatest speed and convenience, thereby saving time and energy."

"To be sure, there are careless auto drivers, but the average man is not in the business of maiming and killing, and the man who is careless of the safety of his fellow man will be just as dangerous on a poor road as on a good one."

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July 9, 1938

Posted on July 9, 2008 by lmharnisch
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Above, President Roosevelt, who will be arriving at Union Station in Los Angeles on July 16, 1938. I hope I can find some Times photos of his visit.
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Dropcap_d_dandunn r. Roy L. Smith, chairman of the Federation for Civic Betterment and pastor of First Methodist Episcopal Church, announces that he plans to file petitions seeking the recall of Mayor Frank Shaw (see story at left).

Smith made the announcement in a memo to the City Council asking it to defer action on the mayor’s appointments to boards and commissions. The council refused to speculate whether the mayor would be recalled and did not second a motion by Councilman James M. Hyde to defer voting on the mayor’s nominees. You may remember that Hyde had already called on the mayor, Police Chief James Davis and the Police Commission to resign over the Harry Raymond bombing.

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July 9, 1908

Posted on July 9, 2008 by lmharnisch
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Above, 3rd and Hill in 1908 and via Google maps’ street view, below.


Dropcap_p_pontiac age 1 is quite a curio of another era in political coverage. "Women Vie With Men in Maniacal Howls" is not a headline one sees terribly often these days. 

The Times’ Harry Carr wrote of the Democratic National Convention in Denver: "David Belasco could not have arranged a  more wonderful stage picture than today’s demonstration at its height. No one who saw it can ever forget.

"Picture a vast hall, seething and boiling with the abandoned splendor of a mob. Men are standing in chairs, whirling their coats about their heads, madly swinging their arms and yelling like hell broken loose. The noise seems to sweep back and forth like the mighty gusts of a tornado."

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Nuestro Pueblo

Posted on July 8, 2008 by lmharnisch




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Above, Orthopaedic Hospital, 2400 S. Flower St., and below, the area as shown in Google maps’ street view feature.


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July 8, 1908: Woman’s Body Rescued From USC Dissection Lab

Posted on July 8, 2008 by lmharnisch

July 8, 1907: Marion Jones. A woman with hair pulled back and a high-collared blouse.

Dropcap Marion Jones died with a secret–and a lot of medical bills ($2,308.64 for doctors’ visits in 2007 dollars). She died owing $29.45 ($647.52 USD 2007), so she was turned over to the medical school at USC to be dissected by the students. Her former employer said she was a well-educated and refined woman who concealed her identity so her family wouldn’t discover she was working as a housekeeper. When he learned that she had died, he recovered her body from the dissection lab, paid her hospital bill and had her buried at Grand View Cemetery in Glendale.

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Carole Landis–RIP

Posted on July 7, 2008 by lmharnisch
 

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Photograph by the Los Angeles Times

Carole Landis, July 27, 1937

Form 3.11

(Revised 10-3-47)

DEAD BODY REPORT
Type SUICIDE
 DR No. 486 592
Victim SCHMIDLAPP, Carole Landis (Mrs.) Residence Address 1465 Capri Dr., Pac Pal. Business Address Eagle Lyon Stud.
Date and time of death 7/4-5/48 9PM-3PM
 Place and Address 1465 Capri Dr. Pac Pal Radio Dist 84
Date and Time Death Reported 7/5/48 4:15 PM
 Div. Reporting West LA Clerk jlb
Location of Original Illness or Injury 1465 Capri Dr. Pac Palisades
 Date and time 7/4-5/48
Div. of Original Occurrence West L.A.
 Type of Original Report This report
Cause of Death (Poison, Heart Failure, Drowned, Traffic, Gunshot, etc.) App. sleeping tablets.




Motive or Reason (Revenge, Rape, Ill Health, etc.) App ill health
Time discovered 7/5/48 3PM
 Removed to Wilshire Funeral Parlor
Discovered by Mr. Rex Harrison
 Address 1928 Mandeville Canyon


Phone AR 98549
Reported by Mr. Rex Harrison
 Address 1928 Mandeville Canyon
 Phone AR 98549
Identified by Mr. Rex Harrison
 Address 1928 Mandeville Canyon
 Phone AR 98549


Sex Fe Race Cauc Age 27-28 Height 5-6 1/2 Weight 120
Build Small Hair Auburn Eyes Unk. Complexion Dark
Identifying marks None
Clothing White blouse, black & white plaid skirt, moccasin type sandals gold and wht in color. Occupation Actress Descent American
Relative’s name Dorothy Ross
 Address 1506 E. 64th St., Long Beach Phone LB 27131
Relationship Sister
 To be notified by Brittingham, West LA Det.
Witness Mrs. Wasson
 Address 856 S. Bundy Dr. WLA
 Phone AR 72630
Witness Dr. N.K. Forster, M.D.
 Address 1339 N. Capri Dr. Pac Pal
 Phone SM 57747
Witness Fannie Mae Bolden
 Address 155 E. 51st St., LA
 Phone CE 21747
Witness Rex Harrison
 Address 1928 Mandeville Cyn
 Phone AR 98549
Witness
Witness
Further details

Coroner’s Office noticied (cq) Deputy Gooch. Homicide notified.

A note written and left by the deceased; to wit:



"Dearest Mommie,



I’m really, really sorry to put you through this but there is no way to avoid it.



I love you, darling, you have been the most wonderful mom ever.



And that applies to all our family. I love each and every one of them dearly.



Everything goes to you. Look in the files and there is a will which decrees everything.



Goodbye, my angel, pray for me.

SGD/Your baby."

Mr. Rex Harrison visited the deceased on 7/4/48 and left her residence at approx. 9PM. The following day, 7/5/48, Mr. Harrison telephoned twice and the second time the maid informed him she was unable to arouse the deceased. Mr. Harrison went to the house and arrived at approx. 3:00 PM. Accompanied by the maid, went to the deceased’s bedroom and found her lying in the bathroom on the floor. The maid went next door and called the police and notified Mrs. Wasson as to what they had found. At that time, Dr. N.K. Forster was called. At the time of our arrival at 3:55 PM, Mrs. Wasson and Mr. Harrison and the maid, Fannie Mae Bolden, were present. Dr. Forster came in shortly after our arrival. He immediately pronounced victim dead. Deceased was

CONTINUED ON CONTINUATION FORM 15.9
Signature H.W. Brittingham Serial No. 2724

Signature M.J. Layman Serial No. 2606

Approved by (illegible).


If Additional Space Is Required Use Continuation Report Form No. 15.9
The Daily Mirror would like to thank a reader for sharing a photo of the first page of original LAPD report, which was too murky to reproduce.



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Mando Ramos–RIP

Posted on July 7, 2008 by lmharnisch


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Circus fire kills 168

Posted on July 7, 2008 by lmharnisch
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Five Ringing Bros. officials and an employee were sentenced to prison in the Hartford, Conn., fire. Circus Vice President James A. Haley, who served eight months in prison, was eventually elected as a Democratic congressman from Florida. The James A. Haley Veterans Hospital in Tampa is named in his honor.
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Above, Detective Lt. Thomas C. Barber visits the grave of Little Miss 1565, a curly-haired girl of about 6 who died in the 1944 fire. Barber said he sometimes found flowers left on the grave. After Barber died, a local florists’ association took over decorating her grave, according to a 1980 Times story.

The Connecticut State Library archives on the fire is located here. Note that the library gives the death toll as 167.

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July 7, 1938

Posted on July 7, 2008 by lmharnisch
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Above, 6th and Hill streets via Google maps’ street view feature.  "Prison Farm" … now there’s a title that leaves nothing to the imagination. According to imdb, Horace McCoy was an uncredited writer on the picture. Not on Netflix!
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Dropcap_r_380707_2 olling Fork, Miss., reports the most unusual story of African Americans joining a lynch mob. The violence inflicted on the victim was especially gruesome. Local Sheriff M.C. Ewing denied knowing anything whatsoever about the matter.

John N. Crane, 43, an oil well driller, kills his wife, Edith, and tries to commit suicide after leaving the offices of an attorney where they discussed a divorce … And an American company announces a deal to buy oil from Mexico, which nationalized U.S. and British oil production March 18, 1938.

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July 7, 1908

Posted on July 7, 2008 by lmharnisch
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Dropcap_w_whitehag e have a bounty of news today. Above, Mexican troops put down an insurrection in the state of Coahuila. And turmoil in the Mideast.

At left, Mayor Harper urges Democratic presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan to accept Capt. Eugene Merrick of Los Angeles as his running mate. Merrick says he is a war veteran, having fought with the Union Army at the age of 12. He is also a temperance supporter.

An inquest is scheduled in the crash of a wagon and a streetcar that killed six people … C.M. Pierre hopes to extend his Balloon Route trips …

Mrs. Marie Heider returns to her home at 1623 Court St. and bumps into the body of her husband, Herman, who had driven a spike into the casing above a door and hanged himself. His box factory had been failing and he had been drinking heavily, The Times says.  His suicide note is in German.

And perhaps the most interesting little item: a one-inch ad for the newly published book "The Bridal Night of Ronald and Thusnelda," by Hulda von Liebetraut.  I might need a copy of that.

Above left, safety tips on the streetcar system’s electric cables, which carry 500 or 1,000 volts. 

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Nuestro Pueblo

Posted on July 6, 2008 by lmharnisch
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Below, the 900 block of Yale Street via Google maps’ street view feature. Do you think they know there were oil wells there 70 years ago?
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Lakers trade for Wilt

Posted on July 6, 2008 by lmharnisch
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July 6, 1968

By Keith Thursby
Times staff writer

1968_0706_runover Dropcap_t_bonnieclyde he Lakers, always a team with a certain amount of star power, acquired one of the game’s biggest stars in Wilt Chamberlain.

Chamberlain would join Jerry West and Elgin Baylor and the Lakers hoped he would be the difference in turning a good team into an NBA champion. The Lakers were a premier franchise, playing in their new home the Fabulous Forum in Inglewood, but had trouble getting past the Boston Celtics in the finals. Sound familiar?

The first story in The Times heavily credited an Associated Press report and even quoted AP writer Ralph Bernstein.

Chamberlain, reached in San Francisco, said: "There will be no announcement Monday or Tuesday concerning me unless it is the fact that I will be in New York on those days helping Mr. Nixon with his campaign." So the Lakers were getting not only a post player but a budding politician?

Chamberlain had long been one of the game’s top personalities. No other NBA player had on their resume a 100-point game, let alone time spent with the Harlem Globetrotters.

The Times confirmed the trade in a July 9 story. One part of the story that really shows how long ago this was: Chamberlain’s salary was estimated at $250,000, "but Wilt himself has claimed that even those estimates are low."

One of the players sent by the Lakers to the Philadelphia 76ers, center Darrall Imhoff, had some interesting comments about mixing Chamberlain in with the team’s established stars.

"I don’t know if you can have any happiness with three superstars on one team," Imhoff said. "One of the great things about our team is that we’ve had no dissension and have had great camaraderie on and off the court."

The Lakers continued to have disappointments in the finals but did win a title with Chamberlain, defeating the New York Knicks in 1972. By then, Baylor had retired. Chamberlain was the championship series’ most valuable player.

keith.thursby@latimes.com

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Carole Landis–RIP

Posted on July 5, 2008 by lmharnisch
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I discovered something interesting in trying to enhance this photo.
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I was fiddling around with the contrast and brightness when the labels suddenly became readable — at least the larger type. Imagine my surprise. (No, I didn’t salvage this out of the photo above; someone sent me a scan.) The labels appear to say something like "Western Drug" or "Westwood Drug." Aha! Western Drug. Co., 5500 Hollywood Blvd., GLadstone-8192.

Update: According to an informal inquiry held in lieu of an inquest, the envelope shown with the pill bottles said (apparently in Landis’ handwriting):

"red–quick–2 hours

yellow about 5–can take 2"

Note that only one of these four bottles looks like the three found on the bureau, at left. That’s a total of six pill bottles at least. Maybe seven.

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