Memorial Day, 1882

Posted on May 26, 2008 by lmharnisch

 

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May 26, 1958

Posted on May 26, 2008 by lmharnisch

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 Above and at left, authorities arrest five members of the July 26 Movement  in a plot to make arms for Fidel Castro’s rebel army in Cuba. A machine shop set up in a garage at 3144 Oakwood Ave., Lynwood, was apparently using first-class equipment to turn out well-made arms.

Also: Gene Sherman writes about a horse-racing scam using postcards to solicit bets … an analysis of violence during Vice President Nixon’s tour of Venezuela … And massing of the colors for Memorial Day at St. Paul’s Cathedral. (Some of you may recall that in the 1950s, Memorial Day was celebrated May 30).

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Dreaming of Dodger Stadium

Posted on May 26, 2008 by lmharnisch


May 26, 1958

By Keith Thursby
Times staff writer

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The next time you go to Dodger Stadium, imagine arriving on express buses that stop right in front of the ballpark. When the game is over, the buses will be waiting to take you home. But don’t forget to pick up your kids. The youngest will be in the nursery for preschoolers and the older ones will be playing in the 40-acre recreational area built adjacent to the ballpark.

These were a couple of features announced to the public by Joe E. Brown, a Hollywood personality who was chairman of the Taxpayers Committee for Yes on Baseball.

It’s not uncommon for ballparks to have plans that don’t make it into reality. But you have to appreciate the timing of making this early vision public with the June 3 election in Los Angeles looming. At stake, after all, was the construction of the Chavez Ravine stadium.

Brown said the instructions by Dodger owner Walter O’Malley to his architects were to "make this the baseball showplace of the world and preliminary plans indicate it will be just that."

He might as well have added, don’t forget to vote.

keith.thursby@latimes.com

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May 26. 1938

Posted on May 26, 2008 by lmharnisch

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Photograph by the Los Angeles Times

Harry Raymond testifies about his injuries from the bomb placed in his car, in a photo dated April 30, 1938.
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Police Capt. Earle Kynette insists that he is being framed as he argues with Deputy Dist. Atty. Eugene Williams over the transcript of an Oct. 3, 1937, conversation recorded by the LAPD between Clifford Clinton, Dave Hutton Jr. and Hutton’s wife.

Clinton sounds like he’s honest: "She has to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth…"

But the names he throws around must have scared City Hall: Joe Shaw and Guy McAfee.

Clinton says: "Joe Shaw is with the administration. Joe Shaw runs our city. Joe Shaw is the mayor’s brother, you see, and is the mayor’s secretary, who watches. Handles the mayor’s–that particular stuff as he does the city government. It’s one and the same thing. Most of these things that are–work right out of the mayor’s office."

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May 26, 1908

Posted on May 26, 2008 by lmharnisch

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Above, J.S. Zerbe and his "Aeronef," Jan. 19, 1909.

May 26, 1908

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Yes, Professor Zerbe’s "Aeronef" was a strange-looking contraption and I’m not sure he ever got it off the ground (he later experimented with a dirigible). But the Aero Club of California, begun a century ago, had better luck.

And by 1910…

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May 27, 1908

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The comics

Posted on May 25, 2008 by lmharnisch


May 25, 1958

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Wow! Some day in the future, students will have computers in the classroom! Notice that none of them are texting their pals or playing World of Warcraft!
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May 25, 1938

Posted on May 25, 2008 by lmharnisch

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Photograph by Andrew H. Arnott / The Los Angeles Times

Attorney Joe Fainer, left, and police chemist Ray Pinker examine pieces of Harry Raymond’s bombed-out car in a photo dated May 6, 1938.
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Police Capt. Earle Kynette testifies in the Harry Raymond bombing, saying that police chemist Ray Pinker didn’t find detonator wire while searching Kynette’s garage. It’s ordinary bell wire, Kynette says.

Kynette also attempts to link Raymond to a series of notorious Los Angeles killings, including the deaths of Harry "Mile Away" Thomas and George "Les" Bruneman.

Also on the cover, Max Baer Jr. is recovering from pneumonia–in fact he will live to play Jethro Bodine in "The Beverly Hillbillies."

George Thompson of Beacon, N.Y., is given a six-month suspended sentence for spanking his daughter Loretta because she stayed out past midnight. Loretta is 34 years old.

And Republican Assemblyman William B. Hornblower of San Francsico is accused of accepting $2,500 ($35,748.84 USD 2007) to kill a bill that would have closed Monterey Bay to commercial fishing.

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May 25, 1908

Posted on May 25, 2008 by lmharnisch

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 Above, The Times interviews Manitoba Police Chief E.J. Elliott, who is visiting from Canada to extradite a fraud suspect.

At left, a parishioner stabs a priest after Mass at a church in Salisbury, Mo. As he lay bleeding and expected to die, Father Joseph F. Lubeley expressed forgiveness for his attacker, Joseph Schuette. Lubeley recovered, The Times reported the next day. There is no further word on what became of Schuette, who was apparently angry with the priest over his intervention in an argument with another farmer.

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The Toronto Dodgers?

Posted on May 24, 2008 by lmharnisch

May 24, 1958

By Keith Thursby
Times staff writer

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A day after saying Los Angeles could lose the Dodgers if voters don’t back a plan to build a stadium in Chavez Ravine, National League President Warren Giles turned politician. He played both sides of the fence.

Giles insisted to a Times reporter that he wasn’t threatening Los Angeles or making an ultimatum when he suggested that a defeat of Prop. B in the June 3 election would mean National League owners would work to find the Dodgers a new city. Preferably one that wanted to build a new stadium.

"All I am doing is stating the facts," Giles told The Times’ Frank Finch. "I am not presumptuous enough to indicate how the citizens of Los Angeles should vote."

Of course not.

In the same story, Giles said there would be no difficulty in finding a new city for the Dodgers to call home. He wouldn’t get specific, but the story mentioned Minneapolis, Houston and Toronto as prospects.

Meanwhile, the issue seemed to bring out the best in two of Los Angeles’ best quotes, Mayor Norris Poulson and City Councilman Patrick McGee.

"Los Angeles would be the laughingstock of the nation if we went back on our word," said Poulson. And in the other corner, here’s McGee: "Giles’ threat is an insult to the intelligence of the people of the city of Los Angeles."

keith.thursby@latimes.com

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May 24, 1938

Posted on May 24, 2008 by lmharnisch

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His name was Dwight Tyler Simpson, a 32-year-old business student from
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Not an enemy in the world, apparently, except for somebody who broke a milk bottle on his skull and strangled him.

Dwight had been living at 747 S. New Hampshire, a 24-unit apartment built in 1921. The assistant manager and the houseboy noticed his door was open and found him next to the bed with pieces of the broken milk bottle in the bed and on the floor.

Police found two glasses and a nearly empty liquor bottle in the kitchen. His wallet and car were missing. There was blood on the clothing in Dwight’s closet and a bloody towel in the bathroom.

An 18-year-old named Joaquin Lopez says that at 11 on the night before the killing, Dwight called to say he found Joaquin’s wallet on the beach in Santa Monica, fixing the time of death between 11 p.m. and noon the next day. 

The only other clue is that Dwight told people that he was expecting a visit from a friend who worked as a sailor on a ship traveling between Los Angeles and Honolulu.

Dwight’s car eventually turned up near his apartment and police took some fingerprints. "It’s our best hope for a solution of the crime," Police Capt. Bert Wallis said. The killing was apparently never solved.

Also on the cover, the Earle Kynette trial continues.

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May 24, 1908

Posted on May 24, 2008 by lmharnisch

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 Above, 16 people are injured at a balloon ascension in Berkeley when the gas bag ruptures at an altitude of 300 feet and the airship plunges to earth. The hydrogen gas bag, made of cotton treated with kerosene oil, was 450 feet long, 36 feet in diameter and the ship was powered by five auto engines, The Times says. (This was an enormous aircraft, twice the length of a 747, which has a fuselage 225 feet long).

The victims include the inventor, John A. Morrell, and several photographers. 

Unfortunately, The Times never says what became of Morrell except that he was charged with obtaining money under false pretenses.

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The comics

Posted on May 24, 2008 by lmharnisch

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A panel from "Buster Brown," May 24, 1908.
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Home of the week

Posted on May 24, 2008 by lmharnisch



690 S. Burlington, Los Angeles, Calif.
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 Above, still standing after more than a century, a few blocks east of MacArthur Park. This home in Pico Heights once belonged to H.R. Lacy, The Times says.

According to Property Shark, the neighborhood is 70% Hispanic and Latino, 34% white, 20% Asian, 3% black or African American and 37% "others." (Yes, this adds up to more than 100%. Welcome to L.A.)

45% of the people in this neighborhood are citizens and 4% speak English, Property Shark says.

And there are 73 registered sex offenders living in this ZIP Code (90057), according to the Department of Justice. 

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One-minute nostalgia

Posted on May 23, 2008 by lmharnisch

Hypnotic, isn’t it?

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Chavez Ravine

Posted on May 23, 2008 by lmharnisch


May 23, 1958

By Keith Thursby
Times staff writer

1958_0523_sports A heavy hitter joined the political fight over a new stadium for the Dodgers.

Warren Giles, president of the National League, warned that the Dodgers could be forced to leave Los Angeles if voters turned down Proposition B on the June 3 ballot.  At issue was the contract already agreed upon by the city and the Dodgers to build a stadium at Chavez Ravine.

“It will be my personal recommendation to our league that we take immediate steps to study ways and means of relocating the franchise in another city,” Giles said.

Giles said the league wanted to keep the team in Los Angeles but that the Coliseum was only a short-term answer. Playing in a suburban location like Pasadena’s Rose Bowl wouldn’t do, either.

The story was played big in The Times, with separate accounts on the front page of the main news section and in sports.

Dodger owner Walter O’Malley sounded worried. “The Dodgers want to stay out of politics and we wish politics were not involved in baseball at this time,” O’Malley told The Times’ Al Wolf. “We have our hands full with many problems on and off the field. This presents another.”

keith.thursby@latimes.com


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May 23, 1938

Posted on May 23, 2008 by lmharnisch
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1926_0809_felts It’s another slow day in the trial of Police Capt. Earle Kynette in the Harry Raymond bombing … In the meantime, let’s take a look at former police investigator Fletcher E. Felts, whose father was one of the longest-serving officers in the department. Felts kills a police detective lieutenant with a Luger after an argument on a streetcar.  He says he had a brain operation a year before and doesn’t recall the shooting, explaining that "I wouldn’t harm a dog." He’s judged insane and sent to Camarillo.

Bonus fact: Felts once served with Raymond as a police investigator.

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May 23, 1908

Posted on May 23, 2008 by lmharnisch
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Hollywood gets a new church, above.  (At left, Hollywood Presbyterian today.)

The northwest corner of 8th Street and Broadway (at right) sells for $234,000 ($5,144, 969.35 USD 2007) …

Below left, sake is banned because it’s impure … The auction of a young Chinese bride (note the use of the term "Celestial")  … A teamster is thrown into a gutter on Main Street when the team pulling his wagon becomes frightened and runs away … A mother-daughter suicide pact … And a car runs down a newsboy on a bicycle at 1st and Broadway and doesn’t even stop.   

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Radio dial

Posted on May 22, 2008 by lmharnisch


May 11, 1958

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Here’s a Dick Whittinghill jingle on KMPC-AM’s website.

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May 22, 1958

Posted on May 22, 2008 by lmharnisch
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Above, a stripteuse brings a lawsuit alleging botched plastic surgery — on her neck. As if you can see her neck in this photo.

At left, it’s divorce No. 2 for Jack Webb, this time from actress Dorothy Towne … Mourners bid farewell to Ronald Colman, who receives a 14-minute service at All Saints by the Sea Episcopal Church in Montecito, Calif. … And we have a visually stunning map of commuting times in Los Angeles. Must be the influence of rock ‘n’ roll on L.A. radio stations. Because of the new freeways, downtown is within a 30-minute drive anywhere in Los Angeles County — at least in off hours, The Times says.

May 8, 1958: Disc jockey Alan Freed is charged with "inciting the unlawful destruction of property" during a riot that broke out at a rock ‘n’ roll concert at the Boston Arena. 

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May 22, 1938

Posted on May 22, 2008 by lmharnisch

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 Above, a plan for the Santa Anita Motor Inn at 101 W. Huntington. Apparently, the final design of the tower was a little more Art Deco (see the postcard here).

At left, a miner leads detectives to the body of Leona Schmidt, 59, which was buried in the desert between Gorman and Lancaster. Schmidt’s son-in-law Valean Neil Ross is being held on charges of killing her March 9 in an argument over whether an operation — which Schmidt refused to pay for — would have saved the life of his wife.

And France says that it will go to war if Germany invades Czechoslovakia.

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