No. 596
Crime, Eccentricity, and the Sporting Life in 19th Century America.
October 04, 2021

Burning of Josephine Farren, Dancer.

Terrible Accident at the Volks Garten, Bowery, N.Y.
October 4, 2021
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Tag: Disaster

Another Steamboat Disaster.

The Steamboat "Riverdale" Blown Up in the Hudson.

11/14/2023

The Modern Builder.

7/6/2021

A Woman Rescued from the Jaws of a Catamount.

Davy Crockett's Almanack, 1838.

2/18/2020

Burning of Steamers at Cincinnati.

Burning of Steamers on the Ohio River at Cincinnati May 17, 1869.

9/17/2018

Foundering of the Titania.

One of the most thrilling disasters at sea that has happened for many years.

2/26/2018

Afloat on a Cake of Ice.

Perilous Situation of a Skating Party on the Ohio River Near Zanesville, Ohio.

1/1/2018

Thrilling Railroad Accident.

Startling accident at the draw bridge of the Rensselaer and Saratoga Railroad, Federal Street, Troy, N. Y., Saturday, Sept 23.

11/6/2017

Another Steamboat Disaster.

New York City, -- The Steamboat Riverdale blown up, August 28th – Rescuing the passengers.

10/3/2016

Eaten by Sharks.

In the Jaw of the Man-Eaters. James E. Hamilton of Lake Worth, Florida, is Devoured by Sharks.

7/6/2015

The Southern Pacific Railway Disaster.

2/11/2014

Her Last Ascent.

Gertie Carmo, a Female Aeronaut and Trapeze Performer, Hurled to the Ground and Instantly Killed in Detroit, Mich.

9/24/2013

A Plucky Elberon, N. J., Girl

1/31/2012

Caroline Burned!

9/19/2011

The Astor Place Riot

8/15/2011

Terrible Struggle with Flame and Flood

The burning of the steamer John H. Hanna near Plaquemine, Louisiana, by which thirty lives were lost

6/20/2011

Chorus Girls in a Panic.

An unruly horse causes great excitement in the Metropolitan Opera House, this city.

3/14/2011
"Dayton Daily News," October 6, 1966, via Newspapers.comInvestigating a violent death can be difficult enough if it is uncertain whether it is a case of suicide, or murder.  When even trying to establish the identity of the victim leads everyone down various rabbit holes, and the unfortunate corpse gets permanently misplaced…well, have some pity for the police detectives involved.32-year-old
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Strange Company - 8/10/2026
  [Editor’s note: Guest writer, Peter Dickson, lives in West Sussex, England and has been working with microfilm copies of The Duncan Campbell Papers from the State Library of NSW, Sydney, Australia. The following are some of his analyses of what he has discovered from reading these papers. Dickson has contributed many transcriptions to the Jamaica […]
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Early American Crime - 2/7/2019
"As his son I am proud of hisefforts to succeed in life"Jefferson Randolph Smith IIIArtifact #93-2Jeff Smith collection(Click image to enlarge) oapy's son hires a legal firm to stop the defamation of his father's name. At age 30, Jefferson Randolph Smith III, Soapy and Mary's oldest son, was protecting his father's legacy and his mother's reputation from "libel" and scandal. He was also
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Soapy Smith's Soap Box - 10/13/2025
Daniel Sickles, Teresa Bagioli, Phillip KeyIn 1859, Dan Sickles, a congressman from New York (and future Union General), was married to the most beautiful woman in Washington, but his other interests, including his mistresses, often kept him away from home. His lonely young wife, Teresa, found comfort in the arms of Philip Barton Key, D.C. District Attorney and son of poet Francis Scott
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Murder By Gaslight - 8/8/2026
Youth With Executioner by Nuremberg native Albrecht Dürer … although it’s dated to 1493, which was during a period of several years when Dürer worked abroad. November 13 [1617]. Burnt alive here a miller of Manberna, who however was lately … Continue reading
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Executed Today - 11/13/2020
Fight of the Century! | Photography's Abuse by Blackmailers.

Burning of Josephine Farren, Dancer.

Terrible-Accident

The deaths from burning of ladies connected with the theatre have of late years been very frequent. Miss Webster, in London, Adele Lehman of Niblo's, Mary Marsh, and now Josephine Farren, a pretty and popular danseuse of the Volks Garten, a German theatre in the Bowery, New York. It is a terrible proof of the necessity for some fireproof material for a ballet dress. She was performing on the tightrope on Saturday, the 4th inst., when her dress touched one of the footlights, and in an instant, she was enveloped in flames. Several of the musicians in the orchestra sprang to her assistance and extinguished the flames, receiving some very severe burns themselves. The house being crowded, the utmost confusion end excitement prevailed, the audience fearing that the scenery would take fire, and thus destroy the building. The Tenth Ward police were soon on the spot, and through their praiseworthy and admirable arrangements the spectators were safely dismissed. Upon taking the unfortunate lady to her home, 85 Forsyth street, her burns were found to be so severe as to preclude all hope of her recovery, and despite the utmost efforts of her medical attendants, she died the following day. This is a case which calls on the benevolence of the public, as she supported her mother end younger sisters by her exertion and was in every respect a praiseworthy young woman.


Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, February 18, 1860.