No. 339
Crime, Eccentricity, and the Sporting Life in 19th Century America.
December 19, 2016

Pretty Stars for the Southern Dives.

Fifteen charming chippies make Rome howl while voyaging to New Orleans, Louisiana.
December 19, 2016
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Just to show that life is full of unexpected turns, on June 18, 1178, a group of medieval English monks threw a fine puzzle in the laps of astronomers that lingers to this day.On that day, shortly after sunset, five monks at the abbey of the Christ Church of Canterbury (on the site of Canterbury Cathedral,) noticed that something very odd was happening in the sky.  Gervase, who was
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Strange Company - 7/13/2026
"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
The first things I noticed about 2029 First Avenue were the decorative lintels above the second floor windows. Attractively styled for window lintels on upper First Avenue, I figured this stubby holdout wedged beside two brick buildings between East 104th and 105th Streets must have been a former stable. I imagined that those roll-down window […]
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Ephemeral New York - 7/13/2026
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
The Confession of Mary Cole, 1813.Cornelius and Mary Cole lived in a farmhouse in Sussex County, New Jersey, with their two children and Mary’s widowed mother, Agnes Teaurs. Cornelius bought the property from Agnes in exchange for an annuity of $50 per year for the rest of her life. Mary and her husband did not live happily with Agnes. According to Mary, her mother was always very hard on her,
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Murder By Gaslight - 7/11/2026
Join us on our Facebook page as we begin counting down the days to August 4th and all of the events leading up to the day. https://www.facebook.com/lizziebordenwarpsandwefts
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Lizzie Borden: Warps and Wefts - 7/7/2026
  [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
Seeing in the New Year. | Left His Digits as Souvenirs.

Pretty Stars for the Southern Dives.

Pretty Stars for the Southern Dives

Fifteen charming chippies make Rome howl while voyaging to New Orleans, Louisiana. [more]

New Orleans, Oct. 23, - This announcement was displayed a few days ago in form t of the Pala is Royal, one of the low resorts on Royal street:

“Fifteen distinguished lady artists form New York will make their first appearance here this evening.”

It happened that there were only nine lady artists in the party, and they had arrived that morning from New York. During the six days’ trip by steamer from Gotham the artists had made things decidedly lively for themselves and the ten other passengers who shared with them the accommodations of the first cabin. The artists were not a particularly tough lot, judged by the lowest standards, but they were noisy and untamed, and they made Rome howl whenever the sea was smooth. When the artist ceased to be a novelty, most of the other passengers welcomed a good stiff breeze and the consequent indisposition of the ladies as kindred blessings.


Reprinted from National Police Gazette, November 10, 1888.