No. 94
Crime, Eccentricity, and the Sporting Life in 19th Century America.
July 24, 2012

Beauty as a Shield.

Beauty Conquers avarice and outlawry "We won't rob this house to-night."
July 24, 2012
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Tag: Voyeur

The Scandal Which Agitates St. Louis.

Astounding Revelations of a Low Cunning and Vile Curiosity in One of the Proprietors of the Grand Opera House.

7/23/2024

Peeped at the Bride.

A little incident that marred actor Lawrence Hanley’s wedding night in Terre Haute, Ind.

4/3/2017

A Man under Her Bed.

Had Miss Baker looked under the bed before making her toilet she would have postponed it.

9/26/2016

His Peep Ends Disastrously.

William Peters, a Cincinnati dude, tries to mash Maggie Bolton but gets mashed instead.

8/15/2016
"Norwich Evening News," February 3, 1970, via Newspapers.comIf you’re at all familiar with my Twitter/X or Facebook feeds, you know that I periodically share old newspaper reports about the seemingly endless varieties of mayhem carried out by goats.  (Why do I do this?  It’s just how I roll, I guess.)  So, you can imagine how delighted I was to learn of the following story, which
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Strange Company - 7/6/2026
"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
Bare arms, visible ankles, a more relaxed waistline—the most fashionable “bathing dresses” of 1868 allowed a woman to strip off her day-to-day corsets, feather hats, and petticoats and luxuriate in the freedom of the seaside. This ad for what were also called “bathing costumes” came from Godey’s Lady’s Book, an influential periodical that helped shape […]
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Ephemeral New York - 7/6/2026
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
(New Haven Independent) Taylor Ward sings "Found Drifting with the Tide" (excerpt), the tragic ballad of Jennie Cramer's murder.“Found Drifting with the Tide” was a song written by A. C. Willis, "Dedicated to the memory of Jennie Cramer," who was murdered in 1881.When the body of beautiful young Jennie Cramer was found on a sandbar
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Murder By Gaslight - 7/4/2026
Be sure to stop by our Facebook page tomorrow for a Prosecution Marathon of witnesses. Here are the witnesses for Wednesday, June 14th, Day 9 Rufus Hilliard, City Marshal, Mayor John Coughlin, Mrs. Hannah Gifford (seamstress and dressmaker), Anna Borden ( wealthy socialite who was on Lizzie’s grand tour of Europe, distantly related to Lizzie), Lucy Collett (watching the office of Dr. Chagnon day of the murder), Thomas Bowles ( handyman who once rented a room from Addie Churchill and was wa
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Lizzie Borden: Warps and Wefts - 6/13/2026
  [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
A Slippery and Subtle Knave – The Bank Sneak. | Spectacular Scenes & Sights Down on the Jersey Coast

Beauty as a Shield.

Beauty

Beauty Conquers avarice and outlawry “We won’t rob this house to-night.” 

A Midnight Picture that Prevented a Robbery

A couple of desperados who had been committing many acts of crime were recently captured and lodged in a Galveston (Tex.) jail. While confined one of them gave a reporter an extended account of their lives and adventures. According to the narrative, both are more or less imbued with that spirit of gallantry so much admired by young ladies and men of a romantic turn of mind. Situated in the outskirts of the city is a wealthy merchant’s residence, and rumor had it among the outlaws that it was a “good crib to crack.” Both of these men determined to try their luck, and alter a little trouble effected an entrance. On turning their bull’s-eye lanterns on the room they discovered two handsome ladies, daughters of the merchant, locked in each other’s arms, sleeping sweetly. The sight of so much loveliness and innocence unnerved them for the purpose in view. Their sense of chivalry was touched, and after a few moments of admiration they retraced their steps, each admitting that it would be a shame to commit an act that would injure the feelings of two such lovely girls. Beauty proved more potent than avarice.

 

National Police Gazette, October 30, 1880