No. 42
Crime, Eccentricity, and the Sporting Life in 19th Century America.
August 22, 2011

Hid the Girls' Skirts

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August 22, 2011
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Tag: Execution

A Magical Duet on the Guitar.

An extraordinary account of a mathematician, mechanician, and musician named Alix.

1/8/2018
JOHN RILEY
alias: JOHN MURPHY
SNEAK, PICKPOCKET, SHOPLIFTER

Newspaper Clipping of the Day

Via Newspapers.comOne for the “mini mysteries” file: This unresolved poisoning case was reported in the “South Wales Argus,” February 8, 1934.How did cyanide of potassium, used for electro-plating, find its way into a teacup from which a girl of 20 drank tea and died shortly afterwards? This was the mystery inquired into at Sheffield on Wednesday.An inquest was held on the girl, Lilian Charlotte
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Strange Company - 10/28/2026

Convicts to Maryland, 1773 by Peter Dickson

  [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
Amen.

Artifact #93: Soapy's son, hires attorney to stop the slurring of his father's name.

"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 Three Hangings, Lycoming County.

This week, we feature a guest post by Don Everett Smith Jr., author of The Goffle Road Murders of Passaic County (History Press, 2011).   In a previous post on Murder by Gaslight, “Revisiting the Goffle Road Murders,” Don presented an excerpt from his book. This week’s post, “The Three Hangings, Lycoming County,” examines the 1880 murder of Andrew Miller in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania
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Murder By Gaslight - 10/24/2026
On the Russians.

1617: A miller of Manberna, the hangman’s last

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
Rum on Tap. | The Astor Place Riot

Hid the Girls' Skirts

Hid Their Skirts

Topeka, Kansas, December, 1893 –Wicked boys of the Wasburn, Kan., College play tricks on the pretty female students.

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The young ladies at Washburn College, in Topeka, Kan., have a class in gymnastics and are required to dress in Turkish costume, using a long skirt to conceal their costumes while going to and from the gymnasium.

Last week while they were going through their exercises one of the boys at the college removed their skirts from the dressing room, and they could only get out of the gymnasium by running a gauntlet of the male students. The facts were reported to the faculty, and upon investigation a student named Charles Paddock was found to be responsible for the caper. It was decided to expel him, but his associates have rebelled and declare they will leave the school of such a penalty is imposed on Paddock. The faculty is giving it further consideration.

Reprinted from The National Police Gazette, December 2, 1893

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