No. 650
Crime, Eccentricity, and the Sporting Life in 19th Century America.
April 18, 2024

Said She Would and Did.

Mrs. Cary cures her husband of flirting by ascending in a balloon at Buffalo, N. Y.
April 27, 2015
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Via Newspapers.comAs I believe I’ve mentioned before, I have a particular fondness for obscure, unimportant, but intriguing little mysteries.  One such example appeared in the “London Morning Chronicle,” April 21, 1809:Nevis, Feb. 7, 1809.“Dear Sir,"I beg leave to mention the following circumstances, and leave to your better judgment the propriety of making the same public.-- "About a
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Strange Company - 4/17/2024
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Lizzie Borden: Warps and Wefts - 2/12/2024
How many ways are there to style a subway entrance sign? In New York City, dozens of designs and typefaces are used across the subway system—often with no rhyme or reason. Take this gold and white sign on William Street. It’s for a side entrance/exit for the Fulton Street station, affixed to a 20th century […]
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Ephemeral New York - 4/15/2024
An article I recently wrote for the British online magazine, New Politic, is now available online. The article, “The Criminal Origins of the United States of America,” is about British convict transportation to America, which took place between the years 1718 and 1775, and is the subject of my book, Bound with an Iron Chain: […]
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Early American Crime - 12/17/2021
 Samuel Smith and his wife Emma appeared to the world as a happy and affectionate young couple. She was pretty and vivacious with a dazzling wardrobe, and he was energetic with a winning personality. But beneath the surface was a hidden turmoil that did not come to light until Emma was found dead in their apartment, her head blown apart by a shotgun blast, and Samuel nowhere to be found.Read
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Murder By Gaslight - 4/13/2024
CHIEF OF CONSThe Morning Times(Cripple Creek, Colorado)February 15, 1896Courtesy of Mitch Morrissey ig Ed Burns robs a dying man?      Mitch Morrissey, a Facebook friend and historian for the Denver District Attorney’s Office, found and published an interesting newspaper piece on "Big Ed" Burns, one of the most notorious characters in the West. Burns was a confidence man and
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Soapy Smith's Soap Box - 4/2/2024
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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Mdlle. Carlotta de Berg. | Surf Swimming at Hawaii, Sandwich Islands.

Said She Would and Did.

Said she Would and Did

Mrs. Cary cures her husband of flirting by ascending in a balloon at Buffalo, N. Y. 

Head Waiter Cary at the restaurant at Crystal Beach, Buffalo, N. Y., has experienced the novel sensation of seeing his wife leave him by the balloon route. And a more surprised man could not have been found between dawn and sunset. Cary is a “masher” and has kept his wife and babies in the background while he carried on flirtations with the fair diners at his table.

Mrs. Cary had a quarrel with her spouse lately, which ended in a threat that she would leave him for a home beyond the skies. The other afternoon a big crowd assembled to see the balloon ascension. Just before the gas bag was filled Mrs. Cary trundled the baby over in its carriage and left it with her husband. The next Cary heard was the shout: “Cary, there goes your wife.” Cary looked up and say to his amazement, hanging to the balloon the wife of his bosom. She seemed self-possessed on her aerial perch, and waved adieu to the crowd as she ascended.

He stood as if transfixed, unable to utter a cry. Presently the balloon was checked in its skyward course and then to his consternation the deserted husband saw his better half cut loose from the airship and drop with a parachute to the earth. She landed only a few rods from her starting place. She was not half so scared as her husband and it is safe to say Cary will not flirt again until he recovers from his fright.


Reprinted from National Police Gazette, September 16, 1893.