Accounts of UFO encounters, like poltergeist reports, tend to all sound alike after a while, so I was pleased to come across one such story which has that little something special.On the night of October 17, 1973, Jeff Greenhaw, the Police Chief of Falkville, Alabama, received an anonymous--and slightly hysterical--call informing him that a “spaceship” had just landed in a field outside of
Included in yesterday’s trip to Fall River was a stop at Miss Lizzie’s Coffee shop and a visit to the cellar to see the scene of the tragic demise of the second Mrs. Lawdwick Borden and two of the three little children in 1848. I have been writing about this sad tale since 2010 and had made a previous trip to the cellar some years ago but was unable to get to the spot where the incident occured to get a clear photograph. The tale of Eliza Borden is a very sad, but not uncommon story of post partum depression with a heartrending end. You feel this as you stand in the dark space behind the chimney where Eliza ended her life with a straight razor after dropping 6 month old Holder and his 3 year old sister Eliza Ann into the cellar cistern. Over the years I have found other similar cases, often involving wells and cisterns, and drownings of children followed by suicides of the mothers. These photos show the chimney, cistern pipe, back wall, dirt and brick floor, original floorboards forming the cellar ceiling and what appears to be an original door. To be in the place where this happened is a sobering experience. My thanks to Joe Pereira for allowing us to see and record the place where this sad occurrence unfolded in 1848. R.I.P. Holder, Eliza and Eliza Ann Borden. Visit our Articles section above for more on this story. The coffee shop has won its suit to retain its name and has plans to expand into the shop next door and extend its menu in the near future.
The most famous architect of the 20th century, Frank Lloyd Wright designed 1,114 houses, offices, and other structures during a prominent professional life that spanned seven decades. Of these, 532 architectural works were actually completed, according to the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation. New York State has several Wright-designed dwellings. The Guggenheim Museum on Fifth Avenue … … Continue reading →
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: […]
Charley McGill and Mary Kelly.In 1874, Charley McGill saw Mary Kelly on the street in Columbus,
Ohio. He struck up an acquaintance with Mary that soon turned into “desperate
infatuated love.” They traveled together throughout Ohio, and although not
married, they lived together as man and wife.
Mary was a virtuous girl before meeting Charley, but
reportedly, in Cleveland, they lived off Mary’s
A Busted HoneymoonSoapy Smith is arrested in Leadville, ColoradoCarbonate ChronicleMay 17, 1886Courtesy of Colorado Historic Newspapers
(Click image to enlarge)
ew information regarding Soapy Smith in Leadville, Colorado.
A friend, Don Hendershot, found the above newspaper article. Following is the text of that article.Carbonate ChronicleLeadville, ColoradoMay 17, 1886A Busted
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 →
How a plucky New Brunswick, N. J., girl won a wager from one of her doubting companions. [more]
The other evening a party of New Brunswick, N.J., society belles who move in the highest circles called at the police station and asked a policeman to be shown through the engine house of Liberty Hose Company, next door, an explain to them the apparatus. The request was unusual, but the officer assented.
The girls expressed their admiration at everything they saw, fed bon bons to the horses and seemed particularly to admire the perfection of the fire alarm system.
“Oh, what is this police for? Said one of them.
He explained that the firemen slid down the pole form the dormitory.
“How lovely! Can you do it?” was the next question.
The policeman was not sure of his ability, but he would not acknowledge it, and successfully made the effort.
“Now, Laura, it’s your turn,” said on of the girls, and before the astonished officer could interfere, she had encircled the pole and disappeared through the hole in the floor.
She struck the rubber mat below with a bump but recovered herself quickly, and dared her companions to follow.
When all met on the floor below the girls told the policeman that the girl had won a new had and a box of candy by sliding down the pole as the result of a bet between her and her companions.
The apparent eagerness to inspect the apparatus was merely a ruse.
Reprinted from National Police Gazette, October 3, 1896.
"We follow vice and folly where a police officer dare not show his head, as the small, but intrepid weasel pursues vermin in paths which the licensed cat or dog cannot enter."
The Sunday Flash 1841