No. 169
Crime, Eccentricity, and the Sporting Life in 19th Century America.
September 24, 2013

Her Last Ascent.

Gertie Carmo, a Female Aeronaut and Trapeze Performer, Hurled to the Ground and Instantly Killed in Detroit, Mich.
September 24, 2013
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Tag: Saloon

Pandemonium in a Tumult.

Raid on the Broadway concert saloons, New York.

4/26/2022

Shocking Youthful Depravity.

The discovery that public school children frequent immoral places creates a startling sensation in Columbus, O.

2/22/2016

Mixed Drinks for Six.

Harry Johnson's Style of Straining Mixed Drinks to a Party of Six.

3/4/2014

Stabbed for not Buying Drinks.

Fresh Young Fellow Gets Six Inches of Cold Steel at a Sporting Resort, Seattle, Wash.

3/28/2013

An Underground Stale-Beer Dive.

12/18/2012

Saloons and Houses of Ill-Fame.

Buffalo, New York, May 1893.

5/8/2012

Rum on Tap.

Kyana, Indiana, 1890 - The women of Kyana, Ind., go to the railroad depot and demolish a cargo of liquor.

8/29/2011

Duel of the Divas.

The question of who was more beautiful, Lillian Russel or Lola Montez was settled by two cowpokes in the Nevada desert in the 1890s.

5/30/2011

“Daredevil” Steve Brodie

2/17/2011
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Strange Company - 8/14/2026
  [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
"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
 Ida Quinlan and Sophia Grant.Mrs. Ida Quinlan went out to buy a pair of stockings at around 9:00 on the night of February 1, 1896, leaving her baby in the care of her sister, Mrs. Sophia Grant. She took a streetcar to the store several miles away and returned to the house at around 11:00. Entering the sitting room, she was surprised to find the drawers of the chiffoniers pulled out and
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Murder By Gaslight - 8/15/2026
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
Fall Styles. | The “Prisoners’ March.”

Her Last Ascent.

Gertie Carmo, a Female Aeronaut and Trapeze Performer, Hurled to the Ground and Instantly Killed in Detroit, Mich.

Gertie Carmo, the daring female aeronaut, was recently killed at Detroit, Mich. It was almost dark and a strong wind was blowing when the balloon arose with Miss Carmo hanging to the trapeze bar. Before the immense bag could clear the Exposition building it struck a projection in the high tower and hurled Miss Carmo to the ground. Falling a distance of 30 feet, her death was instantaneous. Very few people saw the aeronaut fall, as the Exposition builing was between them and the object of their view.

Examinations showed that the woman’s skull, right thigh and left arm were fractured. Her skull at the base was broken completely from one side to the other.


The National Police Gazette, September 17, 1892.