No. 635
Crime, Eccentricity, and the Sporting Life in 19th Century America.
November 30, 2023

A Rattling Main.

A desperate week-long challenge battle between Georgia and Arkansas cocks won by F. E. Grist's champ
October 20, 2015
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Tag: Bio

Hungry Joe.

The conmen of New York City were noted for their colorful nicknames: "Paper Collar Joe", "Grand Central Pete" Jimmy "the Kid" and the greatest of all "Hungry Joe".

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The Diamond King.

J. I. Lighthall, better known as the Diamond King, was a charismatic showman and a master of marketing, but he was also a dedicated healer.

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Another Voice for Cleveland.

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

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Voodoo Queen Marie

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“Daredevil” Steve Brodie

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Via Newspapers.comThis tale of a haunted British pub (there are a remarkable number of them) appeared in the “Regina Leader-Post,” July 26, 1930:GLOSSOP--A ghost that rings a bell on the tap-room table and hammers on the tap-room door, and other strange happenings, are mystifying the landlord of the Bull's Head, a 800-year-old public horse near Charlesworth. Mr. S. Onslow, the landlord, said that
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On a busy day in 1951, a hot dog vendor found himself captive to a hawker of cheap jewelry who set up shop across from his rickety food cart decorated with American flags. Horses still worked the side streets of the city. Stray dogs waited for food scraps to fall to the pavement. TV antennas […]
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James L. Daniels returned to Hillman, Alabama, from a trip to Birmingham, the night of December 26, 1890. While he was there, he purchased a hideous mask and thought it would be a good joke to put on the mask and frighten the family of his brother-in-law, Joe Tarpley. He knocked on their door and Tarpley answered. Not knowing it was Daniels, Tarpley told the masked man to go away. Instead,
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Murder By Gaslight - 11/25/2023
On October 16, 1900, the Fall River Daily Herald reported an incident at Maplecroft. Lizzie took a tumble from a step ladder while adjusting a picture on the wall. Dr. Stephen Masury Gordon set the broken wrist. Dr. Gordon lived at 165 Rock St. and was a Harvard graduate. One has to wonder why Lizzie did not have one of the servants or her handy man doing the chore. Dr. Gordon
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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 engaged as a carrier of wine, because he and his brother, with the help of […]
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A Hidden Skeleton. | The Cruelties of Fashion.

A Rattling Main.

A Rattling Main

A desperate week-long challenge battle between Georgia and Arkansas cocks won by F. E. Grist's champion, Richard K Fox. 

The great cocking main, $100 each battle and $2,000 the odd fight, between Siedge & Hanna’s Arkansas Travelers and F. E. Grist’s strain of Shawl Necks of Fort Gaines, Georgia, was decided in a tent recently at Fort Gaines. Twenty-one cocks were shown and nineteen matched. The Georgia fowls won by three battles. The most important battle was the eleventh. It was between the pick of the two divisions. Arkansas pitted a blue red, weighing five pounds three ounces, named John L. Sullivan, while Grist pitted a black red. The latter was Grist’s famous and favorite cock named Richard K. Fox, in honor of the editor and proprietor of the Police Gazette. Large sums were wagered. Richard K. Fox had decidedly the advantage, and won amid great rejoicing. John L. Sullivan’s wing was broken during the encounter. The tournament lasted one week, and over three hundred back battles were fought.


Reprinted from National Police Gazette, January 22, 1887.