No. 69
Crime, Eccentricity, and the Sporting Life in 19th Century America.
February 21, 2012

It Was Another Kind of Cat.

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February 21, 2012
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Tag: Revenge

A Woman’s Flat-Irony.

Miss Sallie Utterback, of Shoals, Near Vincennes, Indiana, knocks out a man with a waggin’ tongue.

2/2/2016

Hard Knocks and Horsewhips.

Miss Mamie Gannon, of Jersey City, attacks reporter Lenhart with a horsewhip for traducing her character in his newspaper.

8/10/2015

"Four Aces."

9/25/2012

A Terrible Punishment.

A father revenges an outrage on his daughter by pulling the wretch asunder; near Junction City, Kansas.

8/28/2012
JAMES McMAHON
alias:
BURGLAR, RIVER THIEF

Newspaper Clipping of the Day

Via Newspapers.comCalvin is among the literary cats who have been immortalized in prose.  Originally part of the household of Harriet Beecher Stowe, Calvin eventually made his home with author Charles Dudley Warner.  After the cat died, Warner wrote the following biographical essay, which was often republished in various late 19th century newspapers and periodicals.  This
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Strange Company - 9/9/2026

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

Sadie and Clarence.

Sadie and Clarence.In April 1894, the murder of Montgomery Gibbs, a successful attorney, caused great excitement in Buffalo, New York. He was found shot to death in a driveway on Delaware Avenue with no clues to the killer’s identity. The police and newspapers investigated the crime, but they had no solid leads, and it remained unsolved. Then, in October, they received a tip that Clarence
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Murder By Gaslight - 9/5/2026
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
Their Name a Misnomer. | A New Gag.

It Was Another Kind of Cat.

Elevator boy

Washington, D.C., December 1885 - An elderly guset of Willard's Hotel, Washington, mistakes the elevator boy for a chambermaid.[more]

Fooled by an Elevator Boy

One of the elderly guests of Willard’s Hotel, Washington, lately solicited a pretty chambermaid to sew some buttons on his pants. This service she declined, but promised to send another girl who would perform the task. The girls, for reasons best known to themselves, “put up a job” on the ancient individual, dressed Joe, the elevator boy, in female attire, and dispatched him to the guest’s apartment. The room being dark, the elderly gentleman, failing to detect the sham, advanced his gallantry so far as to hug and kiss and other wise attempt to caress the supposed maid. The affair coming to Mr. Staples’ knowledge he summarily “bounced” the elevator boy, who in turn had Mr. Staples arrested for assault.

Reprinted from The National Police Gazette, December 11, 1885.

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