No. 556
Crime, Eccentricity, and the Sporting Life in 19th Century America.
March 15, 2022

A Society Escapade.

How some swell dames of Virginia City, Nevada, in male attire, painted the town red.
March 15, 2022
...
...

 Welcome to this week's Link Dump, where it's up, up, and away!Try to sell a house that features art stolen by the Nazis, and watch the fun begin!A brief history of pomegranates.Some remote viewers took a gander at 31/Atlas, and I can't say they came up with cheery stuff.A serial poisoner in Ohio.The princess who chose painting over palaces.The horrors of 19th century merchant service.The (
More...
Strange Company - 9/5/2025
Stop by this week as we explore what happened the week before the murders, Emma and Lizzie’s getaway to Fairhaven and New Bedford, and new imagery which will help to tell the story. The pears are almost ripe, August 4th is coming fast, and thoughts begin to turn to that house on Second Street once again. Follow us at https://www.facebook.com/lizziebordenwarpsandwefts/ !
More...
Lizzie Borden: Warps and Wefts - 7/26/2025
The East Midtown blocks in the shadow of Grand Central Terminal hold some fascinating relics of old New York City. Case in point is the phone number on this street-facing sign for an elevator emergency alarm at 7 East 43rd Street. “Call ST 6-4300” it reads. “ST” is another long-obsolete phone exchange, dating back to […]
More...
Ephemeral New York - 9/1/2025
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
More...
Executed Today - 11/13/2020
Daniel Van Fossen and his wife hosted a dinner party for their extended family on January 8, 1885, at their home in East Liverpool, Ohio. Fourteen people were in attendance, including members of the Van Fossen, McBane, and Collins families. Coffee and Tea were served after the meal, and almost immediately, the coffee drinkers complained of a burning, bitter sensation in their throats. Soon, they
More...
Murder By Gaslight - 8/30/2025
Soapy Smith STAR NotebookPage 22 - Original copy 1884Courtesy of Geri Murphy(Click image to enlarge) oapy Smith's "STAR" notebook, 1883-84, St. Louis, San Francisco, Soapy arrested: Pages #22-23      This post is on page 22 and 23 of the "STAR" notebook. I am combining these two pages as they only account for a total of seven lines. They are not appearing to be a continuation of
More...
Soapy Smith's Soap Box - 8/27/2025
  [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 […]
More...
Early American Crime - 2/7/2019
A Way Out of the Sunday Difficulty. | A Smuggler Queen.

A Society Escapade.

Western-Ladies-Lark

On a recent evening two well-known ladies of Virginia City, Nev., started out for a frolic disguised in fashionable male attire. They were accompanied by male companions, and visited several saloons, calling for drinks at the bar with the nonchalance of habitues. The young men were well known, but the barkeepers were puzzled in trying to guess the identity of their companions.

When they drank at the Sazerac the searching glance of Billy Eckhoft frightened the elder of the two ladies (who, by the way, is married) and with her companion she deserted the other couple and returned home, apprehending discovery. The remaining couple visited numerous saloons on C street and looked in at the faro games, the young lady passing for a good-looking, delicate young man. The participants in the harmless frolic are well known, but their names are suppressed through fear of creating a flutter of surprise in Comstock society.

 

National Police Gazette, June 26, 1886.