No. 859
Crime, Eccentricity, and the Sporting Life in 19th Century America.
April 01, 2026

Belles of the Bowling Alley.

The athletic diversions of an association of dashing damsels in their club rooms in Chicago. 
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April 1, 2026
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JOSEPH BOND
alias: PAPER COLLAR JOE
BANCO STEERER

The Ghost Sausage of Devon

This brief, but delightfully offbeat “ghost story” (for lack of a better term) was related by author, paranormal researcher, and photographer J.P.J. Chapman:Many years ago my late father-in-law rented a large farm near Bampton in North Devon.  The farm buildings and the dwelling house were situated half way up a steep hill overlooking the River Exe.  During a warm summer it was quite
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Strange Company - 5/18/2026

Themes of optimism and oppression as seen in two luminous views of the Brooklyn Bridge

The Brooklyn Bridge is celebrating its 143rd birthday on May 24, the day Gilded Age New Yorkers could finally walk across this wondrous span and celebrate the uniting of Brooklyn and Manhattan. Over close to a century and a half, the Brooklyn Bridge has taken the honor of the city’s most painted and photographed structure. […]
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Ephemeral New York - 5/18/2026

Remembering Sarah Morse Borden

Whatever you believe about the guilt or innocence of Lizzie Borden, I have always believed film makers do a great injustice to the story by not beginning at the beginning- the death on March 26, 1863 of the first Mrs. Borden. In the dying moments of Sarah Morse, Emma takes on the weight of the care of her little sister, not yet three years old. Emma herself was just 12 on March 1st. Emma has seen her mother suffer for a long time, seen her pain and loss of little Alice Esther. Emma is old enough
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Lizzie Borden: Warps and Wefts - 3/26/2026
Amen.

The Ghost Sausage of Devon

This brief, but delightfully offbeat “ghost story” (for lack of a better term) was related by author, paranormal researcher, and photographer J.P.J. Chapman:Many years ago my late father-in-law rented a large farm near Bampton in North Devon.  The farm buildings and the dwelling house were situated half way up a steep hill overlooking the River Exe.  During a warm summer it was quite
More...
Strange Company - 5/18/2026

Themes of optimism and oppression as seen in two luminous views of the Brooklyn Bridge

The Brooklyn Bridge is celebrating its 143rd birthday on May 24, the day Gilded Age New Yorkers could finally walk across this wondrous span and celebrate the uniting of Brooklyn and Manhattan. Over close to a century and a half, the Brooklyn Bridge has taken the honor of the city’s most painted and photographed structure. […]
More...
Ephemeral New York - 5/18/2026

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

Maggie Crowley.

Maggie Crowley.(New York Journal, March 16, 1898.)On March 15, 1898, a woman was found strangled to death in the courtyard of a New York City tenement.  She was the seventh strangulation victim in the Tenderloin district over the previous four years. What made this case different was that even before the victim was identified, the police had a suspect in custody. Some believed he was
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Murder By Gaslight - 5/16/2026
On the Russians.

The Ghost Sausage of Devon

This brief, but delightfully offbeat “ghost story” (for lack of a better term) was related by author, paranormal researcher, and photographer J.P.J. Chapman:Many years ago my late father-in-law rented a large farm near Bampton in North Devon.  The farm buildings and the dwelling house were situated half way up a steep hill overlooking the River Exe.  During a warm summer it was quite
More...
Strange Company - 5/18/2026

Themes of optimism and oppression as seen in two luminous views of the Brooklyn Bridge

The Brooklyn Bridge is celebrating its 143rd birthday on May 24, the day Gilded Age New Yorkers could finally walk across this wondrous span and celebrate the uniting of Brooklyn and Manhattan. Over close to a century and a half, the Brooklyn Bridge has taken the honor of the city’s most painted and photographed structure. […]
More...
Ephemeral New York - 5/18/2026
Cool Break for Liberty. | Sketches on the Rail.

Belles of the Bowling Alley.

Chicago, 1878 - Belles of the Bowling Alley -The athletic diversions of an association of dashing damsels in their club rooms in Chicago. 

Life in Chicago presents many phases not met with elsewhere, and one such is the establishment, a year since, of a club for social enjoyment by eight young ladies, all well educated and wealthy, who move in first-class circles.

They conceived the idea of setting up a club similar to the exclusive coteries in which the sterner sex find their relaxation. They accordingly secured suitable quarters fitted up with an attention to the luxurious details so dear to the feminine heart, but with a view also to the gratification of the fair clubbists for some sport as affected by their masculine prototypes. A well-arranged billiard room and a gymnasium with every improved appliance were among the conveniences, but the favorite feature proved to be the bowling alley. Some of the fair members have become quite expert players, and spirited contests are regularly held in which the participants vie with hoydenish, albeit gay and sparkling, enthusiasm.

The National Police Gazette - October 26, 1878

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