No. 107
Crime, Eccentricity, and the Sporting Life in 19th Century America.
September 16, 2012

Love in a Railroad Car.

September 16, 2012
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Some of the best street photographers are outsiders who stalk the city anonymously, blending into the concrete and crowds as they filter tender fleeting moments through their own emotional lens. Angelo Antonio Rizzuto, an unlikely street photographer who went unnoticed as he captured more than 60,000 images of the postwar city, fits this description perfectly. […]
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Ephemeral New York - 3/16/2026
The good-looking thirty-seven year old gentleman handling the reins behind the glossy matched pair pulling the spanking-new carriage drew the attention of more than one feminine eye.  Pacing down French St. at a sharp clip, the lady next to him, dressed neatly in a tailor-made suit with the latest in millinery fashion, smiled up at her coachman. Behind the lace curtains on the Hill section of Fall River, tongues were wagging about the unseemly pair. Lizzie Borden, acquitted of double homici
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Lizzie Borden: Warps and Wefts - 10/16/2025
The good-looking thirty-seven year old gentleman handling the reins behind the glossy matched pair pulling the spanking-new carriage drew the attention of more than one feminine eye.  Pacing down French St. at a sharp clip, the lady next to him, dressed neatly in a tailor-made suit with the latest in millinery fashion, smiled up at her coachman. Behind the lace curtains on the Hill section of Fall River, tongues were wagging about the unseemly pair. Lizzie Borden, acquitted of double homici
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Lizzie Borden: Warps and Wefts - 10/16/2025
 Welcome to this week's Link Dump!Happy Friday the 13th!The languages of ancient humans.Dodo birds actually tasted pretty good.  Unfortunately for them.An ancient coin that tells of a massive slave rebellion.The long war against the Barbary pirates.Traces of a mysterious ancient religion.An extinct marsupial turns up alive and well.The miniatures that served as Tudor love tokens.In
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Strange Company - 3/13/2026
 Welcome to this week's Link Dump!Happy Friday the 13th!The languages of ancient humans.Dodo birds actually tasted pretty good.  Unfortunately for them.An ancient coin that tells of a massive slave rebellion.The long war against the Barbary pirates.Traces of a mysterious ancient religion.An extinct marsupial turns up alive and well.The miniatures that served as Tudor love tokens.In
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Strange Company - 3/13/2026
"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
About half past three, the morning of July 2, 1863, a young man on his way to work in Medina, Ohio, saw the home of Shubal Coy in flames. He alerted the neighbors, who came out to douse the flames with water. When the fire was under control, they went inside to look for the Coy family. They found Shubal lying in bed with nine stab wounds in his throat and breast, any one of them capable of
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Murder By Gaslight - 3/14/2026
Some of the best street photographers are outsiders who stalk the city anonymously, blending into the concrete and crowds as they filter tender fleeting moments through their own emotional lens. Angelo Antonio Rizzuto, an unlikely street photographer who went unnoticed as he captured more than 60,000 images of the postwar city, fits this description perfectly. […]
More...
Ephemeral New York - 3/16/2026
"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
"Four Aces." | A One Legged Baseball Club.

Love in a Railroad Car.

Love in railroad car

Mrs. Flo Smith, a young and handsome Newport, KY., Woman, caught in a compromising position with her paramour in an empty passenger car. [more]

“If you give me away I’ll kill you!”

The speaker was a handsome Newport, Ky., woman stylishly attired, and the party addressed was the night watchman at the Cincinnati, Lebanon and Northern Railroad yards. The woman’s wild talk and dramatic gesticulations attracted the attention of a large crowd. Naturally the guardian of the peace was somewhat awed at the startling admonition, but contrary to her expectations, he was not cowed down even a little bit by her wild and maddened theatrics. He simply told her to close her mouth and go on about her business, lest she get in to further trouble. The cause of the woman’s threats toward the officer naturally was inquired into, and it is briefly given below:

On the previous night, about 11 o’clock, the watchman in making his rounds through the C. L. and N. yard heard a rustling sound in one of the vacant passenger cars which was standing on the side track. He proceeded to investigate and cautiously open the door of the coach. He could discover noting until the rays of his lamp were cast between two seats in the middle of the car. Here he beheld a man and a woman in a compromising position.

The woman’s companion hastily arose and jumping over the seats managed to escape from the car. The woman, however, was not so fortunate and was caught by the watchman, who recognized her as Mrs. Flo Smith of Fourth and Monmouth Streets, Newport, Ky. She pleaded pitifully to be allowed to go home, and her request was finally granted. Her companion, who got away, was recognized by the watchman was recognized as a fellow who hangs around the vicinity of the C. L. and N. depot.

The mission of Mrs. Smith to the above-named locality was to put a quietus on the tongue of the watchman.

 

From The National Police Gazette, October 7, 1893