lmharnisch

The Mystery of Felt Lake

2008-05-02T08:00:00.000-07:00

Oct. 3, 1907Stanford UniversityChester Silent was among the most promising young men of Delta Tau Delta at Stanford. The son of Judge Charles Silent and prominent in Los Angeles social circles, Silent, 22, had excelled in his studies and upon graduating with a law degree in the Class of 1907 had begun graduate work at Stanford and was expected to head to Harvard.His fraternity brothers described

Boy Genius

2008-04-26T08:06:00.000-07:00

Nov. 8, 1907Los AngelesMars F. Baumgardt is an interesting young man with an even more interesting project: a radio-controlled boat. Although many students’ projects are on display at the 30th Street School, including those of Mars’ brother Howard, it is the boat controlled by wireless telegraphy that interests The Times.“As nearly as a layman in the rudiments of electricity can understand the

New blog: The Daily Mirror

2007-05-04T07:55:00.000-07:00

Check out The Daily Mirror.It's right here

Postcards From the Past

2007-03-16T05:55:00.000-07:00

The Hotel Green, Pasadena

The Bridge

2007-03-15T08:47:00.000-07:00

March 15, 2007South Pasadena Here’s the Gold Line, its passengers mercifully unaware that they are zipping along to Pasadena in the “Gorge of Eternal Peril” beneath “The Bridge of Death.” Here’s a close-up of a patch made to fix one of the 1907 cracks in the bridge. And yes, the darn thing is still standing. Hm. Maybe I should call it “The Bridge of Hope” instead.

In Which a Ghostly Visitor Returns

2007-03-15T05:58:00.000-07:00

March 15, 2007Los Angeles “Well, dear boy, I suppose you thought you were through.” “Yes, I did.” “And?” “Good grief! Do you see this bridge over the Gold Line? It looks like it’s held up with hairpins and spit!” “Saliva, dear boy. And what is the Gold Line?” “Well, it’s sort of a streetcar, except it doesn’t run on the street.” She leaned back in her ghostly chair

The Celebrity Inteview

2007-03-14T07:16:00.000-07:00

March 14, 1907Los Angeles Harry C. Carr, future author of “Los Angeles: City of Dreams,” visits Fely Dereyne, who is starring in the San Carlo Opera Company’s touring production of “Carmen.” Accompanied by Times artist Harold R. Coffman, who sketched the singer, Carr conducted a

Farewell, Faithful Companion

2007-03-12T08:25:00.000-07:00

Feb. 12, 1907Whittier Don had rushed up San Juan Hill with the Rough Riders, fearless in the face of enemy fire. But he could not survive a speeding driver on the otherwise placid streets of Whittier. A present from Teddy Roosevelt to Hamilton Fish, Don was the mascot of Company B of the Rough Riders. Don was given to Col. William Wallace. When Wallace died

Los Angeles Has No History

2007-03-11T12:53:00.000-07:00

Feb. 24, 1907Los AngelesGoogle Earth, 2007lmharnisch.comlmharnisch.blogspot.comE-mail: lmharnisch (AT) gmail.com

A Tumultuous Season

2007-03-10T07:38:00.000-08:00

March 10, 1907Los Angeles Someone who opened the Los Angeles Times on this Sunday might be forgiven for wondering what had become of the world, for Page 1 was full of news about the demise of two religious leaders. The first was the death of John Alexander Dowie, the founder of Zion, Ill., who considered

Random Shots From Our 12-Bore

2007-03-09T06:19:00.000-08:00

March 9, 1907Los Angeles The Insanity Begins Led by I. Newerf and J.B. Dudley, the automobile owners of Los Angeles are fighting a new city ordinance that bans parking within 40 of downtown intersections. Newerf, the West Coast representative of Goodyear Tire Co., and Dudley, a car salesman, received citations for violating the law and have pleaded not guilty. In April 1909,

It Was a Kinder, Simpler Time...

2007-03-08T07:06:00.000-08:00

March 8, 1907Los Angeleslmharnisch.comlmharnisch.blogspot.comE-mail: lmharnisch (AT) gmail.com

Forget Bird Flu, This Is Serious

2007-03-07T05:54:00.000-08:00

March 7, 1907Los Angeles A dreadful disease called acute glanders has been discovered in a horse and veterinarian R.J. Ramage ordered that the animal be destroyed immediately. In addition to rapidly causing death, acute glanders can be spread from horses to humans and there is no known cure, at least in 1907. Apparently several men in Los Angeles County died of acute glanders in 1893.

Belles Are Ringing!

2007-03-06T06:38:00.000-08:00

March 6, 2007San Francisco (VIA Associated Press) The Irish of San Francisco are furious over a play at the Davis Theater called “The Belle of Avenue A,” which features a character named Mrs. McCluskey who drinks a glass of beer in the first act. “Three times, about 40 people charged the stage and the

An Independent Woman

2007-03-05T05:26:00.000-08:00

March 5, 1907Los Angeles What shall we do with Emma? She’s gone off to New Mexico and married a Chinaman. Her horrified mother hopes to get the marriage annulled, but Emma is an independent-minded young lady. Emma’s mother, Mary Culver of Monrovia, says she will do everything she can to undo her daughter’s marriage to Frank Chew, which The Times describes as “

A Page From the Past

2007-03-03T06:01:00.000-08:00

March 3, 1907Los Angeles Stroll into the Los Angeles Public Library on Central Avenue with me for a moment, over to the children’s section. The librarian says there are about 15,000 to 16,000 books, only half of what is needed, because about third of them are checked out every month. The most popular titles are “Little Women,” “Little Men” and “Old-Fashioned

Page 1 News

2007-03-02T06:23:00.000-08:00

March 2, 1907Los Angeles

City Fathers Confront an Intractable Problem

2007-03-01T06:54:00.000-08:00

March 1, 1907Los Angeles Downtown businessmen are at a complete loss over what to do with the garbage from their operations and want the city to either take it or designate a dump they can use. “They declare that the Board of Health has refused to let further deposits of garbage or

But the Line Is Straight

2007-02-28T04:53:00.000-08:00

Feb. 28, 1907Los Angeles An old and massive California live oak used to mark the division between three Spanish land grants lies in pieces on the ground because an Edison foreman refused to run a transmission line around it. “The tree was a full hundred feet in its spread,” The Times says,” and stood

A Secretary's Dedication

2007-02-27T08:06:00.000-08:00

Feb. 27, 1907Los Angeles A thick cloud of smoke from a raging fire in the basement swept through the Germain building on South Spring Street at lunch hour, engulfing businessmen and office workers. In a fraction of a second, the building’s occupants were transformed from powerful executives conducting elaborate stock deals into blind and struggling humans groping on their

In Indiana, There Is No Beer

2007-02-26T07:14:00.000-08:00

Feb. 14-26, 1907Los Angeles The Rev. Ervin S. Chapman, a Presbyterian minister who heads the Anti-Saloon League of California, has won a victory through an address that persuaded an Indiana judge to rule that saloons are unconstitutional. Chapman concluded his series of points by saying: Our

Architectural Ramblings

2007-02-24T10:03:00.000-08:00

Feb. 24, 2007Eagle RockThe Eagle Rock Bank, with aluminum windows and stucco, and braced with threaded rods. Here's to you, Samuel Tilden Norton....

Architectural Ramblings

2007-02-24T07:09:00.000-08:00

Feb. 24, 1907Eagle Rock Architect Samuel Tilden Norton has designed a bank building for Townsend Avenue and Colorado Boulevard in Eagle Rock, The Times says. Just to make research interesting, The Times misspelled his name as S. Tilton Norton. According to his 1959 obituary, his mother was the first Jewish child born in Los

Soccer Returns

2007-02-23T06:38:00.000-08:00

Feb. 23, 1907Los Angeles The Scotch Thistles beat the English Victorias 3-2 in Southern California’s first soccer game since the Caledonians and the Pasadena team met at Agricultural Park in 1890, The Times says. Despite the poor condition of the field, the players displayed

Speaking of the Weather

2007-02-22T06:58:00.000-08:00

Feb. 22, 1907Los Angeles Here’s how The Times weather stories read a century ago: “For all the daylight hours yesterday, the rain drizzled down, much of the time like a heavy Scotch mist, but toward nightfall the storm deepened and the rain began to fall in earnest. For two hours

Worst in Show

2007-02-21T06:30:00.000-08:00

Feb. 21, 1907Los Angeles Someone who hates animals is at work in Angeleno Heights, having poisoned 10 valuable dogs and several cats, The Times says. The killer has an eye for purebreds, the paper says, avoiding mutts and mongrels. “Detective

Gardening vs. Yard Work

2007-02-20T07:56:00.000-08:00

Feb. 20, 1907Los AngelesApparently mowing the lawn was a formal occasion.lmharnisch.comlmharnisch.blogspot.comE-mail: lmharnisch (AT) gmail.com

Skeet Shoot

2007-02-19T05:52:00.000-08:00

Feb. 19, 1907Los Angeles A quick trip to the Thomas Bros. will show that Los Angeles County doesn’t look like this, but it’s not for lack of trying. The wealthy men of Los Angeles and Orange counties are furious with one another over an attempt by Assemblyman Phil Stanton to give Los Angeles County a strip of

Architectural Ramblings

2007-02-18T07:35:00.000-08:00

Feb. 18, 2007Los Angeles The buildings featured in The Times for this week have been torn down, but in glancing through the listings, I found the sale by the Althouse brothers of a lot at 3006 S. La Salle.3006 S. La SalleI can’t say the house was particularly interesting, although I was happy to find it still

12th Street Ragged

2007-02-17T06:18:00.000-08:00

Above, a vanished landmark: The Schermerhorn Inn, at Potter Park, a street that has disappeared.Feb. 17, 1907Los Angeles West 12th Street between Main and Hoover is maddeningly crooked, but how to fix it? One set of residents has agreed to cut the boulevard through front yards because having the street as straight as an engineer’s ruler will raise property values

Shattered Lives

2007-02-15T07:33:00.000-08:00

Feb. 14-15, 1907Los Angeles An 11:30 a.m. blast caused by an accumulation of gas shattered the Rawson building at 114 W. 2nd St. in an explosion blamed on a gas company employee who struck a match to check the meter. Four people were killed immediately while three more died of their injuries and 30 were hurt, some of

Twin Celebrations

2007-02-13T06:24:00.000-08:00

Feb.13, 1907Los Angeles An enormous masked ball for the city’s elite was staged on Mardi Gras at Kramer’s Studio and Dancing Academy, 1500 S. Figueroa.Kramer's Hall, as it was informally known.The Times, in a rare bylined article—by Katherine Thompson—givesan exhaustive account of decorations and costumes. Rather than list all the women’s outfits, I’ll only comment on them: Spanish senoritas,

In-Cred-I-Ble

2007-02-13T05:12:00.000-08:00

A large (20x30) reproduction of Elizabeth Short’s mug shot has appeared on EBay at a starting price of $250, or $400 under “buy it now” in an auction by mermaidfx. The word “rare” is ridiculously common on EBay, surpassed only by “MIB” and “L@@K.” This is not a rare image, but is widely copied. And folks, the asking price is absurd.

The Rising City

2007-02-12T08:08:00.000-08:00

Feb. 12, 1907Los Angeles Imagine the surprise of Mrs. Robert Jackson, who was about to move into her new home on Vernon Avenue and discovered that the contractor had built it on someone else’s lot, next to the one that she owned. Fortunately, she was able to swap property with the owner, The Times notes. I suppose we

Random Shots From Our 12-Bore

2007-02-11T06:41:00.000-08:00

Feb. 11, 1907Los Angeles The Eastside gets a new Baptist Church and 2nd Street and St. Louis. Like Tom and Huck A large pond 7 feet deep at Normandie and San Marino left by the runoff of recent rainstorms

Architectural Ramblings

2007-02-10T08:29:00.000-08:00

Feb. 10, 1907Los AngelesThe Times features a hillside home "near the ostrich farm" in Pasadena. Presumably that was the Cawston farm in South Pasadena. (What, South Pasadena, again?) Unfortunately, many of the homes photographed for The Times in 1907 have been torn down in the city of Los Angeles, replaced by parking lots, warehouses, etc. Not so in suburban South

From the Pen of George M. Cohan

2007-02-09T11:25:00.000-08:00

Feb. 9, 1907Los Angeleslmharnisch.comlmharnisch.blogspot.comE-mail: lmharnisch (AT) gmail.com

Blogging the Wolfe Book, Our Story So Far

2007-02-08T07:46:00.000-08:00

Larry Harnisch (described by James Ellroy as a Dahlia scholar/Dahlia freak, take your pick) is blogging in real time as he reads Donald H. Wolfe's "The Black Dahlia Files: The Mob, the Mogul and the Murder That Transfixed Los Angeles."Part 1, Blogging the Wolfe BookPart 2, The MonsterPart 3, Extra! Extra!Part 4, Sniff TestPart 5, Weather ReportPart 6, The Boy on the BicyclePart 7, A "C" From the

Peace Returns to Buena Vista Street

2007-02-08T06:53:00.000-08:00

Feb. 8, 1907Los Angeles About 1903, Charles E. Donnatin, former Pacific Electric Railway superintendent, apparently said something about the young woman across the street at the Stewart home, Savoy Street and Buena Vista (now 1301 N. Broadway). The woman’s mother was furious and

Court Briefs

2007-02-07T07:41:00.000-08:00

Feb. 7, 1907Los Angeles A Child's TestimonyCharles Babbitt is sentenced to 30 days in jail on charges of domestic violence after the testimony of his 6-year-old son. “Papa hit me with a whip and it cut my head,” the boy said. “Then he hit mama.” “The man blinked his eyes and said that he did it because he was

Incendiary Ramblings

2007-02-06T06:27:00.000-08:00

Feb. 5, 2007Los Angeles Here’s an architectural drawing of the O.T. Johnson Building, which burned in yesterday’s fire.Looking north on Broadway at 4th Street. The burned structures are at the right. And here are some snaps of the damaged structures: <

Centennial Ramblings

2007-02-05T07:40:00.000-08:00

Feb. 5, 2007Sierra Madre Because it’s celebrating its centennial this month, I paid a visit to Sierra Madre and while savoring a cinnamon dolce latte at the local Starbucks, watched the sun set on a historic Union 76 ball. A perfect fusion of two projects. And here’s Sierra Madre’s

Architectural Ramblings

2007-02-04T07:33:00.000-08:00

Feb. 4, 2007South Pasadena The Times publishes three architectural drawings of “artistic bungalows” prepared by the firm of Wilson and Barnes. One is being built by W.E. Fox on Columbia near Sunset Boulevard, the second by Dr. T.H. Lowers on Main Street in Alhambra and the third by A.J. Padau on Marengo in South Pasadena “near the Monrovia car line.” The

Officer C.A. May, End of Watch

2007-02-03T08:51:00.000-08:00

Feb. 3, 1907Los Angeles About 1 a.m. on a dark corner at East Adams and South San Pedro, the hard, shabby life of William Ross ended when he said, “What in hell are you fellows up to?,” drew a pistol and shot plainclothes Officer C.A. May. May and his partner, J.M. Hoover, were walking

A Trip to the Zoo

2007-02-02T07:16:00.000-08:00

Feb. 2, 1907Los Angeles Conditions at Chutes Park are so bad that the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is making a second inspection to see whether operator J.B. Lehigh has made any improvements before his Feb. 20 trial on charges of abuse and neglect. Chutes is

Strange Fruit

2007-02-01T07:06:00.000-08:00

Feb. 1, 1907Los Angeles I was all set to write about Leroyxez, “The Human Pincushion,” being nailed to a cross promptly at 4 p.m. at Chutes Park, and then a story about lynching in the U.S. caught my eye. Year Number of Lynchings 1901

On the Frontiers of Medicine

2007-01-31T08:41:00.000-08:00

Jan. 31, 1907Los Angeles Showing once again that Los Angeles is out of touch with Sacramento, local health officials are fighting an education bill that would lift mandatory smallpox vaccinations for schoolchildren. Vaccinations were opposed for several reasons in the Legislature.

Stuck Fast

2007-01-30T07:16:00.000-08:00

Jan. 30, 1907Los Angeles Recent rains have left the city’s streets in terrible shape, as The Times shows in a photo taken at 1st Street and Spring. This wagon, pulled by a strong team, plunged up to its hubs in one of the potholes and the horses were unable to free it. “Under the

An Apostle of the Past

2007-01-29T08:27:00.000-08:00

Jan. 28, 1907Los Angeles William Jennings Bryan stepped from the Owl train to be greeted by a long-waiting crowd. “In appearance, Mr. Bryan has changed but little since he was last in Los Angeles,” The Times says. “In his manner, also, there has been little, if any, change, and he

A Most Remarkable Man

2007-01-28T09:01:00.000-08:00

Jan 28, 1907Los Angeles “If my career seems strange to you, it seems stranger and more incredible to me,” Gen. Homer Lea once said. And indeed it was, for Lea’s life was the tale of a poor and badly handicapped boy’s adventures as a leader in an exotic foreign land. His 1912

Why Doesn't L.A. Do Something About Traffic?

2007-01-27T06:55:00.000-08:00

Jan. 27, 1907Los Angeles One thing you can say about Angelenos: We love to talk about traffic. The only thing we love more is to commission studies and draft plans to deal with the problem, and then ignore them. “With the wonderful growth of Los Angeles as a great city has come to

Born in the U.S.A.

2007-01-26T07:00:00.000-08:00

Jan. 26, 1907Los Angeles Chin Man Can (or Kan) is in jail on charges of being an illegal immigrant. The young man says he is nothing of the sort, but unable to prove that he was born in San Francisco because all of his belongings were destroyed in the 1906 earthquake. Can says that when he was 13, the

Le-MON!! Le-MON!!

2007-01-25T06:19:00.000-08:00

Jan. 25, 1907Los AngelesI wonder if Felix Chavarino lost a dog somewhere. Lmharnisch.comLmharnisch.blogspot.comE-mail: lmharnisch (AT) gmail.com

Introducing Miss White

2007-01-24T08:24:00.000-08:00

Jan. 24, 1907Los Angeles Meet a tough little lady who gave her life to helping the poor, needy children of Los Angeles. She built a church and school starting with a nickel donated by a newsboy, left it all and began again in a tent when the presiding minister turned out to be a crook, and then regained it all. She spent most of her later years fighting with

Le-Mon! Le-Mon!

2007-01-23T07:25:00.000-08:00

Jan. 23, 1907Los Angeles Pity, for a moment, Felix Chavarino, caught in the grips, not of opium, morphine or heroin, but of citrus, for he is a “lemon fiend.” He was arrested after begging for food in a small restaurant. Chavarino didn’t want anything else on the menu, pleading for a “

The Bible Explained -- for $1,000

2007-01-22T06:13:00.000-08:00

Jan. 22, 1907Los Angeles Since his teens, James Lauer has been studying the Bible. Where others have struggled to parse its meanings, he has found clarity. He wants to write a book that will explain it all. The only thing he needs is $1,000 ($20,523.57 USD 2005). During his studies of

If They Had Only Known

2007-01-21T07:54:00.000-08:00

Jan. 21, 1907Los Angeles Mayor Arthur C. Harper addressed the crowd for a moment, reminiscing about a teacher who used to tell his pupils that someday, long after he was gone, people would get around Los Angeles in self-propelled vehicles. And with that, Harper threw the switch,

Architectural Ramblings

2007-01-20T06:38:00.000-08:00

Los AngelesJan. 20, 2007 What we do know about H.J. Brainerd is that he built a fair number of “portable homes.” What we don’t know, except in one case, is exactly where he put them. Brainerd was active from 1906 to 1911, building homes throughout Southern California. His ads appealed to people like sportsmen, ranchers, oil

A Conductor Throws Caution to the Winds

2007-01-19T08:09:00.000-08:00

Jan. 19, 1907Los Angeles Despite his ill health, Harley Hamilton drove himself to conduct a concert by the Los Angeles Symphony because he believed so much in bringing the music of Tchaikovsky (or in those days, Tschaikowsky) to the public. The concert at hand is West Coast premiere of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4. “

An Unfortunate Loophole

2007-01-18T06:19:00.000-08:00

Jan. 18, 1907San Francisco In what is surely an embarrassing and awkward oversight, the California Constitution only prevents “Mongolian” children from attending white public schools when separate campuses have been created. The problem, legislators have discovered, is that the Japanese aren’t Mongolians and feel they somehow have the right to

The Changing Face of the City

2007-01-17T07:31:00.000-08:00

Jan. 17, 1907Los Angeles On a trip from Utah to visit his daughter, H.E. Gibson keeps getting lost as he wanders around Los Angeles. No, it’s not because Gibson is 80, for his mind is still sharp. It’s because he hasn’t been back since 1848 and things have changed just a bit. Even the old familiar landmark of Ft. Hill is covered with homes, he says. About

Union Rescue Mission

2007-01-16T07:15:00.001-08:00

Also on EBay

2007-01-16T06:28:00.000-08:00

Jan. 16, 2007 Sfxarchive is selling a 4- by 5-inch negative ostensibly from the Black Dahlia case. I don’t recognize any of these individuals, nor have I ever seen the image. It doesn’t show any of the main suspects, nor does it show the main detectives, Harry Hansen and Finis Brown. I would say its importance is limited. Note that the seller’s

Another EBay Mystery

2007-01-15T06:31:00.000-08:00

Jan. 15, 2007 Los Angeles While making my daily check of EBay, I found another envelope from 1907, this one addressed to A. Victor Segno, 701 N. Belmont. A brief check of Proquest reveals—what’s this? A major scam artist, self-help author and wife-stealer. A. Victor Segno turns out to be the operator of the American

At the Del

2007-01-14T06:58:00.000-08:00

In Cred I Ble

2007-01-13T16:17:00.000-08:00

The sale of 1940s mug shots, including one of Elizabeth Short, sold Jan. 12, 2007, for $1,802.77 (more than $78 per picture) to phenomaly. Although EBay now conceals bidders’ identities, we can see that the next highest bid was $1,777.77. Obviously, people are willing to spend serious money for these mug shots.Please understand, the Elizabeth Short mug shots were printed up in bulk during the

Not in My Back Yard

2007-01-13T06:45:00.000-08:00

Jan. 13, 1907Los AngelesThe Times takes a light, humorous look at the destructive wanderings of Eaton Wash: a docile stream, if not entirely dry, most of the year, turned into a churning monster by heavy rains.“The little river that makes so much trouble lives somewhere in the fastness of Eaton’s Canyon during the summer months,” The Times says. “In the rainy season it always comes prowling out

Last Rites for an EarlyChurch

2007-01-12T08:01:00.000-08:00

Jan. 12, 1907El MonteFor half a century, the Baptist Church of El Monte and the Mason’s Lexington Lodge No. 104 shared a clapboard building on Main Street, the worshipers on the first floor and the Masons, as always, on the second.Then came the developers and the urge to grow.“Seized with the thrill of the new trolley boom, the lodge members are about to put up a new Masonic temple; the

On the Frontiers of Medicine

2007-01-11T07:13:00.000-08:00

Jan. 11, 1907Los AngelesA woman living on a hog ranch near the Santa Fe railroad crossing over the Los Angeles River contacted police after seeing dismembered human bodies in the old dumping ground near George Street.Investigators dug through the dump, retrieving the body of a child that was nearly intact, along with bits and pieces of a man and a woman, including their skulls. In addition to the

The Floods

2007-01-10T07:42:00.000-08:00

Jan. 9-10, 1907 The worst storm in 23 years blew across Southern California with the force of a gale, dumping more than an inch of rain in Pasadena, killing an Orange County rancher, washing out railroad tracks and collapsing tunnels, and leaving nearly every small ship in Santa Barbara sunk, driven ashore or pounded to pieces. Floodwaters

The Biltmore, Jan. 9, 2007

2007-01-09T23:18:00.000-08:00

A Cold Dose of Reality

2007-01-08T08:59:00.000-08:00

Jan. 8, 1907Los AngelesPerhaps Mayor Arthur C. Harper and the incoming slate of officials are focused on how they will divide the spoils of the city and assign patronage jobs, although the mayor says the “last seat at the pie counter” was taken days ago.The average Angeleno is more worried about getting even a bit of coal for the furnace. Conditions in Pasadena have been so dire that people are

TLC

2007-01-07T07:03:00.000-08:00

Jan. 7, 1907Long BeachElizabeth Mahler, a dainty brunette with a “sunny and jolly disposition,” is one of the bright spots at Long Beach Hospital. She had many male suitors and a few a months ago became engaged to a young man from Rialto whose last name was Kingman.In tending to the afflicted of Long Beach, however, she became well-acquainted with Lynn E. Babcock, the business partner of one of

Architectural Ramblings

2007-01-06T20:37:00.000-08:00

A Trip to Oxford AvenueHere's an interesting contrast: Oxford Avenue between Washington Boulevard and the Santa Monica Freeway and Oxford Avenue north of Washington. South of Washington, Oxford seems a bit wider and the land between the curb and the sidewalk is fairly generous. Not so north of Washington and the lots seem a bit smaller. Wide strips of land between the curb and the sidewalk (more

Engine Co. 10 Weeps

2007-01-06T07:27:00.000-08:00

Jan. 6, 1907Los AngelesThe Los Angeles Fireman’s Relief Association is staging a benefit for the young widow of ladderman Adolph Hermansen, who plunged out a window and fell five stories while fighting a spectacular blaze that destroyed the new Cohn and Goldwater Building at 216 S. Los Angeles St.According to some accounts, Hermansen was struck by a blast of water from a fire hose that knocked

Speaking of City Hall

2007-01-05T06:51:00.000-08:00

Here's one of my favorite views of Los Angeles: City Hall at night with the Lindbergh Beacon.

A Fatal Can of Beans

2007-01-05T06:36:00.000-08:00

Jan. 5, 1907Los AngelesCharles Edward Abbott, 23, of Artesia had lived his entire life in California without seeing snow except on faraway mountains and suggested that Mabel Carter, 28, and her father, Henry, 63, join him on a trip to Cucamonga Canyon.The Carters, who once owned a grocery story at 10th Street and Alvarado before moving to Ontario, and Abbott went to Cucamonga, expecting to

The Mayor Departs From His Prepared Remarks

2007-01-04T07:56:00.000-08:00

Jan. 4, 1907Los AngelesMayor-elect Arthur C. Harper stood before 200 members of the Municipal League and their friends in a dinner at Levy’s who were eager to hear what he planned for his incoming administration.Harper took his typewritten speech from his pocket, showed it to the crowd, and laid it aside. Harper said he changed his mind “and would wait a little longer before telling the public

For Sale on EBay

2007-01-03T07:09:00.000-08:00

“escalante_sandy” is offering an original mug shot of Elizabeth Short, with bidding starting at $50. The seller says this mug shot, among a lot of 23 photos, belonged to a retired detective and is not a reproduction, a claim that appears true.The most interesting thing about this copy of the mug shot (which was printed up in bulk and handed out freely during the investigation) is what’s written

Some Nice Boring Statistics

2007-01-02T08:22:00.000-08:00

Jan. 2, 1907Los Angeles Some diligent soul at The Times dug through the number of marriage licenses and divorces and put together a small story that traced the city’s growth through the increase in couples that joined or separated. This is the kind of information you could never find if you were looking for it; only through happenstance can you

Alive!

2007-01-01T08:00:00.000-08:00

Dec. 7, 1906-Dec. 22, 1906,BakersfieldJan. 1, 1907Los AngelesFor 15 days, miner Lindsay P. Hicks lay trapped by a cave-in that killed his five companions tunneling in a mountain above the Kern River for an Edison hydroelectric project. On the 16th day, crews finally cut through the last of the steel and scraped away rocks and debris to free the man who had been kept alive with gallons of milk

The Old Watchman

2006-12-31T08:28:00.000-08:00

Dec. 31, 1907Los AngelesHis name was W.H. Reynolds and the old watchman for E.H. Howard Contracting had laid out all night after being beaten up and thrown in the weeds by two robbers who said they were garbage men looking for the closest dump.A woman who saw the assault contacted the University Station and police searched all night in the area around Alameda Street and Washington Boulevard,

The Old Men in Blue

2006-12-30T07:30:00.000-08:00

Dec. 30, 1907Los AngelesJames Sullivan, 64, was a prisoner of the Confederates held at Belle Isle, Libby and Andersonville, where he and war correspondent Albert D. Richardson escaped by tunneling for three months with a spoon.Henry Russell, formerly of the 4th Cavalry, was held at Andersonville and Benjamin L. Gorsuch of the 1st Maryland Infantry was captured and sent to Belle Isle. James

The City Grows

2006-12-29T06:49:00.000-08:00

Dec. 29, 1907Los AngelesThe Times real estate pages feature homes under construction around Washington Boulevard west of Hobart Boulevard. “This section is just being built up with a splendid class of dwelling houses,” The Times says. “There are several car lines within a short distance, furnishing a rapid transportation service to the center of the city, and as the whole section is on a mesa, it

Architectural Ramblings

2006-12-28T12:59:00.000-08:00

Dec. 28, 2006Los AngelesAs promised, here are some photos of a few neighborhoods I visited recently.Views of South PasadenaFirst, a few shots of South Pasadena taken along Mission and El Centro to contrast with the views from 1907, then a visit to the 4600 block of South Wesley Avenue and the 100 block of West 52nd Street. Note the various states of preservation and decay, along with generous

A Gruesome First

2006-12-27T07:30:00.000-08:00

Dec. 27, 1907Henryetta, Okla., by the Associated PressA little more than a month after Oklahoma achieved statehood, James Garden became a wretched statistic: the first black to be lynched there.On Dec. 24, Garden went to see liveryman Albert Bates about renting a rig. When Bates refused, Garden accused him of racism, went across the street to get a gun, returned and shot Bates to death.By

Blunder the Double Eagle

2006-12-26T08:15:00.000-08:00

Dec. 26, 1907Pittsburgh, by direct wire to The TimesAs Christmas celebrations concluded at Knoxville Presbyterian Church, the congregation presented the Rev. W.A. Jones with $100 ($2,052.36 USD 2005). A banker who was among the worshipers made a point of getting freshly minted gold pieces to present to the pastor.But the $20 Double Eagles, newly redesigned by sculptor Augustus St.-Gaudens at the

Knocking at the Bar

2006-12-25T08:41:00.000-08:00

Dec. 25, 1907Los AngelesThere are precisely two African American attorneys in Los Angeles and their appearance against one another in court provides a bit of amusement for The Times. We can dispense with the news article and its unfortunate use of dialect rather quickly: Paul M. Nash was suing G.T. Crawford, an African American waiter, for attorneys fees after representing his wife in a divorce.

Merry Christmas, Gen. Otis

2006-12-24T07:35:00.000-08:00

Dec. 24, 1907Los AngelesLast-minute shopping, crowded post offices, trees decorated in hotel lobbies and toys given by Santa to the neediest children of the city; it was a Christmas season very much like today. And at Levy’s, 310 Times employees gathered to celebrate the most prosperous year in the newspaper’s history.Of course, as The Times noted, not everyone could attend because “the news must

On the Frontiers of Mental Health

2006-12-23T20:18:00.000-08:00

Dec. 23, 1907St. Louis, via Direct Wire to The TimesDr. Henry S. Atkins, superintendent of St. Louis’ insane asylum, has found that Christmas is a perfect time to test his theory that shopping cures insanity.Atkins and two attendants took 60 women from the asylum “into the world of department stores and the activities which all women enjoy,” The Times said.The patients and the two female

A Mystery Solved

2006-12-22T10:51:00.000-08:00

Dec. 22, 2006Los AngelesA quick (well, relatively) check of the Sanborn maps (online via the Los Angeles Public Library website) shows (Vol. 11, Sheet 1143) the intersection of McCollum and Berkeley. Alas, the impact crater was not recorded. Apparently all other variants were typos.Lmharnisch.comLmharnisch.blogspot.come-mail: lmharnisch (AT) gmail.com

Ecclesiastes 1:9

2006-12-22T07:01:00.000-08:00

Dec. 22, 1907Los AngelesAs Police Capt. Flammer approached Yuma, Ariz., to take custody of George White, he noticed the smoke of hundreds of campfires made by hobos burning old railroad ties.The hobos, Flammer learned, were avoiding Yuma because the marshal meted out hard justice to vagrants, as he warned in posters all over town. But Flammer also learned all those homeless men were heading for

South Hope

2006-12-21T08:01:00.000-08:00

Dec. 21, 1907Los AngelesLillian Poelk was new to Los Angeles, with no friends and little more than a job as a waitress that didn’t quite cover the rent of her room at 831 S. Hope.“While other girls were getting pretty things and preparing for a pleasant Christmas, she was shut up in a cheerless room,” The Times said.Poelk went to visit an acquaintance at a rooming house at 138 N. Spring St. On

OMG

2006-12-20T07:20:00.000-08:00

Dec. 20,1907Los AngelesMr. C.D. Roberts of 1900 E. Main was feeling a bit unwell. He had bad headaches, an irregular appetite, saw dark spots before his eyes and felt as if something in his stomach was alive.Not sure what to do, Roberts consulted the European Medical Experts at 745 S. Main St., where he was treated with the secret cure of “The Great Fer-Don.” “He was prevailed upon to try it,

It Wasn't His Fault

2006-12-19T07:54:00.000-08:00

Dec. 19, 1907Los AngelesWhat you have to understand first about George White is that he isn’t to blame. Oh he’ll take his prison sentence for robbing the Hot Rivet Saloon, 1006 N. Main St., but it’s not his fault; he fell in with the wrong man. He just hopes that when he’s released he won’t be turned over to the Army as a deserter.“The best and worst thing that ever happened to me was the Army,”

A Walk in L.A., 1951

2006-12-18T22:50:00.000-08:00

Whats in That Embalming Fluid?

2006-12-18T08:24:00.000-08:00

Dec. 18, 1907Los AngelesLos Angeles County Coroner Roy S. Lanterman was arrested on charges of being drunk and disorderly at the Navajo, a bordello run by Ida Hastings, 309 Ord St. Hastings called police, who arrested Lanterman.A Mills Seminary graduate nicknamed “Suicide Ida” because of her attempts to kill herself “every time she has a serious setback in her numerous ‘love’ affairs,” Hastings

Green Eyes

2006-12-16T07:53:00.000-08:00

Dec. 16, 1907Los AngelesAnd what ran on the sports pages in 1907? We certainly didn’t have the Lakers. How about a cat show at Chutes Park at Grand and Washington? I can just imagine the reaction of my distinguished colleagues on the other end of newsroom to this:“In the class of white neuters, Col. Dunham Jr. was awarded the first place, and Tootsie, owned by Mrs. E.H. Coane, was a very close

Adios Judy!

2006-12-16T06:41:00.000-08:00

Judith Regan, the publisher of Donald H. Wolfe’s “The Black Dahlia Files,” has found a way to make Page 1 of The Times: Get fired by HarperCollins. (The New York Times story is here.)I’m trying not to gloat. But it’s a challenge. As we used to say at my little old paper, The Arizona Daily Star, in a riff on the standard line in fire stories: “Champagne corks flew hundreds of feet into the air and

L.A. Rising

2006-12-15T08:22:00.000-08:00

Dec. 15, 1905Los AngelesAnybody who sets out to study the development of the city’s neighborhoods can expect to do lots of driving. My recent travels have taken me to an obscure area of South Los Angeles to look for 1907-era houses mentioned in the Dec. 8 issue of The Times: one in the vicinity of 4615 Wesley Ave. and another around 124 W. 52nd St. (Bonus fact: Broadway in that area used to be