Halloween 2021 -- October 31, 2021

coverbrowser.com

Happy Halloween, everyone. The 31-October-1942 cover of The New Yorker features a witch who bears a certain resemblance to Adolph Hitler getting caught in an air raid defense spotlight.

COVID-19, Vaccine, Masks, Church, Baseball and School -- October 30, 2021

nytimes.com

New cases and deaths are spiking in the south and parts of the Mid West, where anti-vaccine mania is at its highest.

The 5pm Saturday mass at Good Shepherd Church in Pacifica still has low turnout. I did the census during October.

The Giants had the best record in the division, beating the Dodgers by one game, but went on to lose the National League Division Series.

I am going to start volunteering to teach coding to Third Graders at Good Shepherd School in Pacifica.

National Cat Day, 2021 -- October 29, 2021

 Tigerlily has instructed me to wish everyone a happy National Cat Day.

The Surrendered Zeppelins -- October 27, 2021

Flight, 27-January-1921

As part of war reparations, Germany surrendered two Zeppelins, L.64 (LZ.109) and L.71 (LZ.113).

Mort Sahl, RIP -- October 26, 2021

famousfix.com

Mort Sahl has died. Lots of people talked about him when I was a kid, but I didn't really get to hear him except perhaps on Laugh-In. Herb Caen mentioned him once in a while. I liked his commentary when I finally got to hear it, but he went over the brink about the Warren Report. He influenced a lot of comics.

Rain/Baseball -- October 25, 2021

lucywho.com

We had a near-record rainstorm Saturday night and Sunday until early afternoon. We decided to attend mass by watching the live feed on YouTube. There was also a strong wind. The power went out about 1:30pm and stayed out until about 6:30pm. The Dodgers knocked the Giants out of the postseason, but the Braves defeated the Dodgers.

New Cat #92 -- October 25, 2021

Halloween is coming. 

I took the photo on 07-October-2021.

The Tin Louse -- October 23, 2021

Washington Times, 27-October-1921

I don't think I have ever seen the Model T Ford referred to as the "Tin Louse."

"HOPEFUL" A LITTLE OFF.

"Hopeful" writes that there will be no autos in Heaven. I take it that "Hopeful" is not a Bible student, or he would know that there will be at least one Ford in Heaven.

The Scripture says that "Elijah ascended to Heaven on high." Of course, a Ford is the only car that could make it on high, so the writer takes it for granted that the "tin louse" will be parked somewhere within the pearly gates.

The "devil" will have his parking troubles because there are thousands of owners of the "tin louse" that have told it to go there.

Bierstadt --- Sunset over the River -- October 21, 2021

hagginmuseum.org

I have always enjoyed the paintings of Albert Bierstadt. He painted "Sunset over the River," which is owned by the James Ben Ali Haggin (love his name) Museum in Stockton. The Haggin has the largest museum collection of Bierstadt paintings.

Dillin's Los Angeles Record Breakers -- October 19, 2021

Brownsville Herald, 28-October-1928

I have to do some research about Dillin's Jazz Band of/at the Coast or Dillin's Los Angeles Record Breakers. They appear to have just returned from a sojurn in Mexico.

Brownsville Herald, 28-October-1928

Washington Times, 27-October-1921

A Blooming Good Drink -- October 19, 2021

Americus Times-Recorder, 11-October-1921

I have never had a Cherry Blossoms soda, but it sounds good to me.

Colin Powell, RIP -- October 18, 2021

listal.com

Four-star General Colin Powell has died of COVID-19; he had been treated for cancer, which weakened his immune system. He served in the US Army during the Vietnam War, and served as the first person of color to be Chairman of the Joint Chiefs during the Persian Gulf War. President George W Bush appointed him as the first person of color to serve as Secretary of State. I admired him and thought he might become our first African-American president. I lost some of my admiration when he made the speech before the UN describing Sadaam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction. We later learned that they did not exist. Despite that, I was grateful when he spoke out against Donald Trump.

Good Things From 9 Sun-Shiny Climes -- October 17, 2021

Imperial Valley Press, 14-October-1921

The Imperial Valley is known for being intolerably hot, although things tend to cool off a bit in October. I'll bet people bought lots of Coca-Cola.

Brookhaven Semi-Weekly Leader, 05-October-1921

'Black Brute' Proves To Be White Moron -- October 15, 2021

Chicago Whip, 29-October-1921

The best title I have seen in years. The Chicago Whip was an African-American owned newspaper.

‘Black Brute'

Proves To Be

White Moron

LEXINGTON, Ky., Oct. 29. — After the community had been stirred up with inflammatory headlines in local newspapers and open predictions of a lynching had been circulated, it was learned here that the “Black Brute” who assaulted a young white girl, was none other than a fifty-five-year-old white man, prominent in business circles in the city.

The man, whose name is suppressed, has been taken to Frankfort on order of Circuit Judge R. C. Stoll.

After a thorough grilling the girl admitted that the man who assaulted her was a white man, saying that she had placed the blame on a black man because her assailant had threatened her with death if she exposed him. In the meantime over fifty suspects had been arrested, some of them narrowly escaping lynching.

The crime was discovered by the girl's mother when she noted the condition of her clothing.

16 Lost in Sea Collision -- October 13, 2021

Albuquerque Morning Journal, 10-October-1921

The steamer SS Rowan was carrying passengers from Glasgow to Dublin. Among the passengers were the members of Will Marion Cooke's Southern Syncopated Orchestra, which had been touring Europe since 1921. Sidney Bechet was a member of the orchestra. When the surviving musicians returned to Glasgow, theaters held benefits for them so they could buy new instruments. Note some of the other featured stories:
-- The Giants beat the Yankees 4-2 to tie the World Series at two games each. The Giants went on to win the series.
-- The 1921 British Mount Everest reconnaissance expedition found a route that could be exploited in the future to reach the top of the mountain.
-- "Mistake Doctor For a Bear; Is Shot, Wounded"

STEAMER ROWAN

SINKS IN NORTH

CHANNEL AFTER

A DOUBLE CRASH

Laird Line Vessel Collides

With the West Camak

and Is Rammed By a Vessel

Going to Her Rescue.

PASSENGERS AND CREW

LIST NUMBERED 93

Aboard the Sunken Ship

Was the American Southern

Syncopated Orchestra, Composed of Negroes.

(By The Associated Press)
Belfast, Oct. 9 (by the Associated Press.) -- Damaged by one vessel in a dense fog off the southwest coast of Scotland and then sunk by another coming to its aid, was the fate early this morning of the Laird Line steamer Rowan, plying between Glasgow and Dublin. Thirteen of the Rowan's crew and three passengers are missing. Two passengers died after being rescued by vessels which responded to the wireless S. O. S. call.

An official statement says that the Rowan carried ninety-three persons, including the crew, seventy-seven or whom are accounted for by the four vessels which went to the Rowan's assistance.

Aboard the Rowan was the American Southern Syncopated orchestra, composed largely of colored players, who had been touring this side of the water since 1919.

One of the men who died after being taken out of the sea was Pete Robinson, the drummer of the orchestra.

The accident was due to a double collision in the North Channel, off Corsewall Point. The Rowan first collided with the American steamer West Camak, both of them being damaged. The West Camak stood by with forepeak full of water, meanwhile sending out wireless calls for aid. The Clan Liner, Clan Malcom, responded but in the confusion due to the heavy fog ran into the disabled Rowan, which sank immediately.

The West Camak helped in the rescue work, afterward putting into Glasgow with twenty-six survivors. Captain Donald Brown, of Glasgow, is reported to have gone down with the Rowan. Three other Vessels also answered the call and completed the work of rescue, as far as was possible. The Clan Malcolm, which rammed the Rowan amidships, was damaged slightly.

The Syncopated orchestra, which went to London in June, 1919, gave performances there and vicinity until two months ago, when they made a tour of Scotland.

STEAMER WEST CAMAK

LEFT PORTLAND AUG. 3

Portland. Ore., Oct. 9. -- The steamer West Camak was in the service of the European-Pacific line, operating between ports on the Pacific coast and Europe She left here August 3 last and took on grain and a general cargo at several other Pacific ports before continuing her voyage to Liverpool and Glasgow.

WIRELESS CALLS BRING

CLAN LINER TO RESCUE

Dublin, Oct. 9. -- Eighteen members of an American "syncopated orchestra" are reported to bo missing as a result of the sinking of the Laird line steamer Rowan off the southwest coast of Scotland in collision with the American steamer West Camak.

The passengers and crew of the Rowan numbered 140, Although details are lacking, it is known that seventy-three of this number were rescued.

The accident was due to a double collision in the North channel off Corsewall Point early this morning, the Rowan first colliding with the West Camak, which she damaged badly.

Happy (Once Was) Columbus Day, 2021 -- October 12, 2021

I wonder if Columbus Day will get a new name. 

Comic Book -- The House of Mystery -- October 11, 2021

coverbrowser.com

Halloween is coming.

DC published the horror anthology The House of Mystery for many years. I read it for a while, but not when DC was pushing "Dollar Comics." Trick or treaters have come to a house that is a little spookier than I liked.

The Great Chicago Fire Day Three, 150 Years -- October 10, 2021

Rock Island Argus, 11-October-1871

150 years ago today, on 09-October-1871, the Great Chicago Fire continued to rage for a third day. The fire burned for three days and killed at least 300 people. (Spoiler Alert) Mrs O'Leary's cow did not start it. 

VERY LATEST

BY TELEGRAPH.

4 O'Clock P. M.

THE CHICAGO DISASTER!

England Sympathizes and

Assists !

UNEXAMPLED DONATIONS

EVERYWHERE

St. Louis will give Half

a Million!

PROCLAMATIONS Of THE

GOVERNORS!

The Insurance Companies all

Right!

CHEERING MANIFESTATIONS

EXTRAORDINARY LIBERALITY !

HARROWING DETAILS !

Five Hundred Soldiers on

Duty !

LOSS $300,000,000 ! LOSS OF LIFE

[Reported Expressly for the Argus.]

Leavenworth, Oct. 10. -- The printers give $100 for Chicago. A train load of provisions on the way.

Kansas City, Oct. 10. -- Liberal subscriptions for Chicago.

New York, Oct. 10. -- The Governor has issued a proclamation urging instant relief for Chicago. All the cities are rapidly acting. Brooklyn has sent $100,000. Buffalo gives $107,000.

Boston Oct. 10. -- Boston gives $100,000 to Chicago.

London, England, Oct. 10. -- Intense excitement about Chicago. Large subscriptions being raised. Morgan and Co., bankers, give $5,000.

New York, Oct. 10. -- At a meeting of the Germania, Hanover, Niagara and Republic insurance companies, composing the Underwriters' agency of New York, today, preparations were made to pay immediately upon adjustment, all losses incurred in Chicago, after doing which the capital of all the companies will remain unimpaired. Special meeting of the Chamber of Commerce, called to act in reference to the Chicago sufferers, was largely attended. Immediately upon calling the meeting to order by Mr. Opdyke, Fiske and Hatch handed the chairman a check for $l0,000. The following firms gave $10,000 each: Henry Slews and Co., Jay Cook and Co., Illinois Railroad Company. One hundred persons were appointed to collect subscriptions.

The gold room gives $5,000. Certain merchants give $l3,000. Everybody is giving freely, -- Masonic lodges, mechanic associations -- everybody.

St. Louis, Oct 10. -- St. Louis has given $70,000, and intends to give half a million dollars to Chicago.

Des Moines, Oct 10. -- The governor of Iowa appeals to all the people of the state to contribute money for Chicago.

Chicago, Oct 10. -- Midnight. -- The arrival of firemen and engines from Milwaukee, St. Louis and other cities has apparently restored confidence. The Cincinnati men arrived this morning with four engines, three from that city and one from Dayton. There was inexpressible pleasure in seeing these experienced men go right to work in a business way, where work was most needed. They are playing on coal piles to save whatever of fuel is possible and prevent a further spread of the flames. The vast plain is covered with people wandering about and seeing the evidence of a wealth that has completely vanished in flames and smoke. Few business men with some nerve are starting houses for business on the West side. Rooms that rented last week for fifty dollars now readily command five thousand. There are not many of these but enough to afford a nucleus for business. The newspapers will be started again in a few days or a week. Hon. Joseph Medill, of the Tribune, who is one of the heaviest sufferers succeeded yesterday in leasing a building on Washington street, at the tunnel. He also purchased two single cylinder presses used in a job office on the West side and has telegraphed east for paper and type, there being nothing left here. Mr. Storey of the Times, will erect a rough one story building and begin to issue his paper as soon as material can be procured. The Journal is provided for the west side. The Post, Republican and Staat Zeitung will also arrange for business as soon as practicable, but everything must come from elsewhere as there is nothing left from the business.

Throughout the day yesterday a renewal of the fire on the West side was looked for and change of five degrees in the direction of the wind at any time would have told that the result there would literally have been no refuge for any one. Every one had their clothing packed ready to start for the prairie at any moment. At sundown the wind lulled and at three o'clock this morning the rain so fervently prayed for came. It did not fall long, but the roofs of the houses and the ground have been wet so that now it is possible to have fire to cook food for the masses.

A meeting of citizens was held in the First Congregational Church, on West Washington street, which was continued through the night. Measures were concerted to protect what property was left and also to provide for the homeless. Richard and Charles Craine, of the Northwestern Manufacturing company contrived a plan, which is being put into execution, for providing water in case of the fire breaking out again. The machinery of their works is being used for pumping water from the river. Fifteen hundred citizens were sworn in last night as extra policemen, and the Secretary of War has authorized Gen. Sheridan to employ all available troops to guard, and issue a hundred thousand rations.

Five hundred soldiers are on duty. This precaution is necessary, for as remarkable as it may seem, there were fiends who still sought to extend the disaster. Two men who were caught in the act of firing houses on the West Side were seized and immediately hung to lamp posts. One was caught on Twelfth street near the river, and the other three miles out on Clayborne avenue.

Chicago, Oct 11, 2:30 a. m. -- A careful survey Of insurances to-day shows that there were policies on the property destroyed to the amount of over two hundred million dollars. Add another hundred million to this sum and a fair estimate can be reached of the loss. All the leading merchants who have been seen express their determination to resume business at once. This includes the heavy houses of John V. Farwell, Field, Leiter and Co., Sprague, Warner and Co., and others.

In the City there it no water except what is gotten from the lake. Very grave fears of outrages by thieves on the West Side are felt. General Sheridan, who has been a hard worker all through the fire, is still asking for troops from different points, to keep order. All business and work is suspended and every one it intent on securing, first something to eat, next shelter.

The suffering on the North Side is heart-rending. Men, women and children -- fifty thousand of them -- huddled together like so many wild animals ; and, in another place, seventeen thousand Germans and Irish praying for relief ; helpless children asking for bread ; heart-broken parents, who know not which way to turn or what to say, nothing to do but to await the distribution of supplies which at best must be a slow proceeding, as there are parts of the burnt districts over which it is almost impossible to travel. Women in the pains of child-birth, and patients who have been aroused from beds of sickness to save lives that at best were nearly spent -- all exposed to the rain of last night and the cold, raw winds of today. Several deaths have occurred in Lincoln Park, and three women have brought children into the world only to die. There are people who, in the bitterness of their souls, ascribe the calamity to God's judgment. A German said to me: "This is a second Sodom and Gomorrah, and the curse is on it." Another night must be spent in Lincoln Park and the brick fields of Division street, and yet another and another. Each train and extra are loaded to their fullest capacity, taking people away who, in many instances, have no place to go to, yet can't stay here ; and every train is obliged to leave five times as many as it takes.

The Great Chicago Fire Day Two, 150 Years -- October 9, 2021

Rock Island Argus, 09-October-1871

150 years ago today, on 09-October-1871, the Great Chicago Fire continued to rage for a second day. It burned for three days and killed at least 300 people. (Spoiler Alert) Mrs O'Leary's cow did not start it. 

VERY LATEST

BY TELEGRAPH.

4 O'Clock P. M.

THE CHICAGO DISASTER!

HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS LOST!

Tens of Thousands

Homeless!

GENERAL DESTITUTION.

SOME FURTHER

DETAILS!

LOSS OF LIFE

GENERAL SUMMARY!

Market Reports.

(Reported Expressly for the ARGUS.)
The following comes by way of St. Louis :
CHICAGO, Oct. 9, MONDAY Noon. -- The work of construction goes on with relentless fury. From Harrison street south to Division north, and from River, four miles long by one wide, the flames have swept everything before them. It is estimated at least 100,000 people are homeless and in a destitute condition. The streets are lined with such household goods as have been saved from destruction. Most generous offers of assistance in food are received from every city and town possible by telegraph. The Mayor has responded to several offers asking that cooked food be sent as soon as possible. Firemen are on their way here from Cincinnati, St. Louis and other cities. The water works are completely destroyed. They are blowing up buildings in the line of the fire, attempting to arrest its progress.

LATER. -- It is now believed that the spread of the fire southward has been stayed at Harrison street, but on the North Side there is no diminution. The entire division is evidently doomed to utter destruction. There are grave fears that the flames may spread to the west of the north branch of the river, and the inhabitants on the streets nearest the river are already moving to places of supposed safety.

The Western Union Telegraph Co. have now six wires working east and south, and running into a temporary office corner of State and Sixteenth streets.

The Northwestern Railroad is running trains on both its branches, which are crowded with fleeing citizens. It is now positively asserted by some that the water works are still intact, but the water has been shut off from the south and west on account of the quantity being used on the North Side.

CHICAGO, via CLINTON, Oct. 9, 8 p. m. -- The fire is reported extending south of Harrison street.

This looks as if the splendid residences on the Avenues may share the fate of the business houses of the money kings.

CHICAGO, Oct. 9, 9;30 p. m. -- The fire is still raging up as far as Lincoln Park, and reported still farther than that. The only building that could be seen between the river and lake from Harrison street on the south was the post office -- all others for six miles north have fallen to the ground. All the hotels, the Great Central Depot, and all the elevators, and the water works on the North Side, are destroyed. All the prisoners in the Court House jail were burned.

9 p. m. -- It is reported that they have about subdued the flames near Lincoln Park.

9:35 p. m. -- About two-thirds of the city is burned. Not a hotel or depot left. Everything is burned to the ground that was in the way of the fire. All the daily papers are burned out. The south and west part of the city is standing, but it is impossible to say how long it will stand. The north part of the city burnt to the ground. If the wind changes it will clean the rest, The water is played out, and the engines gone home. There is not a business house standing down town. It has burned down to the lake for four miles,, All is standing south of Twelfth street. The rest is gone.

Chicago, Midnight.

The simple facts that the great city of Chicago is destroyed, that hundreds of millions of active capital have been ruined, and that nearly one third of the inhabitants are homeless, are enough. Any attempt to embellish would be but mockery, as this awful day closes. Thousands of anxious eyes watch the dense clouds of smoke which roll over the burnt districts with such evident force that a sudden change of wind may fan the flames. There is, however, little cause for apprehension, and reinforcements of firemen from other cities are constantly arriving.

Col. J. S. Wilson, Telegraph Superintendent, is in receipt of dispatches from the leading cities, announcing that aid is being forwarded for the sufferers. The mayor of St. Louis telegraphs that $70,000 have been subscribed by the merchants there. Cincinnati promises $100,000, and Cleveland is proportionately generous. All this and a great deal more will be needed to relieve the immediate pressing wants.

About three-fourths of the United States mails were saved, and taken possession of by Col. Wood, of the post-office service.

STOCK YARDS DEPOT, Oct. 10 2 a. m. -- The fire it still burning on the North side.

Robbers, pick pockets, and villains of all descriptions are flocking to the city from all parts of the United States, and are plundering and pillaging the unfortunate citizens without mercy.

Giants Win First Game of NLDS -- October 8, 2021

The Giants won the first game of the National League Division Series. Logan Webb pitched 7 2/3s and Tyler Roger and Camilo Duval finished to shut out the Dodgers, 4-0. Buster Posey hit a home run. #SFGiants #BeatLA

The Great Chicago Fire Day One, 150 Years -- October 8, 2021

Rock Island Argus, 08-October-1871

150 years ago today, on 08-October-1871, a fire broke out in Chicago. It burned for three days and killed at least 300 people. (spoiler alert) Mrs O'Leary's cow did not start it. 

THE GREAT CHICAGO

FIRE.

SPECIAL DISPACHES TO THE

ARGUS.

500 Prisoners Perish !

Chicago Totally

destroyed.

Chicago, Monday Morning, 8 o'clock

The conflagration still rages with unabated violence. Our citizens begin to despair. The water in the plugs gave out last night, and we are now utterly helpless. A kind of whirlwind has been created by the flames, which carries masses of burning material high in the air, and scatter them broadcast over the city. A dense column of smoke rise to an immense height. The spectacle is one indeed terrible to contemplate.

The fire streamed across the river at daylight, and at this data has consumed all that part of the city contiguous to Van Buren street. The devastation is beyond calculation. A gale from the lake is still blowing, setting all human efforts at defiance. Four of the steamers have blown up, and only six are left. Assistance is expected from the fire department of Milwaukee and other points.

The best part of the city has been laid in ashes. The Sherman House, Briggs House Metropolitan Hotel, Wood's Museum, Tremont House, and Merchant's Insurance Company's Building, and other splendid structures are in ruins. It is reported that the office of the Times, Tribune, Post, and Republican are destroyed. This dispatch comes from the Union Stock Yards, and it is impossible to distinguish fact from rumour, but the probabilities are that all these offices are burned. The best of the city is irretrievably gone. All the splendid residences along Wabash and Michigan Avenues are in danger. A perfect panic prevails.

It is also reported from the city that the Brunswick Billiard Hall, Board of Trade Building, Bryan Hall, Stein's Bazaar, Bryant and Stratum's Business College, and all contiguous establishments are gone. From the location of the fire this is doubtless true.

Monday Morning, 9:30 o'clock. -- It is rumored that everything has been swept clean from Polk street north to Lincoln Park. The beautiful stone depot building of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific and the Michigan Southern roads, is gone, as well as all the property adjacent. The city telegraph office is burned, and all communication cut off with St. Louis and eastern points. In fact, Rock Island is about the only point to the westward which can be reached, and that only by way of the Union Stock yards, several miles from the scene.

LaSalle street is strewn in ashes. The finest insurance buildings in the city are destroyed. Coal yards and elevators are destroyed by the score. The fire still rages. A thousand alarming rumors prevail. The post office is gone.

The distance from Polk street to Lincoln Park is about six miles reported destroyed. May be an exaggeration.

Chicago, Monday, 10 a. m. -- All Chicago is on fire. The Western Union, Great Western, Atlantic and Pacific, and Pacific and Atlantic telegraph offices were totally destroyed. The Court House, Shermam Briggs, and Tremont House, Post Office Board of Trade Office, C, R. I. and P. Railroad Depot, Pacific Hotel. Field, Leiter and Co., J. V. Farwell, and in fact everybody is burnt out. All the city banks are burned, and in fact all the business part of the city and the fire is still raging. The burnt district reaches from about 12th street north, and from Canal street, on the west side, to the lake. The business part of the city is entirely gone, and the fire is still raging. The firemen are exhausted; water has given out; business entirely suspended.

Union Stock Yards, 11 a. m. -- When the steamer "Long John" blew up, twelve persons are said to have been killed. The "Fire Queen" was also blown up. The engine on the water works broke down, thus cutting off the supply. The origin of this vast conflagration is presumed to have been accidental.

VERY LATEST.

Union Stock Yard Monday, 1,15 P. M. -- Chicago is wiped out of existence. The whole city is in ashes. Every particle of the city proper is gone. All of the west side is burnt except the suburbs. All of the south side is destroyed except below Fourteenth street. All of the north side is gone. The scene beggars description. Many persons must have been killed by falling buildings and many have no doubt perished in the flames. What our great population will do, thus rendered homeless, is a question.

Union Stock Yards, 2 30 p. m. -- The burnt district extends from Halstead Street on the south, and straight north to Lincoln Park, leaving but a narrow strip unburnt around the Great Central depot at the foot of Lake street.

Union Stock Yards, 4 p. m. -- The Post Office building is the only one left standing on the south side between Harrison street and Lincoln Park, a distance of six or seven miles. At three, o'clock the sea of fire passed entirely through the Park, and swept into the woods beyond. A low rolling wooded country stretches on from there to British America for a distance of fifteen hundred miles. The fire is still raging along Harrison street. The wind is from the south-east. Should it change to the North or north-east, what little is left of the city would soon go.

The most horrible fact connected with the catastrophe, is that of the burning to death of from three hundred and fifty to five hundred prisoners in the Bridewell Prison last night. It was found impossible to rescue them.

Mr. Guild, of Rock Island, keeping the La Clede House, was burnt out. Crosby's Opera House, the Adam House, the Illinois Central Depot and elevator, the C., B. and Q. general office, and the Union depot at the foot of Clark street, are all in ashes.

Pulp -- Terror Tales -- October 7, 2021

coverbrowser.com

Halloween is coming.

Let's review this cover of Terror Tales:
-- Weird lettering in title, Check.
-- scary faces in the shadows, ... Check.
-- bizarrely-shaped knife, ... Check.
-- dripping with blood,...   Check.
-- and scantily clad woman. Check.

This should work.

Toonerville Trolley -- Anyone Not Taking Cover When He Goes By Is Pretty Certain To Get Soaked -- October 5, 2021

Perth Amboy Evening News, 04-October-1921

I love Fontaine Fox's The Toonerville Trolley That Meets All the Trains.

Motion Picture Classic, June, 1923

There was a popular series of live-action Toonerville Folks two reel movies. Dan Mason played The Skipper. Here we see him with Toonerville creator Fontaine Fox. 

   

Philadelphia Evening Public Ledger, 05-April-1921

Feast of Saint Francis, 2021 -- October 4, 2021

Giotto's fresco of the death of Saint Francis.

"Where there is charity and wisdom, there is neither fear nor ignorance."

Barney Oldfield Dies -- October 4, 2021

Washington Evening Star, 05-October-1946

Barney Oldfield was a pioneering race car driver. The first time he drove a car was when he drove Henry Ford's 999 in a race in 1902. He died 75 years ago today, on 04-October-1946. 

Barney Oldfield, 68, Famous

As Auto Racing Driver, Dies

Heart Attack Fatal;

Was First to Race

At Mile a Minute

(From. Yesterday’s Last Edition.)
By the Associated Press

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., Oct. 4.-- Barney Oldfield, former famous automobile racing driver, died of a heart attack at his home here today. He was 68 last January. His wife, Mrs. Bessie Oldfield, found him dead in bed this morning. She reported he was alive and apparently well when she arose and left the room to get the morning paper. When she returned a few minutes later, she was unable to arouse him.

Friends said the former speed driver complained yesterday of a pain in the back of his neck but refused to have a doctor called, saying he would visit his physician today.

His widow and their adopted daughter, Mrs. Betty Kelly of Beverly Hills, survive him.

First Mile-a-Minute Driver.

There were many drivers who surpassed the marks established by Mr. Oldfield, but none whose fame was more enduring.

It was something more than the fact Oldfield was the first automobile racing driver; the first man to drive a car around a dirt race track at a speed of a mile a minute and first in many other phases of the development of automobile racing that fixed him in the mind of America’s motorists as the symbol of the "roaring road."

Oldfield was described -- with few to challenge the statement -- as the "greatest race driver of all time and the most picturesque figure the speed game has produced."

Mr. Oldfield began racing in 1902, when automobiles were "made" rather than "produced." Quantity production at the time was still a somewhat vague dream of Henry Ford. It was Ford who built the first racer used by Mr. Oldfield. Mr. Oldfield retired in 1918, scarred by many accidents, the idol of automobile racing enthusiasts. Berna Eli Oldfield, as he was christened, was born in Wauseon, Ohio, January 29, 1878. He went to Detroit originally as a bicycle rider.

Mr. Oldfield was married four times. His last marriage was in San Diego, Calif., December 29, 1926, when Huda R. Braden of Beverly Hills became his wife. He divorced her in 1945 and remarried his second wife.

After his retirement in 1918, Mr. Oldfield headed a tire manufacturing company bearing his name. Later he became connected with a Detroit investment house and just before the business crash of 1929 was estimated to possess a fortune of around $250,000.

After the crash he became associated with a Detroit automobile manufacturing company, with Billy Arnold, youthful speed star of the race tracks, as his assistant. Strangely enough, the veteran dare-devil of the unbanked dirt tracks was given the title of "highway safety adviser," his duties being to serve as adviser on safety features of automobiles.

Here is Barney Oldfield at the controls of the Ford 999. He was a bicycle racer who had never driven an automobile before he drove 999 in a race. 999 was named after a famous New York Central locomotive.

Giants Win the Division -- October 3, 2021

 

The Giants beat the Padres 11-4 and won the National League West championship. They won 107 games, a franchise record. 

Krazy Kat -- Krazy Stands Corrected -- October 3, 2021

Washington Times, 24-October-1921

I love George Herriman's Krazy Kat. Krazy Kat has fun with pronouns. Be sure to click on the image to see a larger version.

Washington Times, 03-June-1918

October, 2021 Version of the Cable Car Home Page -- October 1, 2021

 

The Cable Car Home Page will be 25 years old in November.

I just put the October, 2021 version of my Cable Car Home Page on the server:
http://www.cable-car-guy.com/

It includes some new items:
1. Picture of the Month: A map of the Glasgow District Subway, from "Glasgow District Subway", a December 4, 1896 Engineering Magazine article and several new photographs.
2. Added News items about the retirement of Byron Cobb. passing of Carl Payne and Melvin Van Peebles. Also about the extended shutdown caused by an electrical fire.

Ten years ago this month (October, 2011):
1. The picture of the month: A station of the cable-operated Glasgow District Subway. (Source: "Glasgow District Subway", Cassier's Magazine, October, 1898).
2. On the Cable Car Lines in the UK page: An updated article on the Glasgow District Subway, including an 1898 Cassier's Magazine article, The Glasgow District Subway
3. On the Cable Car Models page: A Garden Scale California Street cable car at the 2011 Ardenwood Rail Fair
3. Added News item about talking to schoolkids

Twenty years ago this quarter (Spring, 2001):
1. Picture of the Quarter: Retired Glasgow Subway cars
2. Add articles on Glasgow's Glasgow District Subway and the Liverpool United Tramways to the Cable Car Lines in the UK page.
3. Add Selected articles from Manufacturer and Builder Magazine (1890-1899) to the Miscellany page.
4. Update Other California Cities and Los Angles Area Funiculars pages. Change images to thumbnails. Added more images of Second Street Cable Railway and Knott's Berry Farm cable cars.
5. Added more images of the Fillmore Hill Counterbalance, the Telegraph Hill Railroad, and the California/Powell signal tower to the San Francisco page.
6. Bob Murphy provided photographs of the North Melbourne Winding House, which I added to the Melbourne article.
7. Added article on Charles Smallwood to the Who page.
8. Reorganize Newspaper section of the bibliography by subject.

Coming in November, 2021: On the Cable Car Lines in the UK page: On the Why do I Maintain This Site? page: The Cable Car Home Page turns 25 years old

150 years ago this month (October, 1971):
October 08 - The Great Chicago Fire broke out.

125 years ago this month (October, 1896):
October 04 - The Druid Hill Avenue line of the Baltimore Traction Company was converted to electric traction

100 years ago this month (October, 1921):
October 30 - Engineer Howard C Holmes, who designed and built the Ferries and Cliff House Railway and other cable lines, died

The Cable Car Home Page now has a Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/CableCarHomePage/

Joe Thompson
The Cable Car Home Page (updated 01-October-2021)
http://www.cable-car-guy.com/
San Francisco Bay Ferryboats (updated 31-January-2020)
http://www.cable-car-guy.com/ferry/
Park Trains and Tourist Trains (updated 31-August-2021)
http://www.cable-car-guy.com/ptrain/
The Pneumatic Rolling-Sphere Carrier Delusion (updated spasmodically)
http://cablecarguy.blogspot.com
The Big V Riot Squad (new blog)
http://bigvriotsquad.blogspot.com/