Monthly Archives: June 2012

On the evening of March 11, 1935, Rev. Father Charles E. Coughlin, the “radio priest”, gave a “stirring speech.” The speech was in response to a denunciation of Father Coughlin by General Hugh S. Johnson. General Johnson had also denounced … Continue reading →

Yochki Churgin’s romance with Midget Louis Schwartzman was a weed that grew in the tense atmosphere of New York City’s Lower East Side. Yochki, an East Side “Helen of Troy”, had been born in Russia. While yet a babe, her … Continue reading →

A “wall of silence” surrounds gang warfare on New York City’s East Side, reported The Bradford Era newspaper on October 17, 1927. And so, police could get no talk about who had killed “Little Augie” (Jacob Orgen), notorious gang chieftain. … Continue reading →

Call it dumb, call it cleverAh, but you can get odds foreverThat the guy’s only doing it for some dollsome doll, some dollThe guy’s only doing it for some doll! (From “Guys and Dolls”, a Broadway musical) Edna Churgin (alias … Continue reading →

Preliminary reports had tied the shooting of Jack Kaplan, alias “Kid Dropper”, to the notorious Hudson Dusters gang. New information has since then come to light, tending to turn the blame away from the Hudson Dusters. New York Gunmen Arm … Continue reading →

“Kid Dropper” had an elderly father who lived in the Bronx. Each night the old man waited by the telephone, unable to sleep until someone would call and say, “Still alive.” In this way he would know that his son, … Continue reading →

The British bulldog had tried to encroach upon Venezuelan territory, but President Grover Cleveland sent the yapping cur fleeing back to its doghouse. Startled by such defiance from the American oafs, the fancy lads (the British aristocracy and their minions) … Continue reading →

From the New York World newspaper, June 4, 1901: “A Distinction Without A Difference” Says Mr. Siegfried: “When I told Mr. McKinley I was aware that he was a pronounced protectionist, he replied: ‘There you are not quite correct. I … Continue reading →

President Abraham Lincoln had promised Mary Ferguson, “While there is a God and an American country you will never starve.” Mary Ferguson, known familiarly as Mother Ferguson, had “nursed a thousand soldiers during the civil war. She was in 445 … Continue reading →

The fancy lads (the British aristocracy and their sycophants) were stirring up trouble again, this time over a border between Venezuela and British Guyana. But President Grover Cleveland (image shown) soon put the British bulldog back in the doghouse. In … Continue reading →