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SENTENCED TO BE LUTHER BURBANK’S PAL

Jeff Elliott Leave a comment

A judge in 1911 sentenced a juvenile delinquent to live and study with Luther Burbank. Amazing? Yes. True? No, but it was such a cracking good yarn that newspapers nationwide published the story (often on the front page) even after it was revealed to be untrue.

The item first appeared on March 22 in the Press Democrat and San Francisco Call (it was probably also in many others around the state, but only a very small percentage of historical newspapers are available online). Datelined the day before from Los Angeles, it reported that Burbank had invited Donald Miller, a 15-year-old in trouble for “truancy,” to live with him indefinitely and study botany. Judge Wilbur of the Los Angeles juvenile court was quoted as saying it was the best possible sentence that could be imposed on the boy.

The next day the PD asked Burbank if the story was true and if the young man would be the “subject of a series of experiments at Burbank’s hands, in order to cure him of his tendency to run away from school.” Burbank replied, “I am not conducting a conservatory for bad boys…I have not undertaken and will not undertake any experiments upon him or upon any other boy. I am engaged in rearing plants, not children.”

“The whole story is just somebody’s yarn,” said Burbank, explaining that he knew the boy’s grandfather many years ago. “So when I was asked if I would either give him employment or find him work with some one else, I said I would do it.”

Thus within 24 hours, the tale was firmly debunked; Burbank had simply written that he was willing to help find work for a relative of old family friends, and either Judge Curtis D. Wilbur or other officers of the Los Angeles juvenile court misunderstood Burbank’s letter. And the idea wasn’t completely far fetched; while Burbank would never have offered to take the boy under his wing as an apprentice, he certainly did employ teenagers. In a 1967 TV documentary, Hilliard Comstock described working for Burbank shortly after his family arrived in Santa Rosa (skip forward to 13:35).

The same day Burbank’s denial was in the Press Democrat, an enhanced version of the original story began appearing in papers around the country. Donald Miller was no longer to be simply living and studying with Burbank; now the boy was being granted “a golden opportunity to become famous by becoming a specimen for Luther Burbank,” as if he were about to step into the magical world of Willy Wonka:

…After a mass of evidence had shown the boy to be confirmed as a truant, a letter from Mr. Burbank was read. The plant wizard, according to the letter, believes that he can cure the boy of truancy….Mr. Burbank did not detail the method of treatment that he will use, but it is understood that the boy will be given sunshine, a reasonable amount of work, several hours play a day, a course in botany–and at least an hour’s walk through the wonderful garden of Santa Rosa.

Those additional made-up details were mostly drawn from Burbank’s popular 1906 essay, “The Training of the Human Plant,” which offered a variety of sensible child-rearing tips (as well as squirm-worthy sections about “mingling of the races” and “marriage of the physically unfit” which made it popular with the eugenics crowd). It was a safe bet to speculate Burbank would follow his own advice, of course, so aside from adding the detail about Burbank supposedly writing he could “cure” the boy, this version doesn’t really stray very far from the original goofed-up report.

Both versions came from a wire service such as Associated Press or United Press but we don’t know which ones – news syndicates were never identified in those days. The March 22 story could even have been a rewrite of the March 21 item after a syndicate editor decided the original needed to be fluffed up a bit. But a third version that started appearing on March 23 came from a completely different source. And sadly, it was the most untruthful version yet and also the one that seems to have appeared in the most newspapers, including the prestigious New York World and Washington Post.

Version three is easy to spot because it misspells the boy’s name as “Millar.” Some newspapers compressed it down to the essential (mis)information: “Luther Burbank, the plant wizard, had undertaken to transform Donald Millar, an irresponsible, incorrigible, truant boy, into a normal person.” The full length article, however, pretended a reporter had interviewed Burbank and found him downright chatty:

Luther Burbank the plant wizard, gave some hints today as to the course to be followed in the transformation of young Donald Millar…

“…I believe most children go to school too early, and are kept there too steadily. I shall give the boy a home a minimum of care, and plenty of life in the open. He will be called on to work a little more and study a little less than the usual run of boys. I knew Donald Millar’s grandfather in Massachusetts many years ago and I am glad to help the boy.”

When it was suggested to Mr. Burbank that he might be deluged with requests to train other boys, he said, “I am not conducting a conservatory for bad boys. I am engaged in cultivating plants. Donald Millar is the only boy I shall try to train.”

Note the “conservatory for bad boys” quip, which also appeared in Burbank’s denial. This shows the wire service reporter knew the story wasn’t true at all – yet wrote it up anyway, complete with phony Luther Burbank quotes.

Thus over the course of a few days in mid-March 1911, most of the nation probably came to believe that young Donald Miller/Millar was the kid who lucked out to become Robin to Burbank’s plant-breeding Batman. And here’s the believe-it-or-not twist: Of the multitude of newspapers that printed any of the three versions of the story, it appears not one ever printed a correction or retraction. Did Burbank receive penpal requests from boys and girls addressed to Donald, wanting to how how his enchanted life was going? I’ll bet he did.

So kudos to the 1911 Press Democrat, for apparently being the only newspaper in the United States to tell the true story. Alas, the PD coverage also causes the plant wizard to lose a little of his wizardly status today; while debunking the story Burbank told the paper that all sorts of crazy things were attributed to him, such as developing a seedless watermelon – and that could never exist, of course.

BOY MUST STUDY UNDER BURBANK
Judge Wilbur of Los Angeles Juvenile Sends Donald Miller of Pasadena to Santa Rosa for Indefinite Period

Los Angeles, March 21–Judge Wilbur has imposed upon Donald Miller, the 15-year-old son of Mrs. H. G. Miller of Pasadena, a sentence to study botany, flowers, trees, and plants for an indefinite period in Santa Rosa under Luther Burbank.

The boy has been wayward and became acquainted with Judge Wilbur of the Juvenile Court. When Judge Wilbur learned that Burbank was a friend of the Miller family, and had written to Donald inviting him to come and live with him and study botany, he said it was the best possible sentence that could be imposed.

– Press Democrat, March 22, 1911

“BAD BOY” STORY IS JUST A YARN
Burbank Denounces the Faker Who Sent a Dispatch Crediting Him With Undertaking Experiments

“I am not conducting a conservatory for bad boys,” said Luther Burbank yesterday when asked if it were true that Donald Miller of Pasadena is to be sent to Santa Rosa to become the subject of a series of experiments at Burbank’s hands, in order to cure him of his tendency to run away from school.

“All there is to the matter is this: I knew Donald Miller’s grandfather in Massachusetts many years ago. So when I was asked if I would either give him employment or find him work with some one else, I said I would do it. I have not undertaken and will not undertake any experiments upon him or upon any other boy. I am engaged in rearing plants, not children.”
“
The whole story is just somebody’s yarn,” declared the breeder of plants. Burbank has had many occasions to be displeased with the frequent yarns that are printed concerning him. He is widely quoted as saying things he never said, concerning things that he has never even though of, and these false quotations are read by people who believe them genuine and who criticise [sic] Burbank for having expressed views that he never held, and as having claimed achievements that he never thought of attempting. One of them two years ago said he had invented or developed a “seedless watermelon”…[illegible microfilm]…Of course, a “seedless watermelon” is as impossible as “seedless wheat” would be.

– Press Democrat, March 23, 1911


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ON TUESDAY THE MONSTER CAME TO TOWN

Jeff Elliott Leave a comment

He showered Fourth street in silver coins and 3,000 attended his debut, equivalent to every third person in town in 1909. He was a showman famous throughout the West: The Great Fer-Don, lecturer, traveler and philanthropist. He was also a monster, and if there’s such a thing as a criminal genius, he was probably that, too.

(This is Part II of an article about the “Great Fer-Don.” Have you read Part I?)

Santa Rosa had never seen a scam artist like James M. Ferdon, who introduced a new kind of confidence game wrapped inside something old and familiar. He combined features of the traditional medicine show – a ballyhoo and parade, leading to a free evening stage show with entertainers to draw an audience and a pitch to buy an elixir for what-ails-you – but all that was now just the warmup. Waiting at a nearby hotel, Ferdon told the crowds, were European doctors who were experts in the ultra-modern technique of “bloodless surgery.” They could cure the most serious medical problems: Complete blindness and deafness. Paralysis. Gallstones. Appendicitis. Tumors. Cancer. All without a scalpel or the loss of a single drop of blood.

(RIGHT: James Ferdon portrait in the Salem, Oregon Daily Capital Journal, June 15, 1910)

It was such a brazen collection of lies that it apparently had the effect of shock and awe, even fooling people who thought they were the sort who never could be fooled. According to Ferdon, his European Medical Experts were so esteemed that local physicians flocked to them to be healed themselves of serious diseases. “Each day hundreds of people are cured by my doctor’s method,” Ferdon was quoted in an article that appeared in the Press Democrat. “Many local physicians come to us in diffent cities we have visited. We removed a cancer from a prominent physician in Dallas, Texas.” Claiming to perform such miraculous cures “bloodlessly” was the cake icing. What exactly that meant was never made clear, but some of the procedures described in the ads sound remarkably like “psychic surgery,” where tumors and such are pretended to be removed without breaking the skin – the “surgeon” uses basic sleight-of-hand techniques to palm animal organs and other gory bits that could be flourished in front of the patient as diseased tissue. If so, this apparently would be the earliest example of psychic surgery fraud in the United States.

Ferdon was also fuzzy on how much treatment would cost. In one instance his “Medical Expert” asked for $175 to remove gallstones, and demanded a $300 advance from someone else for the same “surgery.” (In Santa Rosa at that time the annual household income was about $500.) Ferdon was not only duping people into believing life-threatening illnesses could be cured by mysterious and unbloody means, he was stealing every cent they had, which probably denied them the hope of seeking real expert medical attention after they wised up. This made him a monster twice over.

As much as Ferdon was a villain, it’s hard not to stand agape at his salesmanship skills; this was a man who could sucker you into buying an interest in his new breed of racing horses that had wheels for legs and were powered by gasoline engines. His audiences simply didn’t see there was something discordant about world-class physicians teaming up with a man running a cornball show crafted to appeal to yokels. At one Santa Rosa performance he had a “ladies’ woodsawing” contest; the next night a live pig was given away (“the person winning it will be obliged to carry it out in their arms”). Ferdon had a particular affection for showing off tapeworms preserved in jars; no matter where he went, to hear him tell it, there was always someone ready to shower him with gratitude for having rid them of a gargantuan 50, 70, 90-foot parasite (which they measured how?) after all other treatments failed.

Another factor in his success was the manner in which he shamelessly bought off local newspapers, including both the Press Democrat and Santa Rosa Republican. Yes, he placed big ads announcing his shows, and nothing wrong with that. Yes, he also made claims that his European Experts could perform impossible cures, and there was nothing wrong with that, either, at the time; as discussed here earlier, the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 enforced truth in labeling but didn’t even mention truth in advertising – the newspapers here (particularly the PD) routinely published ads for miraculous potions, including drugs that were supposed to prevent tuberculosis or repair heart disease. But Ferdon and the newspaper editors crossed an ethical line because his ads didn’t look at all like ads: They looked like regular news stories. They appeared above the fold in line with other articles (ads were usually at the bottom of the page or grouped together in the back section) and except for the headline font and layout being slightly different from the rest of the paper (Ferdon apparently provided his own headline typeset block as part of the deal), it was impossible to tell at first glance that it was fake news.

The articles that appeared in the Santa Rosa papers were written in general newspaper style, clearly adapted by someone using copy provided by Ferdon – phrases, even whole paragraphs, can be found in similar articles published in other towns. While some of the prose is rather purple (“the great Fer-Don [has] caused the whole of Europe and America to talk about his wonderful medical discoveries and the citizens have been patiently waiting for his arrival in our city”) much of it could pass for a real article of the day. The trusted local papers had become willing accomplices to fraud.

It may have come as a surprise to editors Ernest Finley and Allen Lemmon, but not all newspapers were eager to sell out their readership to hucksters; some investigated his claims and exposed him as a fraud, warning subscribers to stay away.

In the first in a series of front page muckraking stories, the Seattle Star in January 1910 described what happened when a reporter sought treatment under the guise of being a workman. Ferdon’s medical expert diagnosed “a heart affection” and a “bad case of the ‘nerves'” which could be cured by a two month treatment. As for the price, the doctor said, “I will let you down light. You say that you are an electrician and have a good job with the Seattle Electric company. Well, I’ll make it $50 for the entire treatment. This includes your prescriptions for the first month. After that you will be charged extra.”

When Ferdon entered the room to collect the money, the reporter confronted  him on operating a “fake medical bureau.” Ferdon denied the charge and tried to change the subject. “In California, mothers and invalids worship me. Every week I visit the orphan asylums and scatter gifts among the waifs. The newsies I remember on Christmas with huge Christmas trees. I intend to do the same thing in Seattle.” As the reporter continued pressing, Ferdon threw out another red herring: “There is not a business or profession that is free from faking…the grocer will advertise milk as the best, but in reality it is half water. The ethical physician tell you a man is hopeless, but at the same time he will treble his visits until the victim passes away. The politician is a faker–we’re all fakers, if you put it that way.”

Ferdon told the reporter “My treatments consist of massage, vibrators, medicines and the violet rays.” The medicine, he claimed, was formulated by his doctors in a “laboratory”  elsewhere in the hotel building. The reporter checked and found the so-called lab just another hotel room.

Most of all, Ferdon seemed irate that the newspaper didn’t play along. “The Star is doing wrong in trying to drive me out. I bring lots of money to this city. Why in hell don’t you and your editor quit and leave me alone. The P. I. and the Times are not molesting me.” In its introduction, the editor commented, “If The Star had chosen to accept the advertising instead of exposing these fakers it would have been richer by probably $3,500.” The Seattle Star also found that in 1907 the Portland Daily News had similarly investigated him rather than accept the fraudulent ads. The Star summed up Ferdon’s advertising strategy: “Their scheme, highly successful in most cases, is to buy up venal newspapers with large advertising contracts at hush money rates, and then take advantage of the credence the public puts in these prostituted journals.”

The Seattle Star continued its front page exposé, even printing an interesting letter from a woman, Mrs. E. J. Eakin, who lived in Napa just before Ferdon came to Santa Rosa that revealed his other activities in this area (which were never mentioned in the PD or Republican):


I was residing in Napa, Cal. two years ago when Fer-Don and his band of ‘fakers’ came to town…For the first two weeks he did not make a cent. Then one Saturday night he managed to sell $4 worth of medicines to the ranchers. That gave him his opportunity. Ascending the stage steps, he said that he did not sell the medicine for money — but to cure the sick. Then he threw the $4 among the audience and a general scramble occurred. When it was noised about that Fer-Don was throwing money away the audiences increased rapidly…gradually every home in Napa had his medicines…

…The last week he was there, Fer-Don gave away coupons with every sale. The coupons entitled the holder to an examination by one of his “European Experts.” The simple people were made to believe that they had awful diseases, and the agony that they would suffer was pictured to them by the experts. Then a ‘treatment’ was advised, and it usually ended with the victim depositing from $10 to $500 with the fakers…[T]he victims began to awaken to the fact that Fer-Don and his experts were fakers and the medicines nothing but colored water. When Fer-Don found that the people were wise, he skipped out to Petaluma. He stayed there for several weeks, then returned to Napa. Then the town authorities took up the matter and raised his license so high that he had to leave town.

Normally Ferdon would milk a large metro area like Seattle for weeks or months, but the heat generated by the Star series drove him out after a few days. He made brief stops in Everett, Washington and Medford, Oregon, where his fake news stories boasted of his great cures (epic tapeworms mentioned, as always) but also included a new claim of being persecuted by busybodies: “[E]nmity always follows success, and there is always a certain class of humanity ready to cry ‘humbug,’ ‘fake,’ and ‘quack,’ but such howlers and defamers of honest characters are very seldom successful in any line of business because they do not attend to their own. They are too busy sticking their noses into the affairs of others.”

Two weeks later he was in Spokane, where the Spokane Press followed the Seattle Star in exposing his fraud in front page stories. “The ‘marvelous cures’ that he is alleged to have performed by his ‘psychic,’ ‘magnetic’ or ‘mesmeric’ process of ‘bloodless surgery’ have been heralded in large double column display ads in some of the papers, and the ‘wonderful’ Fer-Don has been preparing to rake in the shekels, as he has in the past, where exposure has not been present to lay bare his game. The Press was offered his advertising and refused it.”

The Spokane paper also offered an interesting tidbit about what happened after Ferdon left Santa Rosa: He tried to setup operations in Sacramento, but the City Council there moved quickly to get rid of him, passing a special ordinance requiring a $100/day license for any “medical minstrel shows.”

Even though Ferdon wasn’t in Spokane long, the muckraking newspaper kept the story alive. They found a woman from Pomona, California who had been diagnosed with “nervous trouble” by one of his “Experts” and her husband had raised the money for Ferdon’s treatment. Later the couple consulted a real physician who discovered she had an incurable tumor (which might have been breast cancer, judging from the newspaper’s description): “It was just too late then to effect a cure and leave her a whole woman, though had your Mr. Dunning been a physician he would have discovered the trouble in time to have given her a chance.”

That March, 1910 item in the Spokane Press was the paper’s last exclusive about Ferdon’s misdeeds; by April, the Great Fer-Don and his band of fraudsters were fugitives and drawing the attention of more newspapers.

Ferdon’s downfall began with a warrant from Everett, WA charging him with practicing medicine without a license; also wanted on a criminal charge was one of his staff, William Ramsey. By the end of April, the Sacramento grand jury indicted Ferdon and H. Thayer Thornberg, another associate, for obtaining money under false pretenses. And sometime around this period, Dr. Seth Wells, Ferdon’s main accomplice (see Part I) lost his Utah medical license after a conviction for assault.

Thornberg went to trial in June, where the prosecution presented evidence that Ferdon’s “medicine” for gallstone cure was 98 percent water with the rest being alcohol and coloring. He was found guilty and sentenced to two years in prison.

Meanwhile, “Where is Fer-Don?” articles began popping up in Utah, California and Washington papers. The Los Angeles Police Department was keeping a close eye on his home. Ferdon and crew, however, were hiding in plain sight; in June and July they were up to their usual business in Salem, Oregon. To accompany his fake news articles there, the Daily Capital Journal even ran two pictures of “Fer-Don,” the only time known his photograph appeared in a newspaper.

By the summer of 1910, there can be no doubt that the publishers of the Press Democrat and Santa Rosa Republican knew Ferdon was running a con game, and a potentially deadly one at that. Items about the police pursuit and the Thornberg trial had appeared in the San Francisco and Oakland papers, as well as in other well-read dailies from Sacramento and Los Angeles. The criminal charge against his associate, William Ramsey, even had been filed by someone in Santa Rosa. And, at the risk of projecting modern ethics onto the past, the editors had to realize that Ferdon had committed wrongs far worse than the objectives of usual medicine advertising, which was selling harmless, inexpensive snake oil to rubes – and he had done these bad things with their collaboration. At the very least, one might hope that editors Finley and Lemmon also recalled all the serious diseases that Ferdon’s “Experts” claimed to cure in the news-advertisements that appeared in their papers, and wanted to alert subscribers that any diagnosis and treatment was probably bogus. But not one word, as far as I can determine, ever appeared in either Santa Rosa newspaper to discredit him in any way. No mention of warrants or other legal woes, not even the complaint made against Ferdon’s accomplice came from someone right here in town. Once his show left Santa Rosa, he was never written of again. It was a second, and fundamentally worse, betrayal of their public trust.

Thornberg’s conviction marked the end of “The Great Fer-Don,” but there was a footnote of sorts: In December his wife, Mrs. Alpha Ferdon, made a plea deal in Sacramento to pay a $1,000 fine for “conspiracy to commit a felony through fake cures.” Her husband received the same offer but did not appear in court. Alpha paid another $1,000 for his bail, which was forfeited.

Fer-Don the “European Medical Expert” agent might be dead, but long live “The Great Lavita.” Through a 1912 Illinois medical newsletter and a Tacoma newspaper we find Ferdon and Seth Wells were still partners, this time Wells posing as Dr. A. E. Williams who treated the sick using the “marvelous Lavita method.” Except for the lack of the medicine show angle, it was identical to the Fer-Don scam; placement of fake news articles, bloodless surgery, wonderful cures, and as always, descriptions of a lady thrusting into the doctor’s hands a jar containing a monstrous tapeworm.

By at least 1914, Ferdon had changed persona yet again and emerged as “The Great Pizaro” (sometimes Pizarro). While the Fer-Don scam undoubtedly made him rich, being Pizaro kept him more-or-less out of trouble with the law, and it was something he enjoyed doing: Pitch man for an old-fashioned traveling medicine show, with musical and comic acts. There is available a wonderful first-hand account of the show from someone who worked for it as a child: “We basked in the lurid flames of the gasoline torches for the big evening performance. We helped to hand out free samples and pass along the bottles containing tapeworms purged from local citizens now able to live full and happy lives again for the first time in seven years….”

(RIGHT: Worker setting up the stage for the Pizaro Cactus Juice Show, c. 1920. Photo courtesy Durham County, North Carolina library collection)

This time he sold homemade nostrums such as “Cactus Juice Compound,” mineral salts, and his “Great Catarrh Remedy” (which the Cleveland Board of Health had analyzed and found to contain just soda, borax, and salt) but what he was really selling was nostalgia for the old-timey form of entertainment. Through that means he also gained a kind of respectability. He appeared in the 1920 census as a “manufacture of medicine” living in a very nice house in Hollywood, just off Sunset Boulevard. Billboard magazine reported on his comings and goings as they did all legit traveling performers: “Jim Ferdon (Great Pizarro) was wintering in Galveston, Texas” (1938) … “Mr. and Mrs. James Ferdon have opened their med show in Reading Pa., after spending a profitable and pleasant winter in the Sunny South. Mrs. Ferdon reveals that Sunshine Sal and Her Little Pal, of radio fame in the South, are none other than herself and daughter, Barbara Ann. They will be with the Piazaro med opera this summer” (1942).

Until his death in 1944, Ferdon toured the country with his Pizaro show, except for the three years he served in the federal penitentiary at Leavenworth. The Great Paul/Fer-Don/Lavita/Pizaro had yet another alias: inmate #23328. In 1924 he and four others – including Seth Wells – were convicted of “oil promotion fraud.” No other details of the scam can be found, but if Ferdon was behind it, you just know that a jar filled with tapeworms was involved somehow.

BLOODLESS OPERATION PERFORMED
UPON  PROMINENT EUREKA PHYSICIAN BY FER-DON’S EUROPEAN MEDICAL EXPERT
Dr. Goyer Has Large Tumor Removed to Test Bloodless Surgery–No Knife Was Used

“As we grow older we grow wiser,” is a saying that has followed humanity down the corridors of the centuries. True in every department of life, it is especially true with reference to the science of medicine and surgery. Never since the world began has medicine and surgery been reduced to such an exact science as at present and never have there been so many improvements and discoveries as within the past few years. All of the great discoveries in medicine and surgery have been by European doctors. Prof. Koch of Berlin, Germany, discovered the germ of consumption and other death dealing germs. Dr. Lorenz of Vienna, Austria, discovered bloodless surgery, whereby cripples, paralytics, hip joint disease, tumors, gallstones and appendicitis and diseases of women could be cured without the use of the knife. American physicians who for years have resorted to the knife and still keep in the same old rut today with their foggy ideas, are slow to recognized the new methods of the European Experts. It was left to Dr. Lorenz and the Great Fer-Don to bring into America the new method. To see is to believe and there are thousands who have seen and do believe; thousands who have been drawn from the yawning mouth of the sepulchre and restored to perfect health and happiness.

Eureka Physician Tests Method.

Among the many who came to test the healing power of these European Medical Experts and Bloodless surgeons who are now demonstrating upon the sick, crippled, and afflicted every day, there came one of Eureka’s most prominent physicians, who for years has enjoyed a successful practice. His reputation as a physician and surgeon has spread throughout the Sate of California and extended into other States. Broad minded, good natured, liberal in thoughts and deeds, he has won for himself many friends in Eureka. Dr. Goyer is his name. “For years I could have removed it myself with a knife if I could have got at it. I have heard whereby that tumors could be removed without the knife by the European Expert’s methods. I went and saw for myself. I am always willing to yield to science, and made up my mind to have my tumor removed by the Bloodless method. I am over 70 years old and I had confidence in Fer-Don and his experts. Well, it took about six minutes for Fer-Don’s European doctors to remove my tumor. No knife was used and no blood. I am perfectly satisfied. I am a practicing physician here in Eureka and have lived here for years.”

Fer-Don in speaking of the case said: “Each day hundreds of people are cured by my doctor’s method and many local physicians come to us in different cities we have visited. We removed a cancer from a prominent physician in Dallas, Texas. “You see,” said Fer-Don, “my office is crowded with sick. We will be in Santa Rosa at the Rex hotel for some time yet, then we go back to our main headquarters at 933 Market street, San Francisco.”

– Press Democrat, January 8, 1909

THREW THE MONEY AWAY
THE GREAT FER-DON ASTOUNDED A LARGE CROWD OF SANTA ROSA CITIZENS LAST NIGHT BY THROWING AWAY HANDFULS OF SILVER DIMES, QUARTERS, HALVES AND DOLLARS–VERITABLE SHOWER OF SILVER–DEMONSTRATIONS AND AN EXCELLENT SINGING SHOW ON THE BILL THIS WEEK

The Great Fer-Don, lecturer, traveler and philanthropist, the man, who, with his brother, has caused more comment than any other man who has [illegible microfilm] Oakland and San Francisco, is a man of many parts. During his stay many things have brought his name and his deeds to public notice. Last night on Fourth street he added yet to the entertainment by throwing broadcast into the crowd, money in handfuls until the air seemed filled with a shower of silver. To an observer it looked as if more than a hundred dollars must have been scattered in this way. It has also been whispered about that Fer-Don has assisted, in his own way in relieving a great deal of distress among the poor and sick of Santa Rosa. Presents of food, money and medicines have gladdened the hearts of many of the poor and many over whom the darkness of poverty and despair had settled found Fer-Don always ready to shed the sunshine of real help across their path.

Some people insist that Fer-Don is a spendthrift in throwing away money and in disposing of it so indiscriminately among those who need it, while others, wiser perhaps, say that all this is but bread cast upon the waters, to return in two ways; first, in the consciousness that he is doing real good; second, in the golden stream which flows into his coffers from the sale of his remedies, and which has made him the millionaire he is reputed to be.

At any rate the sales of these remedies all over the country are so great that Fer-Don is enabled to have the European Medical Expert, who accompanies him, treat all who come to their offices at the Rex Hotel, 533½ Fourth street, just for the cost of the medicines alone during the week. And here probably in making the cost of treatment so low, as these experts do is the most good done, for many who are sufferers from chronic diseases who would probably not be able to pay the price asked by most specialists are taking advantage of these low rates.

The Great Fer-Don will hold another entertainment tonight. Fer-Don does not lecture of sell medicine on Sunday  [illegible microfilm] troupe that accompany give an entertainment on that evening.

– Press Democrat, January 10, 1909
A SILVER SHOWER PARADE
THROWS MONEY AWAY AND CREATES BIG EXCITEMENT IN SANTA ROSA
The Great Fer-Don Greeted by Crowds of People Saturday Night–A prominent Lady Relieved on Monster Tape Worm.

The newspapers have been making announcements daily of the arrival of the great Fer-Don, the man who had caused the whole of Europe and America  to talk about his wonderful medical discoveries and the citizens have been patiently waiting for his arrival in our city.

There were thousands of people out Saturday night to see and greet this great man, who is noted for his charitable deeds to the poor and afflicted, and they say that he has given away hundreds of dollars to the poor and destitute of Los Angeles and Oakland.

His name there is a household word. All men, women and children know him by his kindness and deeds, and they say he has won a warm spot in the hearts of many of the people of Los Angeles and vicinity.

Fer-Don will be long remembered here in our city, especially by the young people, for Saturday night, just about 7 o’clock, Ferdon was escorted to the Pavillion Rink by his band.

Fer-Don amused himself by throwing handful after handful of money to the vast crowd that followed the parade. The amount Fer-Don threw away nobody knows, but a banker who saw the silver shower estimated the sum at one to two hundred dollars.

When Fer-Don arrived at the show he was greeted by 3000 people, and when he appeared upon the stage he held his audience spell bound by his magnetic manner and eloquent flow of speech. The audience was interested and pleased, as we could tell by the expressions on their faces.

Fer-Don told of his great success in San Francisco and Los Angeles, gave one testimonial after another with the names and addresses of people cured of rheumatism, stomach trouble, tumors, gall stones, tape worms and cancers and then he asked for people to come upon the platform to test the methods of his wonderful treatment.

Crowds Eager to Buy

When Fer-Don offered his remedies for sale, everybody wanted to try the remedies and secure a card to consult the European Medical Expert about his method of healing the sick.

Office at 533½ Fourth street Crowded

Saturday was a busy day for the European doctor. Over sixty people called to see the doctor, some on canes, others on crutches. One old lady was carried on a cot. Some were cured then and there, others were much benefited. One prominent lady came and asked to see the European doctor and was told she must wait her turn. She replied, “I must see him at once, as I have something here in this glass jar for him.” When admitted to the doctor’s office she explained that she had been suffering stomach trouble for a long time; appetite was irregular, stomach would bloat and swell after eating, was very dizzy at times, also hot and cold flashes would come over her. She tried different medicines, but none seemed to do her any good. “My husband attended the show one night last week and brought home a bottle of Fer-Don’s Medical Compound. I have taken only four doses of the medicine and to my surprise I was delivered of a monster parasite which measured 30 feet in length.” The lady is well known here and left the worm with the doctor here for exhibition.

The great Fer-Don will deliver another lecture tonight and every night this week at the Pavillion Rink.

Ladies’ Woodsawing Contest Tonight

Fer-Don will give the best lady woodsawer a prize of five dollars in gold tonight at the show. A number of prominent ladies have entered the contest.

– Santa Rosa Republican, January 11, 1909
FER-DON IS LIBERAL
MIRACULOUS SIGHTS
Crowds of People Saw Fer-Don Each Evening in Spite of the Rain
THOUSANDS MADE HAPPY BY FER-DON’S LIBERALITY — CHILDREN’S DAY AND THEATER PARTY BIG SUCCESS — MANY PROMINENT CITIZENS TELL PUBLIC OF MIRACULOUS CURES

Local people claimed Fer-Don was a passing fad, and would soon wear out. The facts are that Fer-Don and the European Medical Experts are growing more and more interesting each day; many cures are added to the list  and it is almost impossible to find a man or woman or child in Santa Rosa who is not a staunch and true friend of the Great Fer-Don. Fer-Don, by his charitable deeds and liberal way to the public, has gained for him a warm spot in the heart of the many citizens.

Takes Children to Theater

Today Fer-Don entertained over 500 children, taking them to the Richter theater and picture shows. Fer-Don’s love and fondness for children has been the talk of all the large cities he has visited.

A thousand people saw Fer-Don last night. The music and entertainment was highly appreciated.

Fer-Don Headquarters Crowded Daily

At the office in the Rex Hotel Fer-Don’s European Medical Expert is kept busy. It is estimated that three hundred persons called at his office Saturday to take treatment with the expert.

– Santa Rosa Republican, January 16, 1909
BEWARE OF FRAUDS AND IMITATORS
THE GREAT FER-DON’S PHENOMENAL SUCCESS BRING TO LIGHT RANK IMITATORS WHO CLAIM TO BE BLOODLESS SURGEONS
ONLY GENUINE BLOODLESS SURGEONS ON THE COAST–NOW AT 533 1-2 FOURTH STREET, SANTA ROSA CAL.

The successful man is always the mark for imitators and impostors, who hope to build up a business through the great popularity and success of the one imitated. That is one of the penalties of greatness, and the public is warned against those who have recently established themselves in the vicinity of Oakland and San Francisco, claiming to be practitioners of bloodless surgery. The Great Fer-Don, at the cost of thousands of dollars, has alone bought these secrets and has engaged the only bloodless surgeons now practicing in America.

No one in need of the services of Fer-Don’s European Experts or Bloodless Surgeons can afford to trifle with imposters. Health is too valuable an asset to lose by dealing with imitators who have no knowledge of what they claim and hope to succeed only by false allegations in diverting the people away from the real and only specialists of this character, who are now located at 533½ Fourth street.

For two years or more the Great Fer-Don and his large staff of eminent experts have engaged in the practice of bloodless surgery through California. In Los Angeles, where they were most successful for one year, rank imitators sprang up in various parts of the city. Like the mushroom, they came and died in a day.

No real merit to their claims, no basis for their existence, they faded away like the mist before the noonday sun. Imitations may be the sincerest flattery, but not at all times, and the Great Fer-Don is doing a real service to mankind when he sends out warnings to beware of the “imitators.”

COMPARE AND CONSULT TESTIMONIALS OFFERED

Get at the bottom. See and judge for yourself. Call on Mr. W. H. Harvey of 264 Eureka street, San Francisco, whom Fer-Don relieved of over 200 gall stones after one treatment.

[..]

These are facts–these testimonials can be verified–these are no mythical persons. They are stories of the phenomenal success of the Great Fer-Don, a marvelous record of a marvelous man, and in the face of these statements you cannot afford to take chances on the wile and unfounded claims of others who fraudulently claim to be what they are not.

PIG GIVEN AWAY TONIGHT

The show at the rink had a good crowd, in spite of the bad weather. Tonight the pig will be given away. The person winning it will be obliged to carry it out in their arms.

– Santa Rosa Republican, January 22, 1909

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UPDATES ON PAST STORIES (1909 EDITION)

Jeff Elliott Leave a comment

More followups with details found in 1909 Santa Rosa newspapers. This year it’s mostly news about the criminal and crazy:

* THE MAN WHO WOULD BE SIDEWALK KING     Remember Joseph Forgett? In 1907 he led nine prisoners in a daring escape from the county jail, which the Press Democrat reported in screaming banner headlines – the same 120 pt. boldface type normally reserved for earth-shattering news, such as major wars or any Democratic party election wins. Forgett and the others were quickly captured, and at trial he told the court that he had to break out of jail to protect his wife, who was also behind bars, charged along with two other women for “vagrancy” (ahem). He told the court Mrs. Forgett’s honor was at stake because jailor “Old Fred” was getting a little too busy with his hands, and he also begged the judge for leniency, as he was insane at the time because of his 15 year opium addiction. Found guilty, Forgett apparently spent the next year and a half in the slammer, and we next heard of him when a little item appeared in the 1909 Santa Rosa Republican, noting his return to Santa Rosa “after an absence of many months.” It may seem odd for the paper to welcome home a felon, but the item noted that his brother was Councilman Fred Forgett, a Democrat, so the purpose may have been a political poke in his brother’s eye. Or maybe it was to subtly alert Joseph’s “many friends in this city and vicinity” that he was again loose; Forgett had once threatened to kill a guy and was arrested shortly thereafter with a meat cleaver under his coat.

* ARMED, CRAZY, AND FORECLOSED UPON   Another character to compete in the armed, dangerous and likely-crazy trifecta was Eduardo Bosco, who had been remarkably declared sane by two doctors in 1908. Bosco energetically fought efforts to evict him from his little farm near Healdsburg, leading to his being hauled to the county jail “bound by ropes by deputy sheriffs, divested of hat, coat and vest.” Several months later, Bosco was illegally back on the foreclosed farm, where he had now harvested the fruit crop and sold it to a cannery. When deputies arrived to evict him for the second time he began shooting at them. The officers fled. Bosco was next spotted a couple of months later on a road near Calistoga, where he was harassing strangers. A constable investigated and Bosco attacked him, pressing a handgun against the policeman’s chest and pulling the trigger three times. The gun either was empty or the bullets misfired. Bosco was arrested, and returned to Sonoma county for prosecution of his earlier shootings. Now about a year later in 1909, Bosco was being sent from the county lockup to Napa to face trial in the attempted murder on the Calistoga road. True to form, he refused to cooperate with police: “Bosco put up a strong objection to going and the two men had all they could do in getting him from the cell.”

* THE YEAR OF BURNING SANTAS   After five years had passed without a single Santa Claus catching fire from a Christmas tree candle, two men were seriously burned in a 1909 incident at a Guerneville school. Having lighted candles hanging on the branches of a dead evergreen seems dangerous enough, but adding to the picture a fellow with a highly flammable cotton beard seems downright reckless. Still, it’s amazing Claus combustion didn’t happen more often; to a flame, a fat bewhiskered Santa must look like tallow and wick. Obl. Believe-it-or-Not factoids: The familiar string of colored electric lights didn’t become common until the 1930s (interesting history web site here) and today all our tangled and discarded strings of Christmas lights are shipped to the Chinese town of Shijiao – renowned for both cheap labor and low environmental standards – where ten factories recycle 20 million pounds of lights annually.

* WHEN “BUSINESS FRIENDLY” SANTA ROSA NEARLY CLOSED DOWNTOWN   Santa Rosa’s 1909 water war against downtown businesses ended in a truce, as reported in an article that was unfortunately overlooked when the original essay on the topic was written. Briefly: The city’s dysfunctional water rates and billing system drove most stores to stop paying their water bills, which led to shutoff of most water connections downtown. After nine dry days, the Erwin Brothers grocery turned the water back on themselves and filed a lawsuit against the city. With tensions already high, the clueless mayor met with the grocers and suggested they switch over to the privately-owned McDonald Water Company. Mayor Gray later denied he said that or even had spoken to the Erwins at all, a claim the Erwins easily refuted in a detailed letter to the Republican paper.

* THE ALTERNATIVE HISTORY OF SANTA ROSA    Someday, hopefully, a book will be written about the importance of the alternative press in American history. Besides providing a voice to ethnic communities (“Freedom’s Journal” was the first newspaper published by and for African-Americans way back in 1827, for example), these newspapers presented fresh ideas and reported important news that the mainstream press censoriously ignored. Alas, hardly any of these papers from the underground press survive, conceding much of the historical record to what appeared in the “important” newspapers – which is to say, usually the news and views held by those with privilege and power. In early 20th century Santa Rosa, the alternative paper was “The Citizen,” which was published until 1909. The Sonoma County Library Annex has two issues from late in its run when it was being published by the Santa Rosa Ministerial Union, a loose coalition of churches that endorsed temperance and women’s suffrage (to some degree). The publication was deeply hated by Press Democrat editor Ernest L. Finley, who resisted any efforts to disturb the status quo. To him, the little monthly paper was the work of troublemakers and fanatics, as he denounced them in a lengthy 1909 editorial screed. But also thanks to his intense dislike, we have another little item that described some of The Citizen’s history, particularly that it had started publication prior to 1906. It is particularly tragic not to have any immediately post-earthquake editions which might fill in some of the many gaps in the story, such as why Santa Rosa senselessly locked up tons of donated food less than three weeks after the disaster. I’ll bet the ministers had a few opinions on that topic.

* THE IMPORTANCE OF QUALITY THEFT     Two crooks, but only one would’ve been able to pass the Criminal College entrance exam. But what W. H. Goodrich lacked in brains, he made up in chutzpah; in 1908 he borrowed an automobile in Oakland and drove it to Sebastopol, where he had a minor accident. Professing his disgust with the car, he sold it on the spot for about one-tenth of its retail value – the buyer being a Sebastopol police officer. Goodrich also got a horse and buggy in the deal (which he promptly sold) and also made off with some cash sent by the owner to repair the damage. Goodrich was captured some months later and sentenced to ten years at San Quentin. H. G. Robinson was as adroit as the other man was inept. Robinson claimed to be a representative of the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company of England, visiting Santa Rosa in 1908 to demonstrate wireless messaging and to sell Marconi stock at $20 a share. It was all a con, of course, and before he was caught in 1909, it was believed that he had swindled suckers out of $1.5 million worldwide. District Attorneys in Sonoma and Santa Clara counties both tried to extradite him from New York, but they screwed up the paperwork. Too bad; the trial of such a high-profile crook would have put a national spotlight on Santa Rosa’s beautiful and newly-completed courthouse.

* BONFIRE OF THE HOODOOS    Well, that was quick. Not five months after gaining nationwide celebrity as the man who set fire to his “hoodoo car,” Jake Luppold leased out the Senate saloon, presumably with the charred remains of the car still hanging from the ceiling. Luppold was a gregarious man who dubbed himself the “mayor of Main street,” and the Senate was apparently the joint of choice for Santa Rosa’s movers and shakers. So why was he throwing in his bar towel? Maybe it was a health scare, maybe he was offered a deal that he couldn’t refuse; He told the Republican he “wishes to get clear away from business cares” and take a long vacation. His retirement was short; before the end of 1909 he would be running a place at Gwinn’s Corners (also spelled, “Gwynn’s Corners”), which was about three miles outside of town on the road to Healdsburg – probably the intersection of Old Redwood Highway and Mark West.

MINISTERIAL UNION ASKS AID FOR NEW PAPER

The Petaluma Courier says that at the union meeting at the Methodist Episcopal Church in that city held on Sunday evening. Dr. Whitaker announced that the Santa Rosa Ministerial Union is asking the county ministry to co-operate for the publication of a weekly paper to be established here, and which will be run “in the interests of reform.”

It has long been the ambition of the Santa Rosa Ministerial Union to have some such mouthpiece. The unfortunate experience of the original and ill-starred “Citizen” was the result of this desire. Under promise of support that failed to materialize, two young men were induced to invest their money here in such a venture several years ago. They lasted less than a year.

After that, the Ministerial Union took up the publication of the paper direct. It appeared and still appears occasionally, sometimes at intervals of several months. Ever since the fire it has been printed in San Francisco. When it came time to take up the collection at Sunday night’s opening meeting of the week of prayer, the Rev. M. H. Alexander announced that all money contributed would be devoted to paying off the debt entailed by the Ministerial Union in putting out the publication. Urgent calls for special contributions were made, but only a small portion of the sum asked for was forthcoming.

The Santa Rosa Ministerial Union comprises a majority of the ministers of the city, but not all. The Episcopal and Catholic churches are not represented. The Revs. M. H. Alexander, A. B. Patton, Wm. Martin and Leander Turney are the most active in the work of the organization, and of these the Revs. Alexander and Turney are generally credited with being the most anxious to find a place in the newspaper field.

– Press Democrat, January 5, 1909
WATER INJUNCTION SUIT IS DISMISSED
Erwin Brothers Have Dismissal Entered in the Superior Court Here Yesterday

The injunction suit commenced in the Superior Court several days ago by Erwin Brothers, to restrain the city of Santa Rosa, its mayor, council and officials from turning off the municipal water from the grocery, has been dismissed. Yesterday afternoon, Attorney J. M. Thompson, of counsel for the plaintiffs, called at the  office of County Clerk Fred Wright and filed a request for a dismissal of the suit against the city. The judgement of dismissal was at once entered.

The dismissal of the suit followed, among other things, an agreement on the part of the landlord of the building, which the Erwin grocery and another tenant occupies, to pay the water bills. So the accounts were squared.

On the same day upon which the Erwin Brothers commenced their injunction suit S. P. Erwin, who had violated the city ordinance by turning on the water after it had been turned off by the street commissioner, was arrested upon a complaint sworn out in Police Judge Bagley’s court. Yesterday afternoon this misdemeanor charge was also dismissed. So that the incident may now be said to have been closed.

With but a few exceptions, possibly a dozen, all the patrons of the municipal water system, whose water supply was cut off two weeks ago on account of the non-payment of water bills, or who were unfortunately located in buildings with other tenants who had not paid their bills, have the water turned on again. Others are settling up and things look bright once more. Hereafter monthly settlements will be made.

– Press Democrat, March 12, 1909
MAN BADLY BURNED IN PLAYING SANTA CLAUS
Xmas Festivities at Guerneville Are Marred by Accident

Two men were seriously burned at Guerneville early Friday afternoon. One of them essayed the role of Santa Claus, and the cotton with which he had regaled his clothing for the time honored custom, caught fire from the candles on the Christmas tree.

This man was Mr. Dunn, who has been employed at the cigar factory of David Hetzel for some time past. While reaching for presents on the tree he came in contact with a lighted candle. He was badly burned about the face and hands, and may have breathed some of the flame into his lungs.

Mr. Frost, who was the first to witness the danger in which Mr. Dunn had been placed, was badly burned about the hands, while trying to tear the clothing from the body of Mr. Dunn. He likewise sustained some severe burns.

The festivities were being held at the close of the school term for the Christmas holidays. It was determined that a Christmas tree would be held to delight the children of three of the school rooms and Dunn was to be good old St. Nicholas, who would be lavish in the handing out of suitable gifts.

[..]

– Santa Rosa Republican, December 17, 1909

JOSEPH FORGETT RETURNS

Joseph Forgett has returned to his home in this city after an absence of many months, and intends to remain here and possible will go into business again. He is a cement and brick mason and a man of experience in these lines. He is a brother of Councilman C. Fred Forgett, and has many friends in this city and vicinity.

– Santa Rosa Republican, April 14, 1909
TEN YEARS IN PRISON FOR W. F. GOODRICH
Man Who Sold Dr. Gray’s Automobile to City Marshal Matthews is Sentenced

Judge J. Q. White, sitting for Superior Judge Emmet Seawell, sentenced W. H. Goodrich to serve ten years in San Quentin prison for obtaining money under false pretenses in the sale of an automobile to City Marshal Fred R. Matthews of Sebastopol, which was not his property.

The old man heard his sentence without manifesting any surprise. It was the minimum sentence the court could impose, as Goodrich had been previously sent to the State prison for [illegible microfilm]. It is believed that the old man had seen a long career of crime, and [illegible microfilm] transactions. He is well known in Oakland, San Francisco, Stockton, and Los Angeles, where he did queer work according to the reports made to the officers.

Sheriff J. K. Smith took Goodrich to San Quentin yesterday afternoon, where he began serving what will no doubt be his life sentence.

– Press Democrat, May 1, 1909
“WIRELESS” ROBINSON IS IN UNPOPULAR DEMAND

H. G. Robinson, who was arrested in New York City early in the week charged with embezzlement in connection with the disposal of stock of the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company of England, a corporation, on complaint of persons in Santa Clara county, will have to answer numerous charges when he is brought back to the state for trial, according to all reports.

A complaint was sworn to before Justice A. J. Atchinson yesterday by Mrs. Emma A. Haskell of Petaluma, charging the man with mis-appropriation and embezzlement of $200, which he secured from her for the purchase of ten shares of the capital stock of the concern. According to the complaint Robinson represented himself to the plaintiff as an agent of the company and secured from her the money which was to be used in paying for ten shares of stock, but instead, it is charged, used the money for his private use.

Mrs. Haskell claims that Robinson is not an agent of the company as he represented, and that he obtained her money by false misrepresentations and fraud. It is not probable that any steps will be taken by the local authorities to secure Robinson until he has been brought back to California and has a hearing on the charges pending against him in San Jose, but when he has answered to those warrants the he will be brought back here to answer to this latest action.

Sheriff Langford of San Jose arrested Robinson in New York soon after the latter’s return from a trip abroad. It was found that there was some defect in the papers sent there from Santa Clara and the District Attorney of that county communicated with District Attorney Clarence Lea, and at the former official’s request Mrs. Haskell swore to the complaint here. Word of the issuance of the warrant in Santa Rosa and the requisition papers that are to follow was wired to the Inspector of Detectives in New York to head off Robinson’s attempt at freedom on a writ of habeas corpus.

The District Attorney of San Diego county also wants to take a whack at Robinson when he comes back to California. He sold considerable in Santa Rosa, Petaluma, and a score of other places.

It will be remembered that Robinson was arrested in San Francisco about one year ago and brought back here on complaint of J. Rhodes, who had bought $400 of his stock. He settled with Rhodes by paying back his coin and the costs, and went away.

– Press Democrat, May 15, 1909
ROBINSON IS STILL HELD IN NEW YORK
Will Not Requisition Papers on Sonoma County Warrant–Additional Affidavits from San Jose

Sheriff Jack Smith received a telegram from New York yesterday announcing that requisition papers for the return to this county of Horace Greeley Robinson, the Marconi Wireless stock man, had been refused on the ground that the warrant was not accompanied by affidavits supporting the claim that Robinson was not an agent of the company as he represented. It will be remembered that Mrs. Haskell of Petaluma swore out a complaint in Justice A. J. Atchinson’s court here, charging Robinson with having obtained $200 from her on a purchase of some of his stock under false pretenses.

When the warrant was sent to New York from here it was at the request of the District Attorney of Santa Clara county, where Robinson sold much stock in view of the fact that there was a defect in the papers sent from that county to New York where Robinson had been arrested. District Attorney Clarence Lea naturally thought that the District Attorney of Santa Clara had secured all the necessary affidavits and evidence to support the contentions of the complaint as to Robinson’s professed official agency with the concern.

Yesterday District Attorney Lea also received word from the prosecuting attorney of Santa Clara stating that he had been apprised by wire that the San Jose hearing in New York had been postponed until May 31, and that he had already forwarded additional papers required, and hoped that Mr. Robinson would be given into the custody of Sheriff Langford and brought back to San Jose. So for the present as far as Sonoma county is concerned there will be nothing doing. Attorney Lea hopes that he will be brought back to California and placed on his trial. There are other district attorneys who wish as he does.

– Press Democrat, May 26, 1909

BOSCO TAKEN TO NAPA TO STAND TRIAL

Eduardo Bosco of Healdsburg, who has been serving a term in the county jail here since last November, was taken to Napa Wednesday for trial on a charge of an attempt upon the life of Constable Powers of Calistoga. Bosco has repeatedly been in trouble at Healdsburg over property matters, and finally, after shooting at Constable Haigh of Healdsburg and posse, took to the hills. The next heard of him was near Calistoga, where he had stopped several travelers on the county road. When Constable Powers went to arrest him he made an attempt to shoot, but the gun only snapped. It is for this offense that he is now being taken to Napa to stand trial.

Jailer Meyers and Deputy C. A. Reynolds had to carry Bosco from his cell, as he refused to leave. Bosco put up a strong objection to going and the two men had all they could do in getting him from the cell to turn him over to Constable Powers, who came over after him.

– Press Democrat, October 7, 1909

J. J. LUPPOLD LEASES “THE SENATE”

Another business change is the leasing of “The Senate” on Main street by J. J. Luppold to J. Sarrahl, of this city. Mr. Luppold will take a rest for sometime and has not decided upon his future plans. As the man who “burned the hoodoo automobile” Luppold gained notoriety for himself all over the United States, accounts of the cremation of the car appearing in the newspapers all over the country. He also received many offers for the machine. He has run the Senate for a number of years.

– Press Democrat, April 2, 1909

LUPPOLD LEASES THE SENATE SALOON THURSDAY

Jake Luppold, the well known business man of this city, has leased the “Senate” saloon on Main street for the coming two years. Jack Sarraihl, who has been with Mr. Luppold for some time past, will take the lease and have charge of the business. Mr. Luppold has not been in good health for some time past, and wishes to get clear away from business cares. He intends going to Boyes’ Hot Springs for the coming month and will take a good rest there. Later he intends going to Missouri, the land of his birth, of which state he declares he is “exceedingly proud.” He was born at Warrenton in the “Show Me” state, and will make an extended visit with relatives and friends there.

– Santa Rosa Republican, April 1, 1909

SUPERVISORS ADJOURNED
Rejected Two Saloon Licenses and Did Other Business

[..]

The applications for saloon licenses made by Jake Luppold and Charles Miranda were rejected. The former had made application for a license for a saloon on the Petaluma road four miles south of Santa Rosa. The board had received petition from the neighborhood of the locality where the license was asked for, opposing the granting of the license. The petition opposing the granting was three or four times as large as that of the applicant, so the license was denied. Attorney Rolfe L. Thompson was employed by the petitioners opposing the granting of the license, and he appeared before the board.

[..]

– Santa Rosa Republican, August 5, 1909
HE LOSES ON ONE, GAINS ON ANOTHER
J. J. Luppold is Victim of Another Man’s Alleged Dishonesty–Man Arrested

A. Burtress was arrested in Healdsburg Saturday by Constable J. H. Boswell on a charge of embezzlement, made by J. J. Luppold, and will have a hearing later. According to Luppold’s story he loaned Burtress $100 on three horses and three mules, and took a bill of sale on the animals for his security. Later Burtress is said to have sold the animals to another and failed to settle his account with Luppold. This constitutes felony embezzlement under the law.

The charge of obtaining money under false pretenses preferred against John Rose by J. J. Luppold was settled in Justice Atchinson’s court on Saturday and the case dismissed. Rose was arrested some time ago in Eureka and put up $100 cash bail. When he appeared here Saturday the $42.50, the sum he was accused of securing from Luppold, was taken from the bail, together with the costs and the case dismissed for lack of prosecution.

Despite it all the “Mayor” of Main street, where “no nickel splitters” dwell, says he is not an “E. Z. Mark.”

– Press Democrat, September 26, 1909
LUPPOLD BUYS OUT THE SPEEDLING PLACE

A deal has been consummated, whereby J. J. Luppold, former proprietor of The Senate on Main street, has purchased the saloon at Gwinn’s Corners, from Mr. Speedling. He will take possession at once. The “Mayor of Main Street” has many friends and he expects to do a big business. Mr. and Mrs. Speedling has not fully determined their future plans.

– Press Democrat, November 13, 1909

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