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THE YEAR OF CRAZY FIGHTS

Jeff Elliott Leave a comment

Credit our last century ancestors with this: When they fought, they fought with conviction, and in 1909 there were more dust-ups reported than in preceeding years. Not that those tangles were unusually violent; it would be hard to compete with the year 1907, when there was a point blank shootout that wounded only bystanders, or 1908, when a brawl ended with one contestant trapped in a barber’s chair where a variety of bones were broken.

Some of the 1909 tangles could have ended in fatalities, certainly. James Maloney was lucky to survive when his fellow woodcutter attacked him with an axe in the kitchen of their cabin (although that 9-inch gash in his chest must have hurt a bit). And then there were the two Sebastopol lawyers whose fight ended up in court, one claiming that he punched the other because he was just about to be bashed in the head with a hammer. Attorney  L. G. Scott conceded to the judge that yes, he was indeed carrying a tack hammer at the time, but had no intent of wielding it as a weapon against the party of the second part. Ah, lawyers.

Also in court that year was Mrs. Emma Fetters, charged with “flourishing a dangerous weapon in a threatening manner” and disturbing the peace. The plaintiff was her husband’s mother, who lost some of her hair in a battle between the two. The paper didn’t identify the dangerous weapon – unless it was presumed to be Mrs. Fetters’ disturbingly firm grip and tugging skills – but did note she was fined for disturbing the peace because the woman was “accustomed to use a great deal of profane language.” Some of the cussing may have been because Emma and husband George had recently opened their Fetters Hot Springs resort and starting any new business is stressful, even without the helpful presence of moms-in-law.

But probably the strangest fight of 1909 started over a family breakfast on West Third Street in Santa Rosa, when a father chided his 22 year-old son for using too much sugar in his coffee. Son Harry spitefully dumped half the sugar bowl into his cup, then began pitching chunks of bread at his father and brother. Papa John followed suit by swearing out an arrest warrant against his kid for disturbing the peace.  Your obl. believe-it-or-not twist: The feuding family members were the father and brother of Blaine G. Selvage, who has been honored here as one of the very first U.S. aviators, having made his maiden flight a few months earlier.

USES SUGAR TO EXCESS
Disturber Escapes Before Serving of Warrant

Harry Selvage, a warrant for whose arrest had been sworn to Friday, by John Selvage, his father, before Justice Atchinson, on the charge of disturbing the peace, had quietly left town. In some way he got wind of the fact that he was scheduled for arrest and when Constable Boswell came upon the scene with the warrant, Selvage had gone hence. The latter does not bear the best of repute, having been given a “floater” in the justice court some time ago.

The present trouble all began over a few morsels of sugar. Harry Selvage had been reprimanded at the family table for putting several spoonfuls of sugar in his coffee. To show how cheerfully he received the admonition and reproof, he dumped half of the contents of the bowl into his beverage receptacle. He then started throwing pieces of bread at the heads of his various kinsmen. Whereupon the warrant referred to above was issued.

– Santa Rosa Republican, August 5, 1909
HAIR PULLING MATCH HELD
Young Woman Lost Hair; Old Lady Lost Natural Hair

Mrs. Emma Fetters, of Fetters’ resort near Agua Caliente, appeared before the justice court at Glen Ellen Wednesday and was fined ten dollars in each of two cases for which warrants had been sworn out against her. One of the charges was that of flourishing a dangerous weapon in a threatening manner last Sunday and the other charge was that of disturbing the peace, which arose from a quarrel resulting in the committing of the first offense. The testimony in the two cases showed that Mrs. Fetters, Jr., in a quarrel with her husband’s mother, got into a hair-pulling match in which the elder woman lost some of her natural hair and the younger woman had her artificial coiffure severely handled. From the testimony induced it appeared that the woman fined is accustomed to use a great deal of profane language. District Attorney Clarence F. Lea attended the session of the court for the county.

– Santa Rosa Republican, August 19, 1909

USED AXE ON BREAST
John Riley Chops Anatomy of James Maloney

For cutting James Maloney on the breast with an axe, John Riley has been held to answer to the Superior Court on the charge of assault with a deadly weapon, with intent to commit murder. The men were wood choppers employed on the J. K. Bigelow ranch, near Sonoma, and after a quarrel in the cabin had apparently patched up their differences. 

 Maloney subsequently went into the kitchen of the cabin, and there Riley is alleged to have followed and made the assault with the axe. A gaping wound nine inches in length was made on the breast of Maloney. Tbe wonder is that the man was not killed by the blow from the axe.

Riley fled, but was captured later in the night in a box car at El Verano. He was asleep when Constable Joe Ryan found him, but made no denial of his guilt.

Before Justice J. B. Small of Sonoma the preliminary examination of Riley was held Wednesday afternoon. District Attorney Clarence F. Lea and Court Reporter Harry A. Scott were present from this city.

– Santa Rosa Republican, January 28, 1909
LAWYERS FALL OUT AND HAVE A FIGHT

Attorneys L. G. Scott and Joseph Rafael, exponents of the law of Sebastopol, having been mixed up in a manner decidedly contrary to law. Rafael struck Scott, and the latter alleges it was without cause or excuse. Rafael paid the sum of ten dollars in Justice Harry B. Morris’ court having been arrested on a charge of battery, which was later raised to a higher misdemeanor, Rafael alleged that Scott had attempted to strike him with a hammer, but this is indignantly denied by Scott. The latter admits having had in his possession a small tack hammer, but denies he ever thought of using it on Rafael’s cranium or any other portion of his anatomy.

– Santa Rosa Republican, July 22, 1909

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THE ODDITIES OF 1908

Jeff Elliott Leave a comment

Here’s a handful of items from 1908 Santa Rosa papers that are interesting, yet don’t quite merit separate articles:

* A Santa Rosa man named H. C. Stone registered to vote, listing his occupation as, “Philosopher of the Order of Mephistopheles” (misspelled “Methlstopheles” by the Press Democrat). The County Clerk thus entered his job title in the Great Register of Voters.

* A pharmacist in Sonoma was arrested for having a caged dove. Under California game law selling or even possessing wild birds (alive or dead) outside of hunting season was punishable by at least a $25 fine or 25 days in prison, but the druggist plead ignorance of the law and was acquitted by a jury. There was particular concern in the years 1908-1909 that sportsmen’s clubs were wiping out local game and tighter rules were imposed; Marin banned quail hunting for three years, and Los Angeles county limited dove season (yes, there was a dove season) to a single day. Doves were hunted both for sport and food, and unlike robin pot pie, you couldn’t get in trouble for tucking into a dove pie, as long as they were killed legally; a woman won a prize in a 1909 San Francisco Call recipe contest with a dish that called for a dozen birds.

* Testifying at a circuit court hearing in Bodega, a witness who was “a son of sunny Italy, not long in this country, and best learned in English in the use of slang,” according to the PD, responded to a lawyer’s question by saying, “Sure, Mike.” This was newsworthy because “sure, Mike” was a somewhat disrespectful catchphrase of the time that meant something between “you betcha” and “hell, yeah.” The crime in question, by the way, was for Peter Ginella taking “an unfriendly poke with a crowbar” at one G. Bugada. The accused was probably part of the sprawling Gonnella clan; no fewer than 37 Gonnellas were listed in the 1910 census for Bodega township.

* “A lick and a promise this time, Jim,” read the note left by the thief who had robbed a dentist’s office of gold for fillings. Another Healdsburg dentist reported a similar robbery, and two Petaluma dentists had been burgled a couple of weeks before. A historic newspaper database search suggests that thieves who robbed dentist offices specialized in that crime, and were very often caught either trying to pawn the gold to a regular jeweler or during an inept break-in attempt. Just a few months earlier, the mayor of Reno had spotted someone wiggling through the transom of a dentist’s office; a police officer arrested the would-be burglar at gunpoint, likely still in mid-wiggle.
* What do you do when a friend is so chronically depressed that he speaks of nothing but suicide? If you’re one of the “friends” of this despondent Healdsburg man, you turn his misery into a vicious practical joke. They gave him “a great quantity of crystals looking like strychnine, but which were really epsom salts,” which he promptly mixed with water and drank, expecting to die in front of his comrades – he even held a club to fight them off, should they attempt to intervene. A witness horrified by the scene summoned the police, who could find no sign of the anticipated corpse. The victim “is none the worse for the cruel hoax played on him,” the Santa Rosa Republican dubiously claimed. Besides the damage this prank certainly added to his already frail emotional state, epsom salts, when taken orally, are a powerful and fast-acting laxative.
CROWBAR WIELDER IS DISCHARGED

Peter Ginella, charged with giving G. Bugada an unfriendly poke with a crowbar at Bodega, was not held for trial by Justice Cunninghame at the preliminary examination at Bodega on Saturday. He was allowed to go and sin no more. Attorney William Finley Cowan went over from Santa Rosa to represent the accused. Assistant District Attorney George W. Hoyle, and Court Reporter Harry Scott were also among those present from Santa Rosa. The evidence Ginella was not considered sufficient by the magistrate to hold him over to the Superior Court.

Some diversion was occasioned in the courtroom during the examination of a witness who chanced to be a son of sunny Italy, not long in this country, and best learned in English in the use of slang. In response to one question by Attorney Cowan the witness, in responding in the affirmative, said:

“Sure, Mike.”

– Press Democrat, February 12, 1908
KEPT A LITTLE DOVE IN A GILDED CAGE

Deputy Game Commissioner Lounlbos arrested a Sonoma druggist, named Simmons, last week on a charge of violating the law. The specific charge was keeping a dove in captivity in a cage. The man was given a hearing on Saturday and was acquitted by the jury hearing the evidence. Mr. Simmons had no intention of violating the law.

– Press Democrat, March 31, 1908
SANTA ROSA HAS ITS OWN PHILOSOPHER
Man Registers at County Clerk’s Office and in Response to Query Tells of His Occupation

“What is your occupation?” queried the clerk in the registration department in County Clerk Fred Wright’s office of a man who presented himself to have his name put on the new Great Register the day before yesterday.

“Philosopher of the Order of Methlstopheles,” came the quick reply.

“What?” gasped “Casey,” behind the book. “Repeat that again please, and slowly; and possibly you had better spell out the last.”

“Philosopher of the Order of Methlstopheles,” thee last word spelt out in a suppressed, dignified tone by the man on the other side of the wicket.

“All right, Mr. Philosopher, you’re registered. Here’s your receipt.”

Santa Rosa has a philosopher, one who firmly believes in the teaching of philosophy of the Methlstopheles. His name is H. C. Stone.

– Press Democrat, March 7, 1908

BOLD THIEF ROBS DENTAL OFFICES

“A lick and a promise this time, Jim,” written in a scrawling hand on a piece of paper and left on the desk in the dental office of Dr. O. J. Litchfield, at Healdsburg, was all that the smiling dentist has to show as evidence, except the carrying off of a lot of gold used in filling teeth, etc., that an unbidden guest, a thief, had entered his offices in that city on Sunday night. The thief also paid a visit to Dr. McGlish’s office and made a haul of gold there. He did not leave his card. A couple of weeks ago a thief also burglarized the offices of two Petaluma dentists and stole gold, bridges and crowns. Santa Rosa dentists are respectfully invited to see that their gold is under lock and key. They thief may pay a return visit to Santa Rosa.

– Press Democrat, August 19, 1908
USED SALTS TO SUICIDE
Hoax Played on Man Who Was Tired of Life

John Capella, a resident of Healdsburg, had recently become despondent and threatened many times to commit suicide. The man made quite a diligent effort to obtain a sufficient quantity of strychnine to shuffle off this mortal coil, and was unsuccessful.

Some wags sought to have some fun at the expense of Capella, and they gave him a great quantity of crystals looking like strychnine, but which were really epsom salts. The man went into the bar room of the Oak Lawn House and there mixed the crystals in a can.

When he raised the can to his lips Capella announced that he was drinking a dose of strychnine, and to make the matter more tragic, the men who had played the joke on the would-be suicide, endeavored to wrest the can from his possession. With a large club and mighty oaths Capella kept the crowd back until he had drained the can of its contents.

A messenger, seeing the commotion caused by Capella’s attempts at suicide, ran post haste on his bicycle for the police station and notified the officers. Night Watchman Harris hastened to the scene and made a search for Capella. He was finally told of the prank played on the man, and gave up the search. Capella is none the worse for the cruel hoax played on him.

– Santa Rosa Republican, October 7, 1908

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OMG, BRIDE RUNS AWAY WITH BROTHER’S BFF

Jeff Elliott Leave a comment

Inside the heart of every teenager lies the Melodrama Bomb, poised to explode unexpectedly and elevate any bad situation into high tragedy. Was ever thus; if anyone tries to tell you that young people were more respectable and mature back in the Good Ol’ Days, consider it hooey. Beneath those worsted tweeds and stiff boned corsets the same emotions seethed.

(RIGHT: Natty and ready to blow at any time. Section from an ad in the 1908 Santa Rosa Republican)

Like “The Abductions of Geneva Eagleson,” this story seems ripped from the libretto of a good opera buffa, which is to say that it also could be an episode from a very bad sitcom. In brief: Mr. and Mrs. Weaver were at home in Santa Rosa when they were notified that their new son-in-law was in the local jail for intoxication. Emphasis on “new” – the marriage had taken place earlier that weekend in San Francisco. So what was young Charles doing up here, alone and drunk on the day after his wedding?

Newlywed Mabel wanted to celebrate with her brother who lived in the East Bay, and had written that she and Charles would meet him at the ferry terminal the day after the ceremony. But off the boat stepped instead her old boyfriend. “Browney” – who, it seems, was her brother’s roommate. In the tradition of a true cad, he had intercepted Mabel’s letter.

Mabel and Browney apparently spoke privately for a few moments. Charles and Mabel left the dock together, but she asked for some time with Browney to “see if she could not pacify him,” for he “felt very badly over her marriage.” The trusting Charles agreed. Five hours later, she returned. They quarreled (about what I cannot possibly guess) and she packed her bags and left.

Charles headed for Santa Rosa, apparently believing she was returning to her parents. On the ferry across the Golden Gate, “he took a drink to steady his nerves and then he found he needed another drink. So when he arrived in Santa Rosa he needed the police and a doctor,” the Santa Rosa Republican noted wryly.

When Charles and his in-laws appeared in court the following morning, her mother denounced Browney as a “villain” who supposedly once threatened to kill Mabel, and besides, was said to be already married. The Assistant District Attorney advised the family to file charges in San Francisco – if any crime actually was committed.

We do not know how the love triangle was immediately resolved, but all seems to have turned out well, at least for many years; through the 1920 census, Charles and Mabel can be traced to his hometown of Seattle, where they lived with their son, Clarence, along with her young nephew.

BRIDE AND FORMER LOVER DISAPPEAR
Husband Arrives in Santa Rosa in Search

Police Officers Skaggs and Lindley took in a young man, neatly dressed and well appearing, Monday night, who was under the influence of liquor. After Dr. Jackson Temple had been called to see him and he had revived somewhat, he gave the name of Chas. Brelle and related a strange story. He had been married only since Saturday and before the day was over his bride had disappeared with a former lover.

The bride was formerly Miss Mabel Weaver, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Weaver of this city, and is about 19 years of age. She left here Thursday for San Francisco to be married to Mr. Brelle. The young man says they were superstitious about marrying on Friday, so were wedded on Saturday. The bride had written to her brother at Point Richmond to meet her Saturday afternoon in San Francisco, but instead of the brother getting the letter, his room mate and a former lover of the young lady named Browney received it. He came over and met the bride of a day and since then all trace of them has been lost.

The husband started for Santa Rosa to see the wife’s parents, but on the boat he took a drink to steady his nerves and then he found he needed another drink. So when he arrived in Santa Rosa he needed the police and a doctor.

Upon being informed of their son-in-law’s plight, Mr. and Mrs. Weaver hurried to the police station and did everything they could for the young man and then took him to their home. Mrs. Weaver spoke of Browney as a “villain,” and said she would have him arrested. He threatened to kill her daughter not long ago. He is said to have a wife already.

It is said that Mr. Breele is of a very respectable family and that he feels keenly the disgraceful plight he was in when he reached Santa Rosa.

Breele appeared before Recorder Bagley Monday morning and was fined five dollars. He then repaired with his wife’s relatives to the court of Justice A. J. Atchison, where he requested a warrant for the arrest of Browney on a charge of abducting his wife. After listening to the story District Attorney Hoyle advised against the issuance of the warrant here, as the crime, if any had been committed, occurred in San Francisco county.

Breele related a peculiar story to the court, showing considerable stupidity on his part and a quarrel that caused his bride of a few hours to leave him hurriedly. When Mrs. Breele wrote to he brother to meet her and the husband, Browney intercepted the letter and he came instead of the brother and met the couple at the ferry in San Francisco. Later Mrs. Breele told her husband that Browney had declared he felt very badly over her marriage to him, and she suggested she had better go and have a talk with Browney and see if she could not pacify him. To this the husband acquiesced, saying he could trust his wife. She remained with Browney from noon until nearly 5 o’clock, and then when she returned to the husband there was a slight quarrel. This resulted in the wife packing her belongings in a grip and departing. The husband walked with her for several blocks on Market street and they parted. He is now seeking her industriously.

– Santa Rosa Republican, March 31, 1908

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