Island of Vice

by Richard Zacks

  26 “the resigning kind”: “Parker Asked to Resign?” NYW, May 28, 1896, p. 9.

  CHAPTER 18: BACK IN BLUE

  1 “any forenoon”: Frank Moss, note, May 19, 1896, Society for Prevention of Crime papers, Rare Book Room, Butler Library, Columbia University.

  2 D.A. dropping indictments: “Indicted Police Go Free,” NYW, May 22, 1896, p. 3. Good summary of cases stemming from Lexow.

  3 they made the papers: “Devery’s Friends Indignant,” NYH, May 31, 1896, p. 7; “Capt. Devery Left Out,” NYT, May 31, 1896, p. 16.

  4 calèche drawn by two “prancing bays”: “Good Riders and Marchers,” NYT, June 2, 1896, p. 1.

  5 Chief Conlin, “buoyant and beaming”: “Bluecoats on Parade,” NYW, June 2, 1896.

  6 “storm of hisses”: Ibid.

  7 “ ‘What if I did blackmail people?’ ”: “The Parade of the Police,” NY Trib, June 2, 1896, p. 2.

  CHAPTER 19: PARKER TRIAL

  1 “his most easily proven sin”: TR to Bamie, June 12, 1896, MS Am 1834, TRC.

  2 “trivial, mere rot” “schoolboy complaint”: “Parker to Be Tried,” NYW, June 9, 1896, p. 16.

  3 “as much a trial of me as of Parker”: TR to Bamie, July 12, 1896, MOR I, p. 546.

  4 “happy as a big sunflower”: “Parker Case Fizzles,” NYW, June 12, 1896, p. 9.

  5 “Rather to my surprise, General Tracy”: TR to Bamie, June 14, 1896, MOR I, p. 543.

  6 “the respectable age of 46”: Phillip Jessup, Elihu Root, p. 191.

  7 “That kind of evidence is laughable”: “Mr. Parker’s Absence,” NYT, June 13, 1896, p. 8; “Parker Trial Drags,” NYH, June 13, 1896, p. 5; “Parker’s Turn to Laugh,” NYW, June 13, 1896, p. 9; NY Trib, June 13, 1896, p. 13.

  8 “Today we are having a terrific storm”: Edith to Bamie, June 13, 1896, MS Am 1834.1, TRC.

  9 “While I greatly regret the defeat of Reed”: TR to Bamie, June 20, 1896, MOR I, p. 543.

  10 “stage manager” “two rival stars of comedy”: “Tracy Treads on Teddy’s Toes,” NYH, p. 6; “Mr. Roosevelt’s Button,” NYT, p. 8; “Colonel Kipp Still a Witness,” NY Trib, June 20, 1896.

  11 “To pee or not to pee”: Patrick Feaster and David Giovannoni, liner notes, Actionable Offenses: Indecent Phonograph Recordings from the 1890s, Archephone Records #1007, 2007, CD.

  12 “You have got enough evidence out of me”: “Parker Case a Bubble,” NYW, June 30, 1896, p. 9.

  13 speculated whether a “fool”: TR to HCL, Mar. 1, 1897, HCL Papers.

  14 “I see my friend shakes his head”: “Mr. Tracy Scores Mr. Roosevelt,” NYH, June 30, 1896, p. 5.

  15 “He jumped around like a tin monkey”: “Parker Case a Bubble,” NYW, June 30, 1896, p. 9.

  16 “He found out things I never knew”: “Field Day for Mr. Parker,” NYT, July 2, 1896, p. 6.

  17 “I was most frequently in consultation with Mr. Parker”: Ibid.; see also “Mr. Parker a Worker,” NYW, p. 14; “In Behalf of Parker,” NY Trib, p. 4, July 2, 1896.

  18 “as stuffy as a lower east side hall bedroom”: “Mr. Parker on the Stand,” NYT, p. 8.

  19 “I want to say right here”: “Asked Parker to Resign,” NYW, July 3, 1896, p. 14; “Their Tart Notes,” NYH, July 3, 1896; “Mr. Parker Testifies,” NY Trib, July 3, 1896, p. 5; “Mr. Parker on the Stand,” NYT, July 3, 1896, p. 8.

  20 “I have always been nervous before a contest”: TR to Fanny Parsons, July 10, 1896, MS Am 1454.41, TRC.

  21 “Was the business of the board postponed”: Roosevelt’s testimony: “War Now on Words,” NYH, July 8, 1896, p. 9; “Roosevelt on the Rack,” NYW, July 8, 1896, p. 9; “Roosevelt a Witness,” NYT, July 8, 1896; “Parker Again Testifies,” NY Trib, July 8, 1896, p. 9.

  22 “You rescheduled to suit your own convenience”: “End of Parker Hearing,” NYT, July 9, 1896, p. 8. For more testimony: “Parker Has a Word,” NYH, July 9, 1896, p. 10; “Parker Trial Closed,” NYW, July 9, 1896, p. 9; “Parker Hearing Closed,” NY Trib, July 9, 1896, p. 9.

  23 “It has by no means been made clear”: “The Case Against Commissioner Parker,” NYT, July 10, 1896.

  24 “I scored a complete victory over General Tracy”: TR to Fanny Parson, July 10, 1896, MS Am 1454.41, TRC.

  25 “with Parker not six feet distant”: TR to Bamie, July 12, 1896, MOR I, p. 546.

  26 “Thank goodness the Parker trial is over”: Edith to Bamie, July 9, 1896, MS Am 1834.1, TRC.

  27 “six or eight months”: TR to HCL, July 31, 1896, Roosevelt and Lodge, Selections from the Correspondence, p. 229.

  CHAPTER 20: RESTLESS SUMMER

  1 “unending warfare against crime”: “Roosevelt to the Captains,” NY Trib, July 17, 1896, p. 2.

  2 “Good Evening” to the man’s “Hello”: “Broadway to Her Rescue,” NYW, July 17, 1896.

  3 “Of course, I can only tell you”: TR to HCL, July 29, 1896, MOR I, p. 551.

  4 “He is a good natured, well meaning, rough man”: TR to HCL, July 30, 1896, MOR I, p. 552.

  5 “No spoils politician ever dared to do”: “Grant and Parker at It,” NYH, Aug. 1, 1896.

  6 “Ten Minutes in the Latin Quarter” “exceptionally thin covering of flesh-colored stockingnet”: “Police Stopped the Show,” NYS, July 23, 1896.

  7 a pair of “double thick” shoulder-to-toe tights: “Tights as Exhibit ‘D,’ ” NYW, July 24, 1896.

  8 “Where she ought to be slender, she is too thick”: Town Topics, July 30, 1896, p. 13.

  9 “conscienceless adventurer with no morals of any kind”: TR to Bamie, Aug. 9, 1896, MS Am 1834, TRC.

  10 “nobody could be more amusing than the host”: Maria Storer, “How Theodore Roosevelt Became Assistant Secretary of the Navy: A Hitherto Unrelated Chapter of History,” Harper’s, June 1, 1912, p. 8.

  11 “it would be well for me to accept Assistant Secretary”: TR to Bellamy Storer, Aug. 10, 1896, MOR I, p. 556; see also Maria Storer, Theodore Roosevelt the Child, p. 16.

  12 “He listened attentively, spoke very warmly”: TR to Maria Storer, Aug. 10, 1896, MOR I, p. 556; see also Storer, Roosevelt the Child, p. 17.

  13 “heated term”: TR to Bamie, Aug. 15, 1896, MOR I, p. 557.

  14 “The heat did not reach 100 degrees”: Daniel van Pelt, Leslie’s History of Greater New York, p. 544.

  15 “a genuine flavor of pestilence”: TR to Bamie, Aug. 15, 1896, MOR I, p. 557.

  16 “remove either the horses or his shop”: Roosevelt, Autobiography, p. 200.

  17 ONE QUART PER FAMILY: “205 Victims of the Heat in One Day,” NYW, Aug. 11, 1896, pp. 1–2.

  18 “wish to repudiate their debts”: TR to Bamie, July 26, 1896, MOR I, p. 550.

  19 “some numerical incantation known as the silver standard”: Thomas Beer, Stephen Crane, p. 137.

  20 “a personally honest and rather attractive man”: TR to Bamie, July 19, 1896, Roosevelt, Letters from Theodore Roosevelt, pp. 187–188.

  21 INEFFICIENCY OF TEDDY’S RECRUITS: New York News, Aug. 13, 1896, Avery Andrews scrapbook, TRC.

  22 “the most remarkable exhibition of mismanagement”: “Well, Bryan Spoke” and editorial, NYS, Aug. 13, 1896.

  23 “The filling of the Garden”: “The Danger of Crowds,” editorial, NYT, Aug. 14, 1896.

  24 “Bryan fell perfectly flat here”: TR to HCL, Aug. 13, 1896, Roosevelt and Lodge, Selections from the Correspondence, p. 230.

  25 “What does your father do?”: “A Scramble for Free Ice,” NYT, Aug. 15, 1896, p. 8.

  26 “Prize fights have been conducted”: “Parker Bursts a Bomb,” NYW, Aug. 21, 1896, p. 11.

  27 WAR IN THE BOARD: NYH, Aug. 21, 1896, p. 5.

  CHAPTER 21: CAMPAIGNING FOR MCKINLEY AND HIMSELF

  1 “riding over the great plains”: TR to Bamie, Sept. 13, 1896, Roosevelt, Letters from Theodore Roosevelt, p. 192.

  2 “Roosevelt cannot see a dozen yards away”: “Roosevelt on a Ranch,” Omaha World Herald, reprinted in Washington Post, Sept. 6, 1896; “Roosevelt o
n His Ranches,” NYT, Sept. 20, 1896, p. 12.

  3 “affairs are very much demoralized in Michigan”: TR to HCL, Sept. 14, 1896, MOR I, pp. 559–561.

  4 “done nearly all I could do”: TR to Bamie, Nov. 8, 1896, MOR I, p. 566; see also “The bulk of my work here is over,” TR to Cecil Spring Rice, Aug. 5, 1896, p. 554.

  5 “overjoyed”: TR to HCL, Sept. 18, 1896, Roosevelt and Lodge, Selections from the Correspondence, p. 235.

  6 “amused with that graceless sheeny”: Ibid.; see also HCL Papers.

  7 “the basest set in the land”: “Roosevelt on Honesty,” NYW, Sept. 12, 1896, p. 3.

  8 Cabot made “remarkably good speeches”: TR to Bamie, Oct. 4, 1896, Roosevelt, Letters from Theodore Roosevelt, p. 195.

  9 “silly and wicked enough to fit well”: “A Rally in Oneida County,” NYS, Sept. 30, 1896; “Enthusiasm in Gloversville,” NY Trib, Oct. 1, 1896.

  10 “a garret room”: Roosevelt and Lodge, Selections from the Correspondence, p. 236, footnote by HCL accompanying Sept. 18, 1896 letter; see also “Clouds Cleared Away at Canton,” San Francisco Call, Oct. 3, 1896.

  11 “McKinley is bearing himself well”: TR to Bamie, Oct. 4, 1896, Roosevelt, Letters from Theodore Roosevelt, p. 195.

  12 “it was simply delightful to be with you”: TR to HCL, Oct. 6, 1896, Roosevelt and Lodge, Selections from the Correspondence, p. 237.

  13 “Did you get my note about the Canton incident?”: TR to Bellamy Storer, Oct. 24, 1896, Storer, Roosevelt the Child, p. 18.

  14 “I have been nineteen years in the service”: “Old Charges to Be Tried,” NYH, Oct. 9, 1896, p. 7.

  15 “It is remarkable that lawyer Moss”: “Would Ruin the Force,” NYW, Oct. 9, 1896.

  16 “No one Commissioner would be able”: “Is Devery Being Persecuted?” NYH, Oct. 11, 1896, sect. 3, p. 4.

  17 “I let myself go”: TR to Bamie, Oct. 22, 1896, Roosevelt, Letters from Theodore Roosevelt, p. 196.

  18 “Instead of a government of the people”: “Text of Mr. Roosevelt’s Speech,” Chicago Tribune, Oct. 16, 1896, p. 1; “Teddy Hits the Pops,” Chicago Daily, Oct. 16, 1896, p. 1.

  19 “I made a success of it”: TR to HCL, Oct. 21, 1896, MOR I, p. 237.

  20 “triumph of patriotism”: NYT, Nov. 5, 1896, p. 8.

  21 “I should rather have you speak in my behalf”: TR to Bellamy Storer, Nov. 19, 1896, Storer, Roosevelt the Child, p. 20.

  22 “if he thinks I am hot-headed and harum-scarum”: Ibid. p. 23.

  23 “spoke of you with great regard”: HCL to TR, Dec. 2, 1896, Roosevelt and Lodge, Selections from the Correspondence, pp. 240–242.

  24 “my influence is nothing compared to yours”: HCL to Bellamy Storer, Dec. 2, 1896, HCL Papers.

  25 “The main reason why I would care to go”: TR to HCL, Dec. 4, 1896, Roosevelt and Lodge, Selections from the Correspondence, p. 243.

  26 “only people for whom I really care”: TR to HCL, Dec. 9, 1896, MOR I, p. 570.

  CHAPTER 22: BELLY DANCERS AND SNOW BALLS

  1 “to drive out crime and iniquity”: “Chapman and Egypt Tell,” NYS, Jan. 13, 1897, pp. 1–2; see also “Captain Chapman Testifies,” Brooklyn Eagle, Jan. 13, 1897, pp. 1–2; “Chapman’s Version of It,” NY Trib, Jan. 13, 1897, p. 9; “Capt. Chapman on the Stand,” NYW, Jan. 13, 1897, p. 1; “Chapman on the Stand,” NYT, Jan. 13, 1897, p. 11. The Chapman case drew enormous coverage in the New York City newspapers from Dec. 22, 1896, to Jan. 14, 1897.

  2 “It seems we are to have no privacy”: Cora Routt testimony: “Dinner Chapman Raided,” NYS, Jan. 9, 1897, pp. 1–2; dialogue during raid taken from later trial testimony, including: “That Pompeian Feast,” NYW, Jan. 9, 1897, pp. 1–2; “It Was No Sunday-School,” NY Trib, Jan. 9, 1897, p. 14.

  3 “played bear”: Edith to Corinne, Dec. 23, 1896, MS Am 1785, TRC.

  4 indignation and outrage: “The Invasion of Sherry’s,” NY Trib, Dec. 22, 1896; “Raided for Revenge,” NYH, Dec. 22, 1896; “Police Outrage, Say the Diners,” NYW, Dec. 22, 1896, p. 1.

  5 “A perfect whirlwind of denunciation”: “Police Outrage, Say the Diners,” NYW, Dec. 22, 1896, p. 1.

  6 “as the devil hates holy water”: “Parkhurstian Insolence,” NYS, Dec. 22, 1896.

  7 “unfitted him”: “Police Secret Leaked,” NYW, Dec. 22, 1896, p. 2.

  8 “That muttonhead Grant has suddenly gone in with Parker”: TR to HCL, Dec. 26, 1896, HCL Papers.

  9 “My thighs were to be covered”: “True Story of Seeley Dinner,” NYW, Dec. 31, 1896, pp. 1–2. (Little Egypt’s affidavit.)

  10 THE INVASION OF SHERRY’S: “The Invasion of Sherry’s,” NY Trib, Dec. 22, 1896.

  11 “to be watched, and guarded”: “Roosevelt’s Moral Crusade,” Washington Post, Dec. 23, 1896, p. 6 (quotes item in Hearst’s New York Journal and expands on it).

  12 “The bad taste shown by young men”: “A Case for Investigation,” NYT, Dec. 22, 1896.

  13 “a house of entertainment of the highest character”: “Vindication or Dismissal,” NYT, Dec. 23, 1896.

  14 “She proved so uninteresting and so unentertaining”: “True Story of Seeley Dinner,” NYW, Dec. 31, 1896, pp. 1–2. (Herbert B. Seeley’s affidavit.)

  15 “brokers on the Consolidated Exchange”: “Annoyed Clinton B. Seeley,” NYH, Dec. 24, 1896, p. 4.

  16 “an absolute untruth” “highest rating of any of the commissioners”: “A Question of Veracity,” NYT, Dec. 25, 1896, p. 3.

  17 “ideal Xmas”: TR to Bamie, Dec. 26, 1896, Roosevelt, Letters from Theodore Roosevelt, p. 200.

  18 “rude, boisterous, insolent and arbitrary manner”: “Squabble Over Chapman,” NYS, Dec. 29, 1896.

  19 “The higher the standing of the people”: “Chapman Trial Held Up,” NYW, Dec. 29, 1896, p. 4.

  20 “I move that the charges be referred”: Ibid.

  21 “The papers have fiercely denounced the Captain”: “Chapman May Be Tried,” NYT, Dec. 29, 1896.

  22 ALDERMAN HALL PULLS WIRES FOR HIS FRIEND: “Chapman Trial Held Up,” NYW, Dec. 29, 1896, p. 4.

  23 “I cut the pages out”: “Roosevelt’s Queer Stab at Parker,” NYW, Dec. 30, 1896; “Parker’s Name Connected with Charges of Bribery,” NYH, Dec. 30, 1896, p. 4; “Both Say Mr. Parker Lied,” NYS, Dec. 30, 1896, p. 8.

  24 “We joked about it”: New York Advertiser, Dec. 31, 1896, Avery Andrews scrapbook, TRC; “Parker Baits Roosevelt,” NYS, Dec. 31, 1896.

  25 “I should consider it a great favor”: “Put Roosevelt in a Corner,” NYW, Dec. 31, 1896.

  26 “Fuzzy Wuzzy”: New York Advertiser, Dec. 31, 1896, Avery Andrews scrapbook, TRC. An interesting side note: the mayor had an intact copy of the four-page confession, which remains among his official papers, attached to TR’s letter of Apr. 20, 1896.

  27 “Here matters are worse than ever”: TR to HCL, Jan. 2, [1897] (misdated 1896), MOR I, p. 504. This inadvertent error—clearly revealed by a McKinley cabinet appointment reference in the same letter—has led numerous historians to place the TR–Parker feud in full fury far too early.

  28 “When I was at Harvard”: “Roosevelt and the Fighters,” Washington Post, Nov. 19, 1896, p. 6, quoting NYS.

  29 “Little Egypt’s Own Story”: “True Story of Seeley Dinner,” NYW, Dec. 31, 1896, pp. 1–2 (Little Egypt and Herbery B. Seeley’s affidavits; interview with Little Egypt).

  30 “We find all the diners guilty”: Town Topics, Jan. 7, 1897, p. 12.

  31 “Gee! I wish I was a witness”: “Sherry and Bitters,” NYW, Jan. 8, 1897, pp. 1–2 (first day of trial).

  32 “bestial in the extreme” “obscene”: “Dinner Chapman Raided,” NYS, Jan. 9, 1897, pp. 1–2; “That Pompeian Feast,” NYW, Jan. 9, 1897, pp. 1–2; “It was No Sunday-School,” NY Trib, Jan. 9, 1897, p. 14 (2nd day of trial).

  33 MILK BELOW: “Chapman’s Trial Winds Up,” NYS, Jan. 14, 1897, p. 2.

  34 “coon monologues” “pure filth”: Lottie Mortimer testimony on third day of trial: “Shame: Doings at Seeley�
�s Orgy,” NYW, Dec. 10, 1897, pp. 1–2; “Police Raid at Sherry’s,” NYS, Dec. 10, 1897, pp. 1–2.

  35 “She is a strange sort of creature”: Little Egypt’s testimony on fourth day: “Egyptian’s Story,” New York Evening Journal, Jan. 12, 1897; “Chapman and Egypt Tell,” NYS, Jan. 13, 1897, pp. 1–2; see also “Captain Chapman Testifies,” Brooklyn Eagle, Jan. 13, 1897, pp. 1–2; “Chapman’s Version of It,” NY Trib, Jan. 13, 1897, p. 9; “Capt. Chapman on the Stand,” NYW, Jan. 13, 1897, p. 1; “Chapman on the Stand,” NYT, Jan. 13, 1897, p. 11.

  36 “principal topic of conversation in the city”: “Chapman’s Trial Winds Up,” NYS, Jan. 14, 1897, p. 2.

  37 “Is it true that the Seeleyites”: Ibid.; see also “Seeley Guests Mute,” NYW, Jan. 14, 1897, p. 3.

  38 “asked me where I was going”: NYH, Jan. 23, 1897.

  39 “Will it be necessary for a woman”: Ibid.

  40 precinct map without an “escort”: “Captain Chapman Justifies His Raids,” NYH, Jan. 25, 1897, p. 4.

  41 “We do not quite understand why the men”: “Will Wrangle No More,” NY Trib, Jan. 9, 1897, p. 14.

  42 “The streets of New York City are infested”: “Dennett’s Last Report,” NYW, Jan. 10, 1897, p. 33.

  43 “A man’s home is his castle”: “Chapman’s Raid Upheld,” NYS, Feb. 4, 1897.

  44 “If he erred at all, he erred on the right side”: “Chapman Is Exonerated,” NYT, Feb. 4, 1897, p. 3.

  CHAPTER 23: WHERE’S THE EXIT?

  1 “New York is now convulsed”: TR to Bamie, Jan. 31, 1897, MOR I, p. 577.

  2 “New York is credited by outsiders”: “Dr. Rainsford’s Advice,” NYT, Jan. 23, 1897.

  3 “too historically correct for these modern and more Puritanical days”: Town Topics, Feb. 18, 1897, p. 4.

  4 “The working people do not read the accounts”: “A Modern Masquerade,” Munsey’s, May 1897, p. 192.

  5 “You have bitten off bear’s heads”: “The Ball of the 600,” NYW, Feb. 12, 1897, p. 2.