The Murder of the Century
Page 29
15 ramshackle and roiling retail polyglot Marcuse, This Was New York, 54.
16 pouncing on on-duty officers Lardner and Reppetto, NYPD, 112.
17 you could tell the old and new officers apart “Conlin Leads a Long Line,” NYTR, June 2, 1897.
18 one of the world’s largest “The Bowery Savings Bank,” World’s Work 4 (1902): 2229.
19 retired with a fortune of $350,000 Lardner and Reppetto, NYPD, 83.
20 John Jacob Astor IV owned “The Building Department,” NYT, December 30, 1899.
21 For decades … the Marsh family Longworth, Longworth’s American Almanac (1834), 471; and Trow’s New York City Directory (1860), 571.
22 it became a German beer saloon Important Events, 132. NB: John Volz’s short-lived saloon is featured in an ad on this page.
23 Ernst Kugler Trow’s New York City Directory (1890), 163.
24 outlasting a previous partner Ibid. (1879), 115.
25 used to wrap a saw Carey, Memoirs, 49.
26 it smelled of the store NYP, June 28, 1897.
27 four feet wide and fourteen and a half feet long “East River Mystery,” NYT, June 28, 1897.
28 nearest distributor: Henry Feuerstein NYH, June 28, 1897.
29 other distributor that Buchanan & Sons used “A Queer Murder Mystery,” NYTR, June 28, 1897.
30 Claflin, had been arrested “Will Arrest Mr. Claflin,” NYT, May 27, 1897.
31 something like fifty more shops to visit NYW, June 28, 1897.
3. THE JIGSAW MAN
1 Ned Brown just about had the place to himself Liebling, Liebling at The New Yorker, 169.
2 walls placarded with exhortations Dreiser, Newspaper Days, 625.
3 clear out to the East River Ibid., 632.
4 ridden cavalry in Sheridan’s Shenandoah Valley campaign Morris, Pulitzer, 24.
5 Pulitzer, then a penniless veteran, was thrown out of it Bleyer, Main Currents, 334.
6 two miles of wrought-iron columns to support the world’s largest pressroom Morris, Pulitzer, 286.
7 425-ton golden dome Ibid., 287.
8 its gilded surface could be seen for miles out to sea Ibid., 272.
9 “Is God in?” Brian, Pulitzer, 153.
10 a circulation of twenty thousand Churchill, Park Row, 27.
11 attention-grabbing promotions Ibid., 39. NB: The idea of the Mars billboard was slightly less loony than it may sound; astronomers like Thomas Dick proposed decades earlier that a giant geometric ditch could be dug out in Siberia, and perhaps be set aflame, the better to send a signal of intelligent life to our fellow astronomers on Mars. The World scheme of sending an actual message to Mars was shelved, alas, when someone at a promotion meeting asked: “What language shall we print it in?”
12 Circulation had risen fifteenfold Liebling, Liebling at The New Yorker, 165.
13 yellow journalism, they called it Campbell, Yellow Journalism, 25.
14 the day’s front-page grabber NYW, June 27, 1897.
15 today it was just the substitute editor.… Ned was to run over Liebling, Liebling at The New Yorker, 169. NB: The description of Ned Brown, as well as his conversations with editors and other reporters, is drawn entirely from Liebling’s September 24, 1955, New Yorker article “The Scattered Dutchman,” reprinted in Liebling at The New Yorker. Although the article contains a few errors and chronological inconsistencies, it was by far the most ambitious account ever attempted regarding the Guldensuppe case. That it’s a Liebling piece makes it a joy to read—he writes tartly of the victim’s “brisket” arriving “in installments”—and he conveys what it was like to be a denizen of Newspaper Row in the old days. The article focuses largely on the opening stages of the case, and in particular on revealing Ned Brown as the World’s near-miss reporter.
16 “At first,” O’Hanlon admitted NYW, June 28, 1897.
17 lungs was still spongy and the heart was filled NYT, June 28, 1897.
18 between the victim’s fifth and sixth ribs NYW, June 28, 1897.
19 blood had entered into the surrounding tissue Ibid.
20 alive and naked when stabbed NYT, June 28, 1897.
21 “Both wounds were made” NYH, June 28, 1897.
22 The victim had cut his hand NYP, June 28, 1897.
23 “That he was knocked down” NYW, June 28, 1897.
24 the two segments were pushed together Edwarde, Guldunsuppe Mystery, 17.
25 Magnusson’s friends and neighbors had been urging her to visit NYTR, June 28, 1897.
26 “If they had only been able to account” NYW, June 28, 1897.
27 A few among the reporters took notice NYT, June 28, 1897.
28 I knew it was a murder all along “River Gives Up a Murder Mystery,” NYH, June 27, 1897.
29 the patrolman’s report claimed … a patent falsehood NYW, June 27, 1897.
30 Herald reporter who had fetched the coroner NYH, June 27, 1897.
31 World reporter who started knocking NYW, June 27, 1897.
32 hadn’t secured the crime scene Ibid.
33 Hogan ventured.… out of their jurisdiction NYH, June 27, 1897.
34 sweeps of women … walking along Broadway “Moss Gets on Chapman’s Trail,” NYET, June 28, 1897.
35 his own pet theory NYT, June 28, 1897.
36 an unnerving sense of recognition Liebling, Liebling at The New Yorker, 186.
4. THE WRECKING CREW
38 “may have been a Hebrew” “River Mystery Grows in Horror,” NYP, June 28, 1897.
39 no alcohol in his stomach.… Nor was there food “Louis A. Lutz the Victim?” NYEJ, June 28, 1897.
40 “It appears to me” “Dr. Weston Says Body Was Boiled,” NYET, June 28, 1897.
41 CANNIBALISM SUGGESTED NYH, June 30, 1897.
42 “A butcher may have done it” “Strange Murder Mystery Deepens,” NYH, June 28, 1897.
43 a recent Chicago murder Loerzel, Alchemy of Bones.
44 “as white as marble.… body had been washed” NYH, June 28, 1897.
45 a Press reporter suggested NYP, June 28, 1897.
46 The World knew just the man to ask NYW, June 28, 1897.
47 scores of reporters were fanning out “World Men Find a Clue,” NYW, June 29, 1897.
48 “God damn it, get excited!” Churchill, Park Row, 86.
49 You could tell when New York was having a peaceful day Ford, Forty-Odd Years, 260.
50 sent reporters off to tail detectives and swipe evidence Liebling, Liebling at The New Yorker, 166.
51 “Events seem to indicate” signed W. R. Hearst editorial, NYEJ, June 29, 1897.
52 race riots in Key West “Inviting a Race War,” Boston Daily Globe, June 28, 1897.
53 stealing electricity off high-voltage streetcar lines “Up-to-Date Burglars in Ohio Tap Trolley Wires for Electricity” NYH, June 29, 1897.
54 a $15 dog “Millionaires War Over a $15 Dog,” NYEJ, June 27, 1897. 27
55 Hire four launches “Picture of the Murder,” NYJ, June 29, 1897.
56 crowded with bereaved families “Undurchdringlithes Dunkel,” NYSZ, June 29, 1897.
57 could barely make their way inside NYW, June 29, 1897.
58 John Johnson and Adolph Carlson “The Body Not Identified,” NYCA, June 29, 1897.
59 “Japanese.” … Another mysterious visitor “Dark Crime of River and Wood,” NYH, June 29, 1897.
60 presumptive widow of Mr. Robert Wood NYH, June 29, 1897.
61 Brooklyn gas engineer Charles Russell “No Clew Yet Found,” NYTR, June 29, 1897.
62 bartender John Otten “No Light on Murder Mystery,” NYP, June 29, 1897.
63 printer John Livingston, or … Edward Leunhelt NYH, June 29, 1897.
64 Manhattan bricklayer: NYCA, June 28, 1897.
65 he refused to talk NYW, June 29, 1897.
66 “bicycle attorney” “Drivers in Trouble,” NYJ, June 29, 1897.
67 “I feel sure it is my uncle’s body” NYEJ, June 28, 1897.
68 “Oh, Dick!” NYW, June 29, 1897.
69 dancing a little jig … as page proofs were laid out Winkler, W. R. Hearst, 71.
70 “The public … likes entertainment better” Stevens, Sensationalism, 87.
71 $20 gold piece he used Churchill, Park Row, 46.
72 piss pots emblazoned with their portraits Winkler, W. R. Hearst, 58.
73 “I am possessed of the weakness” Procter, William Randolph Hearst, 41.
74 “chambermaid’s delight” Ibid., 78.
75 “in the Silurian era” Campbell, Yellow Journalism, 3.
76 “Smash as many as you have to” Winkler, W. R. Hearst, 110.
77 “polychromous effervescence” Whyte, Uncrowned King, 187.
78 MAN WITH THE MUSICAL STOMACH Stevens, Sensationalism, 84.
79 word arrived of the upcoming four o’clock World Liebling, Liebling at The New Yorker, 178.
80 $500 REWARD NYW, June 28, 1897.
81 Run an Extra Final Edition Liebling, Liebling at The New Yorker, 179.
82 $1,000 Reward: NYEJ, June 28, 1897.
5. JILL THE RIPPER
1 reader guesses included “Theories of the Multitude,” NYEJ, June 29, 1897.
2 Hearst loved promotion Turner, When Giants Ruled, 124.
3 “a wooden-legged burglar” Lee, History of American Journalism, 373.
4 “Take all or any part of that” Turner, When Giants Ruled, 123.
5 Park Row sidewalk … was wearing thin Swanberg, Citizen Hearst, 83.
6 “We must beat every paper” Churchill, Park Row, 87.
7 Wreckers dedicated to homicide coverage Procter, William Randolph Hearst, 99.
8 “One might as well have tried” Edwarde, Guldensuppe Mystery, 30.
9 “Did love or jealousy have aught” NYW, June 29, 1897.
10 five men gathered around the dissecting table “Light on the Murder Mystery,” NYW, June 30, 1897.
11 Ferguson sensed a chilling familiarity “May Be Cyklam’s Headless Body,” NYP, June 30, 1897. NB: The quotes from Ferguson that follow are from this account.
12 detectives coursed uptown Ibid.
13 a lone cub reporter could be seen Liebling, Liebling at The New Yorker, 186.
14 bites by mad dogs “Hints for Dog Bites,” NYCA, June 29, 1897.
15 A Romanesque space with white marble floors Advertisement in Cahn, Theatrical Guide.
16 “The House of a Thousand Hangovers” “Miscellany,” Time, December 7, 1925. NB: The baths’ demolition occasioned the magazine’s recollection of its old days. These same baths, incidentally, also figured in the infamous Becker-Rosenthal murder case of 1912.
17 Ned idly let a question drop Liebling, Liebling at The New Yorker, 187. NB: Liebling’s article is the sole source for the account in this section of Brown’s exploits.
18 It was the new issue of the Evening Journal “The Real Clew to the Murder Mystery,” NYEJ, June 29, 1897.
19 For the first time ever, color was being used Stevens, Sensationalism, 92.
20 “I learned from some neighbors” “Saw Two Men with Package in a Saloon,” NYET, June 29, 1897.
21 a slender Times reporter attempted to try on one of Max’s suits NYT, June 29, 1897.
22 the Times theorized … that two escapees NYT, June 29, 1897.
23 THE DEAD MAN’S VALISE “Police Work on a New Clue,” NYEJ, June 29, 1897.
24 “The German seems to regard” “Theories of Prominent Persons as to How the Murder Was Committed,” NYJ, June 29, 1897.
25 “The solution of the whole matter hangs upon the oilcloth” “The Rest of the Roll,” Ibid.
26 Carey … hadn’t made it to Queens or Long Island NYT, June 29, 1897.
27 throwing thirty men into tracking the oilcloth Bleyer, Main Currents, 368.
28 a Journal team at the dry-goods store of one Max Riger “Murder Mystery Is Solved by the Journal,” NYEJ, June 30, 1897.
6. THE BAKER IN HELL’S KITCHEN
1 another heat wave “Scorching Heat for the Freshmen,” NYET, June 30, 1897.
2 unshaven and tough-looking fellow “Mr. and Mrs. Nack Under Arrest; Guldensuppe’s Legs Found in Brooklyn” NYET, June 30, 1897.
3 gangster Mallet Murphy Marcuse, This Was New York, 63.
4 two men clambered aboard NYEJ, June 30, 1897.
5 “Mr. Nack?” “Murder Charged to a Midwife,” NYP, July 1, 1897.
6 Garfield Drug Company on Thirty-Fourth American Druggist and Pharmaceutical Record 30 (1897): 22.
7 carriage-jackers Oscar Piper and Walter McDevitt NYEJ, June 30, 1897.
8 tried escaping twice.… “I have absolutely no idea …” Ibid.
9 nine coworkers from the Murray Hill Baths “May Be Guldensuppe,” NYT, July 1, 1897.
10 VICTIM THOUGHT TO BE THEODORE CYKLAM NYW, June 30, 1897.
11 elbowed aside by Pulitzer’s ace reporter Ike White Liebling, Liebling at The New Yorker, 191.
12 Ike’s pet theory NYW, June 30, 1897.
13 not unknown for reporters to tail detectives Liebling, Leibling at The New Yorker, 166.
14 The Herald, it seemed, had boozily stumbled “Police Say Murder Mystery Is Solved,” NYH, July 1, 1897.
15 overheard by reporter Joe Gavan Collins, Homicide Squad, 55.
16 Hearst alone made a personal visit Ford, Forty-Odd Years, 260.
17 “that antique and shabby” McAdoo, Guarding a Great City, 3.
18 under constant watch by the competition Jeffers, Commisioner Roosevelt, 87.
19 more than 100,000 arrests a year “New York at Its Best and Worst,” NYW, July 1, 1898.
20 chief had more than 250 detectives “Police Chief’s Suggestion,” NYT, December 1, 1897.
21 new rank hadn’t even gone through.… on the force for more than twenty years Lardner and Reppetto, NYPD, 114.
22 walls and floors of the office had been carefully muffled Ibid., 88.
23 “I went to work at two o’clock” NYEJ, June 30, 1897.
24 “I get up at about 1 or 2 and go over the ferry” NYP, July 1, 1897.
25 I was so drunk that I had to stay in bed” NYEJ, June 30, 1897.
26 “What the deuce” NYP, July 1, 1897.
27 Bakery’s owner vouch … Nack had actually led Strack’s saloon NYP, July 1, 1897.
28 $20 monthly lease; she’d given notice NYP, July 1, 1897.
29 detective now sitting on her sofa.… another detective stood Edwarde, Guldensuppe Mystery, 62.
30 “pleasing, yet repellant, appearance” NYT, July 1, 1897.
31 “I gave her a bit of my mind” NYET, June 30, 1897.
32 Krauch had been watching her apartment NYH, July 1, 1897.
33 fashionable tulle-trimmed hat that she’d quickly donned NYET, June 30, 1897.
34 “My name is Augusta Nack” Edwarde, Guldensuppe Mystery, 69.
35 Speak louder Ibid.
36 Pauline Riger … had been listening all along “Mrs. Nack Will Be Formally Charged with Murdering Guldensuppe” NYEJ, July 1, 1897.
37 bumping up against the USS Vermont NYT, July 1, 1897.
38 in the middle of his hallway, were two severed human legs Edwarde, Guldensupe Mystery, 77.
7. THE UNDERTAKER’S NEIGHBOR
1 Werner’s indispensable assistant was vacationing NYH, July 1, 1897.
2 The young millionaire made the landlord an offer Churchill, Park Row, 90.
3 Pulitzer had increasingly taken Ibid., 57.
4 “We must smash the interloper” Procter, William Randolph Hearst, 85.
5 The Times had briefly gone bust Tifft and Jones, The Trust, 36.
6 Dana … stopped coming to his office Wilson, Charles A. Dana, 513.
7 “When I came to New York” Juergens, Joseph Pulitzer, 350.
8 The World’s unmatched circulation Stevens, Sensationalism, 86.
9 “undesirable class of readers” “Views of New Journalism,” NYT, March 4, 1897.
10 World had dubbed the Mis
sing Head Mystery NYW, July 2, 1897.
11 “The sensational journals of the city” “The Sensational Journals of the City,” NYCA, June 29, 1897
12 “The freak journals” “Vociferous Journals,” NYT, June 30, 1897.
13 Hearst’s men had cut the cords Churchill, Park Row, 90.
14 Price, Krauch, and O’Donohue … spent the next few hours unpacking NYEJ, July 1, 1897.
15 small trapdoor in the ground floor … motley assortment Ibid.
16 Neighbors watched from the adjacent buildings Ibid.
17 avenue that was turning increasingly chaotic … police were holding back NYH, July 1, 1897.
18 Vockroth, had rented a horse and surrey to Nack “More Murder Clues,” NYME, July 1, 1897.
19 another boarder had lived in the apartment NYEJ, July 1, 1897.
20 in February when Guldensuppe had beaten his rival NYT, July 1, 1897.
21 knife, a broken saw, and then a revolver … a dried spray of blood NYEJ, July 1, 1897.
22 that evening’s Journal headline NYEJ, June 30, 1897.
23 sent out beefy guards Stevens, Sensationalism, 93.
24 “When patting oneself on the back” Editorial, NYEJ, July 1, 1897.
25 signed Guldensuppe … not Gieldsensuppe “Fear and Strain Weaken Mrs. Nack,” NYP, July 2, 1897.
26 couldn’t find missing money she claimed “Now Formally Accused,” NYTR, July 3, 1897.
27 a jail matron found it hidden in her corset “The Murder Mystery,” NYTR, July 2, 1897.
28 The matron also noticed bruises “Murder Will Out,” NYEP, July 1, 1897.
29 having her fingernails pared and scraped “Police Couldn’t Weaken Her,” NYET, July 2, 1897.
30 “If that body belonged to William Guldensuppe” “The Identification Upset,” NYW, July 2, 1897.
31 One was a Bowery waiter … other was a babbling metal-polish peddler NYT, July 1, 1897.
32 home address that proved to be a lumberyard NYP, June 30, 1897.
33 “He is a freak” NYW, June 30, 1897. 61 “She has a temper” NYP, July 1, 1897.
34 Herald writer heard Herman Nack claim NYH, July 1, 1897. 61 “She is strong enough?” NYP, July 1, 1897.
35 Friend, had marched into the Mulberry Street “To Protest Her Innocence,” BE, July 2, 1897.
36 World editors were doubling down “Murder Mystery Is a Mystery Still,” NYW, July 1, 1897.