Category: Justice

The Public Guardian


Sept. 27, 1907
Los Angeles

Ringling Bros. manager Charles Davis said farewell to Los Angeles, leaving $50 ($1,026.18 USD 2005) and some choice words for local authorities.

Child welfare officer Robert W. Reynolds spent several days attending the circus to ensure that there were no performances by underage children (The Times is a bit vague, saying younger than 16 in one story and younger than 12 in another).

The Little Devil



Sept. 5, 1907
Los Angeles

Poor old Mrs. Moore was ill, so instead of paying the grocer his monthly bill, she put a $10 gold piece in an envelope and told her 9-year-old son, Cecil, to take it to him. But Cecil, of 155 W. 51st St., tore open the envelope, found the $10 ($205.24 USD 2005) and got other ideas, none of them good.

First, Cecil treated his chums to sodas at a delicatessen, then he was off for trolley rides to see the city. For the last two days, he has kept one step ahead of police officers, telling his pals that he plans to visit all the local beaches and

Blind Justice


Aug. 7, 1907
Los Angeles


He swore at her and told her to go to hell. He rarely worked and only helped her run their boarding house when he felt like it. She hid all the butcher knives to keep him from killing her and their little girl. She hid his pistol in a bag of rags and sold it. She threw his razor down between two houses.

Finally, she sought a divorce after he came home drunk Feb. 22, 1907, and began hammering on the doors, threatening to break them down, and promising to kill her and their daughter, who had sought refuge with one of the lodgers in their boarding house.

Paul J. and Kate A. Conrad had known each other for 18 years, according to testimony, and although she detested being with him, she said: