100 Years Ago in the forward: Police have arrested two seasoned criminals, Harry Meyers and Morris Zingenheimer, for the recent murder of New York City businessman Moses Gootman. Meyers, known as “The Chicago Kid” for having pulled off a major heist in that city, is also known for having been caught robbing apartments in a building on the corner of Ludlow and Broome streets in 1906.Read More
In Krakow, a young father took his own life just as the Sabbath was coming to a close. The man, 30-year-old Nossen Ehrlich, was the son of a well-known and successful local businessman. The younger Ehrlich, however, had been stricken by a string of bad luck and never achieved success in anything he did. His most recent attempt before his death was to open a bar next to Orenstein’s Tannery. He sent his wife to arrange for the space, but she returned after having signed a contract for double the normal price. Ehrlich lost it and went back to Orenstein to try to annul the contract, but Orenstein refused. Facing financial ruin, Ehrlich hanged himself that night. Local socialists protested at his funeral, railing against abusive landlords and shouting, “Long live the Jewish socialists!”Read More
Fourteen-year-old Morris Ripkin of 170 Allen Street in New York City, a student at P.S. 35, was arrested and taken into custody after he pulled a revolver on the school’s principal, Emma Sylvester. The principal testified in court that Ripkin was frequently in trouble and hated Sylvester because she used to punish him. Ripkin walked into her office and pulled a revolver, telling her that he’d shoot her if she didn’t let him do what he wanted. Sylvester then called a policeman, who took away the 14-year-old’s gun but did not arrest him, because, according to Sylvester, he didn’t feel like it. Later on, authorities apprehended Ripkin.Read More
100 Years Ago in the forward: Numerous spies have infiltrated the ranks of the Bund in the major Jewish areas of the Russian Empire and are causing great difficulties for its operations.Read More
100 Years Ago In the Forward: It was “he-said, she-said” as the case of Mr. and Mrs. Levine was heard before Judge Whitney in the New York Supreme Court. “You’re a dog and a monster,” was among the printable terms of approbation that Mr. Levine, a lawyer who defended himself, frequently heard from his wife as she claimed that he was the one constantly abusing her, both verbally and physically. But his major issue wasn’t his wife’s cursing, it was her family. Apparently, Mrs. Levine’s parents and 12 siblings could be found all about the Levine household at various hours of the day and night. Fed up, Mr. Levine finally had the police escort them out. But it was Mrs. Levine who had an ace in the hole when a Bronx landlord, Frederick Marx, took the stand and told the court that Mr. Levine had recently rented an apartment for “his wife,” who turned out to be not the Mrs. Levine in the courtroom, but some other lady entirely.Read More
