To quote a great American philosopher, “Oops...I did it again”.
Sigh.
All this year I've been writing about a strange habit I've picked up, the habit of writing newspaper articles for the History Center, turning them in, and then promptly forgetting about them until weeks later when I open the paper and am shocked by what I see.
I'm thinking that maybe I should just stop reading the Mining Journal. That way I won't be shocked by myself.
8-)
So, I will once again re-purpose something I wrote weeks ago and then totally put out of my mind. This time of the year, we can always consider it the gift that keeps on giving.
That's okay. You can thank me later.
*****
“Police Pickings”
By Jim Koski
Marquette Regional History Center.
One of the more popular sections of the Mining Journal these days is, without a doubt, the police log, where actions taken by the Marquette City Police, both mundane and quirky, are shared with the public. This service is actually a long-standing tradition by the newspaper, as even back in 1885 they had a column entitled “Police Pickings”.
Described as “(a)nother interesting collection of items gathered around the streets yesterday”, the entries from “Police Pickings” were a little longer and given a lot more hyperbole than those in the modern day police log. They also reflected both the morals and the prejudices of the day, which can make for some rather interesting (albeit insensitive) reading in modern times.
And that’s readily apparent if you look at the column on just one day, April 18th, 1885.
An entry that read, “The officers have received instructions to keep the streets clear of rowdies, and are obeying orders in a most vigorous manner”, was probably the reason why, in the very next entry, “Police Pickings” said, “Officer Ryan’s right hand is now in bandages, resulting from an attempt to change the mind of some obstinate prisoner”.
Apparently, the use of force was not uncommon back in 1885, as another entry noted, “”James Clark was gathered in Wednesday. The arrest was made by Officer Deasy, who had to club his man pretty severely before he would come along. He was only fined $2, with $5 costs, with this being his first offense”.
The “Pickings” item never did say exactly what that first offense was.
James Clark was not the only individual running from trouble on that April day. According to the “Pickings”, “Hugh Finigan has been laboring under the delusion for some time back that he was the cutest man in Marquette, and was too sharp to get into trouble, but he has recovered. On Wednesday he attempted to jump town and numerous bills. Deputy Sheriff Dolf was instructed to run him down, and did so in Negaunee. Finigan, rather than return to this city under escort of an officer, turned over to Mr. Dolf all the money he possessed–nearly enough to square all his accounts in this city.”
The writers of “Police Pickings” obviously didn't mind editorializing about certain individuals, as well, as noted in this entry–
“John L. Sullivan will be released from the county jail tomorrow, but undoubtedly you’ll be able to find him there Monday. John came here from Duluth and is only happy in the county jail”.
That editorializing also carried over to whole groups of people who, in those days, were the subject of prejudice–
“To satisfy the curiosity of a reader, a Mining Journal reporter Tuesday morning paid a visit to the county jail for the purpose of securing the nationality of all the prisoners therein confined. His investigation resulted as follows: number of prisoners confined, 30, and of this number 17 are Irishmen, 2 Germans, 1 Englishman, 2 Frenchmen, 2 Norweigians, 1 Canadian, 1 Finlander, 1 Cornishman and 1 Swede.”
As the entry went on to say–
“The result is certainly not a flattering one to our Irish population, and the figures furnished will probably set them to studying why such things should be”.
This is just a guess, but the large Irish population in South Marquette probably didn’t agree.
However, the “Police Pickings” column, like many Mining Journal articles of the era, saved the biggest headlines and most florid prose for whenever the topic of Marquette’s “Ladies of the Night” came up.
In the 1880s, brothels, called “ranches” by city officials, were scattered throughout the Rolling Mill location, where Founder’s Landing and South Beach now sit. Both sailors disembarking from ships in Lower Harbor and, according to police reports, “some of Marquette’s finest gentlemen”, could be seen coming and going from that area of the city all night long. Several mentions of fights and destruction of property at the ranches appeared in “Police Pickings” on that day, along with this story–
“Two sick women who have been running a house of ill repute in the Rolling Mill district were up before Judge O’Keefe Monday, on the complaint of persons in that part of the city whom the orgies of the women and their companions had annoyed for some time previously. The women were a Mrs Emily Bly, an old offender from somewhere up the road, and Miss Anna Whitcomb, a lass who has served an apprenticeship in vice under the old hag’s tutelage.”
Now that’s some fine newspaper writing.
So while the police log in today’s Mining Journal is filled with quirky stories about skunks with jars caught on their heads, people mistaking their neighbor’s singing in the shower for physical assault, and tales of pomeranians trotting down the street wearing sweaters, the changing of times, public sensitivities, and morals mean that there will never be another column like “Police Pickings”.
Especially the “Police Pickings” of April 18th, 1885.
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