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1256 lines
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* T A Y L O R O L O G Y *
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* A Continuing Exploration of the Life and Death of William Desmond Taylor *
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* *
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* Issue 85 -- January 2000 Editor: Bruce Long bruce@asu.edu *
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* TAYLOROLOGY may be freely distributed *
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CONTENTS OF THIS ISSUE:
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James Bean's Theory Regarding Taylor's Killer
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Rumors, "Solutions," and Strange Reports
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William Desmond Taylor's Injuries
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Why Margaret Gibson Changed her Screen Name
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Margaret Gibson Arrested for Extortion
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More Thoughts Regarding Margaret Gibson
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Additional Comments on Margaret Gibson by Ray Long
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Letter from Margaret Gibson's Husband
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What is TAYLOROLOGY?
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TAYLOROLOGY is a newsletter focusing on the life and death of William Desmond
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Taylor, a top Paramount film director in early Hollywood who was shot to
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death on February 1, 1922. His unsolved murder was one of Hollywood's major
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scandals. This newsletter will deal with: (a) The facts of Taylor's life;
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(b) The facts and rumors of Taylor's murder; (c) The impact of the Taylor
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murder on Hollywood and the nation; (d) Taylor's associates and the Hollywood
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silent film industry in which Taylor worked. Primary emphasis will be given
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toward reprinting, referencing and analyzing source material, and sifting it
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for accuracy.
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James Bean's Theory Regarding Taylor's Killer
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Most of the detectives involved in the investigation of the Taylor case
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thought the killer was either Sands or Shelby (or someone acting for Shelby,
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like Stockdale). One detective with a completely different viewpoint was
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James F. Bean, who gave the following interview on the 25th anniversary of
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Taylor's murder.
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* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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February 1, 1947
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LOS ANGELES HERALD-EXPRESS
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...An old-time police detective, James F. Bean, long since retired,
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worked on the case painstakingly. He had the most prosaic theory of them all
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as to how Taylor met death. Because it was prosaic, it never received much
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publicity. He said:
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"I believe and always will believe that a burglar killed Taylor.
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He was known as the 'Dinner Time Thief' because he always stole between
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5:30 p.m. and 7 p.m., when residents of the Westlake district were out
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eating. I checked the police records, which disclosed that this thief had
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committed about 25 burglaries in the area surrounding the Taylor home during
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the year prior to the director's slaying.
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"Immediately after the murder of Taylor this burglar ceased operating.
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"...Taylor was a courageous man. His friends testified to that.
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I reasoned at the time that burglar, probably aware that Taylor lived alone,
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was watching the house. He saw the director and Miss Normand walk out to her
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car. He figured they were going to dinner. It was his custom to wait until
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victims left their homes and then quickly go in and loot them. I reasoned
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that the prowler, intent on a fast clean-up, saw Taylor and Miss Normand
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leave, then he entered... He was busy looting when Taylor came back and
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confronted him.
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"In my mind's eye, I can see the burglar and Taylor facing each other,
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the thief telling the director to hold up his hands and sit down.
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Contemptuously and foolhardedly, I can see Taylor grab the small, strait
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backed chair with the intention of hitting the intruder over the head with
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it. The chair came aloft and as Taylor's body half turned to deliver the
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blow, the thief stepped back and fired... Naturally, Taylor died instantly.
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"In my opinion, the Taylor murder will never be solved unless the guilty
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person confesses on his or her deathbed, an unlikely prospect, but I still
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believe that a prowler fired the fatal shot and my guess is as good as
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anyone's."
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Rumors, "Solutions," and Strange Reports
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The following is a selection of rumors and strange reports pertaining to the
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Taylor case.
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The 1951 movie "The Hollywood Story" was very loosely based on the
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Taylor murder case. Actor Elmo Lincoln reportedly confided to a visitor to
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the movie set that actor Art Acord was the person who had really killed
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Taylor.
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* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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Noted film historian DeWitt Bodeen researched the Taylor case and
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planned a nonfiction book on it, but it was never published. Instead, Bodeen
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turned his research into a thinly-veiled fictionalization of the Taylor case,
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THIRTEEN CASTLE WALK (Pyramid Books, 1975). The solution presented in that
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book is as follows: Supposedly, Taylor had a homosexual relationship with
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Jack Pickford, and Taylor infected Jack Pickford with syphilis. Jack
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Pickford in turn infected his wife Olive Thomas, who committed suicide after
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learning she had contracted the disease. Jack Pickford blamed Taylor for
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having been the cause of his wife's suicide, and murdered Taylor in revenge.
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* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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October 26, 1929
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LOS ANGELES TIMES
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Taylor Murder Has Echo
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Echoes of the William Desmond Taylor murder case of 1922 yesterday
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clamored for the attention of officers in the investigation into the
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mysterious slaying of Earl Boruff, 41-year-old Long Beach detective, who was
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found dying, fatally wounded by his own revolver, on the outskirts of Long
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Beach early on the morning of the 18th inst.
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This new phase of the Boruff case was revealed in a confidential report
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of Long Beach police officers who made the preliminary investigation of the
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case, turned over yesterday to Capt. William J. Bright, chief of Sheriff
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Traeger's homicide investigation detail.
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Boruff, the report states, a few months ago confided to a friend that he
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knew more about the William Desmond Taylor murder case than any other person
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in Southern California, and would have solved it if he had not been removed
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from the inquiry and ordered to "lay off." At the time he was investigating
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the Taylor case, Boruff was working for the Department of Justice, according
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to officers.
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The detective further stated that should the identity of Taylor's
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slayers become known and the case cleared up, it would rock the nation from
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San Francisco to Washington, D.C.
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The conversation in which Boruff related these intimations occurred on
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or about June 5, last, according to the friend who gave the information to
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Long Beach officers.
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Investigators also have found that Boruff, about two weeks before he was
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killed, expressed fear for his life but never mentioned who his enemies were.
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At that time he borrowed a revolver and for the first time in many months
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carried the weapon with him at all times.
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When he was found dying a few feet from his coupe on East Anaheim
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street, his gun was lying by his side with three exploded shells in the
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chambers. Later investigators found the man's pocketbook beneath a bridge
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one mile away, and this discovery caused the suicide theory to be discarded
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completely.
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* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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One of the detectives who investigated the Taylor murder right from the
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start was Jesse Winn. He wrote about the case in 1937, and stated: "Only a
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few months ago, a war veteran came to the office of District Attorney Fitts
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with what he considered irrefutable proof that Taylor had not been killed at
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all! The body found in his apartment and recognized by scores of men and
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women, this man insisted, was really that of Taylor's brother--the director
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having staged his own "murder" in order to disappear from society forever."
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[FRONT PAGE DETECTIVE, June 1937].
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* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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In January 1930, three separate individuals made statements implicating
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Mabel Normand in Taylor's murder: (1) Henry Peavey, Taylor's ex-servant,
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(2) Otis Heffner, ex-convict, and (3) Vincent Clark, editor of the
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PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER. Heffner's statement was totally discredited (see
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TAYLOROLOGY 50). Peavey's statement indicated that an argument had taken
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place between Taylor and Normand during their last visit, and that a
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telephone call to Taylor's home at 7:30 had gone unanswered (see TAYLOROLOGY
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69). Clark's statement was never made public, but his wire to Fitts stated:
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"Information obtained by me and given to the district attorney's office
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December 19, 1922, checks in detail with recent disclosures carried in press
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relating to Taylor murder case. My statement should be on file. Have
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acknowledgment receipt in my possession signed by Robert F. Herron,
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Woolwine's private secretary. Can repeat statement if needed. If no more
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assistance needed from me will release story to press."
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Herron was still a member of Fitts' staff and remembered taking a
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statement from Clark, but it could not be located. After a conference with
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the Philadelphia district attorney, Clark announced that he would make no
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further statement except to an agent of Fitts, and nothing further was
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mentioned in public regarding the contents of Clark's statement.
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* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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On March 24, 1923, the cover of MOVIE WEEKLY asked, "Did Movie Ku Klux
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Kill Wm. D. Taylor?" Inside, the article by T. Howard Kelly speculated that
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the Ku Klux Klan, or some similar secret organization, may have been
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responsible for the murders of William D. Taylor and actress Fritzie Mann.
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A subsequent article appeared in the May 5, 1923 issue of MOVIE WEEKLY:
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"Movie Weekly Writer is Threatened by Ku Klux Klan." Writer T. Howard Kelly
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revealed that after the publication of the first article he received two
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phone calls and an anonymous letter. The first phone call was a man's voice,
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stating: "Are you going to keep your mouth shut about the K. K. K. in the
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movies? If not you go the way of William Desmond Taylor and Fritzie Mann."
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The second call was from a woman who asked, "Are you through suggesting that
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the Ku Klux Klan is at work in the movies?" Kelly replied, "I am not." The
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woman then stated, "Then you can blame yourself for whatever happens to you,"
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and hung up. The anonymous letter was signed "K.K.K." and stated verbatim:
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"There is many of that movie actors and actresses they will go to meet Mr.
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William Desmond Taylor and Fritzie Mann if they don't change the system of
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them live. But if you don't keep your mouth enclose and leave the Klan alone
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you'll be sorry. Now is up to you..." [sic]
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* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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February 16, 1922
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LOS ANGELES EXPRESS
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The burning love of a film idol for his wife, which first drove him into
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frenzies of despair and finally to murder, was whispered about the Hall of
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Records today as the real solution of the mystery surrounding the death of
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William D. Taylor.
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And on the strength of this story a state-wide search has been
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instituted for the actor, formerly associated with one of the largest film
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producing organizations in Southern California, and for his wife. The woman
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is said by the authorities to still be in the vicinity of Los Angeles. The
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man, it is feared, has fled.
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According to information in the hands of the authorities, the man in
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question was called to the East in connection with the production of a
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picture about five months ago. He was absent for two months. During that
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period, it is asserted, his wife, who also acts before the camera, was seen
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several times with Taylor.
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Whether or not this man, consumed by the fires of jealousy, spied upon
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his wife and, believing her to be infatuated with Taylor, killed him, is not
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publicly known. Investigators decline to discuss the case, but it is
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indicated that the details of the situation are in their possession and they
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are of sufficient importance to warrant a widespread investigation.
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* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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February 17, 1922
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LOS ANGELES RECORD
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The theory that Taylor was slain for money was revived Friday when Mrs.
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J. M. Berger, income tax expert, reported that the film director had a large
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roll of bills in his possession when she talked to him at 4 o'clock on the
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afternoon of the day he was murdered. W. T. Hammond, cashier at the First
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National Bank, where Taylor kept his accounts, said that the director made no
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deposit that day.
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When found murdered Taylor had a flat wad of bills, amounting to $70 in
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a pocket. Mrs. Berger thinks the roll she saw was much larger than this.
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Following her statement Friday the theory was advanced that Taylor was
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killed by a blackmailer after he had given the man the roll of bills. After
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the crime the slayer could have departed hastily, taking with him the money
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he received from Taylor, but not disturbing the money and jewelry on his
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person.
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* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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February 25, 1922
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NEW YORK NEWS
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Los Angeles, Feb. 24--..A new Tong war is brooding in Ferguson Alley,
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this city's Chinatown, as the result of the murder of William Desmond Taylor,
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the Hollywood film director so mysteriously shot down in his bungalow the
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night of February 1 just after Mabel Normand, his favorite screen beauty, had
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bidden him good-by.
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Lim Kee, one of the alley's wealthiest merchants, has been killed,
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riddled with bullets fired by Tong men, on the very eve of his marriage to a
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Chinatown belle. Chinatown detectives who understand something of the dark
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and strange ways of Oriental circles hereabout say that Kee was credited with
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knowing too much about the murder of Taylor. He was a recognized enemy of
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another Chinaman now thought to be implicated in the murder.
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* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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May 13, 1937
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LOS ANGELES EXAMINER
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...The other development, revealed by District Attorney Buron Fitts and
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his aides, was the commencement of a detailed search for a woman, who, a year
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ago, attempted to supply authorities with highly important information
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concerning the slaying of the noted film director, but, who it was said, was
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rebuffed because officials "weren't interested" in the case at the time.
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The woman, it was revealed, approached Capt. Jack Southard of the
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District Attorney's office with information that she had overhead a
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declaration at a dinner party, wherein one of the persons closely acquainted
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with Taylor at the time of his mysterious death allegedly said, in effect,
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"I took care of Taylor and I'll take care of anyone else who tries to
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interfere with my affairs as he did."
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Southard introduced the woman to a superior official, but the latter
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declared there was no investigation pending, and that he did not care to
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pursue the new lead.
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William Desmond Taylor's Injuries
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The following contemporary items relate to Taylor's injuries during the years
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he worked in Hollywood.
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February 6, 1915
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VARIETY
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William D. Taylor, Favorite Players director, was struck by an
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automobile in Los Angeles and slightly injured.
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* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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April 9, 1915
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PHOTOPLAYERS WEEKLY
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William D. Taylor, producer of Favorite Players' pictures and who is
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busy preparing for the new five-reel photoplay adapted from the novel,
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"Mr. Grex of Monte Carlo," by E. Phillips Oppenheim came near to being
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knocked out on Sunday. Taylor, with the property man and scene painter was
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looking through some sets, and a fourteen foot plank became loose and hit
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Taylor on the head. He says he had no idea he possessed such a hard skull
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and beyond a bad headache he suffered little injury. The property man and
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scene painter were more frightened than Taylor was hurt they aver.
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August 1, 1915
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NEW YORK TELEGRAPH
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[after an item telling of director B. Reaves Eason receiving an
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electrical shock]
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...It seems that Eason wasn't alone in his electrical experiences. Just
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a few days ago W. D. Taylor, director of "The Diamond From The Sky," ran into
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a similar surprise. The members of the company were at work in an underground
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tunnel, when Taylor, walking in advance of his forces, stepped right on a
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charged wire which was not covered. He was thrown several feet in the air and
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badly burned.
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February 26, 1916
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NEW YORK DRAMATIC MIRROR
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Director William Taylor lost the top of his thumb last week in opening a
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prop can at the Morosco studio. Seven stitches were required in the
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treatment of the injured digit.
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April 1, 1916
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NEW YORK CLIPPER
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William D. Taylor, the Pallas producer, who is just finishing up his
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photoplay version of a story by George Beban and with that artist starred,
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has been suffering from a poisoned hand, which threatened for a time to be
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serious. He still carries his arm in a sling.
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* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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December 18, 1920
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EXHIBITOR'S TRADE REVIEW
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With the statement of a prominent Los Angeles eye specialist that
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William D. Taylor, the noted director, may have to retire from studio
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activity because of deterioration of vision from ultra-violet ray action, a
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menace to film workers far more dangerous than klieg-eyes, is disclosed.
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Other prominent individuals working before and behind the motion camera
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may be forced to retire if the pigment of the eyes in each case is
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susceptible to the ghastly rays of the mercury-vapor lamps now used in many
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studios. The disorder evidences itself in a dull throbbing of the eye after a
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day's work under these lights, actors say.
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With the development and extensive use of "back lighting" the menace
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extends to those outside the camera range as well as those directly under the
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lights. Some eyes are so constituted that the action of the ultra-violet rays
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is not fatal to the pigment, surgeons state.
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In other cases, permanent impairment of vision may result.
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William D. Taylor, who has achieved the doubtful distinction of being
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first to suffer the yet unnamed disorder, is working on future stories in
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order to rest his eyes from the mercury lights. Because of the switch in
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plans, Cosmo Hamilton's original screen story will not be filmed next, as
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previously announced.
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* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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November 7, 1921
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LOS ANGELES EXPRESS
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William D. Taylor, working at night on the roof tops of New York
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(actually the Lasky studio) lost his footing on a ledge and fell 15 feet. His
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left arm and leg were severely bruised, but the company didn't get five
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minutes' vacation on that account.
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*****************************************************************************
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Why Margaret Gibson Changed her Screen Name
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From 1912 to 1917 Margaret Gibson acted in many films, building her
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reputation on screen and within the movie industry. Then, in 1918, she
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quietly changed her screen name to Patricia Palmer, and the fan magazines
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never hinted that Patricia Palmer and Margaret Gibson were the same person.
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So why the name change? There certainly were other instances of actresses
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changing their screen names, but this generally occurred when the first
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career was going nowhere. Margaret Gibson, on the other hand, had been in
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the hit movie "The Coward." Why start over as someone else? The answer can
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be deduced from the following clippings; once this incident became public,
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she clearly had no choice: Given the moral climate of the time, if she
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wished to continue working before the movie camera, she would have to change
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her identity and start over. So she did, and her "Patricia Palmer" career
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was much more subdued, with no interviews appearing in fan magazines. [Many
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thanks to Richard Rosenberg for providing the following clippings. If anyone
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will provide other clippings with additional information pertaining to this
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incident, we will reprint them also.]
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* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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August 26, 1917
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LOS ANGELES TIMES
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Star Comedienne Caught in a Raid
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Margaret Gibson, Picture Actress, Arrested
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Margaret Gibson, moving picture comedy star, was arrested late yesterday
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afternoon and lodged in the City Jail following a raid conducted by Officers
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Trebilcock and Douglas and Federal Agent Putnam upon two houses in Commercial
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Street.
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Miss Gibson was taken into custody at No. 432 1/2 Commercial Street,
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where eleven others also were placed under arrest. They gave the names of
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Ruth Slauson, Pearl Young, Ralph Rodriguez, Robert Rodriguez, F. Costillo, S.
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Eshikawa, M. T. Hashimoto, C. Ito, T. Soneda and I. Kanba. Ralph Rodriguez
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was charged with a felony, the charges against him being suspicion of keeping
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his wife in a disorderly house, and the others were booked on charges of
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vagrancy and violation of the rooming-house ordinance.
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The arrest and charges against Miss Gibson grow out of her presence in a
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place the officers believed to be a house of ill fame. According to the
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police a young woman closely answering the film star's description was known
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to enter the place regularly in the past few days.
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Miss Gibson vehemently denied the charges and called her arrest
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ridiculous. According to her story, she met Pearl Young, whom she knew for
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some time and with whom she had worked in pictures, and was invited to the
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house to see some "local color" and taste some Spanish dishes. She was in
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the room with Miss Young and Mrs. Rodriguez when the police broke into the
|
|
house and placed them under arrest, she declared. After spending two hours
|
|
in the City Jail, Miss Gibson was released on $250 bail.
|
|
The police are puzzled by the conflicting details and stories told by
|
|
the different prisoners taken in the raid, and further investigation into the
|
|
affair will be made, they say.
|
|
The second raid was made on a house at No. 444 1/2 Commercial Street,
|
|
where the prisoners, four of them men, were taken. Charges of vagrancy,
|
|
rooming-house ordinance violation, and possession of opium were made against
|
|
them.
|
|
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
|
|
August 28, 1917
|
|
LOS ANGELES TIMES
|
|
|
|
Former Film Star will be Tried as a Vagrant
|
|
|
|
Margaret Gibson, former motion-picture star, who was arrested last
|
|
Saturday afternoon in a raid on an alleged house of ill fame at No. 432 1/2
|
|
Commercial Street by Officers Trebilcock and Douglas, was yesterday arraigned
|
|
before Police Judge White on a charge of lewdness. Her case was set for
|
|
trial October 12. Miss Gibson pleaded not guilty and demanded a jury trial.
|
|
She is at liberty on $250 bail.
|
|
She and three other women were arrested Saturday evening after two
|
|
houses--one at No. 442 1/2 Commercial Street and the other at No. 432 1/2--
|
|
had been under surveillance for several days. According to the police, no
|
|
less than seventy-one Japanese entered the two buildings in three hours
|
|
Saturday afternoon a week ago.
|
|
Joe Peppa, said to be an opium smuggler and well known to the police,
|
|
was arrested yesterday and taken before Police Judge White by Officers
|
|
Trebilcock and Douglas. He was remanded to jail in default of $250 bail.
|
|
He also is charged with lewdness, and the police suspect him of having some
|
|
connection with Miss Gibson's case. He will be tried October 27.
|
|
S. Echikima, M. T. Hashimoto, T. Sondad and K. Fugi, Japanese, arrested
|
|
in the Commercial Street raid, pleaded guilty to resorting to a house of ill
|
|
fame and were fined $25 each by Justice White yesterday.
|
|
Miss Pearl Young and Miss Ruth Slauson, also arrested in the raid, were
|
|
held for trial before Police Judge Chesebro in the women's court. Miss Young
|
|
will be tried September 30 and Miss Slauson September 29.
|
|
Lola Rieves, also arrested in the raid, was charged with conducting a
|
|
disorderly house. She pleaded not guilty and asked for a jury trial, which
|
|
will be given her September 25. Robert Rodriguez, charged with vagrancy,
|
|
will be tried September 29, as will E. Nodena and Manuel Vega, similarly
|
|
charged.
|
|
Complaints charging Ralph and Frank Rodriguez with keeping their wives
|
|
in disorderly houses probably will be sworn to by the arresting officers
|
|
today.
|
|
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
|
|
September 14, 1917
|
|
LOS ANGELES HERALD
|
|
The costume worn by Miss Margaret Gibson, a pretty actress, when she was
|
|
found in a house on Commercial Street during a police raid, was depicted with
|
|
some detail today, when the case was heard before a jury of seven women and
|
|
five men in Judge Chesbro's court.
|
|
In addition to the seven women on the jury, Miss Gibson faced another of
|
|
her own sex in the person of Miss Margaret Gardner, the prosecuting attorney.
|
|
Society people and motion picture actors, mingled with the residents of
|
|
the Commercial Street district in the court room.
|
|
Miss Gibson declares she was in the house to obtain "atmosphere" for a
|
|
picture in which she is about to appear. The police charge against her at
|
|
the time of the raid was vagrancy, and they attempted today to prove that she
|
|
was in a place of disorderly repute.
|
|
As to the costume, it was asserted that Miss Gibson was clad principally
|
|
in a kimona and that she wore shoes and socks, not stockings.
|
|
Miss Gibson gave her age as 22, but she has the appearance of a girl of
|
|
16.
|
|
She showed no emotion and little interest in court today while she was
|
|
accused of having been found with five Japanese and white men in the
|
|
Commercial Street house.
|
|
Behind her sat her mother, interestedly following every detail of the
|
|
prosecution.
|
|
Special Officer Siebentree was first called to the witness stand. He
|
|
told of having gone to the Commercial Street rooming house August 25. While
|
|
there he declared he saw Miss Gibson dressed only in a kimona, made apron
|
|
fashion, and wearing socks and shoes. He declared there were five Japanese,
|
|
two other white women and several white men in the room.
|
|
When Miss Gibson was taken in custody Siebentree declared she asked time
|
|
to change her clothes.
|
|
The greatest part of the trial was given over to lengthy arguments
|
|
between Miss Margaret Gardner, the prosecutor, and the counsel for the
|
|
defense.
|
|
At one instance of an objection to the introduction of testimony, Miss
|
|
Gardener jumped to her feet and exclaimed: "If you are slurring my
|
|
professional honor, you can retract at once." Only interference on the part
|
|
of Judge Cheseboro prevented a length altercation.
|
|
Police Officer Douglas was the only other witness called during the
|
|
forenoon. He told of having gone to the rooming house. The jury was
|
|
dismissed until 2:15 o'clock in the afternoon, when the case was again called
|
|
and again the courtroom was crowded.
|
|
The jury sworn in was comprised of Mildred A. Bengel, Richard A.
|
|
Collins, Emma Boyd, Alma E. Dewey, W. E. Dunham, Lena Filtner, Ann B.
|
|
Stevension, William J. Watson, J. H. Hayes, Crista L. Molten, Sallie D.
|
|
Richards and Conrad Ccherer.
|
|
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
|
|
September 19, 1917
|
|
LOS ANGELES TIMES
|
|
Woman Lawyer Nettles Court
|
|
|
|
[A portion of this clipping was torn at one edge; possible missing words
|
|
are indicated by braces.]
|
|
The climax in the trial of Margaret Gibson, charged with immoral
|
|
conduct, came late yesterday afternoon, when Police Judge Chesebro pointed
|
|
his finger at Margaret Gardner, deputy city prosecutor, and exclaimed:
|
|
"Miss Gardner, if you don't sit down immediately and proceed with the
|
|
cross-examination of the witness I shall fine you for contempt of court!"
|
|
The young woman stood firm and resolute, with her hands on her hips, for
|
|
a breathless twenty seconds, and then she dropped into her chair. The judge
|
|
issued his ultimatum after having cautioned Miss Gardner attempts to
|
|
establish the charge that No. 432 1/2 Commercial Street is a house of ill-
|
|
repute, and after having warned her to not stand and smile at him.
|
|
A surprise was thrown into the defense when the prosecuting attorney
|
|
introduced as a witness Miss Ruth Slauson, whom Police Judge White had
|
|
sentenced to ninety days in jail for having frequented the house in which
|
|
Miss Gibson was arrested. When Miss Slauson took the stand, petite and
|
|
fearful, she had considerable trouble in finding her voice. She broke down
|
|
and wept so copiously that she was excused from the stand after Frank
|
|
Dominguez had severely arraigned her in an effort to impeach her testimony.
|
|
He succeeded in getting her to admit that she testified against herself and
|
|
Miss Gibson yesterday in spite of the fact that at her own trial she had
|
|
said, he alleged, that she never had committed an immoral act at the house in
|
|
question and didn't know of anybody who had.
|
|
Yesterday, however, she said she saw Miss Gibson at the Commercial
|
|
Street address on August 25. This is a part of her story:
|
|
"I met Miss Gibson in the hall of the rooming-house at No. 432 1/2
|
|
Commercial Street while I was working there. We sat on chairs in the hall.
|
|
Japanese men entered the hall. They would either tap us on the shoulder or
|
|
motion to us, and we would accompany them to a room. The afternoon I refer
|
|
to I sat in the hall about fifteen minutes and then went to a room. Miss
|
|
Gibson [was] there about half an hour and [then] went to a room. In each
|
|
c[ase she] went with Japanese men. I re[mained] in my room from five to
|
|
fifteen minutes, but I can't say how long [Miss] Gibson remained in a room
|
|
w[ith each] Japanese man, because we di[d not] go in and come out at the
|
|
[same] time."
|
|
Attorney Dominguez attempted to impeach the testimony of Officer E.
|
|
Trebilcock. The latter said that on the night of the raid he saw Margaret
|
|
Gibson in the left hall, wearing a loose house apron, the top of which was
|
|
quite low and the bottom of which dropped scarcely below her knees. He said
|
|
she told Officer Allison she was a picture star seeking local color, and that
|
|
she begged to be turned loose because she had been there only that one time.
|
|
He said she reached over and tried to kiss Allison. Officer Trebilcock said,
|
|
that Miss Gibson came over and also tried to kiss him, while the landlord,
|
|
Pearl Young, Ruth Slauson and others were in the room, and that he told her
|
|
to go away and not attempt to "love him up."
|
|
L. E. Larronde, who occupied the house at No. 448 Commercial Street
|
|
believed he had seen Miss Gibson enter the house ten or fifteen different
|
|
times.
|
|
Miss Gibson appeared in the courtroom yesterday with her mother and a
|
|
young man of about her own age. During intermissions she was the center of a
|
|
bevy of young women. The trial is largely attended.
|
|
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
|
|
September 19, 1917
|
|
LOS ANGELES HERALD
|
|
Somebody stole a kiss from Miss Margaret Gibson when she was arrested in
|
|
a Commercial Street rooming house, according to testimony today at the trial
|
|
of Miss Gibson, a bewitching actress, who is technically charged with
|
|
vagrancy.
|
|
Miss Gibson says the man who purloined the dainty osculation was a
|
|
police officer.
|
|
In addition she says the officer told her she was "a very pretty girl."
|
|
The story of the kiss was told when Miss Gibson went on the stand in
|
|
Judge Chesebro's court, and with flashing eyes denied the statements of
|
|
various witnesses for the prosecution that she was a visitor at the
|
|
Commercial Street house for the purpose of receiving attentions from men.
|
|
The actress defiantly denied that she had been the object of ardent
|
|
courtship by Japanese, as was testified by Miss Ruth Slauson, who also was
|
|
arrested in the raid.
|
|
Gowned in a dark green suit, her hair forming a halo beneath a black
|
|
hat, the actress today told of her life at the different studios and of how
|
|
she came to be in the rooming house on Commercial Street.
|
|
"Since I was twelve years old," she said, "I have been engaged in the
|
|
show business. My father left my mother at that time and I have been her
|
|
only support since."
|
|
Regarding the stolen kiss, Miss Gibson said Police Officer Allison
|
|
leaned over and kissed her while they were waiting for the police patrol,
|
|
after first remarking that she was an "unusually pretty girl to be found in
|
|
such a place."
|
|
The little actress who gave her age as twenty-three but who looks like a
|
|
school girl, told of having first gone to the Commercial Street house.
|
|
She declared a Spanish girl had taken her there to visit a Mr. and Mrs.
|
|
Rodriquez. Then when she saw the character of the place she declared it
|
|
interested her and she went three more times to study it, hoping it would
|
|
help her in her film work.
|
|
Under a severe cross-examination Miss Gibson held to her own. She will
|
|
be recalled to the witness stand later and will again face Miss Margaret
|
|
Gardener, the prosecutor, who is endeavoring to convict her on the charge of
|
|
vagrancy.
|
|
The statement that she wore a kimona when she was arrested indignantly
|
|
denied by Miss Gibson.
|
|
Attorneys Dominguez, Cohen and Willis, who are representing Miss Gibson,
|
|
placed motion picture men and women on the stand this morning, including Mr.
|
|
and Mrs. Louis M. Morrison, all of whom testified to the good character of
|
|
the film actress...
|
|
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
|
|
September 20, 1917
|
|
LOS ANGELES TIMES
|
|
Margaret Gibson found Not Guilty
|
|
|
|
After deliberating fifteen minutes and taking two ballots, the jury in
|
|
the case of Miss Margaret Gibson, a motion-picture actress, charged with lewd
|
|
and immoral conduct, returned a verdict last evening of not guilty.
|
|
The case went to the jury at 5 o'clock. On the first ballot the jury
|
|
was ten to two for acquittal, but the next ballot was unanimously in favor of
|
|
the young woman's acquittal. The case was tried before Police Judge Chesebro
|
|
in the women's court in Normal Hill Center. It began Friday.
|
|
Miss Gibson was arrested, with Pearl Young and Ruth Slauson, at a
|
|
rooming-house on Commercial Street in August. All three of the young women
|
|
were charged with immoral conduct. Miss Slauson was sentenced by Police
|
|
Judge White to serve ninety days in jail. Miss Gibson demanded a jury trial
|
|
and was acquitted by the jury, and Miss Young has not yet had her trial.
|
|
On the witness stand yesterday Miss Gibson stated that she is 23 years
|
|
of age. She explained her presence at the rooming-house, which Japanese men
|
|
are alleged to patronize, by stating that she was getting local color in
|
|
order to play a lead in a vaudeville sketch.
|
|
|
|
*****************************************************************************
|
|
*****************************************************************************
|
|
|
|
Margaret Gibson Arrested for Extortion
|
|
|
|
In 1923 Margaret Gibson was arrested again, on a much more serious
|
|
charge.
|
|
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
|
|
November 3, 1923
|
|
LOS ANGELES TIMES
|
|
Screen Star Faces Judge
|
|
|
|
Contractor Charges Patricia Palmer with Extortion
|
|
After Asserted Tijuana Trip
|
|
|
|
Margaret Gibson, known as Patricia Palmer in the films, where she
|
|
attained prominence, was arraigned late yesterday before United States
|
|
Commissioner Stephen G. Long on a charge of violating Section 145 of the
|
|
Federal Criminal Code. Bond was set at $2500, which she had failed to make
|
|
late yesterday, and the preliminary hearing announced for the 8th inst.
|
|
The victim of the asserted extortion is George W. Lasher, electrical
|
|
contractor of Burbank, who told officers that he paid the young woman $1155
|
|
to avoid prosecution for asserted violation of the Mann Act.
|
|
According to the Department of Justice Agent-in-Charge Wheeler, Miss
|
|
Palmer is connected with Don Osborne and Rose Putnam, convicted blackmailers,
|
|
who pleaded guilty last Tuesday in Cincinnati to extorting $10,000 from John
|
|
L. Bushnell, Ohio banker.
|
|
Miss Palmer was arrested at her home, 2324 North Beachwood Drive,
|
|
yesterday morning by Detective Lieutenants Reed and Shafer, Investigator
|
|
Charles Reimer of the District Attorney's office, and Department of Justice
|
|
agents, who have been working on the investigation for several weeks.
|
|
On last Saturday Miss Palmer was said to have married Arthur McGinnis at
|
|
Santa Ana. She gained the limelight several years ago when, under the name
|
|
of Margaret Gibson, she was arrested in a raid on a Japanese rooming-house.
|
|
She was charged with vagrancy, but was acquitted of the charge in Police
|
|
Court.
|
|
For the last several years Miss Palmer has played in numerous motion-
|
|
picture productions and has recently been working at the Lasky studio. She
|
|
formerly played with Louise Glaum, and her picture, "Into the Light," was
|
|
exhibited in a Broadway Theater a few weeks ago.
|
|
Last January Miss Palmer sold to Osborne, a house a 2575 Beachwood
|
|
Drive. Many parties were given there with a large attendance of film
|
|
celebrities, said Wheeler. In the latter part of January, said the officers,
|
|
Osborne called in Lasher to do electrical work, and on one occasion
|
|
introduced him to Miss Palmer. A trip to Tijuana followed, Lasher declared,
|
|
at which time both he and Miss Palmer put up checks for $1000, making a
|
|
wager. He said he realized something was wrong and went to Los Angeles,
|
|
where he stopped payment on the check.
|
|
He was later approached by Osborne, he said, who told him it would be
|
|
best to pay the money. He said Mrs. Ella Gibson, the girl's mother,
|
|
threatened him with the prosecution on the Mann Act, in taking the girl
|
|
across the international border to Tijuana.
|
|
Her threats followed, he declared, and he paid her sums of $75, $800 and
|
|
$280 to escape prosecution. This payment forms the basis of the government's
|
|
charge against the girl, as the Federal statutes declare that "whoever
|
|
extorts money on the threat of informing of a violation of the law shall be
|
|
subject to a fine of $2000 or a sentence of one year, or both."
|
|
Miss Palmer was accompanied by her mother at the Federal Building. Her
|
|
attorney, P. J. Cooney, stated that he would soon have her bail arranged.
|
|
"It's a frame-up," said Miss Palmer, in answer to questions concerning
|
|
the affair. On Osborne and other incidents she was silent.
|
|
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
|
|
November 3, 1923
|
|
LOS ANGELES EXAMINER
|
|
Following the arrest yesterday of Margaret Gibson, pretty actress, known
|
|
in the films as Patricia Palmer, by Federal agents on a charge of extorting
|
|
$1155 from George W. Lasher, wealthy electrical contractor of Burbank, it was
|
|
learned last night that Miss Gibson is only one of many men and women who are
|
|
to be taken into custody here and elsewhere as the alleged members of a
|
|
blackmail ring which has mulcted prominent and wealthy men of more than
|
|
$3,000,000 during the past few years.
|
|
Federal, county and local officers have been working on the case for
|
|
months and it is asserted that other warrants have been issued, but that the
|
|
names of the persons accused are being kept secret until they are
|
|
apprehended.
|
|
Arresting officers declared she obtained the money by threatening to
|
|
prosecute Lasher on a "white slave" act charge. She was taken into custody
|
|
at the home of her mother, Mrs. Ella Gibson, 2324 North Beechwood Drive.
|
|
After being questioned by Lucien C. Wheeler of the Department of
|
|
Justice, and United States Attorney Joe Burke she was arraigned before United
|
|
States Commissioner Long. He ordered her held under $2500 bond pending a
|
|
preliminary hearing on November 8.
|
|
Her arrest was said by Federal agents to be an aftermath of the recent
|
|
expose of a Hollywood blackmailing ring headed by Dan Osborn and Rose Putnam.
|
|
This pair pleaded guilty and were sentenced in Federal court in Cincinnati
|
|
last week for extorting $10,000 from John L. Bushnell, Springfield, Ohio,
|
|
banker.
|
|
The circumstances surrounding the alleged "shaking down" of the Burbank
|
|
business man have been under investigation since the early part of February,
|
|
it developed yesterday. After the arrest in Cincinnati of the two
|
|
blackmailing suspects there, who had formerly lived in Hollywood in a house
|
|
rented from Miss Palmer, Agent Connelly was sent to Los Angeles by the
|
|
Department of Justice headquarters at Cincinnati to trace other activities
|
|
which were credited to the pair.
|
|
Connelly worked the case here in collaboration with Agent Meehan of the
|
|
local Federal office, Police Lieutenants Reed and Shafer, and with Special
|
|
Investigator Charles Riemer of the District Attorney's office. The actual
|
|
warrant of arrest was served by Deputy United States Marshal Henry Yonkin.
|
|
The Federal officials stated that they had delayed action in the matter until
|
|
every angle of the alleged blackmailing ring had been thoroughly
|
|
investigated.
|
|
Osborn lived in Hollywood at 2575 Beechwood Drive, in a pretty bungalow
|
|
he rented from Miss Palmer. According to Federal agents, Lasher was
|
|
introduced to Miss Palmer several months ago in this house. Later, the two
|
|
went to Tia Juana in Miss Palmer's automobile.
|
|
At the border city a party was staged. A bet was made between Lasher
|
|
and the picture star, and Lasher signed a check for $1000. During the course
|
|
of the festivities, he was administered "knockout drops" by somebody in the
|
|
party, he told the Federal agents, and when he came to himself he stopped
|
|
payment on the check.
|
|
Mrs. Gibson, mother of the screen luminary, is said to have gone to
|
|
Lasher and threatened to make trouble for him on the ground that he had taken
|
|
her daughter across the border with wrongful intentions. It was a short time
|
|
later, according to Lasher's statements to the Federal men, that the screen
|
|
star herself declared unless she "came across" she would cause his arrest on
|
|
a Mann Act charge.
|
|
During her arraignment in Commissioner Long's court the pretty film star
|
|
was tearful and stood with bowed head through the proceedings.
|
|
"It's just a put up job, I never took a cent of his money," she sobbed.
|
|
She said that she had only met Osborn, the blackmailer, in a business
|
|
way, and that she had never had any dealings with him except as to renting
|
|
her house.
|
|
"This is simply a matter of personal spite, and they haven't got
|
|
anything on me at all," she declared, in a tone so low that it could scarcely
|
|
be heard. She vehemently denied ever threatening to "expose" Lasher unless
|
|
he provided her with funds.
|
|
The screen star's mother was with her throughout the proceedings, as
|
|
also was the accused star's attorney, Patrick J. Cooney.
|
|
Miss Palmer was in trouble once before with the authorities. She was
|
|
arrested in 1917 by police during a raid on a Commercial Street rooming house
|
|
and a charge of vagrancy was placed against her. She was acquitted of this
|
|
charge at the trial. Although she never attained stardom in the films, she
|
|
has played a number of important roles in various pictures during the last
|
|
six years.
|
|
|
|
[Again, thanks to Richard Rosenberg for providing these clippings. If
|
|
we obtain other clippings with additional details regarding this incident,
|
|
they will be reprinted in future issues of TAYLOROLOGY.]
|
|
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
|
|
November 3, 1923
|
|
LOS ANGELES HERALD
|
|
Miss Margaret Gibson, petite film player, known professionally as
|
|
Patricia Palmer, was today at liberty on $2500 bail, following her arrest
|
|
yesterday, as reported exclusively in The Evening Herald, on a charge of
|
|
extorting $1150 from George W. Lasher, wealthy electrical contractor of
|
|
Burbank, under threat of federal prosecution.
|
|
At the same time it became known that Miss Gibson is but one of a number
|
|
of men and women scheduled for arrest as alleged members of a blackmailing
|
|
ring declared to have victimized wealthy men of an enormous sum of money
|
|
during the past few years.
|
|
Miss Gibson denied that she had threatened to "expose" Lasher unless he
|
|
provided her with funds.
|
|
"I never took a cent of his money," she declared. "It's just a matter
|
|
of personal spite."
|
|
Her only relations with Don Osborn, convicted in Ohio of blackmailing
|
|
John L. Bushnell for $10,000, had to do with the renting of her house to him,
|
|
she said. The arresting officers stated, however, that Miss Gibson was
|
|
introduced to Lasher by Osborn, and that the confessed blackmailer later
|
|
advised the asserted victim to make a settlement with the girl.
|
|
Miss Gibson accepted her arrest with a philosophical calmness that was
|
|
almost startling, officers said.
|
|
After accepting service of the warrant at the door, she called to her
|
|
mother and said:
|
|
"Mother, these gentlemen are officers. George Lasher has sworn to some
|
|
kind of warrant and I'll have to go with them."
|
|
"All right," returned the mother, quietly. "Are you going to jail?"
|
|
"I suppose so," returned the girl. And she went.
|
|
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
|
|
November 9, 1923
|
|
LOS ANGELES EXAMINER
|
|
Charge Against Girl Dismissed
|
|
|
|
Ella Margaret Gibson, known to fans of the silver screen as Patricia
|
|
Palmer, yesterday was freed from a Federal charge accusing her of extorting
|
|
$1155 from George W. Lasher, Burbank electrical contractor, on threats to
|
|
prosecute him under the Mann White Slave Act.
|
|
The motion to dismiss the charge was made by Assistant United States
|
|
Attorney Mark L. Herron, when the preliminary hearing of the screen actress
|
|
was called before United States Commissioner Long. Insufficiency of evidence
|
|
was the reason given for dropping the case.
|
|
Frank Dominguez, her attorney, stated that rather than force Lasher to
|
|
give her money, following a trip taken to Tia Juana in Miss Palmer's
|
|
automobile, Miss Palmer had in fact given Lasher money, and that he had in
|
|
his possession checks totaling $600 which the actress had given Lasher.
|
|
"This poor girl has lost her job, her mother is seriously ill in bed,
|
|
and now we are politely informed that it was all a mistake," he thundered.
|
|
Commissioner Long said he regretted very much that the matter had gone
|
|
as far as it had.
|
|
|
|
*****************************************************************************
|
|
*****************************************************************************
|
|
|
|
More Thoughts Regarding Margaret Gibson
|
|
|
|
In TAYLOLOLOGY 84, we speculated on the motive for Margaret Gibson's
|
|
possible involvement in the Taylor case, speculation which focused on the
|
|
obsessed-stalker motive. But the above clippings from 1917 and 1923 throw a
|
|
great deal of light on her character and associates, forcing us to shift our
|
|
armchair speculation toward the blackmail theory of Taylor's murder. The
|
|
1923 clipping strongly indicates that she had a close personal association
|
|
with a major blackmailer. There were several contemporary rumors that
|
|
Taylor's killer was a blackmailer.
|
|
Shortly before the Taylor murder, perhaps Margaret Gibson had a
|
|
discussion with Don Osborn regarding likely blackmail subjects, and she
|
|
suggested they blackmail Taylor; Osborn would threaten to expose him and ruin
|
|
his career unless he paid big money. What would the basis of the blackmail
|
|
threat have been? In the aftermath of the Arbuckle scandal, the movie
|
|
industry was ripe for blackmail threats because it was so highly sensitive to
|
|
negative publicity. If something strongly negative were publicly revealed
|
|
about Taylor, who was president of the Moving Picture Director's Association
|
|
and one of Paramount's top directors, it would have a damaging effect on the
|
|
industry. And Taylor, as a highly-paid director, would be considered an
|
|
excellent potential blackmail target.
|
|
According to the April 18, 1914 issue of MOVING PICTURE WORLD, Taylor
|
|
was fired from Vitagraph. He had worked there for six months, and in four of
|
|
his films he had acted opposite Margaret Gibson. So she was probably aware
|
|
of the reason for his termination there. If he was fired for having done
|
|
something "immoral" or illegal (but the studio had never filed legal charges
|
|
because it didn't want the negative publicity), then that knowledge could
|
|
form the basis of her blackmail threat.
|
|
Or perhaps the threat was based, as on the clipping above, on violation
|
|
of the Mann Act, or some recent private behavior of Taylor which Gibson had
|
|
learned about.
|
|
It was reported in the press that a man, approximately age 27, had
|
|
inquired at a local gas station two hours before the murder, asking the
|
|
location of Taylor's home. (See TAYLOROLOGY 56). Some people think this man,
|
|
who was not Shelby or Sands, was the killer, since he was seeking Taylor just
|
|
before the murder. Yet it seems extremely unlikely that a premeditated
|
|
murderer would deliberately expose himself to witnesses so near the crime
|
|
scene. On the other hand, a blackmailer might have no such reluctance, since
|
|
he was not on a murder mission, but only wanted to have a quiet private
|
|
discussion with Taylor. But Taylor, when confronted with the blackmail
|
|
attempt, tried to physically attack the blackmailer, who shot in defense and
|
|
killed Taylor. Under this scenario, Margaret Gibson would naturally feel
|
|
responsible for Taylor's death, since it was her suggestion which ultimately
|
|
led to Taylor's shooting.
|
|
In any event, it would be very interesting to determine whether Don
|
|
Osborn fit the description of the person seen at the gas station, and the
|
|
person seen by Faith MacLean. That person was about 5'9" tall, much too tall
|
|
to have been Margaret Gibson (or Charlotte Shelby). But what about Osborn?
|
|
Should he be added to the gallery of Taylor murder suspects?
|
|
On additional thought: During her 1917 trial, "motion picture men and
|
|
women..., all of whom testified to the good character of the film actress"
|
|
were placed on the witness stand. Was Taylor one of those who testified?
|
|
Or, conversely, was he asked to testify but refused, causing resentment on
|
|
her part?
|
|
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
|
|
Robert Birchard has also suggested the following possibilities:
|
|
"What about this for a scenario? Mabel's on dope, Gibson and company
|
|
threaten to spill the beans. It's a safe bet Gibson knew Normand--they had
|
|
both been employees of the New York Motion Picture Corporation. Mabel uses
|
|
Bill as an intermediary. She drops off the cash when she comes a calling and
|
|
leaves before the blackmailer arives/ or alternatively, she does not drop off
|
|
the cash. Bill tries to do right by Mabel and tell the blackmailer to piss
|
|
up a rope/ or alternatively, he has no money to give the shakedown artist.
|
|
Pow. Brave old Bill ends up in a pile on the floor.
|
|
"Or how about this? Gibson tells her pals something about Taylor (or
|
|
someone else) and they decide to pull a shake down. Gibson goes to Taylor
|
|
and he buys her off cheap with a studio contract. Her friends are pissed.
|
|
Margaret/Patricia has gotten hers and they're left holding the bag. Osborn
|
|
goes to lean on Taylor. Taylor laughs in his face. Margaret's more
|
|
interested in her career and now that she's under contract she won't squawk
|
|
and Osborne has no first hand knowledge of anything. Pow. Crafty old Bill
|
|
ends up in a pile on the floor.
|
|
"Or? Bill and Margaret got it on at Vitagraph. She hits the skids and
|
|
he helps her--changes her name puts her under contract to the studio (or at
|
|
least gets her on the approved list for casual hires), and "that old feeling"
|
|
is rekindled in Gibson's breast--but not in Bill's. She pleads her love,
|
|
Bill turns a deaf ear. Hell hath no fury, etc. Pow. Hard-hearted old Bill
|
|
ends up in a pile on the floor, and Maggie really did pull the trigger.
|
|
"We have the reel six confession. All we have to do is tie it up. Of
|
|
course, Gibson/Palmer could have been delusional in her old age and been
|
|
merely one of the many who have confessed to something they didn't do.
|
|
"This stuff is good for another 75 years of speculation!"
|
|
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
|
|
Last word from ye editor:
|
|
The confession alone, if it came from a Jane Doe, would have an extemely
|
|
low level of probability. But the confessor:
|
|
a. Worked with Taylor for six months.
|
|
b. Had sinister associates, one of whom was a major blackmailer.
|
|
c. Was arrested for extortion stemming from events which took place
|
|
less than a year after the Taylor murder.
|
|
d. Was given at least two acting roles at Famous Players-Lasky in the
|
|
year following the murder.
|
|
Put it all together with the confession, and the probability rises
|
|
considerably. (Come on, you Taylorologists out there! Where else does the
|
|
Margaret Gibson trail lead?)
|
|
|
|
*****************************************************************************
|
|
*****************************************************************************
|
|
|
|
Additional Comments on Margaret Gibson
|
|
|
|
by Ray Long
|
|
|
|
There are several observations I'd like to make relative to my recent
|
|
statement regarding Margaret Gibson/Patricia Palmer/Pat Lewis.
|
|
I stated that she was interned at Calvary Cemetery. That is incorrect.
|
|
She was buried at Holy Cross Cemetery near Culver City, California.
|
|
While she was very definite in her statement that she "shot and killed
|
|
William Desmond Taylor," the reason for having to flee the country now
|
|
appears to relate to a later offense.
|
|
I believe I made a false assumption as to the motive for her sudden
|
|
departure to the Orient in 1934. I assumed she was motivated by the never
|
|
ending investigation of the crime. There was a constant barrage of media
|
|
reports, three district attorneys vowing they were about to apprehend the
|
|
culprit and a procession of grand juries being convened. That may not have
|
|
been the reason for her flight.
|
|
With the revelations subsequent to the publication of Taylorology 84,
|
|
I now believe that there were other factors motivating her to take that
|
|
proverbial "slow boat to China."
|
|
During her dying monologue, she made several statements which were
|
|
either incomprehensible, inaudible or I just plain wasn't paying attention.
|
|
Her words were directed toward my mother, not I. I might speculate that they
|
|
related to other transgressions. However, that would be pure guesswork on my
|
|
part.
|
|
There is a distinct possibility that she may have been involved in
|
|
another crime equally heinous to the Taylor affair or possibly charged with
|
|
felonies in which she knew she might go to prison. 1934 appears to be a
|
|
pivotal year in her life. There is something there which cries out for
|
|
discovery.
|
|
It was extremely fortuitous that she found the love of her life upon
|
|
arrival in Singapore and she married on February 9, 1935.
|
|
Whatever occurred in 1934 may very well have been the reason for her
|
|
living in almost total obscurity after returning to the United States during
|
|
the fall of 1940. She returned as Mrs. E. E. Lewis not as Patricia
|
|
Palmer/Margaret Gibson.
|
|
She had not planned on returning to the United States. Her letters
|
|
indicate that she and Elbert Lewis planned on retirement in either South
|
|
Africa or possibly Australia.
|
|
Following her marriage in 1935, she settled down to the idyllic life of
|
|
a traveling companion to an executive of the Standard Vacuum Oil Company.
|
|
The couple traveled continuously around the Bay of Bengal in the Indian Ocean
|
|
from Ceylon, to India, Burma, Straits Settlements and the Island of Java.
|
|
In summer of 1940, she developed a serious bladder infection. Treatment
|
|
was not available in the region. She had to seek medical treatment
|
|
elsewhere.
|
|
Europe was enveloped in war. German surface raider ships were operating
|
|
on the Indian Ocean and making shipping extremely hazardous. That ruled out
|
|
both Australia and South Africa. The only remaining option was to return to
|
|
the United States. They felt the safest route across the Pacific was through
|
|
Yokohama. They had considered the Pan American Flying Boat through Manila
|
|
but Mrs. Lewis was afraid of flying.
|
|
Upon her return, she underwent surgery twice at Hollywood Hospital
|
|
performed by a Doctor Branch. Meanwhile Elbert Lewis was killed during the
|
|
Japanese bombing of the Stan-Vac facility at Penang, Straits Settlements on
|
|
March 15, 1942. Standard Vacuum, later Mobil Oil, provided her with a small
|
|
widow's pension until her death in 1964.
|
|
|
|
*****************************************************************************
|
|
*****************************************************************************
|
|
|
|
Letter from Margaret Gibson's Husband
|
|
|
|
The following letter from Elbert Lewis was written to his wife shortly before
|
|
he was killed. The letter is reprinted as originally written, for historical
|
|
reasons. (The letter is Copyright 2000 by Ray Long, all rights reserved.)
|
|
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
|
|
(Postmarked Feb 9, 1942 at Calcutta GPO The notation "almost - last letter -
|
|
Bombed" Return address on the envelope is Great Eastern Hotel, Calcutta,
|
|
India.)
|
|
|
|
Calcutta - February 8, 1942
|
|
|
|
My Most Precious Patricia:
|
|
|
|
Tomorrow marks the ending of my seven most happy years and the beginning of,
|
|
oh, so many more marvelous years, dearest, even though it had to be that we
|
|
could not share all of them together. At those times you have lived in my
|
|
thoughts and my dreams of you have been so beautiful and wonderful. I love
|
|
my darling wife.
|
|
|
|
I have not written for a long time, my own girl, as things have been
|
|
unsettled and I did not want to write and worry you until the atmosphere had
|
|
cleared a little. I know you would worry but I also hoped you would believe
|
|
that nothing happens to Daddy "You must believe that, - honor bright."
|
|
|
|
I hope you received my letter from Singapore and the cables I have sent to
|
|
you from there and from other places. In case you did not receive my
|
|
Singapore letter, I will try and recount my activities since leaving Rangoon
|
|
in late November, homeward bound to the sweetest, the loveliest, the most
|
|
adorable and most precious girl in the world for me. The one girl I love, my
|
|
wife.
|
|
|
|
I left Rangoon on November 29th, by ship and was due to sail from Singapore
|
|
on Dec 8th. After getting as far as Penang, it appeared that I would miss
|
|
connections if I stayed on the ship, so to make certain, I left the ship at
|
|
Penang and proceeded to Singapore by rail. I arrived in Singapore on Dec 4th
|
|
or 5th, I forgot which, only to hear the disappointing news that the ship
|
|
would not sail until around the middle of the month. It had not arrived and
|
|
never did arrive during my stay in Singapore, as, after the trouble had
|
|
started, so she ran down south to a safer port. I believe she is now on her
|
|
way home again but from the other direction and there was no way I could make
|
|
connections with her.
|
|
|
|
Well on the morning of Dec 8th the bombs started falling and you can imagine
|
|
what a surprise it was. I was out at the Seaview Hotel, away from the center
|
|
of activities but quite close enough to hear all the commotion. Singapore did
|
|
not suffer much damage in the first raid, which is surprising as there was no
|
|
alarm sounded until sometime later and they had no chance to put up any
|
|
opposition. I believe I told you about Elfin joined me that morning, Elfin,
|
|
that little mischievous unreliable girl. She surely was a comfort though and
|
|
I knew you had sent her to me. Now she is home again for a short time but I
|
|
realize she must have been very active for some time even before that
|
|
morning. Do you remember, dearest, the morning of your first arrival in
|
|
Singapore, seven sweet years ago, when I pushed all the boats out of the
|
|
harbor so your ship could come in? Well that's what Elfin was doing except
|
|
that she was pushing my ship away so it would not arrive. Elfin knew that
|
|
had the ship been on time, I might have been in a worse position. Tell her
|
|
I'm going to buy her a new golden dress and golden slippers too, just as soon
|
|
as I return.
|
|
|
|
After considering everything, I decided my best move would be to return to
|
|
Rangoon and eventually to Calcutta. I could not get out of Singapore by any
|
|
means whatsoever so I returned immediately to Penang by rail thinking to get
|
|
a ship from there to Rangoon or Colombo. I reached Penang just in time to
|
|
run into another mess of fun and decided that, after all, Singapore wasn't
|
|
such a bad spot. The casualties in Penang were quite heavy and I returned
|
|
the following night to Singapore. Aside from the trip across from Penang to
|
|
the mainland to catch the train the return to Singapore was uneventful.
|
|
|
|
We had quite a few more raids in Singapore up to the time I finally got away
|
|
on Dec 23rd. During this time, I made several attempts to leave, once
|
|
signing up as a member of the crew of a ship bound for Australia and
|
|
eventually to San Pedro. I only had an hour to catch the ship which was
|
|
lying out a mile from shore. I arranged for a launch to meet me and grabbed
|
|
a taxi back to the hotel. I only had time to cram some clothes in a couple
|
|
suitcases and left the rest of the stuff at the hotel to be called for by our
|
|
office. When I arrived at the launch, I found everything OK with about 20
|
|
minutes to spare. That is OK except for one little thing -- there was nobody
|
|
to run the launch. The end of the story is that I sadly watched the ship
|
|
steam away leaving behind it one of their crew. Next, I was offered passage
|
|
on a gasoline tanker going to Rangoon. This offer I respectfully declined
|
|
as, while I did not mind being on a ship which might be hit, I did not like
|
|
the idea of being thrown into a sea of blazing oil. Finally, as I say, I got
|
|
away on Dec 23rd having secured a first class deck passage on a ship to
|
|
Batavia. It took two days to get there, after zig-zagging all over the place
|
|
and going around in circles. I spent a very pleasant three days at the Hotel
|
|
des Indes with no air raid alarms although I imagine they are having a few of
|
|
them there now. Our old mandoer at the hotel was tickled to see me and, as
|
|
all of them do, his first question was about Njonja. I saw Sandy Maer and
|
|
Pauline and Bill Ogden and some of the rest of the people you know and all of
|
|
them asked about Patricia.
|
|
|
|
On Dec 28th, I managed to secure air passage from Batavia to Rangoon as we
|
|
left in the morning landed at Palembang. While refueling at the airport and
|
|
having a fattening up potion, I ran across Mr. McCall. You may remember him
|
|
at Pendops as the one who was saving silver half dollars. Leaving Palembang
|
|
we headed for Singapore after about two hours with no incidents to report.
|
|
Singapore was my only fear as I feared I might get kicked off there if some
|
|
army men had priority. That would have put me right back where I had started
|
|
from. I breathed a sigh of relief when we left Singapore and headed for
|
|
Medan where we arrived about 2 1/2 hours later. We now appeared to be well
|
|
away from the center of activities and while they refueled the plane, I went
|
|
into the airport building for another bottle of beer. We had been on the
|
|
ground about twenty minutes and I was calmly drinking my beer when the report
|
|
arrived that a number of planes were approaching. It was not known whether
|
|
they were friendly or enemy planes so everyone rushed to the entrance or
|
|
outside to watch them come in. I still had a sip of beer left in my glass
|
|
and as Njonja knows, I hate to leave any beer. I, therefore, was late
|
|
getting to the entrance and arrived just in time to see six planes nearly
|
|
overhead. I had only one glimpse of them, and did not see their markings or
|
|
anything but for some reason or other they did not look good to me. I had
|
|
only time to take two steps back into the building and throw myself on the
|
|
floor. Before I reached the floor the remains of the building came down on
|
|
us and we were buried in about six inches of tiles and plaster. Fortunately
|
|
the building was of very light construction and there wasn't too much to
|
|
fall. Immediately the bombs started falling they began machine gunning and
|
|
again Elfin must have been there as the nearest they came to me was the
|
|
fellows lying right alongside. You can imagine that I was a sight when I
|
|
crawled out from under with only a few lumps on the head and some minor
|
|
scratches. There were said to be 17 planes in all but six was all I saw.
|
|
I wasn't interested in looking for the rest of them. Unfortunately, our plane
|
|
was also hit and the last I saw of it when leaving the airport, it was a mass
|
|
of flames. Everything I had with me (a suitcase and my briefcase) was
|
|
destroyed, and worst of all, the pictures I was carrying of my Njonja.
|
|
It was a warm day and I had left my coat on the plane. Could you, my
|
|
dearest, send me some more pictures. I still have my ring that Njonja gave
|
|
to me and the ring that I gave to Njonja. The ring that belongs to Njonja
|
|
has a couple slight cracks in it but still looks beautiful. I had my hands
|
|
over my head for protection and something must have hit it. I still have my
|
|
belt buckle but the marvelous present from my sweetheart is gone, my comb and
|
|
nail file and pretty tie clasp. Someday, my precious will you replace them.
|
|
My comb and nail file were in my coat and the tie clasp must have been lost
|
|
in the shuffle. I searched for it as long as I dared but it could not be
|
|
found.
|
|
|
|
Having lost our plane there was nothing to do but wait for another and that
|
|
one didn't arrive for eight days. I stayed at the manager's house in Medan,
|
|
about a block from the airport, and borrowed some clothes from him until I
|
|
could buy more. What I hadn't lost on the plane, I left at Batavia, but
|
|
when, if ever I will get there again nobody knows. That is the least of our
|
|
worries.
|
|
|
|
Eight days is a long time to lay around doing nothing so I went down to the
|
|
installation one day to check their stocks for them. Most of that day was
|
|
spent running from the godowns to the air raid shelter and finally I gave it
|
|
up. Their system of alarm while I was there was not very good. There was no
|
|
alarm giver for the first raid until some minutes after the bombs had been
|
|
dropped and once when checking stocks, the planes had been overhead for five
|
|
minutes before the alarm sounded. They were quite high and I could not hear
|
|
them from inside the godown. Fortunately they were only taking pictures and
|
|
dropped no bombs.
|
|
|
|
About three o'clock in the morning, we took off for Rangoon arriving at two
|
|
in the afternoon of Jan 5th. Rangoon had had several raids before I arrived,
|
|
two of them quite serious as far as casualties were concerned. The first
|
|
thing I did on arrival was to stop into the office and leave my baggage while
|
|
I went to find a much needed beer. If I keep this up there is going to be
|
|
more beer than bombs in this little story. You should have seen my baggage
|
|
when I arrived. I had three each of shirts, underwear and socks which I
|
|
bought in Medan as well as a cheap safety razor and toothbrush. All of it
|
|
was crammed into two small tiny fibre suitcases. The suitcases were the
|
|
funniest part of the whole performance, You would have gotten a great kick
|
|
our of them.
|
|
|
|
I hadn't been in town for over twenty minutes and had just taken my last sip
|
|
of beer when the alarm sounded. I hadn't paid for the beer yet and you can
|
|
imagine that I didn't worry much about that but rushed back for the office as
|
|
soon as I could. They are in a fine new building with the best basement in
|
|
town and as it was only two blocks away, I took a chance on getting to it
|
|
rather than some other place less secure especially since there were no
|
|
planes overhead. You may wonder why I know where to head for but I'm
|
|
gradually getting smart about those things. My first thought nowadays when I
|
|
arrive anyplace is to spy out the best and strongest hiding places within a
|
|
reasonable distance.
|
|
|
|
I stayed in Rangoon for 17 days and we were continually bothered with air
|
|
raids, most of them at night. The Strand Hotel had to close up after the
|
|
first couple of raids as all their servants flew the coop so I stayed at
|
|
Pollards. You could get a room if you wanted to at the Strand but you had to
|
|
make your own beds and rustle your own food. The few guests who remained
|
|
were cooking and serving their own food out in the kitchen when I arrived.
|
|
Besides, the Strand Hotel wasn't in too healthy a spot these days and Pollard
|
|
had fixed up a pretty good hide-out at his place.
|
|
|
|
When I got to Rangoon, I found out I had a job all cut out and it is
|
|
certainly a fine one. Hong Kong had lost all of their records when the place
|
|
fell and it's my job to try and piece things together again. It seemed worse
|
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than a Humpty-Dumpty problem at first but things are gradually taking shape.
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Hired eight clerks at Rangoon and fortunately I have the assistance of Chari
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who came over from India to help out. He certainly has been a lot of help
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|
and is one of the few who have stuck with us. Because of interruptions in
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work when air raid alarms sounded and because of a general nervousness after
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each raid, it was decided to move all our records to Calcutta and I managed
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to obtain boat passage for Chari and two other clerks. A fourth clerk is now
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on the way by land, a great part of the trip which has to be done on foot.
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After seeing that arrangements had been made to get Chari and the others out,
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I took a train to Lashio (north of Mandalay and the western end of the Burma
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Road) hoping it would be possible to get a plane from there to Calcutta. It
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was out of the question flying direct to Calcutta from Rangoon is the planes
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|
were all booked for months to come and besides it didn't look to favorable at
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|
the time.
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|
Arrived in Lashio which might remind you of a boom town out west and spent 4
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|
days in a shack built of Piano boxes or something waiting to catch a plane
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|
out. Went out to the airfield to meet every plane that arrived but each one
|
|
was fully booked up and they could carry no more passengers. Finally, on the
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|
fourth day, a plane came through which had been badly machine gunned by the
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|
Japs in ferrying people out of Hong Kong and which they were bringing to
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|
India for repairs. They nicknamed it the "flying sieve" which was very
|
|
appropriate only it had a lot more holes in it than the ordinary sieve. It
|
|
was certainly "air-conditioned." It was not in the best condition and they
|
|
did not want to take passengers but I figured if the pilot and crew were
|
|
willing to take a chance, it was OK with me. Besides, I promised to buy the
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|
pilot a bottle of beer when we landed in Calcutta. Well, after a little
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|
talking, we took off and arrived safely about five hours later. Incidently,
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|
I bought the pilot two bottles of beer.
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|
Things are much quieter in Calcutta and we are able to get much more work
|
|
done here than in Rangoon. As most of our information comes from China and
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|
as we can get air mail from there in one day the communications system is
|
|
also much better to Calcutta than it was in Rangoon. I expect, in a few
|
|
weeks, if things look promising, to take a trip up to Chungking in China and
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|
see what I can find out from there. Expect to be away for two or three weeks
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|
and then return to India.
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|
Please, my precious wife, do not worry too much about your daddy who loves
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|
you so much. Daddy will take every precaution to travel safely so that one
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|
day, I hope soon, we can be home together, to always be together, me and the
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|
"best gal in the world."
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|
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|
My passport has expired and I will have to get a new one soon. I will send
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|
you one of my passport photos when I have some taken.
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Daddy is perfectly well, not a single solitary injury, no nervousness, no
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|
shell blast, no nothing except the mostest love for his pretty girl.
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I love you my darling - Elbert
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PS: Tell mother I will write to her in a day or so. I do not have her
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|
address, as my address book is no more, so I have to have you send the letter
|
|
on to her. My best love to your mother. Tell her I rely upon her to take good
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|
care of my most precious wife.
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Love - Elbert
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*****************************************************************************
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*****************************************************************************
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Back issues of Taylorology are available on the Web at any of the following:
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http://www.angelfire.com/az/Taylorology/
|
|
http://www.etext.org/Zines/ASCII/Taylorology/
|
|
http://www.silent-movies.com/Taylorology/
|
|
Full text searches of back issues can be done at http://www.etext.org/Zines/
|
|
or at http://www.silent-movies.com/search.html. For more information about
|
|
Taylor, see
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WILLIAM DESMOND TAYLOR: A DOSSIER (Scarecrow Press, 1991)
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*****************************************************************************
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