Old time crime

I ran across this entertainingly written article when I was researching some old Daily Kennebec Journal articles, and thought some of you might be intrigued by it:

Maine Gossip

The North Dexter correspondent of the Bangor News says numerous tramps have made their appearance on our main roads and are causing much uneasiness in the rural districts. Sunday night, D.C. Carlton, a youth of 19, while returning from a neighboring visit, about ten o'clock, was startled by the appearance of a large man standing in the road near what is locally known as Thomas' corner. Not liking his appearance he quickly transferred his pocket book to the inside of his trousers' leg, and, with the cold chills creeping up his spine, with the pocketbook crawling stockingward he approached the man who asked him the time.

Carlton responded by saying he had no watch, whereupon the man seized him and made a thorough search of his various pockets. Not finding anything of value he said, "Well you're all right," and told him he could pass along. It is needless to say that young Carlton took this advice literally and did not stop for a second invitation, breaking all former records for one-half mile dashes, arriving home in a breathless condition.

Source:
Daily Kennebec Journal, 4/11/1908, pg.6

Upcoming historic talks

Local cemetery-revivalist group Spirits Alive is once again sponsoring a short series of free winter lecture series with local author-historians. These events will be held at the Maine Historical Society (see http://www.mainehistory.org for more info about the MHS), and are made possible with funding support from the Maine Humanities Council. Of the series, one was held in January (my apologies for neglecting to post it in time), and the other two are upcoming, one in February and one in March. Read on for more info!

WHAT: "Privateering on Casco Bay"
WHEN: Saturday, February 27, 2010 at 10:00am
WHERE: Maine Historical Society, 489 Congress Street, Portland, ME
COST: Free and open to the public.

DESCRIPTION:
James L. Nelson, author of George Washington's Secret Navy, brings America's historical connection with the sea to life through fiction and nonfiction. His writing covers a wide range of America's maritime heritage, from piracy in Colonial Virginia to the naval action of the Civil War. Mr. Nelson will talk about privateers -- armed private ships licensed to attack enemy shipping -- in New England.

For more information on the book: http://www.jameslnelson.com/george_washington%27s_secret_navy.htm

For more information on James L. Nelson: http://www.jameslnelson.com/biography.htm

WHAT: "The Historical Development of Munjoy Hill"
WHEN: Saturday, March 27, 2010 at 10:00am
WHERE:Maine Historical Society, 489 Congress Street, Portland, ME
COST: Free and open to the public.

Earle G. Shettleworth, Jr., Director of the Maine Historic Preservation Commission, will present a slide lecture on the history of Munjoy Hill. Born in Portland, Mr. Shettleworth has been researching, speaking, and writing about Maine history since he was a teenager. He has been on the commission since 1971 and director since 1976.

For more information on the Maine Historic Preservation Commission:
http://www.state.me.us/mhpc/

About the Maine Humanities Council:
The Maine Humanities Council is a private nonprofit organization, Maine's affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. It promotes strong communities and informed citizens by providing Mainers with opportunities to explore the power and pleasure of ideas. For more information, visit their Web site at www.mainehumanities.org.

About Spirits Alive
Spirits Alive is a non-profit organization dedicated to the protection and preservation of Portland's historic Eastern Cemetery through a range of activities including promotion and education. Founded in 2007, the group carries out an active program of seasonal tours of the cemetery, a winter lecture series, and is conducting a stone-by-stone inventory of the nearly 4,000 grave markers still existing in the 340-year-old cemetery. http://www.spiritsalive.org

Sword Swallowing in Maine

In a random way I happened upon a great website, the Sword Swallower's Hall of Fame. The page lists a wide range of sources and information about historic and current sword swallowers, and lists their purpose to exist as "the Internet's most comprehensive list of sword swallowers past and present." Looks good to me!

Among the sword swallowers listed is a certain Professor A.J. Pierce, a.k.a Albert J. Pierce, a Victorian-era sword swallower who appears to have lived in New York City, though he comes to our attention because of a show that occurred in 1905 on Harlow Street in Bangor, Maine:

Professor A.J. Pierce, Albert J. Pierce
Performed 1905, Died May 30, 1909?
Bangor, Maine / New York, NY (USA)

Professor A.J. Pierce was the star sword swallower of a show run for several days out of a vacant storefront on Harlow Street in Bangor Maine in 1905. "He runs swords and small saws and scissors and bayonets down his throat until it seems that it must slash his vitals; but he gets through all right and smiles at the frightened spectators."

"He chews and swallows glass, eats hot pitch and rosin and sealing wax, swallows tacks and does other stunts that cause the observer to wonder what his insides are composed of. ... He finished his stunt by swallowing about 16 inches of a snake," wrote a reporter for the Bangor Daily News on Nov. 11, 1905.

Pierce performed with two other colleagues who performed similar feats of daring. LaCrosse, the Human Stone Crusher, let people break stones on his stomach with a sledgehammer, while Madame LaMonte, the Hindoo rope juggler, freed herself after being bound in 50 feet of hemp. The show took place in East Market Square (near where City Hall is today) in what the reporter referred to facetiously as "the tenderloin," a reference to urban neighborhoods known for vice and graft.

The show was operated by Professor H.H. Perkins, a scholar of bizarre amusements like his partner Professor Pierce. An article in the New York Times dated May 30, 1909 states, "Albert J. Pierce of No. 2076 Lexington Avenue, a sword swallower, is in Harlem Hospital in serious condition. While doing his usual stunt in a Fourteenth-street show last night, the sword got too deep and cut the lining of his stomach. Dr. Cassini of the hospital says he is suffering from a gastric hemmorhage." Seeking photos and more information.

[Source, with link to 1909 article]

The Sword Swallower's Hall of Fame is seeking further information about this sword swallower, including photos, which you can e-mail to them via research[at]swordswallow.com. If you have any info for them, or would like to share any other info about performers in Maine history, please feel free to post a comment or contact us!