Discussions of Higher Literature Lands Disputants In Police Station

The Detroit Times, December 18, 1911 (enlarge)

I pulled this story from obscurity on the sole hope that the Thomas Bradford herewith is the same man with that name who became a noted spiritualist by committing suicide to communicate with the living. Of course he was from Detroit, wanted to start a cult and died nearly penniless but that's the occultist Thomas Lynn Bradford. This T. B. had other pursuits.

This Thomas Bradford, prithee he be thy same, was a literary critic of sorts who got into a tussle with a diseased book after some wine and walnuts on a Friday night with two ladies, Emila Lampson and Kathleen Stardsteet. Bradford contended that "Love's Victory" (presumably the 17th century tragicomedy since it is referred to as a classic and not modern tomes contemporary to 1911 when a play and a film by that same name were released and had been quite active for some years) was rotten to the core and mangled the "diseased-looking volume".

The spat ended with the neighbors calling the cops and the triumvirate going to court where they nearly re-enacted the culprit literary critique. The judge dismissed the case. Somebody should have dismissed the editor of this story as well because a lot of the names seem to have misplaced letters or misspellings. While I've never heard of Purtha M. Blay and no Google searches bring up that name Laura Jean Libbey was a noted dime store novelist.

Fortune Teller's Unique Defense

The Detroit Times, August 1, 1908

Keywords: 1908, fortune telling, Tiny Bazy, Iren Stanley, The Detroit Times.

Heady Idea Is No Help in a Pinch

The Detroit News, November 17, 1960

Lula Tennis (great name!) had the gift of soothsaying but didn't have a license. So she used the opportunity of her aunt, Madam Mary, going out of town to surreptitiously fill in for her. Unfortunately for her she encountered Patrolman John Ruane and his "daughter" who was supposedly suffering a terminal illness. After directing Ruane to bring back a pound of coffee and five pounds of sugar Mrs. Tennis would brew up a good luck compound. It was then that Ruane pulled the curtain off the charade and identified himself. She was fined $25 by the court. Of course, the session likely wasn't her first so the money likely came out of her profits and not her own pocket.

Keywords: fortune telling, 2920 Chene Street, Judge Joseph A. Gillis,

The Ghost-Man

Detroit Free Press, December 2, 1874 (enlarge)

Keywords: William Severine Johnson, 518 Croghan Street, Croghan Street, Detroit Free Press, Davy Crockett, ghost stories, ghosts, spirits, city directory, 1874.

Ghost Story #18: Saw Ghosts

Detroit Free Press, August 4, 1870

It was reported at the Central Station yesterday that a negro named Sam Myers, living on Clinton street, had left home in an insane condition, and that his malady was brought on by "seeing ghosts." It was asserted that he thought the spirit of his mother followed him night and day, but would not reply when spoken to. This failure to bring on a conversation with the spirit of the old lady so worked upon the man's feelings that he got light in the head.