Train Robber Rube Burrow in the Dime Novels (1)

Back in the day I did a good bit of research and writing on crime in the South and in Alabama. In 1989 my book Criminal Activity in the Deep South, 1700-1930: An Annotated Bibliography was published and is still available from the publisher and other sources. I've also published articles on Texas gunfighter John Wesley Hardin's sojourn into Alabama. Another topic has been train robber Rube Burrow [1855-1890], and that article brings us to today's posting.

Burrow has been the subject of much ink over the years. One of the best recent books is Rick Miller's Rube Burrow, Desperado published in 2014. Miller is a well-known author on outlaw and western topics. Barbara Carruth's Legends of Rube Burrow & Gang appeared in 2021. You can peruse many other books here. Articles are also numerous.

Since the universe of published material on Burrow and his associates is so large, I decided to write on his career in dime novels, the cheap literature of crime, adventure and romance stories that dominated "lower class" reading markets in America in the second half of the 19th century. The output of one firm alone, Beadle and Adams, was enormous. Beginning in 1859, the company published over 1400 titles. Thousands more from other publishers were issued into the 1920s. Another popular format was the story papers, published roughly 1850-1910, which were issued weekly. By the 1920s pulp magazines had pretty much replaced both formats. 

I discuss several of the nine Burrow dime novels in this article, as well as offering some background on the form and Burrow the historical figure. In Part 2 of this post, I'll offer covers of some of these dime novels, some photos of the real Burrow, links to dime novel resources online and a bibliography of further reading in print sources. 

As noted in the last image, this article was published in the Quarterly of the National Association and Center for Outlaw and Lawman History, based at the time of publication in 1992 at the University of Wyoming. The publication and organization has a convoluted history, but lasted in some form from the late 1970s until about 2007. 

Part 2 of this post is here. 

Train Robber Rube Burrow in the Dime Novels (2)

You can read the first part of this blog post here.

Part 2 includes some of the covers and title pages of the Rube Burrow dime novels. I've also appended a bibliography on dime novels I compiled back in the day.

Further comments are below some of the covers. 

Two of many dime novel resources online are here and here. 

You can read this one at the Internet Archive.

George W. Agee was Superintendent of the Southern Express Company's Western Division and coordinated efforts to capture Burrow. Other dime novels draw heavily from his account. 

William Ward's ca. 1900 novel; note the difference in subtitles between the cover and title page. Ward was a prolific dime novelist; he wrote more than 30 on Jesse James and his gang alone. 

Source: eBay

The Log Cabin Library was published between about 1889 and 1897 by dime novel publisher Street and Smith; over 450 issues appeared. Burrow is a detective in this work of total fiction. Author W.B. Lawson was actually St. George Rathbone [1854-1898].  Like so many dime novels and similar literature, this item is very rare. The real Burrow did have some connection with Florida but not as a detective! An excellent review of Burrow's real Florida adventures by William Warren Rogers, Jr., can be found here. In the second footnote Dr. Rogers gives a bibliographical listing of all the Burrow dime novels. 

This title by "Harry Hawkeye" was published in 1908. Hawkeye was actually Paul Emilius J. Lowe. You can read the book here. The drawing below is taken from Hawkeye.

Cover Source: Amazon

Source: Wikipedia

Source: Encyclopedia of Alabama

Birmingham-Southern Student Handbook 1927-1928

The financial woes of Birmingham-Southern College have been in the news a lot lately. As I continue to downsize my book collection, I recently came across this BSC student handbook for the 1927-1928 school year. Funny how things work out sometimes....

Roots of the school date back to 1856. In its current form BSC has existed since 1918, when the Methodist Church merged two of its schools at the present location.  So this handbook gives us a snapshot of the institution and its students a decade later. 

This small handbook is 5" x 3" in size and has 112 pages, so it's meant to fit easily into a coat or shirt pocket or purse. My copy is in fairly good condition, but shows some use as well. Unfortunately its owner did not fill in the "This handbook is the property of" form on page 2. There are no markings in the entire book, actually.

I have some comments below many of the photos. 

A history of BSC's first century is Birmingham-Southern College, 1856-1956 by Joseph H. Parks and Oliver C. Weaver, Jr. [Parthenon Press, 1957]. 

If this 1927-28 handbook is volume six, then the first one was issued in the 1922-23 school year. 

Some of the neat things about this little publication are the vintage advertisements such as this one for Loveman, Joseph & Loeb. The Birmingham department store eventually became Loveman's, which had several stores around the state and operated from 1887 until 1980.

Comments from editor Clay Bailey in his "Foreword" welcome students and tell them what they can expect--"multiplied privileges of residence and study" which he lists, as well as "the companionship of scholars and gentlemen" who will introduce students to the "treasures of art, literature, religion and science."

The "Alma Mater" has been expanded since this version was published. 

Whiting's photo is the only one of an individual in the text of the book that's not an advertisement.

On the next page is an admonition to freshman to familiarize themselves with BSC's traditions and ideals so they can have the privilege of contributing to them.

I guess the "Football Song" has been replaced by the  "Fight Song". 

Apparently a number of fraternities were active at BSC in 1927. 

Football was an important activity at BSC during the 1920s. The two schools that Methodists consolidated in 1918, Southern University and Birmingham College, both fielded football teams beginning in 1904 and 1909 respectively. After the merger, BSC compiled an 87-80-16 record between 1918 and 1939, when the school dropped football until bringing it back in 2007. The school won Dixie Conference championships in 1932, 1934 and 1937. 

The handbook describes the prospect of a good season, touting two particular players and the number  returning from the 1926 team, However, in the fall of 1927 BSC had a 3-6 record under coach Harold Drew; that was his final of four years. As you can see from the schedule in the photos above and below, BSC only played two games at the Munger Bowl, their home field. Two games were played at Rickwood Field, including the final one against arch rival Howard College, now Samford University. 

The Alabama Theatre opened in December 1927 and became the premier venue in the city for Paramount Studios' theater division. The Strand had held that place until then. The Strand closed in 1962 and was demolished the next year; the Alabama thrives today. 

Louis Saks' store operated in downtown Birmingham from the 1880's until the 1920's. 

Protective was founded in Birmingham in 1907 by a former governor, William Jelks. In 2014 the company was sold to a Japanese firm, but continues to operate from Alabama. 

Frank Lollar opened his first camera shop in Birmingham in 1910; by 1965 a sixth store opened in Eastwood Mall. 

The Florsheim Shoes company was founded in Chicago in 1892 and continues to operate today. 

I've yet to discover the relationship between Louis and Herman Saks in Birmingham or any possible relationship to the chain founded by Andrew Saks. 

Old Bryce Hospital: A List

I've accumulated a few postings on this topic, so it's time for a list!

Look What They're Doing to Old Bryce Hospital

Aerial View of Bryce Hospital in 1943

A Quick Visit to Bryce Hospital

Bryce Hospital: Some Photographs (1)

Alabama Photos of the Day: Sewing and Such at Bryce in 1916

My Visit to Huntsville Hospital in 1958

The newspaper item below turned up recently when my brother Richard and I were going through some papers at mom's house in Huntsville. I'm glad I can now pin down pretty much the exact date and place of my tonsillectomy at Huntsville Hospital, June 9, 1958, when I was 6 years and 3 months old. The physician might have been Thomas E. Dilworth, our family physician for many years. 

I remember Dr. Dilworth very well. I have a vague memory of him making a house call when I was pretty young and sick in bed, probably at the Cloverdale house noted in the article. At one point when I was 10 or 12, I was out riding my bicycle and bitten by a dog that chased me. We couldn't find the dog, so Dr. Dilworth recommended a series of rabies shots--one a day for 14 days. He started off giving them in the abdomen, but when that area became too sore he switched to the buttocks. The final two were given one in each arm. Mom didn't drive at that time, so dad drove me to the doctor's office each day including Saturday and Sunday. 

You can read more about Dr. Dilworth in the 1985 book Medicine Bags and Bumpy Roads, a history of medicine in Madison County by Jewell S. Goldsmith and Helen D. Fulton. A profile and a photo appear on pp 295-6. The book notes that Dilworth practiced at Fifth Avenue Hospital after his partner and cousin, Dr. J. E. Whitaker, opened that facility in 1954. So I can't be certain Dilworth did the surgery, but perhaps he also had privileges at Huntsville Hospital. He and his wife Jessie are both buried in Maple Hill Cemetery in Huntsville. 

In this newspaper listing my address is given as 142 Cloverdale Drive. Sometime during the year after my tonsillectomy the address became 4220. I discuss this change in a blog post, "Cloverdale Drive, 'Jack and Jill' and Me."

Medical topics have been covered by newspapers for decades, but the nature of that coverage has changed over time. New techniques such as the spinal anesthetics described below were considered newsworthy at the time these two articles were published in 1909 and 1931. But when was the last time you saw a spinal anesthesia covered in the news? 

Spectacular achievements--transplants, gene therapy, robot surgery, new drugs--always get coverage until they become common or don't fulfill the initial enthusiasm. Other coverage is often devoted to children, adult local residents or various stripes of celebrities fighting cancer, etc. 

I don't know when the Huntsville Times began including these lists, or how long they lasted. Today this publication would contain many violations of HIPAA and general privacy concerns unless the patients or parents gave permission for such use. Perhaps the hospital did obtain such permission then. 

At the end of the Huntsville Hospital listing "Discharged" patients are four designated as "Colored". Presumably the facility was still segregated in 1958, with a ward or floor for black patients. That practice pretty much ended nationwide in 1965 when the law creating MEDICARE required hospitals to end racial discrimination in order to receive federal funds. 

Huntsville Times 10 June 1958

Huntsville Hospital opened June 8, 1926; this postcard is from the 1930s. Two new wings were added in 1956-57. The book by Goldsmith and Fulton mentioned above has an extensive history of this hospital. 

Here I am in the yard at Cloverdale Drive probably in 1957. From the look on my face, I may be worrying about that tonsillectomy already. 

Mom, younger brother Richard and I in front of the house. My blog post on the great February 1958 snowfall is here. 

The house on Cloverdale Drive in July 2018

Imperial Valley [Calif.] Press 12 June 1909

Calexico [Calif.] Chronicle 16 January 1931

Alabama Photographs: USO Club in Talladega in 1942

Ho, hum, another trip through Alabama Mosaic, and what do I find? Something of interest, of course. 

During World War II the Alabama Army Ammunition Plant operating near Childersburg manufactured gunpowder and other chemicals needed by U.S. Army forces. These products were taken to the Coosa River Ordnance Plant located near Talladega and run by the Brecon Loading Company. The employees of these sites, and others such as the Anniston Ordnance Depot, needed some place to socialize in their free time. The USO Club in Talladega provided such a haven for many of the military personnel and their spouses.

The United Service Organization was founded in 1941 to offer live entertainment to members of the armed forces and their families. Since then volunteers ranging from Hollywood celebrities to local residents have offered their efforts to that mission. The USO became well known during World War II as singers, dancer, comedians, actors and others appeared at military installations stateside and abroad.

The photographs below were taken in 1942 at the USO Club in Talladega. The first two were taken by either Frank Lollar or one of his employees. Lollar opened a photography and camera shop in Birmingham in 1910 and eventually owned at least six stores in the area. 

The first photo shows a scene from Noel Coward's play Ways and Means, first performed in London in 1936. The work was a short comedic play and part of a cycle of ten that were intended to be performed over three nights. Coward [1899-1973] was a multi-talented English playwright, director, actor, singer and composer. 

Such material would have been appealing to volunteer actors putting on such  performances over time at different venues. The Wikipedia entry linked above notes that in World War II alone, "According to historian Paul Holsinger, between 1941 and 1945, the USO did 293,738 performances in 208,178 separate visits. Estimates were that more than 161 million servicemen and women, in the U.S. and abroad, were entertained. The USO also did shows in military hospitals, eventually entertaining more than 3 million wounded soldiers and sailors in 192 different hospitals. There were 702 different USO troupes that toured the world, some spending up to six months per tour.^[22] "

You can view a number of other stills put together in a YouTube video.

A performance of Coward's play 19 June 1942

Source: Alabama Dept of Archives & History

Conga line 18 May 1942

Source: Alabama Dept of Archives & History

Sometime in 1942? Local young ladies often volunteered at USO clubs. 

Source: Alabama Dept of Archives & History

The facility is now the Spring Street Recreation Center. 

Source: HipPostcard