Today marks the release of WESTSIDE LIGHTS, the third Gilda Carr mystery, a twisted story of corruption, bird-napping, bootlegging and murder amid the New York underworld of 1923. If you don’t have a copy yet, order one from your preferred online retailer or (even better!) your local bookstore.

To celebrate Gilda’s return, I present a special issue of the newsletter that takes a close look at the New York Times of September 1, 1923—which would have gone to press right around the time Gilda awoke in the cabin of a stolen yacht whose deck was soaked with blood.

Today brings justice in the murder of Kid Dropper! Shoot up the streets of New York on…

September 1, 1923

• Absolute martial law is proclaimed in Tulsa in response to “scores” of whippings perpetrated by the Ku Klux Klan, in which as many as 150 people joined to beat and intimidate people suspected of home brewing beer or advocating for a change on the school board. (A horrifying account of these beatings can be found here.)

• Responding to an inquiry by the National Canners’ Association, the white house physician assures frightened consumers that President Harding’s death had nothing to do with the consumption of canned foods.

• Italian forces bombard and seize the islands of Corfu, killing fifteen in an action that Premier Mussolini insists is not an act of war but simply a response to “the barbarous massacre of Italians in Greek territory.”

• The Weather: Fair today; tomorrow, cloudy and cooler.

To celebrate Westside Lights, here is a rollicking story of the District Attorney’s war on the gangsters of the east side. There’s quite a lot of good stuff here, but I will say that for general badness my Westsiders have Little Augie and his fellows beat every time.

District Attorney Banton announced yesterday that the slaying several days ago of “Kid Dropper,” notorious east side gang leader, had caused him to start an investigation of union officials and employers suspected of having employed gunmen in connection with strikes.

His announcement followed the arraignment before Judge Mancuso in General Sessions of Louis Cohen, the youth who killed “The Dropper” as the latter was seated beside Detective Captain Willemse in a taxicab last Tuesday in front front of the Essex Market Court.

Judge Mancuso designated State Senator James J. Walker and Hyman Bushel to act as Cohen’s counsel when the gunman informed him that he was without means to obtain legal aid. When he was brought into court from his cell in the Tombs in the forenoon, Senator Walker, who is the Democratic majority leader of the Upper House of the State Legislature, was not present. Mr. Bushel entered a formal plea of not guilty for Cohen, however, and on his request Judge Mancuso granted ten days in which the slayer’s counsel could prepare any motions before the case is definitely set for trial. District Attorney Banton the day before had announced that Cohen would be placed on trial within two weeks.

Deserted and Dejected

There was a noticeable absence of habitues of the east side when Cohen was called to the bar. It was expected that some of Cohen’s associates in the “Little Augie” gang would put in an appearance, but it was evident that the gang had deserted the youth who had defied certain arrest in order to kill “The Dropper.”

Cohen eagerly scanned those in the courtroom, evidently in expectation of seeing some of his co-members of the “Little Augie” gang who had promised to “get him out” in the event of his arrest for the killing. Disappointment plainly showed in his face when he discovered their absence. It became apparent to the spectators that the realization impressed itself on him that their promise of protection against the law was a deception to induce him to do the killing. He manifested no interest in the court proceedings thereafter, and could hardly drag his feet as he was being led back to the Tombs.…

District Attorney Banton told Judge Mancuso at the arraignment that Cohen and others arrested in connection with the shooting of “The Dropper” would be brought to trial speedily. He added that it was his intention to enlist the police in a real drive against all gunmen “who think that they can get away with shooting up New York streets.”

“Gunmen have got to get out of New York,” he added,” and to force them to do it we will have a special part of the Court of General Sessions set aside to try nothing but ‘crimes of violence’ for the next month. We will give the ginmen, hold-up men and other rough gentry the same kind of treatment accorded them last year when they tried to take the bit in their teeth.

To Seek Out Their Employers

“Another thing that I would like to do would be to get the employers of these gunmen—the fellows who hire the gun-toters to ‘do up’ their adversaries. Such thugs are for hire. I want to connect up the men who engage them and prosecute them and put them behind prison bars. It is a common practice, it seems, when trouble breaks out between employers and unions for somebody on one side or the other to employ gunmen against the other side.

“As to Cohen, we will entertain no negotiations whatever from him. He is going to be placed on trial for murder in the first degree, and we will try to convict him for that offense. We will accept no lesser plea from him.”

Assistant District Attorney Wilson examined several new witnesses during the day in an effort to connect other gunmen with the killing of “the Dropper.” It was said that he obtained several leads which were expected to establish the actual motive for the shooting of “Kid Dropper,” whose right name was Nathan Kaplan. Whatever additional evidence is obtained will be laid before the September Grand Jury, which will be organized next week.

Order Westside Lights Today!