Lorain Journal Front Page – Jan. 2, 1936

Last time we looked at Lorain's First Babies of 1946, 1956 and 1966. Let's go back to 1936 this time and not only check out the baby situation, but also see if there was anything interesting going on.

For starters, it was interesting that even back then, the Lorain Journal sponsored a First Baby Born in the City of Lorain contest. The 1936 contest was actually the 13th annual. There were some pretty nice prizes, as shown in this page that ran on Dec. 31, 1935. (There apparently wasn't a lot of clip art available in the 1930s, as most of the baby illustrations appear twice.)

But getting back to the front page. The main headline gave the grim news about Lorain County traffic deaths in 1935. "In proportion to its population, Lorain-co had more traffic fatalities in 1935 than any other county in Ohio," it noted.

"The Associated Press accident survey showed that Lorain-co's traffic toll made an increase of almost 50 percent over 1934, when the survey showed a total of 40 deaths, altho there may have been a few cases in outlying districts not reported that year."

Tommy Touhy

The second headline noted the capture of "Tommy" Touhy, the leader of the "Terrible Touhy" gang. "Eldest of five brothers, the 41-year-old "Tommy" was accused by police of organizing the Touhy bootleg gang, which controlled illicit liquor sales in northwest Chicago and its suburbs, defying the most powerful criminal outfits, including the Capone mob," the article explained.

"Tommy was captured in bed without resistance when a raiding squad descended upon a flat at 3130 Palmer-st.

"A 30-month search had been in progress for Tommy. He was repeatedly reported dead or dying. Told he suffered from an incurable malady (cancer), police and postal inspectors carried on a quiet search of hospitals.

"Last winter a report came to police that Tommy had made himself into a human bomb, carrying a heavy charge of high explosive with the announced intention of blowing himself and his pursuers to bits rather than surrender.

"Tommy's capture also accounted for the fifth of the six brothers who comprised the Touhy gang's high command. At their peak, they commanded a veritable criminal army, with as many as one hundred men under arms, police said.

"Roger went to prison for the Factor kidnapping; James was killed early in the gang's history; Joseph and John died in battles with the Capone gangsters; Eddie vanished and was reported dead."

Also of interest on the front page is the story of a 'lion hunt' taking place near Cincinnati. A mystery animal that was believed to be a lion was running loose, leaving "large, padded foot tracks" and killing other animals, including an 85-pound hog and several pigeons.

Of course to an animated cartoon fan like myself, the story mirrored a plot used several times by Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera, with an escaped lion getting mixed up with Tom & Jerry (Jerry and the Lion) and then years later with Pixie & Dixie and Mr. Jinks (King Size Poodle).

I was unable to find a follow-up story saying whether a lion was captured (or was aided by a small, lovable mouse to climb aboard a ship back to his native African home).

Another interesting story is the one coming out of Montreal, Canada. "The strange case of an elderly man who has been declared dead by a doctor, but who continues to breathe was reported today in a dispatch to the Montreal Gazette from Etangdu Nord, a village on Grindstone Island of the Magdalen group in the Gulf of the St. Lawrence.

"The dispatch said that Dedler Fougere, 71, was pronounced dead by a doctor on Dec. 21, but that mirrors held to his mouth became coated with moisture indicating breathing and rigor mortis has not yet set in. A priest summoned to conduct funeral services refused to allow Fougere to be buried. His beard is growing and impressions made with a fingernail on his flesh became white and then fill out with color again."

It's a disturbing story and I'm glad they waited a while to bury him, thus avoiding an Edgar Allan Poe-like accident.

I did manage to find a follow-up story (below).

Other stories on the front page included a quiet New Year's Eve in Lorain; a fire in the Lorain Casting Company on Omaha Avenue; the new mayor of Marion, Ohio announces that he will work for no salary; and the story of two Ohio State University students who robbed a filling station because "they needed the money to pay their fees at the university." Go Bucks?