Forward.com

June 8, 2007100 Years Ago in the forward: Anyone who has spent time in lower Manhattan’s Essex Market Courthouse knows that the door to the building’s jail gets closed as 4 p.m. sharp. So when the judge sentenced Max Rothstein, an umbrella peddler under arrest for peddling without a license, to a $1 fine and a night in lockup, the bailiffs were shocked to see the defendant run down the hall toward the jail as if he couldn’t wait to get there. Seeing that it was two minutes before 4, Rothstein was called back to complete the proceedings. Noting the time, the defendant magically forgot his correct address and how to spell his name. By the time the correct information was entered into the record, the clock had struck 4, the jail doors closed for the night and Rothstein, happy as a lark, went home.
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June 1, 2007100 Years Ago In the Forward: Socialist comrade Sol Fieldman was arrested this week on charges of disturbing the peace. He was brought before the magistrate, who ordered him held on $100 bail. Fieldman, who has relentlessly disrupted Socialist Party meetings with attempts to force his own political agenda on the party, refused to pay the bail and was sent to The Tombs. In the meantime, local police have harassed Toronto socialists and have arrested those who attempt to give speeches in public forums. The police are also accusing socialists of “disturbing the peace,” no matter what they do.
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May 25, 2007100 Years Ago In the Forward: A pogrom is usually thought of as something that happens to Jews in Russia. But this week, in Sioux City, Iowa, a gang attacked a number of Jewish-owned stores in the middle of the night. When Philip Rubin heard the shattering of the large, plate-glass windows of his shoe store, he came downstairs to see what had happened. He was then grabbed by a group of men who beat him senseless and heaped bitter anti-Jewish curses on his head. When they were done with Rubin, the gang moved over to Sam Lipman’s grocery store, where they destroyed the merchandise and Lipman, as well. Hearing the noise, neighbors Jacob and Sam Passman came to help, but the criminals beat them badly, too. When the police finally arrived, they were able to arrest two of the hooligans. They were released on bail, although not until the many Jews who appeared at the courthouse were assured that the criminals would receive long prison sentences. Unfortunately, the rest of the Iowa pogromchiks got away.
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