Posts Tagged ‘Titanic’

Alice”'s murder exploited by vagaries of politicos and publishers

Roosevelt, Taft, politicos, prostitution, Titanic dominate headlines by Sue Hunter Weir Alice Mathews led a rather ordinary life except for one thing: she was murdered. On Saturday, March 23, 1912, the night that she was murdered, Alice was twenty years old. She worked as a packer at the Pillsbury C Mill and lived with her father, stepmother and four siblings in South Minneapolis. Alice had spent the evening downtown going to a movie and having a late supper with two of her girlfriends. At 11:06, Alice caught the Cedar Avenue streetcar. She got off on 34th Street and Cedar Avenue, the end of the line, and started to walk home, a distance of about seven blocks. When Alice was within a few houses of her own home, someone attempted to rape her. Failing that, her attacker strangled her. The story of Alice”'s murder was front-page news for the next three weeks. Except for those who were interested in the battle between Theodore Roosevelt and Howard Taft for the Republican endorsement in the 1912 presidential campaign, there wasn”'t much interesting going on, at least not much that would sell papers. But it was an election year for local politicians as well, and Alice”'s murder provided an opening for people to vent their frustration or show their support for various local candidates and causes. (more…)