Photos from the Vault

Midnight police patrol

Police on a early morning patrol talk with a driver of a car going wrong way on Higuera Street. Photo by Larry Jamison/Telegram-Tribune

I had a request a few weeks back from Taylor Peterson asking if there were any photos in the files of old SLO PD police cars. This is the best I could find as of now, and the story indicates that the problems police face are similar today, almost 40 years later. Photos were by Larry Jamison

June 15, 1973

Midnight meeting, then patrolmen cruise the city for morning watch

By Marita Hernandez
Staff Writer

They meet at midnight in the building’s basement.
There’s a line-up, and inspection. They get instructions then take their posts.
Susan Gray — “The main cog in our wheel,” according to her immediate superior, watch commander Lt. Winston Morrissey — takes her position in the small radio room upstairs.
The four men each take a car.
This is the beginning of another Saturday morning watch at the San Luis Obispo police station.
The men will spend the next eight hours traveling 400 miles on San Luis Obispo’s streets.
Before leaving the station Morrissey takes a look at the city map on the wall next to the radio room. It’s dotted with hundreds of black pins, each representing an accident. The red ones are injury accidents.
By the end of the year, there will probably be 124 of them.
The map doesn’t yet have green pins. These will depict fatal accidents, three a year on the average, Morrissey says.
On his way to his car, Morrissey is approached by an officer from the previous watch.
“You’ll probably find a hot one out there tonight.” The officer refers to a stolen car report in his hand.
Morrissey heads downtown. That’s where the patrolmen will concentrate efforts on this early Saturday morning until the bars close,” he said.
The radio to the right of Morrissey’s seat is in constant use, either receiving information on the whereabouts and actions of the other patrolmen or relaying Morrissey’s words.
To the right of the radio an upright shotgun is locked into place.
The officer keeps his window open. He listens, and his eyes turn toward any foreign sound. He also carefully studies the dark on all sides for a clue of anything out of the ordinary.
Not much happens the first hour. There’s a drive down a secluded back city road. It’s dark, so spotlights are turned on. This is a good place to junk stolen cars, Morrissey says.
A car is spotted ahead. Morrissey gets out of his car, taking the club he keeps on the seat. He seldom leaves the car without it.
After an exchange of words the car moves on. “It was a couple of lovers,” the officer explains.
Morrissey has been a member of the San Luis Obispo police department for 10 years. He joined the force after a hitch in the Coast Guard.
He was promoted to watch commander eight months ago. In this he supervises the patrolmen on his shift. There are three eight hour shifts a day,  five patrolmen per shift, each with a watch commander.
Back on the downtown streets, Morrissey passes two police cars, their amber lights flashing. Over the radio he learns two teenagers had a few cases of beer in their car.
“A citation probably will be issued,” he says.
But soon there follows another radio report: Marijuana also was found in the car.
He returns to the scene as the two young men are handcuffed and put in the back seat of one of the police cars.
From then on, it is one set of flashing red or yellow lights after another. Hardly minutes go by without all four patrolmen being occupied with arrests or citations.
Morrissey complains there are not enough patrolmen to patrol the city adequately.
“All you need are two incidents at the same time and the whole force is tied up.”
He explains that since there is only one man to each car, whenever one is tied up another immediately goes to the scene to back him up.
“All we do is go from one incident to another. There’s no time left to patrol.”
Morrissey passes by another set of yellow lights. The police officer gives him what appears to be a peace sign. Morrissey explains this is actually code for “duce” or 23102, the penal code section number for drunk driving.
Within three hours the policemen have stopped nine cars, assisted a few lost drivers, and stalled cars, tested the sobriety of a few drivers and made six arrests. The arrests were mostly of drunk drivers and one man stumbling on a downtown street corner.
Morrissey passes up two patrol cars, amber lights flashing, who have stopped another drunken driver suspect.

The patrolmen take out an empty beer can and liquor bottle. By the time Morrissey drives around the block the roof of the car looks like a liquor store shelf. There are several fifths and quart bottles, a half gallon jug, beer cans and a few pill bottles. Most of them are empty or nearly so.
The driver, a middle aged man, is asked to walk on a sidewalk crack, one of the tests given to suspected drunk drivers. The man nearly falls into the bushes. He is handcuffed and led into a police car.
One of the patrolmen informs Morrissey the man has no driver’s license. It was revoked for driving under the influence of liquor.
It’s been a busy night for these officers. But they still have five hours to go on the shift.

Posted in 1970s, Police/Fire, Popular Culture | No Comments »

In Search of Grizzly Bear Skulls

You can find grizzly bears all over California — just look up. There it is, on the flag pole. According to one website the last Grizzly in the state was shot in 1922 but they were becoming rare as early as 1889.

It was then that newspaper tycoon William Randloph Hearst commissioned reporter Allen Kelley with the task of capturing a living Ursus arctos horribilis.
He captured one in Ventura county and the bear lived in a zoo for the rest of its days. Known as the Monarch Bear it died in 1911. By the dawn of the 20th century Grizzly bears were little more than a memory in this county.

March 15, 1903

Skulls of Grizzly Bears are wanted
–
Maker of a Collection Rightly Guesses They Should be Found in San Luis Obispo County

Miss Annie M. Alexander of 1006 Sixteenth street, Oakland, is making a collection of skulls of animals for the purpose of study and is offering $5 for grizzly bear skulls in good condition.
“The specimens should be tagged whether male of female and locality from whence they come if known,” says Miss Alexander, in an advertisement sent for insertion in the Tribuone. [sic]  She states further in her letter, “I’m making a collection of skulls for the purpose of study and want California to be best represented. I’m told San Luis Obispo is as good a place as any to advertise for grizzly bear skulls and am hoping someone may respond.
While bear sk

ulls are not picked up every day here now, there was a time years ago when the grizzly bear was very plentiful in and about what is now known the beautiful city of San Luis Obispo.
Los Osos means “the bears”  and Oso Flaco “lean bear”. These are names applied to well known localities near San Luis obispo and were first used by Father Juan Crespi’s party on its first trip up this coast in September 1769.
In quotations from Crespi’s diary, as translated by H.O. Lang, of Oakland, and published in Myron Angel’s history of San Luis Obispo county is the following under the date of Thursday the 7th (Sept. 1769): We left (La Canada de Santa Elena) at half past six, passing over high hills for more than three leagues of our road until we came to another valley, spacious, with many ponds of water, whose banks were so muddy as to prevent our horsed from approaching to drink.
“We saw here troops of bears which have ploughed up the soil and dug pits in their search for roots, which are their food, as also the support of the Indians, who feast upon such roots as are of good flavor.
“The soldiers went out to hunt the bears and succeeded in killing one of them by shooting, after gaining some experience as to the animal’s fierceness.

“Upon feeling themselves wounded the animals rush to attack the hunter, who is only able to escape by his horses’ fleetness, the bear never subsiding until he receives a shot in the head or heart. The one they killed received nine bullets before it fell, only succumbing to one in the head. Other soldiers had the recklessness to ride up to one of these bears while mounted on poor saddle mules; they then game him seven or eight shots and supposed he was dead; but he arose and crippled two mules, whose riders only escaped by a scratch.
“The canada was named by the party De Los Osos, but I called it Canada de la Natividad de Nuestra Senora.”
The next day the party reached the sea by Morro rock. The whole description is so clear as to leave no doubt of the identity of the location.
Reference to the large numbers of bears that infested this region in an early day is made in “Father Palou’s Life of Padre Junipero Serra,” the founder of the Mission of San Luis Obispo.
Speaking of the trip from Monterey, where the San Carlos Mission had just been founded, to this region, the father says:
“They traveled twenty-nine leagues and arrived in sight of the Canada de Los Osos (the Bears Pass), where they made a slaughter of those animals to appease the hunger of the Indians.
Finding on that opportune place very fruitful land and a crystal stream to fertilize it, they at once erected a grand cross and having decorated and adorned it, they took possession of the country. The founding of the mission was on the first day of September, 1772.”
From the foregoing it will be seen that Miss Alexander is searching in the right country for her specimens, but the bear here is an extinct species for so far has been reported not a single one has been seen in many years.
But when such numbers of these animals once existed it is not at all unlikely that perfect skulls may be found, — in fact there may be persons within the county now that know of or have such relics of a time now gone forever. The ambition of Miss Alexander whatever her purpose, is certainly a laudable one and the Tribune will be only too glad to assist in securing

the desired specimens.

Posted in 1900s, Environment, Going, Going, Gone, Popular Culture | No Comments »

Baltimore Colts at Mustang Stadium, the summer after Super Bowl III

August 5, 1969

It was a horse of a different logo that practiced at Mustang Stadium in the summer 1969. Still smarting  from a upset loss in Super Bowl III, the then Baltimore Colts practiced in San Luis Obispo.
The brash Joe Namath and the New York Jets were Super Bowl champions and the Colts were trying to get back.
They would return to the big game and win Super Bowl V over Dallas in 1971.
Johnny Unitas is remembered as a hall of fame quarterback but a 1968 injury hampered his abilities  and he alternated playing time in both Super Bowl games with Earl Morrall who was the NFL Most Valuable Player in ‘68.
The first day of 1969 practice was brutal, a record 104 degree temperature was recorded that day and the players practiced without pads.  Coach Don Shula and 58 players for the NFL champions ran drills and later signed autographs.
About 500 fans turned out to watch drills that included rookies Ted Hendricks, linebacker, Eddie Hinton, wide receiver, and Tom Maxwell defensive back.  Preston Pearson had a broken left foot and was out. Practices were twice a day at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.
The Colts had just come from an exhibition game against San Diego and had another planned in Oakland next weekend. After two weeks on the Central Coast, including watching the second annual California State Women’s Physical Education Teachers Pool Tournament at Mustang Tavern, they headed into the season. The season began in Houston against the Oilers, where the Baltimore Colts won 32-29 scoring on an Earl Morrell touchdown pass to Willie Richardson with three seconds left on the clock.

On August 8 the paper published comments from a Lions Club lunch.
How often does a major league general manager do this today?

Colts’ general manager:
team underrated Namath

By Dave Verbon
T-T Sports Writer

Wherever he goes, he waits for the bomb. It is inevitable, so Baltimore Colts general manager Harry Holmes took the offensive at the Day Lions luncheon Thursday and gave his impressions of the Super Bowl before anyone had a chance to ask.
“After last January it (the game, which the Colts lost to the underdog Jets 16-7) was topic number one,” he said. “Everybody wanted to know what happened. Well, I’ll tell you what happened — I don’t know what happened.”
“When you’re down, you’ll get outplayed, but I felt we were ready for this game. We played an underrated team and an underrated quarterback.”
“Namath showed us something. He’s got the quickest reaction of any quarterback in the game. His mind and his hands react at the same time to the defense.”
And speaking of defense, Holmes admitted the Jets had “out-defensed” the Colts. He said the defense simply didn’t play the game it was capable of, and “who’s to tell why?”
One thing that surprised the Colts in the game, he said, was the Jets’ ability to run against the right side of the Colts.
“Our right side turned out to be a weak spot,” he said. Other teams tried all year to run there and couldn’t, but the Jets did.”
He said the team would naturally like to have another crack at Namath and the Jets next January, particularly considering the Colts heart-breaking record the past two years. Two years ago, they lost to the Los Angeles Rams in a play-off game after the Colts had compiled a far-superior season record.
What does the team think of San Luis Obispo?
“We couldn’t ask for more cooperation,” he said, “and the weather has been great.”
“When we left Baltimore, we had 10 straight days of intermittent rain, and the humidity was always up around 90 percent. I really feel sorry for the guys when they have to work out with their pads in weather like that. You sit around hoping for cloudy days.”
“Normally at this time of the season we wouldn’t be pressing the veterans into two-a-day sessions, but with this weather we’re able to teach them things they wouldn’t normally get until later.”
The practice sessions at Cal Poly are also giving the coaches their first opportunity to see the team’s rookies that played in the all-star game last week.
“We’re trying to mix in the new blood with the veterans,” he said. “The nucleus of the team right now is formed around the 1963 draft — that was the big one.”
“The older guys are dropping by the wayside now. Unitas is the only guy left from that 1958 overtime win over the New York Giants. We’re playing with two ancient quarterbacks. Unitas is 36 and Morrall is 37.”
Rookies have been a bit of a problem this year, he said.
“Three of them were out before the physicals were over, and you can’t hardly get out much sooner than that,” he said.
“They are just not convinced they have got to be in shape. Some of them think they’ve got to put on as much weight as possible and showed up 20 to 25 pounds over. They’re always the ones that protest they’ve been mistreated when they’re let go.”
Holmes then told about some of the “super Colts” past and  present.
On Johnny Unitas:
“He is valuable not only to the Colts, but to all of pro football. This game was just on the rise in the early fifties, but his performance in the 1958 sudden death overtime game really aided the whole game. It was the first great game played on television.”
On Jim Parker:
“He was in a constant battle with the scales. Players get fined $10 for every pound they’re overweight, and there’s no better place to hurt a player than the pocketbook. Once when the weighed 282 and wanted to get down to 275, he dressed in a rubber suit, got in his car, closed all the windows, turned on the heater and drove for 20 miles. He might have made it, but just before weigh-in, he ate dinner and still came in three pounds over. He was a fantastic tackle, though.”
On Alex Hawkins:
“He was a player who went a long way with what he had. He retired from the game this year while he was a free agent. He refused to sign a contract and had played out his option. When he did he didn’t get a postcard from any other teams. He was already as retired as he could get, but held a two-day press conference to announce it anyway. He was one of the game’s great characters. We miss Hawkins, he kept things loose.”
On John Mackey:
“His switch to fullback lasted about two days. It didn’t work for three reasons. He didn’t like it, Terry Cole came back and he got hurt. We decided we’ve got to keep him up on the line where he won’t be so vulnerable and can stay in one piece.

The photos were by Michael Raphael. If anyone recognizes the players post a comment, these were uncaptioned when they ran in the then Telegram-Tribune.

Posted in 1960s, Cal Poly, Popular Culture | 1 Comment »

Union Oil Ad 1926

April 7, 1926

In an ironic twist, while the Union Oil Tank Farm was blowing up the company had an ad for Non-detonating gas in the paper.

It is an advertising approach still used today.
Our gas is better quality and burns cleaner than the other guy’s.

The ad did not run for the remainder of the week while explosions racked the town and the tank farm burned down.

Wordy Dave sent this link to a Barbara Wolcott book about the cleanup of Avila Beach:

David, Goliath and the Beach Cleaning Machine — A case study in environmental activism

Posted in 1920s, Advertising, Environment, Popular Culture | No Comments »

Bruce Davis, former Manson Family member on path to parole

Former Manson Family member Bruce Davis listens to the decision of a parole board at his 20th parole hearing. Davis was convicted in March 1972. David Middlecamp/The Tribune

Three followers of notorious cult leader Charles Manson have been housed at California Men’s Colony, Charles “Tex” Watson, Bobby Beausoleil and Bruce Davis.
The Manson Family, as the members were described, were involved in at least nine Southern California murders in 1969.
Bruce Davis, now 67, was convicted for involvement in the murders of musician Gary Hinman and ranch hand Donald “Shorty” Shea.
Davis was not charged with being involved in the seven Tate-LaBianca murders.
Thirty-eight years after being convicted and 26 parole hearings later, Davis has a parole recommendation.
It is the first step in an up to five month process that also requires final approval by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and other parole board members.
Few Manson Family members have been paroled.
Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme, an associate of Charles Manson, was paroled in 2009 after her 1975 attempt to assassinate then-president Gerald Ford.
Steve Grogan was paroled in 1985 after leading authorities to the grave of Donald “Shorty” Shea.
For many years Davis denied that he had been directly responsible for the killings though his palm print was found on a footlocker owned by Shea.
Davis attorney Michael Beckman told the Associated Press his client acknowledged for the first time that he shared responsibility for the Hinman/Shea murders.
“He said, ‘I was as responsible as everyone there,’ ” Beckman said.
Ten years ago I was in the room when the parole board denied parole for Davis at his 20th hearing. The board took their task seriously as did the subject. Here is the story published then in the Tribune. Patrick S. Pemberton has written other stories from other Davis hearings and he may have a blog post soon on the subject.

MANSON FOLLOWER DENIED PAROLE
CMC INMATE DAVIS SERVING TIME FOR TWO MURDERS

July 19, 2000
by Patrick S. Pemberton
After years of unanimous rejections, a former member of the Manson clan came within one vote of a parole recommendation Tuesday.
In a hearing at the California Men’s Colony, a three-member parole board voted 2-1 to keep Bruce Davis in prison. The board also agreed to reconsider his parole next year. Although it marked the 20th time Davis has been denied parole, his attorney said the hearing represents significant progress for the man who was convicted of two murders in 1972.
“It’s been a long, long time,” George Denny said afterward. “And I think, finally, the message is getting through: Bruce is ready for parole.”
All of Davis’ previous hearings resulted in unanimous decisions denying parole.
The prosecutor who handled the case 28 years ago said Davis needs to be reminded of his crimes daily.
“The only way he’s going to be forced to remember these awful crimes every day is through his incarceration,” Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Anthony Manzella told the board.
While one commissioner felt Davis had served his time, the two who voted against parole indicated that Davis was almost ready for release.
The shift in opinion represents just one step toward freedom, though. Even if parole was recommended, it would have to be reviewed by the Board of Prison Terms and Gov. Gray Davis, who has said he opposes releasing convicted murderers from prison.
Charles Manson and his “family” terrorized Southern California in 1969 during a murder spree that claimed at least eight victims, including actress Sharon Tate. Several members of the clan are now serving life sentences. Charles Manson, who is imprisoned at Corcoran, is set to appear for a parole hearing in 2002.
Davis was convicted of killing musician Gary Hinman and stagehand Donald “Shorty” Shea, who were both stabbed to death in the summer of 1969.
During his parole hearing, the 57-year-old, gray-haired inmate appeared calm, sitting with his legs crossed and hands folded. Originally from Louisiana and Tennessee, he still spoke with a Southern accent as he recalled first meeting Manson in California.
Davis, whose father was an abusive alcoholic, found Manson engaging.
“I had adopted Charlie as my dad,” he said.
Even after the group began committing crimes, he said he was dependent on them and could not break his ties. “The sex and the drugs made it easy to accept.”
Nearly three decades later, he said he feels remorse for the victims. While he denied actually killing the men, he said he regrets he was even involved.
“When I look at it now, I can’t believe I did it,” he said. “But I did. I was there, and I knew better.”
Davis said he remembered seeing a suspicious Manson on a porch, telling fellow members that Shea would have to die.
“Manson says, ‘We’re going to kill Shorty because he’s a snitch.’ ”
Although Manson wanted Davis to decapitate Shea, Davis told him he couldn’t do it.
“He said, ‘Well you gotta do something.’ ” So, Davis said, he sliced Shea’s shoulder with a knife. Other members, he said, then buried the body, which wasn’t found until 10 years later.
Hinman, he said, was murdered because the clan thought he had money. Davis remembered seeing Manson cut Hinman’s face and ear with a knife but said he was not present when Hinman was killed.
Manzella said Davis held Hinman at gunpoint as Manson performed the torture.
Davis has been working on his doctorate, and if released, he said, he has two job offers waiting in Southern California. His thick file included letters of support from more than 40 people, including a judge and a former Long Beach newspaper editor whose stepson once served time with Davis.
After the hearing, the inmate’s wife, Beth Davis of Grover Beach, expressed mixed feelings about the decision.
“My initial reaction was disappointment,” said Beth Davis, a 47-year-old flight attendant who met her future spouse while working with the prison ministry in 1984. “But I’m encouraged at many of the positive aspects of the hearing.”
The couple, who have been married for 15 years, have a 6-year-old daughter.
Beth Davis said her husband finds it difficult to believe he was involved in the murders.
“It’s almost like he’s looking at another person and saying, ‘How can that person have been so deceived and so foolish?’ ”
Davis has a good disciplinary record the past 18 years, and he has participated in therapy programs. He said he became a Christian while at Folsom prison in 1974.
His attorney, Denny, said he and Davis prayed together before the hearing. “But the Manson family mystique still hangs over him.”
Denny, who defended Davis during his trial, now lives in Texas but pays his California Bar Association dues just so he can continue to volunteer his time on the Davis case. Denny’s lips trembled and tears came to his eyes when he said he felt led to continue representing Davis.
While Denny thinks his client is no longer a threat to the community, Manzella said there are other factors to consider.
“Punishment is just as important a consideration,” he said. “And, Mr. Davis, you have not been punished enough.”

Posted in 2000s, Police/Fire | No Comments »

Science abolishes monotony, making life better

April 13, 1926

This three deck headline on page eight tells all you need to know.

Science abolishes monotony, making life better
—
Same principles of efficiency in factory and office now applied to American homes
—
Old Saying That “Woman’s Work Is Never Done” Will Be Forgotten When All Homes Have Modern Appliances.

Just goes to show newspapers, psychics, weather forecasters all have varying degrees of accuracy when it comes to predicting the future.
Don’t try and read the copy. Blah, blah, blah, blah — a whole page of the most boring prose ever written built around a slate of ads for gas stoves. Actually the entire page is thinly veiled boosterism for new gas appliances, advertising is almost seamless with the editorial copy. This was a frequent trend in the early century. Front pages would have news but the pages deep inside the paper would be about the sale.
Google calls it “relevance” today. The editorial content returned in a Google search generates a series of ads that are related to the query words. They don’t understand why print media segregates advertising and editorial content.
Some of the booster information was useful, society was changing from horse and buggy to automobile, from wood stoves to gas, oil lamps to electricity. The harbinger of change can be found in a small ad relegating the wood stove to the bargain bin.
Change was also coming in the media world. During the mid-20th century most newspapers and magazines began to move away from the practice of having news pages devoted to cheerleading for advertisers. Today an editor would be laughed out of town with this page.

Exhibit A:
The centerpiece of the page features a young flapper called Mrs. Newlywed teasing her husband with a stack of pancakes. Mr. Newlywed looks like Joseph Stalin and waves a fork around with a smile. Apparently they can’t afford to decorate their home so they plaster the walls with propaganda signs that extol the joys of gas. Apparently the artist ran out of slogans because only five of the six are readable.
The funniest reads — GAS makes a contented husband.
Times have changed, no one today likes a gassy husband.
But at least monotony has been abolished.

Posted in 1920s, Advertising, Popular Culture | 1 Comment »