Paul Coates

Matt Weinstock

June 6-7, 1908

Photograph by the U.S. Navy

Four men are scalded to death and 10 are badly burned when a steam pipe bursts on  the Navy cruiser Tennessee during tests of ship's top speed off Port Hueneme. The most seriously injured are brought ashore and treated at Angelus Hospital after the ship docks at San Pedro. Three burn victims die in the next few days, raising the toll to seven. The men were buried at San Pedro's Harbor View Memorial Cemetery. Email me

June, 7, 1958

Above and at left, what do you do with an African American professor who is a faculty member at an African American school, Alcorn A&M College, and attempts to enroll at an all-white campus, the University of Mississippi at Oxford? Obviously, the poor man is insane. Obviously the poor man needs to be taken into custody for his own protection and sent to the state mental hospital for psychiatric evaluation. This story was front-page news for the Mirror--and completely ignored by The Times. Ouch. Email me

June 7, 1938

New Chinatown opens, 1938.

Above and at right, a special feature of New Chinatown is a dragon salvaged from the old Times Building, presumably the one built at 1st Street and Broadway after the 1910 bombing. The metal dragon was part of the flagpole, according to Times columnist Ed Ainsworth. Stay tuned as I go looking for the Harry Carr Gate on Main Street and let's see if the old dragon from The Times is still around. And in case you don't know, New Chinatown was built to replace the original, which was demolished to make way for Union Station. This is why you can find Chinese artifacts whenever you stick a shovel in the ground in that neighborhood. Planners and civic improvement groups had been trying to consolidate the city's various railroad depots for more than 30 years when Union Station was built. When it comes to transportation, nothing ever happens quickly in Los Angeles. Email me Howard Decker writes: Interesting stuff about Chinatown. There was a third Chinatown in El Lay. A Chinese friend of mine took me there in 1979, and a very few Chinese shops were still there, including a restaurant. As I recall it is was in the vicinity of Pico and Broadway. I seem to recall it came into use after the Chinese got kicked out of the Union Station area. Spent some mighty good times in "the new" Chinatown. There was a restaurant/bar owner there back in the 1950s who loved newspaper people and would pour monster drinks and half of the time would forget to charge ya. Also, when I was with the East West Players we used to go there. Some folks in the know would lead us down dark alleyways and take us to great noodle places, dirt cheap, full of Chinese folks. That's always a good sign. And one actress had been married to Gen. Lee's son and they were friendly and would serve up a vast dinner for peanuts at his restaurant. As a cub reporter on the midnight to 8 am shift we'd go a lot of the time to Chung Mee's, near Chinatown, which was one of the few places you could get a decent meal at 4 a.m. in them days. Their lobster in black bean sauce was $3.50 -- a little pricey, but worth it.

 

Home of the week

June 7, 1908

Above, the home of J. de Barth Shorb (1842-1896) in San Marino, which Henry Huntington has torn down to make way for his cozy little cottage.  True confession: I have been a member of the Huntington for years and spent many hours on the grounds, but I never really thought about what used to be there, rather foolishly assuming that it had all been vacant. In a word, no. "Mr. Huntington was asked how much the building will cost and he remarked that it looked to him as though it will cost $75,000 ($1,649,028.64 USD 2007) at least, perhaps it will cost more. He said he will find out about that later on." Email me

June 6, 1958

A couple of odd, sad stories... A Spanish American War veteran's widow dies while donating the flag from his casket to a junior high ... A student with polio graduates as valedictorian from Washington and Lee University ... And the Mirror praises passage of Proposition B as a sign that Los Angeles has come of age. Placing Dodger Stadium downtown, the heart of the metropolis, spells "Big City," the Mirror says ... On the cover of Part 2, Dear Abby offers advice to a woman whose husband is too romantic, and Matt Weinstock talks about city traffic ... and Jack Webb is getting married again. Inside, Paul Coates describes the uses and abuses of a newspaper legman. Bonus factoids: Yes, the John McCone in the cover story is the same one who was director of the Central Intelligence Agency and headed the commission investigating the Watts riots. Email me

RFK-postscripts

Los Angeles Times file photo Antiwar demonstrators fight with Chicago police during the 1968 Democratic National Convention.
	At left, former Vice President Richard M. Nixon wins the Republican nomination for the 1968 presidential race. He selects Maryland Gov. Spiro T. Agnew as his running mate.
Los Angeles Times file photo The 1968 Democratic ticket: Vice President Hubert Humphrey of Minnesota and Sen. Edmund Muskie of Maine.
	Humphrey wins the nomination, provoking boos and catcalls when he mentions President Lyndon Johnson. Humphrey says of the violence in Chicago: "We do not want a police state, but we do need a state of law and order. Neither mob violence nor police brutality have any place in America."
	Los Angeles Times file photo Richard Nixon is elected president, Nov. 9, 1968, promising peace with honor in Vietnam.
	Sirhan Bishara Sirhan is convicted and sentenced to the gas chamber May 21, 1969. His sentence is commuted to life in prison when the California Supreme Court overturns the death penalty in 1972.
Los Angeles Times file photo Vice President Spiro T. Agnew and President Richard M. Nixon are reelected in 1972. Agnew is charged with income tax evasion and resigns Oct. 10, 1973, to be replaced by Rep. Gerald R. Ford. Nixon resigns Aug. 8, 1974, over the Watergate scandal, making Ford president. On April 23, 1975, Ford declares the Vietnam War over. Saigon falls to the North Vietnamese on April 30, 1975.
Los Angeles Times Photograph	In 2006, the Los Angeles Unified School District finishes demolition of the Ambassador Hotel despite efforts by the Los Angeles Conservancy to save the landmark. A $4-million settlement with the Conservancy clears the way for destruction  of the Cocoanut Grove. Email me

Remembering RFK

Image courtesy of KTLA-TV Robert F. Kennedy, Ambassador Hotel, June 5, 1968.

Beginning June 1, the Daily Mirror will follow Robert F. Kennedy in the final days of his campaign for the American presidency, from hope and triumph at the polls to tragedy in a cramped corridor in a kitchen of the Ambassador Hotel. We want you to share your recollections of this day that changed the course of U.S. history. Please share your comments below (all posts must be approved before they are published) or send them to me by e-mail.

June 6, 1968

June 6, 1968 By Keith Thursby Times staff writer The Angels were struggling in 1968. Attendance was down again and the team was playing "like zombies in a fog," Bob Reynolds, the team's president, told The Times' Ross Newhan. This was only the Angels' third season in Anaheim and Reynolds said they had to draw 1 million fans "if a team is to cut it in a major market." And a new competitor was preparing to open soon. San Diego would join the National League the following season and Reynolds was asked if the Dodgers supported the new franchise as a way to dilute the Anaheim crowds. "If this was Walter's idea to hurt the Angels, then he was cutting off his own nose," Reynolds said. "The San Diego attendance won't reduce Angel attendance as much as it will affect the Dodgers' television and radio market, and of course, our own." Walter, of course, was Walter O'Malley, the Dodger owner who had the Angels as a tenant when Dodger Stadium opened in 1962.  Reynolds stressed that there had been areas of cooperation between the teams. I can't imagine the Dodgers even thinking about the Angels when the National League approved expanding into San Diego. The Angels just weren't on the same level as the Dodgers. I remember going to Angels' games in the late 1960s and '70s when you could just about pick your seat location on the night of the game. Bad teams meant lousy attendance. Winning would eventually solve a lot of problems. Amid the gloom of the 1968 season, Reynolds tried to be optimistic. "San Diego has only one direction to draw from and that's north," he said. "The farther north they come, the more it cuts into our territory. However, Anaheim draws from the north, south, east and west. We have many ways to turn and do not expect major problems." keith.thursby@latimes.com

June 6, 1968

Drawing by Paul Conrad / Los Angeles Times

A heavy news day at the Los Angeles Times. Nearly every section carried a story about the death of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, whether it was the mainbar, various sidebars, sports columnists Jim Murray and John Hall, the effect on the stock market or Charles Champlin in Calendar.  In going through the archives, I found images by Times photographers that haven't been seen in 40 years. Step back into history in the pages of The Times. Email me Photograph by Steve Fontanini / Los Angeles Times Shot in the head, union official Paul Schrade lies on the pantry floor at the Ambassador Hotel, one of Sirhan Bishara Sirhan's other victims. Sen. Eugene McCarthy (D-Minn.), left, suspends his campaign. Secret Service agents are sent to guard political candidates. Below right, Jack Smith writes about Kennedy's quiet day leading up to the shooting.

Below left, Kennedy's injuries and prayers for him among people at Resurrection City in Washington, D.C. Below right, the continuation of Jack Smith's story on Kennedy's evening leading up to the shooting.

Below left, Paul Schrade, one of five other people shot by Sirhan, is making progress. A comment after the shooting touches off a search for a woman in a polka-dot dress. Below right, the first look at Sirhan's life.

Photograph by Ben Olender / Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Police Chief Tom Reddin holds a news conference to discuss the latest developments in the shooting. Below left, many Arabs viewed Kennedy favorably and said U.S.-Arab relations would have been better if President John F. Kennedy had lived. Sirhan is under guard to prevent anyone from killing him. And an interview with busboy Juan Romero. Below right, a description of the shooting.

Photograph by George R. Fry / Los Angeles Times Kennedy's children, Kathleen, Matthew, Michael, Mary Kerry, Christopher and Mary Courtney and the family dog Freckles leave the Beverly Hills Hotel to return to Virginia after Vice President Hubert Humphrey sent a plane to get them. Below left, California Gov. Ronald Reagan blames the shooting on "demagogism." Below right, Latin America is stunned by the shooting.

Photograph by Charles O'Rear / Los Angeles Times Patricia Lawford, Kennedy's sister, is escorted from Good Samaritan Hospital by family friend Jim Whitaker. Below left, Kennedy receives last rites from the Rev. Thomas Peacha. The hospital chaplain, the Rev. Laurence Joy, also administers last rites. Jimmy Breslin describes the shooting and officials call for tighter gun controls. Below right, Kennedy's victory speech was upbeat, Times staff writer Daryl E. Lembke says.

Photograph by Ben Olender / Los Angeles Times Patricia Lawford picks up her brother, Atty. Gen. Robert F. Kennedy, at Los Angeles International Airport in a photo dated Feb. 12, 1963. Notice the complete lack of any security personnel. Below left, hundreds of people gather at Good Samaritan in a vigil for the wounded candidate.

Drawing by Frank Interlandi / Los Angeles Times Below, The Times' editorial and op-ed pages. Jimmy Breslin, cont'd Reactions to shooting

Photograph by Bruce Cox / Los Angeles Times Busboy Juan Romero describes the shooting. Below left, sports columnist Jim Murray and below right, Charles Maher. John Hall Jim Murray, cont'd

Photograph by Michael Edwards / Los Angeles Times Paul Schrade points to where he was shot in the head by Sirhan, Feb. 4, 1986. Below, Kennedy's shooting sends the stock market down slightly, with the Dow closing at 907.42. Standard and Poor's 500 closes at 99.89, off 0.49.

Photograph by Brian Vander Brug / Los Angeles Times Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley displays Kennedy's jacket, kept as evidence in Sirhan's trial, in the prosecutor's vault, 2007. Below, Charles Champlin describes the live TV drama of the Kennedy shooting.

June 6, 1938

Above and at left, Rabbi Edgar F. Magnin poses with Jewish ceremonial items brought from Europe by Henry Weinberger and his wife and presented to Wilshire Boulevard Temple. The Times says the donations include Paroches (hangings for the Ark) from the 17th, 18th and early 19th centuries. Officer Fred A. Browne is scheduled to testify in the trial of Police Capt. Earle Kynette in the Harry Raymond bombing ... Seniors graduate at Occidental College and Mt. St. Mary's College ... And the Knights of Pythias hold an elaborate ceremony at Forest Lawn in tribute to deceased members. Email me