COL. BACON KISSED THE WIVES (1905)
It is a shame the way newspaper reporters don’t write these days. The folksy, tongue-in-cheek, gossipy style of 100 years ago would today seem too daring, too familiar. And perhaps newspapers now are just a little too gun-shy of potential libel suits…
Here is a story reported by the Brooklyn Daily Eagle in 1905, that combines all the elements of a ribald over-the-fence tittle-tattle:
Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Fri., 20 October 1905 —
The home makers and home defenders of Prospect Park South were stirred this morning to dark purposes.
Quite well it was that Colonel Alexander S. Bacon got away from Ditmas Park home in that aristocratic section before his neighbors saw the morning papers in which the gallant colonel was depicted in the very act of kissing their wives.
Not only that, but the same papers had Colonel Bacon declaring publicly that he had been enjoying sweet osculatory favors.
It all grew out of Colonel Bacon’s law business. He was defending Mrs. Hortense Powers from the suit of her husband, William F. Powers, who wanted a divorce on the ground that Mrs. Powers had been too free with her kisses and favors for a neighbor, “Billy” Campbell.
Colonel Bacon tried to excuse and justify these little tokens of affection.
Here is the argument he was reported to have used before the jury:
“Gentlemen, every one of you who is married probably has kissed his neighbor’s wife. Without wishing to be egotistical, I might say that I have been fortunate myself in that regard.”
The husbands of Prospect Park were said to be oiling guns and sharpening meat knives this morning after the morning papers reached their exclusive homes.
Maybe Colonel Bacon heard the ominous sounds, for he took occasion to make emphatic disclaimer of the words imputed to him. He declared positively that he had not said one word before the jury that could be twisted or distorted into the suggestion that he had been kissing anybody’s wife.
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The story you have just read was composed from extensive historical research conducted by The Brownstone Detectives. We perform in-depth investigations on the historic homes of our clients, and produce for them their very own House History Books. Our hardbound books include an illustrated and colorful narrative timeline that will bring the history of any house to life. Contact us today to begin discovering the history of your home.
