charlesbecker

Bearing only a slight resemblance to its Venetian namesake, New York City's Bridge of Sighs connected the Criminal Courts Building with the House of Detention (popularly known as The Tombs) across Franklin Street. New York City police Lieutenant Charles Becker, was the first American police officer ever executed for murder. The verdict of guilty in his first trial, in 1912, was overturned on appeal, but he was convicted again in a 1914 retrial, and was executed in 1915.

A decent summary of the Charles Becker case is available from Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Becker

Regarding rockcreek's note about the swastika symbol on the car--the use of the swastika as part of the logo of the KRIT Company is mentioned in the Wikipedia article and this article from The Detroit News, 16 January 2000. And here is a photo of a KRIT car with the symbol from another Flickr user. Looking at the photo large, I can see a similar logo above the radiator on this car--seems to identify it as a KRIT car. Perhaps some car fanatic out there can tell us the exact model. This use of the swastika symbol, of course, predates its adoption by Nazi Germany--it was a widespread symbol in many cultures, see, for instance Wikipedia and history1900s.about.com/cs/swastika/a/swastikahistory.htm. The latter has a good summary of its use at the time of this photo: Even in the early twentieth century, the swastika was still a symbol with positive connotations. For instance, the swastika was a common decoration that often adorned cigarette cases, postcards, coins, and buildings. During World War I, the swastika could even be found on the shoulder patches of the American 45th Division and on the Finnish air force until after World War II.

The swastika is a symbol which predates the third reich by a millennium or two. It's an ancient buddhist symbol, and many aboriginal American tribes used it.

I don't believe this is a K-R-I-T motor car. It's an open-top bus. K-R-I-T didn't make unusual vehicles like this. They made mainly small automobiles, like Roadsters and Runabouts. Their cars had small swastikas on their bronze hub caps, with the word K-R-I-T in large bronze letters across the front of the radiator. The top of the radiator shell was peaked, not flat, like the one on the bus in this photo. See the photo of the 1910 model in the Detroit News article mentioned above. The 1912 models were almost identical. Moreover, car makers didn't paint large corporate logos on the sides of the hoods. Something else is going on here. This bus has a number 10 on the side of the front seat, suggesting it's part of a fleet. The swastika could be the logo of a local transportation company.

Here are some scans of genuine K-R-I-T trade literature from around 1910: [http://www.flickr.com/photos/15283643@N04/3964040987/] [http://www.flickr.com/photos/15283643@N04/3964041145/] I don't see any connection.

Possibly related to: query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9501E0DA1630E233A... BURNS MEN HOLD TWO AS GUNMEN; Trail Pair from Albany to Fonda, N.Y., and Arrest Them as "Gyp" and "Lefty Louie." August 27, 1912, Tuesday William J. Burns, head of the National Detective Agency, employed by District Attorney Whitman to run down the two missing slayers of Herman Rosenthal, the gambler, announced shortly after midnight last night that two of his operatives had arrested two men earlier in the evening in Fonda, N.Y.

See also www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/2405655750/ and www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/2423488718/

Thanks! Helpful connections; we'll fix the date and add a subject note.

Below see link to Wikipedia article about Gyp, the Blood also known as Harry Horowitz. Horowitz and his gang were convicted and executed, apparently they were believed to be acting at behest of NYPD Police Lieutenant Charles Becker, and there are photos in this Flickr series of Becker going to Sing Sing also. (see tag for Becker). They killed Herman Rosenthal. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyp_the_Blood

Bain/LOC photos of characters involved in the Gunmen's Trial: