Lou’s View – Feb. 4, 2016
The Alley Gang
by Lou Bernard
I have to begin by admitting that “The Alley Gang” sounds remarkably like the title to a story I’d have written in the fourth grade. It was the kind of title I gave all my stories back then. In fact, I’m not entirely sure I didn’t write a story called “The Alley Gang” back around 1980 or so. But I’m using it as the title to this column, mainly because it was the name given to a group that caused a problem in Lock Haven around a hundred years ago.
They didn’t call themselves that, actually. They didn’t call themselves anything that I know of; they were just hanging out. It was how the police and the locals referred to them, and the media picked up on it. The article describing them ran on January 31, 1916, and was headlined “Police After The Alley Gang.”
It seems there were a group of people, twenty or so, who were meeting in the alley behind the Columbus Hotel, between Church and Bald Eagle Streets. This is where the VFW used to be, more or less across the street from Fox’s. Several of them lived at the Columbus Hotel, and would hang out in the alley drinking and making noise. You’d think this would be boring, even by 1916 standards, but they seemed to enjoy it.
They were also taking up residence in local outbuildings, and having their little parties there. This was what happened on Saturday, January 29: They’d moved into the barn of Simon Zimmerman, a Jewish immigrant from Russia who came to Lock Haven and worked as a horse salesman. You’d figure with that career, he wasn’t so thrilled about having people partying in his barn, and you’d be right. In fact, nobody in the neighborhood was exactly pleased with these guys, and the cops were notified frequently about these little gatherings.
“The members of the crowd were enjoying themselves on Saturday afternoon,” the newspapers read. “Liquid refreshments were being carried to them in generous quantities by a periodical boozer, all dolled up and sporting a high collar and immaculate white necktie.” Not your typical gang attire.
Around five PM, a couple of the guys got into a fight, which was about what you’d expect. Several of the neighbors, who had apparently been waiting for any reason, contacted the police. Officer James Litz and Patrolman Omet Beck responded, going to the corner of Grove and Church Streets.
There, they found one of the Alley Gang, staggering out of the alley, somehow managing to be simultaneously drunk and hung over. They arrested him and ran him over to the jail, then headed back to see who else they could find. In the barn, they found nobody but Zimmerman, who owned the place. The Alley Gang had heard the first arrest, and disappeared.
“The police are hot on the trail of the alley loafers, and are bound to break up the practice,” said the newspaper article. “If Chief Donahue accomplishes this, he will have performed a public service that will win for himself and his officers the earnest thanks and appreciation of the public.”
In 1916, the chief of police was Charles E. Donahue, and he was known as a good officer. He did break up the Alley Gang, not with anything dramatic and newsworthy, but just by having his men drop by more often. With the police making more frequent trips to the neighborhood, the Alley Gang found themselves without a place to gather, and met less and less often until they basically just fell apart.
As far as I can see, the breakup of the Alley Gang wound up consisting of the arrest of just that one guy. Not exactly the type of thing you’d adapt to a movie script. But it ended up in a quiet, calm fashion, which I’m sure was just fine with all the neighbors. And I still think that “The Alley Gang” would make an excellent title for a book.
