Tuesday, January 19, 2021

Chicago Doctor Murders Girl

The dope fiend and the ten-year-old

By Robert A. Waters

On October 7, 1905, the Louisville Courier Journal reported that ten-year-old Irene Klokow “died in a bedroom of the [Dr. Oliver B.] Hart residence, in which she and the physician had been locked for several hours. It is the opinion of the authorities, based on the facts disclosed at the inquest today, that the girl was maltreated and then poisoned to conceal the crime.” It was reported that a violent struggle had taken place and the child’s hair had been “torn from her head.”

Dr. Hart, 28, a morphine-addicted physician who had been disowned by his family, lived in a Chicago suburb with his sixteen-year-old bride, Vera. (The doctor married her when she was only fourteen.) Originally from St. Louis where his father was a wealthy physician, Hart had been given every opportunity in life. He graduated from Missouri Medical College and studied abroad, including in Venice, but several suspicious incidents with underaged girls caused him to flee his hometown. His father provided Hart a large monthly allowance and had purchased the wayward doctor a beautiful home after he moved to the Windy City. Newspapers described Hart as a “dope fiend and a degenerate of the lowest possible kind.”

Dr. Hart and his wife had hired Irene Klokow’s older sister Edith, 13, to live with them as a maid and “companion” to Vera and later adopted her. On the day of the murder, Irene, a resident at the Illinois Industrial School for Girls, had come to visit her sister. Vera planned to take the girls shopping, but Irene complained of a severe headache and remained at the Hart home.

Shortly after Vera and Edith left, Dr. Hart escorted Irene into his room and locked the door. According to The Inter Ocean, a Chicago newspaper, Hart “admitted having given the child eight hypodermic injections of strychnia sulfate of thirty grains each and that he had given her forty-five drops of bromidiachloral, known on the ‘levee’ as ‘knockout drops.’” In addition to those medications, Chicago coroner Dr. O. W. Lewke, reported that morphine had been administered to her.

While his wife and maid were still shopping, Hart wrote a suicide note and overdosed on morphine. A few hours later, as Irene lay bloodied and passed out on his bed, Hart awoke and called for help. A doctor soon arrived, but found Irene dead. The doctor called police and Hart was arrested.

After an examination of the child’s body, coroner Lewke confirmed to reporters that she had been sexually assaulted and poisoned. Hart was formally charged with murder. In a series of interrogations, the doctor denied all allegations against him, contending that the girl had taken medication for her headache while he was out for a stroll. When he returned, he said, she was ill and he attempted to save her by giving her drops and injections. He denied assaulting her.

Because of his cravings for morphine, the jail physician gave Dr. Hart small doses of morphine every morning. The quantities were reduced as he improved.

Hart’s father, Dr. August B. Hart, arrived from St. Louis and retained Attorney Moritz Rosenthal to “save my son from the gallows.” At trial, the lawyer argued that the defendant was unable to reason with the mind of an adult. Presiding Judge Barnes bought the argument and Hart was convicted of murder and sentenced to 45 years in prison.

The judge explained why Hart did not receive the death penalty. “The question of punishment then arises,” he said. “The evidence of prominent alienists demonstrated that the accused was mentally irresponsible and morally deficient and that his mind and brain capacity was that of a child about 12 or 13 years. If the offenses against this defendant had been against a full-grown man, possessing all his facilities, he could hardly expect any mercy.”

The judge never explained how the doctor could graduate from medical school and receive his license to practice while having the mind of a child.

Irene Klokow was buried in Joliet, Illinois. As was the standard practice in newspapers of the day, little was written about her. A couple of reporters did say that she was “pretty.” We also know her father had died and her mother, unable to care for her and her sisters, shuttled them off to the Illinois Industrial School for Girls.

Friday, January 8, 2021

Hillbilly Hank Williams

From Honky-Tonk to Pop
Written by Robert A. Waters

“These pop bands will play our hillbilly songs when they cain’t eat any other way.” Hank Williams.

Hiram “Hank” Williams was an unapologetic hillbilly.  His rise from selling peanuts on the streets of Georgiana, Alabama to music immortality was as unlikely a success story as you’ll find.  At a fancy hotel restaurant in New York, he smeared ketchup on his steak, causing staff and customers alike to shake their condescending heads.  He once told an interviewer, “You ain’t country unless you’ve walked barefoot through chicken manure.”  In the early 1950s, as his records rocketed to the top of the country-western charts, Hank remained skeptical of city folk.

So it was a surprise to nearly everyone when Tony Bennett recorded Hank’s song, “Cold, Cold Heart,” and even more of a surprise when it topped the pop charts.

According to Colin Escott in Hank Williams: The Biography, Bennett, a New Yorker who sang standard pop songs as well big band and show tunes, disliked the song. Escott writes that Bennett had to be coerced into recording it.  When Mitch Miller, a conductor and record producer who was pitching “Cold, Cold Heart” to everyone he could think of, played Hank’s version of the song for Bennett, the singer responded, “Don’t make me do cowboy songs.”  One New York record producer, on listening to the song, told Miller, “That’s a hillbilly song and there’s no use kidding yourself otherwise.”

Bennett, who at the time had only one hit to his credit, finally relented and “Cold, Cold Heart” shot to number one almost immediately.

Even though everyone except Miller was surprised at the song’s success in the pop music world, Hank was delighted.  The song’s number one ranking in both the country and pop field meant he received songwriter royalties for his own recording as well as Bennett’s version.  In addition, many other pop singers suddenly jumped on the bandwagon and recorded “Cold, Cold Heart.” Hank received royalty payments from recordings by Perry Como, Louis Armstrong, The Fontane Sisters, Dinah Washington and others.

The song, an autobiographical sketch of Hank’s marriage, had a messy beginning.  Hank copped the tune of an obscure country song, and had to pay Dixie Music $7,500 for the rights after the company filed suit.

The lyrics, however, were the product of a sad home-life.

Hank and his wife Audrey fought continually.  Both had extramarital affairs that kept them constantly at odds with each other. Hank could be a mean drunk and Audrey was a nag.  Hank had spina bifida occulta which caused him excruciating, never-ending back pain.  It was especially agonizing while traveling hundreds of miles to and from shows.

Through it all, Hank wrote songs that would change the course of American music.  He would eventually be enshrined in both the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

He died at the age of 29 on an icy road traveling to yet another show.

Here are just a few Hank Williams songs recorded by pop stars.

Cold, Cold Heart.  Tony Bennett recorded the tune with Percy Faith's orchestra and it stayed on the charts for nearly four months, peaking at number one. 

Jambalaya (On the Bayou).  This Cajun-themed song has been recorded by literally everyone.  Another song that broke the barriers placed on country songs by the tin pan alley crowd, Jo Stafford recorded the tune and it reached number three on the pop charts.  Fats Domino recorded his version in 1961 and it was again a hit.  John Fogarty also charted with the song.

I Saw the Light.  My favorite religious song of all time.  (I asked one of the song leaders at the church I attend to lead it and he replied, “They’ll kick both of us out if I did that song.”  I never quite understood that reaction since it has the standard Christian theme of sin and redemption.)  Almost every country music icon has recorded this song. This version is sung by Roy Acuff and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.

Your Cheatin’ Heart.  Written shortly before his death, the song became the “anthem of country music.”  Several pop singers including Joni James and Ray Charles made the charts with this tune, as did Frankie Laine.  Pepsi Cola used it in one of their more successful commercials.  It is included in the Top One Hundred Great American Songs.

I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry.  In addition to Hank's recording, hundreds of other crooners have recorded it, including Andy Williams, B. J. Thomas, Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis Presley and more.  Elvis called it the saddest song he'd ever heard. This version is by B. J. Thomas. 

It’s ironic that the most country of all country singers brought hillbilly tunes to the pop music scene.