Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-10-01
nv a star Correspondent


NEW YORK oct l.
-, ...oro1s essterner, upon hearing one
i mention the west. pictures "iue e
nsnsss Of prairie land over whieh nuoe saw
sr.s chase stolen horses, and they IN turn
Ming chased by cowboys whose batting
oes with the revolver are rated al
,oo ,,er cent. Actually, one Of the princi-
al dangers in the West today is high-pow-
.r.d automobiles chasing through the we'll
naved streets and over excellent mountain
roads. , =
yslonments Of the Fifth Ward murder have
heard and seen the name Frog Hollow fire.
ouentiy mentioned because all the gunmen
who are Implicated in the murder of Police
man George A. Eppley are known as the
Frog Hollow Musketeers. one who is not
familiar with that section of the Bronx
in New York which is called Frog Hollow
imagues, from what he has read, that II is
collection Of dives and caves in which
hide gunmen who have special fixed prices
for the number of persons they are to
get" He pictures the sharp crack of re-
volver shots coming from some dark alley,
a cry and a groan as the victim gasps his
last.
FILLED-IN SECTION OF LAND
Frog Hollow is a flled-in section of land
on the north bank of the Harlem River,
about five blocks square, and the center Is
149th street. II is filled with tenement
houses, but the residents there insist upon
calling them apartment houses BE that as
IL may, these abodes are filled with the
families of hardworking Italian laborers'
with here and there the Offices OF an Italian
physician or dentist. whose social rating in
the community is very high. The streets
are black with urchins, who know no other
playground except the freight and engine
IIaNs a nd
Hudson River Railroad. Some of the little
Frog Hollow boys can tell you exactly how
many electric trains whlzz by each day
Ask them IL they know anything OF the
Frog Hollow Musketters and they stare at
| you in amazement
| NAMED FROG HOLLOW 30 YEARS AGO
The section was given its peculiar name
| about thirty years ago, when the Bronx was
| considered a suburb. A large hollow COW
| cred with acres of marsh land was filled
| with innumerable frogs Farmers living
| in that vicinity became so tired of the
| nightly concerts of the bullfrogs that they
| banded together and filled i'm the land. Soon
shanties and brick huts sprang up and an
element of the Bowery type took possession
| of the land
Ruffians formed a band the sole purpose
| of which was to march into some peaceful
| community and practice vandalism. They
| miles around. When the alarm was spread
that the Frog Hollow Musketeers were COM
ing the farmers took down their rifles and
emuated the famous Minute Men.
Then more lucrative industry arose. A
band of white slavers was organized in one
| of these dives. leader was appointed and
he chose his chief lieutenants. They in turn
recruited agents from among the gum
fighters and began wholesale traffic in
souls, Girls were lured to places in the
vicinity of 149th street and Morris avenue.
From there they were sent 10 various cities.
Then, in 1914, a joint campaign to clean out
the settlement was organized by the police
under the leadership of Captain Andrew
Wines and the Bronx County detectives
under leadership of Francis Martin, the
present District Attorney The leader of
the gang is now serving a sentence of thirty
years in Sing Sing; one of his lieutenants
was given twenty years, and eight or ten
others are patiently waiting for their ten
year sentences to expire.
Ruggiero Falcone Straight Louie" Bru-