San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Rock star’s belongings ripped off
Items have been culled from The Chronicle’s archives of 25, 50, 75 and 100 years ago.
1993
Oct. 2: Firefighters who battled the blaze that gutted rock singer Grace Slick’s Mill Valley home last month are being investigated for allegedly stealing a shotgun and some old backstage passes from piles of rubble in the burned house. Robert Fox, director of emergency services for the Corte Madera Fire Department, said he saw firefighters holding the stolen objects at the fire station September 16 after they had returned from fighting the fire that burned the former Jefferson Airplane singer’s house on Escalon Drive. The thefts are an embarrassment for Corte Madera, said town manager Michael Goyer. “I realize the articles they took have no monetary value, but it’s difficult to perceive why they would do such a thing.”
Cynthia Bowman, a close friend of Slick, said the theft was “pathetic.” “Firemen are like gods: They rush into burning buildings and save babies,” said Bowman. “So it’s a pretty sad statement when they do something like this. But it doesn’t surprise me. Everyone’s a fan of Grace.” About 65 other firefighters from city and county fire departments helped sort through the debris to salvage gold records, recording equipment and musical instruments, Goyer said, adding that none are under investigation. Slick could not be reached for comment.
1968
Oct. 2: San Francisco leads the nation not only in suicide and alcoholism but also in the use of “legitimately prescribed medications” such as pep and sleeping pills, the chairman of the city’s Mental Health Advisory Board declared yesterday. “It’s not generally known, but the general population of this city is more pill-addicted than any other American metropolis, we use far more pills per capita,” said Dr. Alfred Auerback. “It’s just part of the great morbidity of this great city of ours.” And he said that “our children are learning about popping pills from their parents, not from outside.” San Francisco, he said, “is a drug-taking population and the U.S., of course, is a drug culture.” “We all rail against pot and LSD,” he said. “We don’t face up to the fact that that this country uses far more pills than any other country.” He added wryly, “All I can say is we’re a bunch of hop-heads, even in Pacific Heights and the Sunset.” Another member of the board asked why San Francisco had such high drug and alcoholism rates. “It’s a seaport,” said one and “It’s a jumping city,” said another.
1943
Oct. 2: WITH THE FIFTH ARMY IN ITALY, Sept. 25 (Delayed): The first unit of American-born Japanese troops to enter the overseas combat zone went into action in the mountains above the Gulf of Salerno today — and every one of them was smiling. Their smiles brought expressions of blank amazement from veterans and officers accustomed to seeing men enter combat with tense, drawn faces. These troops acted like they were going to a baseball game. “They’re really anxious to get into action,” their commander said. “I’ve been with them since this outfit was organized and I wouldn’t trade my command for any other in the Army. They feel like they’ve got a chance to prove they’re real Americans and demonstrate their loyalty. The average stature of the unit is only five-feet-four but they can outmarch and outwork most ordinary troops.” They have taken for their motto “Remember Pearl Harbor.”
Oct. 2: Foreign maps and similar materials are needed by the Army Map Service due to the magnified scope of the war and its penetration into new areas. Following is a list of the material needed, which may be given to the Army as gifts or loans: Plans or street guides of cities, towns and villages. Guide books. Topographical or geological maps (1:1,000,000 or larger). Sets of aerial photos, road maps and atlases. Lexicons, yearbooks, dictionaries, encyclopedias and census reports. If you have any of the above available please inform the San Francisco Library Branch of the Army Service Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army, 74 New Montgomery Street, Room 546.
1918
Oct. 2: “By order of the United States Food Administration, the service of free lunches is limited to crackers, pickles and olives.” In multicolored letters, signs bearing the foregoing message appeared yesterday over the buffet free lunch stands at the St. Francis and Palace hotels. Many a man stopped to read and reaffirmed that, after all, Sherman was right. The management said last night that the new order of things was the result of a letter from Herbert Hoover’s staff in Washington addressed to Thomas J. Coleman, manager of the St. Francis and chairman of the hotel advisory committee of the California Food Administration. This letter asks that all free lunches be restricted to crackers, pickles and olives, even omitting cheese, that standby of free lunches for ages, because trouble is being found in supplying cheese for “legitimate consumption.” None of the San Francisco saloons that that have earned reputations for elaborate free lunches had received instructions on the new order last night.