Happy birthday, dear Mick
Here is a look at the past. Items have been culled from The Chronicle’s archives of 25, 50, 75 and 100 years ago.
1991
July 24: Convicted mass murderer Richard Ramirez, the “Night Stalker” who terrorized Los Angeles, is attracting hundreds of visitors, mostly women, to the San Francisco County Jail. It is estimated that Ramirez, awaiting trial in the 1985 attack on a San Francisco couple, that left the husband dead and the wife crippled, has received more than 500 visitors since being brought here to stand trial in December 1989. The devil worshipper who was convicted of 13 slayings in Los Angeles would have had even more guests if the jail visiting hours were longer or more frequent. Sheriff Department spokesman Sergeant Richard Dyer said Ramirez is getting eight to 10 visits a week, more guests than any other inmate and all that can be squeezed in during the jail’s six hours a week of visiting time. “Our staff noticed that the vast majority of the visitors are women,” said Dyer. In addition to the 13 murders, Ramirez is also convicted of 30 other felonies, including several rapes and assaults. He has been sentenced to die in the gas chamber. “It’s hard to say (why the women keep coming) but … the obvious thing is; he’s a celebrity,” Dyer said.
— Clarence Johnson
1966
July 29: Wednesday was Mick Jagger’s 22nd birthday and he spent the evening driving around San Francisco and the night at the Cow Palace where 15,500 sang “Happy Birthday to You” just before he went on. Jagger came out in a sudden rush with the rest of the Rolling Stones. He was clad in a lemon yellow shirt, white silk or nylon bell-bottom slacks, white slippers and a black jacket with gold lame figures on it and lined with scarlet. He looked like some exotic tribal figure, the long blond hair cascading down almost to his shoulders. Whatever else, it was startling. The crowd was screaming, the fans trying to push down the aisle and rent-a-cops pushing back. The Stones played determinedly behind Jagger. Charlie Watts, the drummer looked grim; Brian Jones, the guitarist, his blond hair, thick and wig-like covering his face. Keith Richards and Bill Wyman ... moved, but almost never smiled. Jagger began to dance as he sang, banging the tambourine above his head to one side. He shuffled and shook. He is surely one of the hardest working performers around: he seems to scream the words as if with his last strength. Backstage earlier he had smoked a cigarette, shuffled around the area signing autographs for the photographers and cops. He remarked on the fog, on the cold of the Cow Palace and the fact that the Beatles were playing the ballpark. Backstage he was utterly relaxed. On stage he looked like a disaster area in the throes of a hurricane.
— Ralph J. Gleason
1941
July 26: The presidential order freezing Japanese credits came as a smashing blow to Japanese business houses and financial firms here last might. It threw the Japanese colony into confusion. The San Francisco branches of the most influential and wealthy Japanese trading concerns and ship companies will be virtually obliged to close their doors as commerce between Japan and the United States comes to a dead stop at the opening of business this morning. In a panicky effort to beat the deadline, frightened Japanese lined up at bank windows to draw out their savings. All Japanese bank accounts and safe deposit boxes are held in custody of the United States. The order does not apply to Japanese who are citizens of this country. Their bank accounts are unaffected. Many Japanese nationals were reported trying to find American-born Japanese who could act for them in personal money matters.
1916
July 27: With the record of bomb victims of the outrage at Steuart and Market Streets swollen to nine by the deaths of Thomas H. Turnbull and Mrs. Kingsley Van Loo, Colonel T.P. Robinson, who was one of the organizers of the Preparedness parade, suggested yesterday that as the victims of the bomb were stricken down in the course of a public patriotism demonstration by the citizenry, all flags through the city should be lowered to half-mast and the dead be given a public funeral. Throughout the day yesterday thousands of persons visited the scene of the deadly explosion. The police were forced to rope off Steuart Street and several times to disperse the crowd in order to permit the movement of traffic. More evidence of the terrific force of the explosion was found. The hat of George G. Lawlor, with a portion of the skull in it, was found on top of the building at Market and Steuart streets. Lawlor was standing close to the building and was struck in the face by some fragment, apparently one of the iron bolts. Bullets from the bomb were picked up yesterday by police as far away as the entrance to the Sausalito ferry in the Ferry Building.