Jacobson, Joe - letters to family August 193?-May 1940

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Alex Dworkin Canadian Jewish Archives via Canadian Jewish Heritage Network (incl. Alex Dworkin Canadian Jewish Archives)

Dates

[ca. 1938]-1940 (indexed as 1938–1940)

Level

file

Scope & content

Includes letter from Joe describing a local event in Preston.

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Jacobson, Joe - letters to family August 193?-May 1940

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textual record

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Sunday morning 9.30 Feb. 11, 1940.Dear Family:The past week has been the most sensational that Preston has ever witnessed and one that I will not soon forget. I hope that I never have the misfortune to be stuck in a small town again, when some particularly calamatous tragedy occurs.You have probably heard from P.R.H. about as much concerning the Shlegle case, provided he cares to discuss it,as will ever be known.However,you will probably never witness anything as gruesome as the exhibition put on by the worthy citizens of Preston over the terrible incident.Although the subject does not make a cheerful subject for letter writing,it should serve as a warning,never to live in a small town longer than necessary. As was only natural,the murders resulted in all sorts of rumours floating around,with everybody setting forth some personal theory.Such gossip as family troubles,business worries, financial difficulties,mental disorders,etc.,with all the trimmings, were entirely discounted by me.I know nothing about the whole affair, and doubt that anyone else knows more.However once the effects of the shock had worn off,their curiosity started to stir.Then,after thoroughly discussing the merits of Shlegles action,whom he should have killed and who should have been spared,whether the son-in-law should have run or fought and what "I" would have done,that old bug curiosity really sprouted forth,and everybody decided that this kind of affair only happens once in a life time and that they had better make the most of it.You have no idea how disgusting this attitude appears to an outsider with broader training and experience,who is shocked by a tragedy.The whole town went mad.Crowds flocked to the funeral home to see how they looked.Mothers went three and four times just to get their monies worth.I heard a fellow on his way to the funeral home, yell across to a friend just coming out,"how was it Dick".Bill Graham said he had seen a lot of strange things in his life,but he had never seen this happen,and he was going to the funeral home if it was the last thing he did.That was the general attitude.Their was no question of any respect to the Shlegle family.It was purely a question of seeing something unusual and having something gruesome to talk about for a long time to come.Soon the services were over,the sad procession started and the mob followed and soon dispersed,satisfied that they had for once something to talk about.I went to the library to read long before the affair ended contemplating on the sad plight of the small townersRead automatically; may contain mistakes.

Harvested

2026-10-18T19:26:56Z · source datestamp n/a · cjhn

Digital objects at the source

• pdfOpen original at source ↗P0094-01-07-19400211JJfm.pdfRead here
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