Madame
Nora "Butter" Brown |
Jerome is an enchanting town,
and a photographer's paradise. From its external appearances it
hasn't changed much in nearly 100 years. Many of the buildings used
by present-day business folks are those built after the fires of
1894 and1899. A number of the buildings have been restored and more
are planned for restoration. Due to the 30-degree incline of the
mountainside, gravity has pulled a number of buildings down the
slope.
To the delight of some, one of those buildings
was the town's jail. Those buildings still standing make for interesting
visiting and with a little research you can find their historical
significance. One notable section is the "Cribs District."
You will find this area across the street from the English Kitchen,
in a back alley where all the buildings were are part of Jerome's
ill-famed "prostitution row."
As the 20th century grew older, Jerome became
an around the clock, three shift town boasting 13 hotels, 21 bars,
and 8 houses of prostitution with names like "The Cuban Queen,"
and the less elegant "Cribs."
The Madame, Nora "Butter" Brown,
was already in residence, overseeing the workmen. She was a no-nonsense
business woman when it came to the work at hand, but lord, she could
drink most of the men in camp right under the table when she was
feeling feisty.
Back
in those days she was fond of saying, "I know I'm not much
to look at boys, but wait until you see the girls. You're really
going to love me then." She would then let out a loud horse
laugh. She was right about her not being much to look at.
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She
had a face plainer than a pine board, but the figure under all the clothes
they wore in that period surely promised to give a man comfort on a cold
night. Her brothel was the first wooden building built in Jerome and was
two stories high. Located where the Sullivan Building is today, it actually
had its own wooden sidewalk and second story porch above that. Butter
gained reknown for being the Madam who first introduced Jennie Banters
to the profession. In history books, it is Jennie who is credited with
being Jerome's first Madam, but truth be told - it was that Jennie was
just a better self-promoter.
Jennie Banters' establishment
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Prostitutes
were the first women to arrive in Jerome. With women in the minority
(22% in 1900), “soiled doves” found plenty of hardworking miners
willing to pay for female companionship. Jennie’s brothel was located
on Main Street where “Nellie Bly” now stands. At one point, the
women were forced to move their business off Main street and Husband's
alley was born. This area consisted mostly of small "cribs"
that catered to the miners.
Although
a woman could make money selling her services, the profession was
plagued with violence and disease. Some, like Jennie, were killed
by clients, others wasted away with drugs and alcohol.
Only
a lucky few escaped the profession, usually through marrying a good
man. Although prostitution was illegal, enforcement was inconsistent
so prostitution remained an integral part of life in Jerome until
the 1940s. |
The
phenomena often reported in this alley includes the feeling of being watched,
the sound of footsteps walking up behind you and an unexplainable odor
of perfume. There have also been reports of strange shadows that "move"
about in the alley after dark. An apparition of a young woman has been
repeatedly seen near the town's community center, called Spook Hall, which
sits just to the east of prostitute row.
We
started off by doing EM sweeps around the area. Two natural trifield meters
were set up next to the building and monitored by David.
Eventually,
Bob and Kat were sent over to Spook Hall to watch for any possible activity
in that area while Cody, David and Kristin remained in Prostitute row.
Bob and Kat only had one minor alarm on the trifield at Spook Hall, nothing
else of interest was reported.
The
group in Prostitution row experienced several interesting phenomena. Fluctuating
readings on the natural trifield meter were accompanied by unusual black
images that appeared in the photographs. A "shadow" was seen
in the west end of the alley and the team there converged to see if it
was actually a person. After examining the area they decided that it could
not have been anyone, in the flesh anyway, because they would have been
seen leaving the area. During one point, David heard something behind
him that resembled footsteps.
After
an hour both groups met up at Spook Hall and returned to the alley. Bob
saw glasses in a dark shop window that appeared to be moving. Noises were
also heard coming from inside the vacant building in the alley where we
photographed the black "mist" earlier. After another 30 minutes
of inactivity, the hunt was concluded.
Photographs
Click
on the thumbnails to view the larger image
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Air
borne pollutants were definitely a problem at this location. However
we did record four interesting photographs all of which were taken
during EM events.
The
last three were taken one after the other. There are three photographs
between the first image of the black"mist" and the next
sequence of three.
The
natural Trifield meter began fluctuating, sounding its alarm. David
watched the meter readings while Cody moved into position behind
him to take the photographs. The majority of the EM readings were
2 nt with high fluxes of 5 nt.
The
photographs taken before and after these three images are completely
normal. |
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