Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 415

# Museum Catalog Note

This issue of Beadle and Adams' dime novel (No. 415, July 7, 1885) features "Bowery Bob's Boom," a serial detective story by Jo Pierce, credited to the New York Detective Force. The protagonist is Bowery Bob, a fourteen-year-old street urchin and amateur detective working near Trinity Church in Manhattan. A flashily-dressed man hires Bob to deliver a package supposedly containing bananas to Houston Street, paying him a dollar. Upon delivery to the indolent Miss Rosa Reddington, Bob accidentally enters an adjoining room where he discovers approximately two thousand dollars in gold coins. An elderly deformed man named Riddle, assisted by a burly enslaved man, threatens Bob and demands a knife to cut out his tongue. A girl named Nelva, apparently held captive, refuses to obey and smashes the knife through a window rather than comply. The narrative emphasizes Bob's quick wit and street-smart dialogue throughout.