Benson Benefit


The first item below lists the activities that were planned as a benefit for the family of the late Detective Benson. The event took place some five years after Captain Loomis left the LAPD. It was estimated that one thousand people attended the benefit.

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Captain Loomis is listed as a contestant in two of the bicycle events - a half-mile handicap, and the "Fat-man's" race. It is doubtful that the Captain was a candidate for the latter event due to his girth. He was a large, powerful man, standing about 6' 2" at a time when the average male height was about 5' 7". And he often used a bicycle to easily and quickly move around the Evergreen Cemetery where he worked.

The results of the event were reported two weeks later in the September 9 edition of the Times. It is noted that Captain Loomis, in a race against the clock, rode one mile in two minutes and twenty-nine seconds. At an average speed of 24 MPH, it can be assumed that Captain Loomis was quite fit for a man of his stature.

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And what benefit would be complete without an appearance by Miss Hazel Keyes.

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[Sources: 1) Los Angeles Times newspaper, August 29, 1894, page 4; 2) Los Angeles Times newspaper, September 9, 1894, page 7; 3) A History of the Standard of Living in the United States, Richard H. Steckel, Ohio State University.]