The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1880-04-28
A Warning To Parents.
New York TimSs Humorist. ]

There seems to be little use in bewail-
ing the circulation of vicious Juvenile litera-
ture of the highwayman type. Every intel
igent man admits that it does frightful
amount of harm among boys, but no one
takes any effective step to check its circula-
ton. The story which teaches boys that
robbery, stealing, lying, profanity and drunk
enness are manly and noble sports does not
offend against any existing statute, and Mr..
Comstock can not interfere with its circula-
ton. 1t is clear that if this evil is to be
checked, our laws must be amended, and it
is to be hoped that the recent painful incl
dent in North Adams, Mass, which is d.
Iectly traceable to the influence of democrat
ling juvenile literature, will arouse public
indignation which will lead to substantial
results.
The two boys who are now expiating their
crime In the North Adams jail in brown
paper and sweet oil, to-wit: Master Charles
Briggs and Master James Plunkett, are both
under fifteen years of age. 1t is known that
for the last two years they have been in the
constant habit of reading the desperate
Small Boys of America" and other story pa
pers of like reprehensible character Mr..
Danforth, the teacher of the Lanesboro
Boarding School, which these boys attended,
testifes that they established an under
ground railway by which reams of piratical
literature were struggled into the school, and
that they openly confessed that they had
rather read the Desperate Small Boys" than
solve the most attractive problem in fractions,
or bound the most abstruse South American
Republic. The natural result was that
week ago they ran away. There was nothing
to hinder them from walking down stairs and
going out through the front door, but they
preferred to tear their sheets into strips, and
with the help of ropes thus extemporized, to
lower themselves from the window. Their
subsequent adventures are set forth in their
joint confession made to Esquire Hickock, of
North Adams, and will be painfully sugges-
tive to any active father who may read it.
1t appears that, after much debate as to
what particular field of crime they should
cultivate, the boys decided to become plumb
ers. 1t may seem incredible that the sons of
Christian parents educated amid the whole
some influence of the well-known Lanesboro
school, should be capable of entering upon
so shameless and wicked career; but such is
the consequence of the constant reading of
vicious literature. Masters Briggs and Plum
kett found much difficulty in obtaining the
necessary tools for the prosecution of the
plumbers nefarious trade, since, of course,
no respectable and law-abiding mechanic
will make or sell them. 1t is believed that
the boys must have made the acquaintance
of some member ofthe gang of plumbers that
has so long infested Western MASSACHUSETTS,
and that they were supplied with tools by
him. AT any rate, they succeeded in obtain
ing portable furnace, two pairs of gas-tongs,
two soldering-irons and a supply of solder.
These they concealed in their mattresses until
the day, or rather the night, of their escape
and, of course, they took them with them
when they fed from the school.
AS both the boys lived, when they were
not at school, at North Adams, they endeav-
ored to battle pursuit by taking the road
from LanesborO to South Adams. They
walked rapidly during the night. and at
about o'clock in the morning they be-
gan operations. Approaching house in
the outskirts of South Adams, they concealed
themselves until the man of the house had
gone to his work. They then boldly enter
ed the house, and confronting the mans
wife, informed her that they we're plumbers,
and intended to put the kitchen boiler in
order. The terrified woman made no resist
ance, and the young criminals went into the
kitchen and severed the connection between
the boiler and the range. Master Briggs
then informed her that he would have TO go
to the shop for tools, and accordingly de-
parted, leaving her under the guard of Mas
ter Plunkett. An hour later he returned,
having spent the time selecting other houses
in which to consummate plumbing outrages.
The boys then replaced the boiler, scattered
a great deal of melted solder, and made out
a bill, in which s. was charged for repairing
the boiler, "a for their time, $3.50 for mate
rails, and s. for the job. This bill, amount
ing to $3.50 was paid by their victim, and
they then departed, exulting over the sue.
cess of their first crime.
Seven other houses were visited by these