Rock Island Argus., 1895-12-21
TOLD ABOUT Town.

L =
had squandered AL his savings ex-
cept Is cents. but was nevertheless
determined to procure a starter to
his proposed flock. This informa-
ton he impaired to his little COM
paoion, Harry. who resided in the
adjoining block. While the two
were strolling up the alleyway back
OF Harry's home Jamie observed a
pair of bantams that suited his fancy
to the letter.
'.Dere's couple of beauts wot
would be Jest right fur me to start
on. Wonder who's dey is?"
mine" replied Harry.
"Your'ne! How much you take
fur emp"
"Quarter."
"You know only got Is cents,
but I'll give dat for EN-
"All right; dat's a CO." bargained
Harry. "But de question is how
In, going to get 'em over to your
house without ma gettin' on; cause
you know she'd make an awful holler
If she got onto me sellin' de banties
I'll tell you. jamie; tonight you get
a box and put it in your back yard
upside down and in de mornin' I'll
get up good an early before de
chickens are up and cop dem two off
de roost and bring 'em over and put
'em under de box, see? An ma,
she'll s'ppose someone stole EN-"
| And SO the deal was arranged.
jamie found the two chickens under
the box all right and was much elated
over the bargain.
The following day it b, came noised
about the neighborhood that the
Jones, who lived next door to
Harry. had two OF their bamtams sto-
len. This alarmed Harry, but he
feigned ignorance when little groups
OF his companions were talking
about the theft. Neither did jamie
say a word, as he did not suspect
anything wrong. Then Jones finally
heard of Jamie's recent acquisition in
the poultry line and paid visit to
his mother one afternoon only to dis
cover jamie in possession of the sto-
len bantams. jamie cried when ac-
cused of stealing them and explained
how he got the poultry. Then Har-
ry was seen. He turned pale as a
ghost when confronted with the
crime, but tlatly denied any knowl-
edge of the tbeft. Then Jamie's
mother was seen again, and there
was almost hair-pulling match be-
tween the two women. Jamie's
mother gave Mrs. Jones to UNDER
stand that her boy was not thief
and said the only way she could re-
cover the bantams was to pay Is
cents for them. This Mrs. Jones
would not do; instead telling the af-
fair to the police. The police sent
for Harry. He shivered like a leaf
on arriving at the station, and finally
gave up the whole affair and how it
happened. Harry returned the Is
cents and matters were again placed
right. This incident occurred re-
Gently in central neighborhood.
In community with so many
grand free institutions OF learning
as Rock Island it would seem un.
reasonable to think that there arc
l5-ycar-old children in our midst
who cannot even write their own
/ uahO. Dut tuiS uCplOEoulS cI6tc VI
affairs is applicable to at least one
Iyouth-Onc reared in the city. His
Ignorance can be seen in scanning
lover the bounty certificate book at
the city clerks Office. There on diff
ferent pages he has made cross
over his name, which the clerk has
to write for him. The youth was
asked why he did not learn to write.
"Oh, l don't know" he replied.
Cycling. II can't learn. l never
went to school anyhow. don't like
to go to school," The future of q
l5-year-old boy unable to write or
even recognize his name looks
gloomy indeed. 1t is not the child
as much as the parent who is to
blame. There are many Rock Island
parents who are allowing their young
to run about the streets instead Of
compelling them to attend school.
This case is tip for the proper au-
thorities.
.'Been shopping, suppose, Mrs.
tCrav2"