The evening times., 1896-03-23
CONFIRMED BOY T0PtRs
Lads Who Can Already Drink
! Like. 0ld-Timers.
CASES WHICH ARE VERY SAD
Two Especially Known by the Police.
Dick Hogan's Record as Gambler.
jacques Martillo Can Shoot Crap as
Well as Get Drunk-They Set bad
Examples.

| confirmed drunkard and only fourteen
yea RS ofage, is the startling record OF Frank
Conway, who was treated at the Emer-
gency Hospital Saturday for chronic a!co-
holism. The boys condition was pitiable
He appeared to be OIL the verge OF de-
lirium tremens, and filled the air with
oaths that would have put "A veteran jack
tar to the blush as he was being treated in
the operating room.
The hospital attaches say notwithstand-
ing Franks youth, he is confirmed
inebriate, and has gotten into endless
troubles in consequence.
Frank Conway is not the only boy drunk
ard i'll Washington. Sad TO say. there are
many of them. The blotters in the several
police stations contain the names OF nu-
merous youths, from thirteen to eighteen
years of age. who were arrested for drunk
enness, sometimes coupled with disorderiy
conduct or profanity. II is common oc-
currence on Saturday nights or on holidays
to see juvenile tOpers reeling along the
crowded thoroughfares.
When arrested they are always closely
interrogated by the police as TO where the
intoxicants were procured, but with the
pertinacity OF old offenders the bcsot ted
boys refuse 10 tell where they got the
liquor, except in rare cases. II taken TO
the police court Judge Kimball tries to get
a confession from >them. but his efforts
also usually result in failure. The intem-
perate youngsters will not diyulge the
tricky schemes they resort TO in order 70
obtain the stuff.
TWO BOY DRUNKARDs-
Two of the worst boy drunkards the po-
lice have had 10 contend with are Jacques
Martillo, thirteen years OF age, the son of
an itinerant fruit merchant. aud Dick Ho-
gan, about fifteen years Old. The latter is
both a confirmed topper and gambler. and
when he thinks occasion demands 1t does
not hesitate to steal. During the palmy days
of outlaw racing at the Alexander Island
track, Hogan was a regular habitue OF
the poolrooms. He sometimes played tout,
and many a dollar he has fiched from de-
,uded patrons of the merry-go-round by Ills
crooked work.
! Since the close OF the Island track. fif-
teen-year-old Dick Hogan has been what
the police term gutter snipe,' or habit
ua drunkard. He believes in that portion
Of the unwrftten Koran OF the hobo fr:t-
temity which declares against honest labor
means of makiDga livelihood.
AS young as he is, Hogan has Travelled
at u killing pace in this age OF precocity.
His features are haSgard and dra wn and
marked by an expression OF dissipation
and depravity. Nearly every time he has
been arrested Il flask of whisky was
found in his pockets. One OF his favorite
EXPIRE ssions is to the effect that he is us
fond OF the red liquor as Il duck is of
water.
jacques Mar;ilo. the thirteen-yea old.
1as never played the races" but he is an
expert crap gambler. He usually travels
about the city at night with a gang of half
grown colored boys, and the police say he
has been a hard drinker for nearly three
years. In burst OF confidence, while
drunk, Jacques told 4 policeman that he
procured whisky from liquor stores and
saloons by means of forged orders, but
neither persua sion nor threats would make
aim divulge the names OF the persons who
sold it 10 him. He added that he found no
difficulty in getting all the liquor he or
his companions wanted, provided he had
the money.
WEAKENED OLD MAN.
Jacques, although child in years, looks
ike Il weakened little old man as a result
of his dissipation Like the Hogan boy,
his name has been entered many times on
The annals of the police.
The law against selling liquor 10 minors
is strict II prohibits the dealer from
selling TO a child, whether the latter has
a written order or not There are n few.
however. who are souiless enough and
willing to take the chances of arrest in
order to gather in the few nickels or dimes
which results from a traffic that poisons
the minds and bodies of mis- guided lads
The police say there are many boy
drunkards in Washington. and the num-
Der is on the increase. just as specked
apple in Il barrel will spoil all the others
II comes in contact with, so, they say.
single boy topper will quickly sow the
seeds of intemperance among his COM
panions. The alarming extent this bane-
'ul habit has reached, the Officers say.
should bring about the enactment OF
severe laws which will check it, Under
existing law there is no way to effectually
crush out the awful evil, which is daily
converting siriplings of tender ages into
hardened and vicious malefactors