The evening times., 1896-11-09

Lost children are great source of
annoyance to the police.
DuiiiIe @hc sIA I.ouths ending yester-
day eighty-four boys and girls OF varying
dSrs, wHo nad strayeu from their homes,
were reported to headquarters as missing.
Upon tur rrUeip. ot cacu vi Jhese &c
ports from parents or friends, Operators
MadduN, klinger or Morehead Were re-
quIred TO send out u general alarm for the
poilce to look for the missing one. A
general alarm means telephone message
~ racu % Uue niGe police stiitioIIs, the uc-
tectiye office and the sub b-stations at An
acustia and in the county. A lost message
usually reads like this:
LOOK out Tor wiiIam Smith, white, nine
Years OF age, rather snort; mas mOie
under his left ear; wore Il gray suit, black
cap, knee pants, and red-and-white striped
SAM. AiIssins tron, MS nome. 40. %
Bank street. Iffoundnotify headquarters"
1nis notice is entered upon the dispatch
books at the several station houses, and i'll
the operating room.
FEW ARE BONA FIDE.
Just before the piatoons of policemen
20 out upon their beats, at = O'Clock a. IN,
l p. m, p. m. and l2 midnight, this
MESA ge is read 10 them, and sharp watch
section OF the city and county.
The records show that not one case in
100 is a bona Tide disappearance, in the
police acceptation OF the word. II develops
that Willie has either gone to the thcater
with his companions, and without the con-
sent OF his parents, OF else he has paid n
clandestine visit to his Aunt Mary, or
something else To detain him from home
beyond his usual bed time.
When the boz returns some OF theparents
are considerable enough, to notify the po-
lice, and a message is at once sent out, stat
ing that William Smith is found.
This puts i finis TO the search for the lad
Other fathers or mothers fail to do this,
and Willie Smiths name remains on the
police annals for all time, as among tn he miss
ing
only Saturday frantic mother reported
to the police that her Jweiye-year-oid
daughter hadmysteriously Misrepresentation
her home. The woman was in tears and
declared that her child had been spirited
away by a man with an evil eye, who had
been seen lurking about the neighborhood.
NOT AN EVIL EYE.
"whir-r-r'' went the police telephone,
and in n few minutes an alarm to look out
for the missing sIrl had been flashed to
all sections of the District An hour later
the nother rushed into the police station,
leading her daughter by the hand.
Il found her. she exclaimed. Il found
her. She was spending the day with her
aDut, out on East Capitol street" ..-
Ii had not occurred 10. the woman that
her child might he at the huIue Of relatives
until arter she had put the police depart
ment to considerable trouble. This Is but
one OF many similar cases.
During ,ne suu4Iner IIfvFthH many of the
so-called missing boys are found 10 have
been on an eel fishing or moonlight swim
theatcrs account for many OF their absences
from home ..-
During the past six months the police
picked up or had brought to the stations
by citizens thirteen children, too young
to give their names or addresses, Tho had
not yet been reported as lost
They hadIn some asess.rayed away from
home, while their parents or nurses had
temporarily ceased their watchfulness over
them. Five of the thirteen were colorcd
tots whohad been attracted by pas sing brass
bands or drum corps, and followed the
music aimlesay and indefinitely. like the
fable thrOng which followed the Pied
Piper" to their destruction
SOME MISSING MEN.
There is another class of '1osts'' the
police have to contend with who do not
belong to the juvenile fraternity. They
are men-off on spree-whU have failed
-four OF fOrty-eight hours, while i'll some
instances their absence from home. has
heightened into week. They are reported
to the station-houses or headquarters by
anxious mothers or wives, who are sure
something dreadful has happened as Ton
or Jack never rremainedawaysu suLuDe before.
Several years 90 prominent guyernment
official was reported as missing. He had
been drinking heavily, and his friends
We're sure he had met with foul play, as he
had considerable sum of money ON his
person. The police searched everywhere
for the official, but he could not he located.
Dispatches We're sent to other cities, but
without result. .--. .....
His friends were greatly alarmed, and
could not account for his mysterious dis
appearance. Two weeks after he bad been
reported to the police the official walked
into his department one morning looking as
spick and span as new pin and showing
NO traces whatever of his recent debauch.
He explained that he had been visiting
relatives in Baltimore but the police learned
afterward that while ON the spree lie had
gone to Providence Hospital and asked for
treatment for alcoholism He was taken
in and spent two weeks in seclusion in the
alcoholic ward, paying $50 per week for
the treatm ment.