Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1906-08-31
4 Female Refor1ler
She Was Mistaken for a Villain

Not since the day Mrs. Slocuro's
Jim swallowed a marble and the am
bulance surgeon had to rescue it with
. stomach pump have they had such
a time in Sixty-sixth street as they
had Tuesday afternoon Mrs. Cas-
kin's Billy was the hero. A woman
belonging to some reform society was
the heavy villain. The reformer had
spent most of the forenoon listening
to lecture on DUTY to Our Fellow
Men," In the afternoon she went to
S1xty-sixth street to see what good
she could do. The first person she
found to exercise her usefulness upon
was Billy Gaskins.
Billy was clearly in need Of assist
ance. He sat on the front steps Of
a fve-story tenement bowling for all
he was worth. His face was solid
smear of dirt, upon which tiny rivu-
lets had been traced by the steadily
flowing tears.
20. you poor little darling" she
said. Are you sick?"
WOW! Wow! Wow" roared Billy.
To anybody else that reply would
have been unintelligible, but the re-
former understood it perfectly.
"Why, you're not sick at ALI" she
cried. you're lost; that what ails
you. Come, let's go and find mamma. -
This time Billy emphasized his
bowls with kicks and punches, but
not even that demonstration swerved
the reformer from her benevolent pur-
pose. Heavy as he was, she gathered
Billy up and started down the street.
At every step his struggles became
more violent In the tussle the re-
formers hat went awry. her skirts got
twisted and her boa trailed off her
shoulders, but she forged valiantly
ahead, surrounded by an ever-increas-
Ing swarm Of hooting, gesticulatir2
children. At the corner the crow.
was augmented by a policeman.
Hi, there" he said, what ycN
doin' with that KIDD"
Hes lost" replied the reformer.
"I'nf to find"
mo, he amt lost" piped a thin
voice beside her. "De lady swiT :
i'm. seen 'er. Here comes is n1a,
now"
"Hls mother!" said the reforme:'
THANK heaven"
She turned and pumped into tn
80 y ,,l,o I@1
in blue calico gown, who REINFORCE!
by half the adult population of Six.
sixth street, came pelting along il
pursuit of Billy Gaskins. At the sight
Of the bare-headed woman Billy ceas {:
bowling and lunged forward raptur-
ously.
"Mam-m-m:" he gurgled.
The woman gurgled, too. "Mu2~
zer's pwecious title pet" she sal ].
"Did re Massey CONAN steal muzzer's
darling right off his own doorstep?
Was she wicked CONAN, and shall
mamma smash 'er face for herr"
Billy Gaskins was too deeply en-
crossed in his own troubles just then
to give advice on that momentous
question, but his mother made up her
mind to do it anyhow. With skill
born of much physical exercice she
balanced Billy on one arm, while with
the other soapy fist she grazed the tip
of the reformer's nose. The reformer
squealed and jumped behind the po-
licenlan for protection.
Say" said the officer to Mrs. Gas
kins, mo more of that I'll tend to her.
Now, you," he added, turning to the
reformer, "come along with me-"
"Where to-" asked the reformer.
"To the police station You've been
caught tryin' to run away with an
other woman's kid, and it's up to you
to square yourself.
The reformer wept and pleaded. The
policeman, however, was obdurate
Thanked on one side by the officer, on
the other by Mrs. Gaskins and Billy,
and followed by such of the population
of Sixty-sixth street as were not con-
fined indoors by extreme youth, old
age, or other insurmountable infirm-
ity, the reformer headed for the sta
t10n. There tho policeman preferred
his charge Of kidnapping, in which he
was volubly seconded by Mrs. Cas-
k1ns.
"This looks Bad" said the sergeant
to the prisoner. "What did you want
with this woman's child?"
want with him." screamed the re-
former. Good heavens, didn't want
him. wouldn't have him as pre-
cious gift. He was crying fit to split
his lungs. I thought he was lost.
was only trying to help. But it's hard
work to help some people. I'm not
going to try it any more. I'm going
home and mind my own business"
The sergeant leaned across the desk
and nodded encouragingly.
"say," he said, do you really mean