Los Angeles herald., 1906-11-10
BESPATTERED CROWD PLEADS
WITH DAUBERS
BaIdhe AIDED Man Receives Bucket OF
Green Fluid on His Bare Pate
and Starts Brief
Rough House

The contents of a bucket of gray
paint, judiciously and impartially DIS
tributed over the clothes and counte-
nances of more than twenty pedes-
trians, proved the incentive for a small
riot near the Penny Arcade at Fourth
and Spring streets yesterday morning
and it required the united efforts OF
three police officers to protect the
careless paintert, Henry Oleson' from
attack.
Oleson was painting beautiful de-
signs on the Arcade building yesterday
morning, mingling a dark shade or
gray with well-nixed tint of green.
His partner manipulated the green
paint at one end of the scaffold while
Oleson smeared on the gray from his
end of the same scaffolding about
twenty feet above the sidewalk
Spring street in the early hours of
morning is a busy thoroughfare and
hundreds of pedestrians marched past,
all with an upward glance at the
happy painter, who whistled cheer
fully.
Just below the scaffold a hat re-
pairer piled his trade and bootblack
kept those with the muddy shoes in
good humor. Suddenly as the painter
swung his brush an employe of the
hat-repairing outfit stepped to the
sidewalk from the doorway of his es-
tablishment.
Halter Wins First Bout
The mans head was devoid of adorn-
ment and it's bald pinkness shone in
the morning sun. The painter gave
one extra flourish to his brush and a
round, slippery hunk of gray paint
left the brush, turned two flip-flops IN
the air and, guided by the hand OF
fate, hit square on the bald spot OF
the halter. The halter looked sud
denly skyward just in time to receive
a second splash of paint in one eye,
With a yell of rage he invited the
painter to descend and discuss the sit
uation. The painter descended, put UP
his hands, while the halter, thinking
of the damage to his Uranium, struck
forth with his fists and damaged the
painters face.
The painter had nothing further to
say, but by a roundabout method
climbed back to his perch on the scaf-
fold and drew the ladder up with him.
AS for the halter, he returned to his
work and scraped off the paint. Five
minutes later the bootblack bowed q
customer to the edge of the doorway
to his stand and asked to brush the
mans clothes The stand was directly
beneath the end of the scaffold where
on the singer of green paint piled his
trade. AS the bootblack whisked his
broom over his customers clothing a
chunk of green paint landed on his
head.
Still keeping hold of his customers
he was brushing that por-
ton of his garments-the bootblack
looked skyward to pour forth insult, |
a second splash of green
paint sizzled down and, striking The
customer at the point where the boot
black had hold of his collar, 1t tickled
his spinal column and then wiggled
down his back, while the unfortunate
customer squirmed and jumped about.
Halter Grows Mad
Oleson, who had first dropped the
gray paint, noted the trouble and wait
ed. for his time was soon to come. |
The bootblack armed himself with a |
heavy shoe~b brush and called defiance
The enraged customer yelled a like
challenge and then the halter, unfor-
tunately for him, concluded that he
too was due to get mixed up in the
Without thought of impending calam-
ty he stepped out of his establishment
10 the sidewalk and attempted to en-
ter this little discussion, Oleson took
Dne last look and then logged the
bucket of gray paint at his side and
never even looked to see how true had
been his aim,
The bucket, paint and all, landed
square on the indignant hatters cram
um, the paint trickling down over his
lose and shoulders and the bucket
oerched on his head like a helmet.
For moment the air was blue and
he painter leaned down and rendered
ais excuses to no avail. The antics cf
the customer, the bootblaek and the