The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1906-10-05

in that atmosphere of lawlessness
where youths develop early, and they
not only led the younger ones in sort
of general rebellion against law and
order, but they were personally guilty
of many troublesome and occasionally
costly depredations. Naturally, they
made life burden to Policeman Flynn.
They played tricks on him, they got up
mock fights to fool him, they jeeI
at him, and finally they began to
amuse themselves by throwing stones
at him whenever they could do so with
reasonable safety. He knew that they
were responsible for the minor crlInes
OF which complaint was frequer tlv
made, but he lacked evidence, and it
was not until he had narrowly es.
capped being Drained by half a brick
that he finally took two of the ring
leaders to the station.
Whats the charger" asked the po-
lice magistrate the next morning.
.'Mm-m, well, they s a bad lot, an
they was heavin' r-rocks at me-" ar
swered Policeman Flynn.
Did they hit you?" demanded the
magistrate. And when the policeman
admitted that he had succeeded in
lodging the missile, the magistrate
added: 'Oh, well, boys will be boys,
and we mustn't be too hard on them.
If they d hit you it would be different.
Discharged"
LUX at that, now" commented Po-
liceman Flynn. "A big chunk iv a
brick come fright f'r me head, an l
duck, an that lets thin go free. IT
was FIR me, suppose, to ha-ave me
head shplit open f'r to ma-ake a case.
Ohio! t Is fine thing, is tn la-aw iv
tn magistrates. 'Ha-ave We ye-er
head with YEP says his honor. I
ha-ave,' says I. 'Ye ha-ave no business
to- says he; an thin he says, This
day-findent is discharged FIR tn rea-
son that Officer Flynn comes into coort
with his head on, thereby vi'latin' tn
la-aw.' I'd like to ha-aye ton "
that la-aw f'r to thrown in tn river.
Ye've got to ha-ave tn Evidence, a
ca-art load iv it. It is like this: A fell
ly comes cr-reepin' up behind a ma-an
with a knife in his ha-and. 1T is me
juty,' says / to mesilf, f'r to artist
him. Wait says tn la-aw to me, FIR
he'll kill tn ma-an, an thin yen
ha-ave a good case Ohio! t Is a
great thing to know tn law"
Fortunately, however, these remarks
were not made in the hearing OF the
court, and Policeman Flynn returned
to his beat Naturally, his troubles
we're not lessened by his failure TO Sc
cure a conviction, for the gang became
holder and more demonstrative than
ever. But the policeman patiently
awaited his opportunity, and before
long he had the same two in custody
again, with what he believed to be a
good case against them.
"'T was like this" he explained in
court the following days. "Th' door iv
tn grocery is open, an tn two pris'-
ners is r-runnin' AWAY. l foIlies
thin an shtumbles over a ham, which
they dropped"
Did you see them drop it?" asked
the boys lawyer.
"Iv coorse not" answered Policeman
Flynn, but t is not to be supposed
tn ham wa-alked down tn alley be IT.
silf. They s lot iv fruit, too, leadin'
all tn wa-ay to where TIL byes is
grounded up, an they ha-avs a pocket
full iv cha-anse taken from tn TILL"
How do you know it was taken
from tn till7" demanded the lawyer.
Because It's not in tn till cow"
replied Policeman Flynn.
''Oh, WELL" said the judge, at the
conclusion of the hearing, there is
nothing to show that they are the ones
who dropped the ham and the fruit,
and they give a very plausible expla-