The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1906-04-13
THE HEROISM
OF TATTERS
BY WALTER l.. HAwLEY


10 the grOwn-up jewellers in the Or
hard street tenement he was known
July as the ucwsboy on the corner or the
paper boy hut to the children Of the 10.
Hlity he wa5 "TatteTs.' The name was
applied in riiiCule because his clothing
was well worn and his rec.or thing Of
rags and patches. but 1t Ctnrk to him
long after the ucirhborhood came to
know him as boy Of family who worked
early and late to supper, mother and
come younger brothers and sisters.
The lad had stand on the street
corner. not a table or shelf with a can
vas or board shelter as most local news.
dealers, but a stand in the literal sense
and there he could be found with the
earliest editions Of the morning papers
anl again through the afternoons when
extras" followed each other ut short
intervals. When business fell off be-
tween the morning sales and the coming
Of the wagon with the nine o'clock cdi-
tons OF the afternoon papers, Tatters
would run crrands or deliver parcels for
Tie had never been to church or Sunday
school in his life. and could swear like
pirate whenever circumstances
seemed to Justify strong language; but
he was honest and manly. Tatters had
incurred the cnmty Of the less indus
trious newsboys of the neighborhood by
mindinE his own business and refusing
to shoot craps with them. He did not
regard gambling as vice, but 1t would
interfere with his business so he
thrashed a few Of the urChins who called
him names and held his stand" on the
corner by standing on it during business
hours His one diversion was going TO
fires. II there was a fire in the neigh
b0rhODd TattCrs was always one OF the
first spectators on hand, and he main
tanned a speaking acquaintance with
the members Of the engine company
situated in the block. and to them con-
ldcd his secret ambition TO become n
hockey when he growed up" hockey
In the dialect Of the East side meaning
member of hook and ladder company
Vi lnt III utlul 'lA'ht'
There came q time one day when Tat
tcrs leaving his papers with the butch
cr and running to tenement house
fire at tho first alarm, got a chance 10
show that h. had in him the stuff OF
which heroes Of the hook and ladder are
made When the reporters from police
headquarters arrived at the scene Of this
particular FIRE they found tenement in
ruins, block filled with crying and
ChattcrinE women and children the fire.
men dragging ont their hose, squad
OF police struggling with the pushing
throng at the fire lines. and all the other
incidents Of commonplace confusion Pc
culiar to the locality The reporters
made their way to the police roundsman
and the battalion chief. who were com
pairing notes for rospectiyc reports
Anyone burned or hurt" they asked
OF the roundsman.
Nav, the whole bunch got out" the
roundsman replied
ANY rescues. chief" they asked the
commander of the hremcn.
None that you want, guess be-
lieve they dropped some kids out OF a
window before the truck got here, but
that didn't amount TO anything" said
the chief OF the battalion as he signaled
his men to return to quarters.
The reporters had passc | out Of the
fire lines and were forcing their way
through the dense crowd when n bare
headed girl of ten pulled the sleeve OF
the man in front and said:
Say, Is youse goin' to put somethln'
in de papes about Tatters and what he
done?"
who Is Tatters, and what did he do?"
the reporter asked, seeming material
for q descriptive or special story.
why, he saved Mrs. Franks two kids
outen de fort floor back fore de hookles
got here"
Where is her"
Back at his stan selln' papes Jest
like he amt done nothln'."
BY this time the reporters had cleared
the worst of the crowd and they were
quickly surrounded by eye witnesses OF
the heroism OF Tatters, all eager to tell
the story In the hope Of getting their
own names in the newspapers. The
story they told, stripped of unnecessary
details, was that Mrs Frank, who lived
In the burned tenement. fourth floor
back, had gone out, leaving her tv @
small children locked in room. She
returned to find flames bursting from
the third-foor windows. and the stair.
way black with smoke. Between Ave
piercing screams and Il struggle to rush
into the burning building she managed
to make known the fact that her children
were locked in. and then she fell in o
faint just as Tatters broke from tbs
crowd and dashed u2 the smoke-envel.