Arizona republican., 1911-03-30
H0B0'S LIFE NOT FOR
JOSEPH CASEY SOTO
Will be Home When He Spends
Railroad Fare Given Him by
Lew Collins

Fate is dealing Joe Soto one cruel
blow after another. Life i'm Los
Angeles is far from being one flow
cry bed of case. Therefore Soto will
return. He will be here Friday or
Saturday.
Soto's newsboy friends have re-
ceived several wireless postcard mes
sages from him. He isn't going to
lose track of his old associates as
long as he has the money to buy
cards and stamps. Nor is he going
to starve as long as he can touch
Lew Collins for the price of sinkers
on Main street.
Some three weeks ago Soto left
Phoenix. having decided to be a
tramp. Many things have happened
to him since then. The fate that
overlook him in Maricopa, where he
was arrested as a suspicious char
acter and chained several hours to a
railroad rail-. was the merest fore
taste of the evil fortune that was
later to overtake him.
Soto is a newsboy, watch charm
size. tough as they make them, smart
as a steel-trap and likable sort
of a kid for all his undesirable quail
ties. He played Pussy Pumpkins
the cat. i'm "Toodles in Holland, and
shortly after decided to be a tramp.
He persuaded a lad named keliar To-
Join him in his travels and later,
with his two good fists. he persuaded
Kellar to leave him. They were
not con"enial and their comradeship
was of short duration. II didn't
last long after they got to Los An
geles, according to the cards Soto
has sent back to Frank Babcock and
others. Whether they disagreed over
the beach at which they should spend
the day. the brand of wine they
should drink with their meals. the
japanese war scare. the tariff bill
or a girl, deponent sayeth not. Any
way they fought and Soto won-he
saws. Kellar hasn't been heard
from. At any rate he is no longer
with Soto.
When Soto left Phoenix he had
few dollars. Some of his money was
foolishly squandered in buying
ticket to Maricopa. but beyond that
n,ace no was more prudent. He
and Kellar rode into Los Angeles
on the bumpers and proceeded To
look around. The newspaper bust
ness was pretty well crowded At
tempts to sell papers were thwarted
by scrapping delegates from the
newsboys' union. Then came the
quarrel and Soto found it necessary
10 spend more money than ne could
afford in order to keep from freezing
and starving to death. He was also
troubled by stories that the police
and truant officers were constantly
on the lookout for youngsters like
him.
When he had three dollars left he
ran onto Lew Collins. who used to
shoot wfitewings in the Salt River
valley and act as secretary of the
territory between times. Collins and
Soto have been intimate friends
since Soto's earliest infancy and
Casey told his troubles. Three
dollars had been a fortune in Phoe-
nix but didn't look very big some
four or five hundred miles away from
home and mother. Lewis heart was
touched and he gave Soto enough
money to buy a ticket home. Lew
always was a reckless sort OF a chap
"Win stay here till the end OF the
week to spend what Collins give
me-" wrote Soto in his last letter.
Then I'll start home. Is kellar
there yet? Don't you let him tell
YOU any lies. I'll tell you all about
il when ! get back"