The Seattle star. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1899-1947, 1912-05-06

WIN now.
nv FRED L. BoALT
The kids along the water front
|eaiied him "Mooehcr." In hobo lingo
Ito mooeh" 10 70 wander airsiessiy.
= '-moccher" 10 q wandering beoasr
and thief.
-nloocher" became wandering
bc9osr and thief through force Of
|<iresmssances beyond his control.
|~Th' of man" was sens to the stock
.ace for drunkenness and general
cussed ness. which was good rid
danes Of bad rubbish. But the boy
|Griesed for HE father.
One day the Greek boys who lived
on the top of fne cliff threw stones
down. and "Moochcr.- afraid. and
|tifed of living IN the shanty alone.
left the tide water shantytown
where he first sa~ the light. and SO
became moochsr.
"Moocher- led nm aimlesr life. Hc
|H6ld papers. He worked for a
Greek. shining shoes In front Of a
saloon. lie loitered about the union
depot. carrying bags. He begged
sxpestly and stole adroitiy, becom-
ing dip" In an aimless sort OF
way.
II the graft was good" he
rnopped~ la io-cenf lodging houses
III the old restricted district. When
flnds were low. he knew OF a grat-
ing In an sreaway In the rear OF a
|rewspaper building on which one
could sleep in comfort In the heat
THAT rose from the boiler room be-
low.
Ne was . wien little rat of q boy.
and wise IN many thinps which
email boys ought not 20 know. He
had stunted body and the face OF
IN old man.
n A policeman found him asleep on
the grating Mt 3 In the morning. He
was arrested. booked" and Judge
rrater OF the Juvenile court sen
tenced him 10 the Parental school
on Mercer island.
He hadn't been at the Parental
school more than 1b minutes be.
fore they had him. naked, easping
In y shower bath. They gave him a
new, clean outfit Of clothes. They
assigned him 10 cot In the dormi-
tory Of cottage No. 2. And they
turned him loose into the free, busy
life Of the institution.
lie was in rebellion from the
start. He didn't want to study. lie
didn't want 10 work. or drill, or even
play. He didn't want TO be clean.
He hated discipline. He scorncd
the 100 odd boys he found there be-
cause they were obedient TO dIsci-
pline.
He wanted with all his rebeflious
heart and dwarfed soul to be back
In Seattle. 10 live again the free, un-
fettered life Of the streets.
And so, OF course, he ran away.
II Is futile TO try to run away
when one is a prisoner on an island
A farmer caught him. and laughed
good naturedly when "Moocher
fought like a young wildcat to get
free. A squad of Parental boys
came TO fetch aim back 10 the
schoo&
With "Moochcr" In their midst
they tramped back over hilly coun-
try road. And "Moocher" reviled
them.
"A heiuva trlcki" he sneered. A
feIla tries TO make his getaway, an
instead OF helpIn' him, yeh bring
him bsck Stool pigeonsl snltchesl"
The squad swallowed the insults
In silence. But when bend in the
road brought the two cottages. with
the administration building nesting
between, into sight, the squad halt.
ed. The leader eyed the captive
stonily.
ssYou're fool he said, deliber-
ateIy. "Watcha wanta make yer
getaway for7 Here yer get three
square meals a day. Did ych get
'cm In Scatter Here yeh get
clean bed to sleep In. Did yeh get
clean beds in the flop houses'7 Here
yeh get an education and learn a
trade. What did yoh ever learn
moochin' on the water front7 Here
yoh get a square deal. Wat sort OF
= deal was II yeh got where yeh
come from7 You're fool. For
ward, march,"
Az they neared the school tho