The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917, 1916-03-01
TEE SPEEDY
MESSENGER BOY
4 speedy messenger boy!

:
You refuse to believe there ever was
any such persona
But there was, honest. He was a
little, black-haired, sharp-eyed. slend-
er and 1.-the brunette of boy, with a
telltaIe nose which Indicated a Hebrew
origin. It yves some eighteen years
ago or so that he carried on the mes
Z sage transportation business in rath-
er shady section of San Francisco
When on business bent he travelled
with almost indecent haste Many
people remarkd on it, and wondered
if his feet hurt, and he was anxious
to get off EN-.
That wasn't the explanation at all,
at all. Little Abie's chief end and aim
in life at that time was to lick the
other messenger boys, newsboys and
street gannins in the south of the
slot district. There were a lot of
'eIn, and Able knew that if he cleaned
up the whole bunch he wouldn't have
much time to spare Therefore he
+, did not spare much time when he had
a message to deliver, but got the pesky
job over with as soon as possible, and
resumed fighting where he had left
off. Abie's folks looked upon his
pugnacious proclivfties as a vice, but,
from the viewpoint of Abie's employ
ers, his fighting was a virtue. It had
the effect of making Able the swiftest
@essenger boy in San Francisco.
At that time Able was in his early
teens. He was a native of San Fran
cisco, and one of a. brood of a dozen
youngsters. When he was about five
years old Abie's father died, and, freed
from paternal restraint, he INDUCED
his conbative instinct freely He had
licked about every boy in school who
was anywhere near his size when his
people decided that he needed a
change of climate and sent him off to
a stern old uncle in Los Angeles.
Now, no citizen of the City of Angels
can possibly understand it, but it is a
fact that Able longed to return to San
Francisco. OF course, from the Los
Angeles viewpoint, that was a strong
indication that little Able was weak
in the nut-stnot at home" as the old
saying goes Anyway, Able wanted
to get back to his old stamping ground
south of the slot, and he decided in
his shrewd little brain that the best
way to pull off the trick was to emu
late the angels the southern California
city was named after. He did it SO
successfully that the uncle wrote
home that Able was perfect dear of
a boy, SO kind and gentle as you could
never believe it. So Able was per
1nitted to rejoin his family in San
Francisco.
Woosh, Mawruss! 1t was a sad day
for the San Francisco lads when Able
got back from his Los Angeles exile.
He had bottled up his pugi1istic pro
pen51t1eS so long that he was pOp-eyed
with pugnacity, and, while he had all
ways made it a rule never to pick on
any kid who didn't want to fight, for
Few days he could hardly restrain
himself from hopping aboard any
youngster he happened to meet.
After leaving school Able Became a
messenger boy, as aforesaid, and he
hadn't been long in that occupation
until he Was the acknowledged king
of the clan. He whipped '"The News
boys Pride and then decided to take
81 wE1fr1 at the money game.
Alec Greggatns. the veteran heavy
weight, who had been Jim Halls
sparring partner and had fought sew
eral big battles, was then running a
sporting joint and boxing club in San
Francisco. Alec staged regular shows
at his place, and any boy who thought
he could fight was given a chance
there. If he showed himself to be
willing and game he got a slice of
coin: otherwise, Alec sent him forth
into the night with swift kick.
Abfe-and we may as well now as
any time mention that his last name
was Atte1I-went around to A1ec's re-
sort one night and manifested desire
to mix it with some youth of approx
mateIy his own weight. He was
obliged. and made such a good show
ang that he was invited to come again.