Evening star., 1923-01-21
He Knew All the Worlds Most Prominent
Isl =
1 Men, But 1t Was Hard to Convince !.
the People in Town.

w YHEN Joe Kelly was ten
AN/ years old he was as dirty
and tough as any Kid o,
his age in the dirty, tough
middle western manufacturing towr
on the banks Of the Mississippi In
which he lived.
He was the last and most neglect
cd Of the ten children who kept Peter
Kelly, the freight brakeman. and his
wife In debt and other trouble.
One summer day, at picnic OF the
McHenry Plow Works Employees AS
sociation. at Suffers Grove, he saw
Pete Molesky, a boy Of his own age
with q small black box in his hand.
What you got?" Joe inquired.
Camera" Pete replied.
How'd you get it?" he asked wist.
fully.
Bought it." said Pete. a'where'd
you suppose" - .-s->...--
Bought IT." Joe repeated incredu.
lousy. "where'd you get the money
to buy one o. them?"' ~
,''Cuttin' lawns said Pete.
The starters pistol spoke, the run.
ners. leaped away, and Pete snapped
the shutter Of his camera. - =.
: "They don't cost much" he admit.
fed "a little one like this one
got is only So; that's all"
Joe trailed home with Pete after
the picnic and, fascinated, watched
him remove the Aim from the black
box in the dim light from the red.
shaded lamp and wash 1t In a pan OF
developer When the Job was done
Pete held the film UP. and Joe saw
liked upon II, the scene he. had wit
messed in. the afternoonein suttler's
Grove-the starter with the ptsto
raised, the runners .leaping away
from the mark, They were bad neg.
atives. but to Joe Kelly they were the
evidence Of miracle performed be.
fore his eyes. .s
THE next morning Joe was Up and
i dressed before breakfast was
ready. ;. He ate hurriedly. rushed
from the house, and ran across town
to what was known as the nice resi-.
dence district. BY nightfall he had
earned SO cents. ~, =
He got home too late for supper
went directly to bed, and thought the
matter out. At the, rate he was go
ing, II would take him FIVE more days
to amass. the SO necessary to buy q
little camera alike Pete Mo.
lesky's. In the heat of his sudden
overwhelming desire. fiYe days seem
ed Identical In length with 5,000.00t
years. in that II was utterly impos-
sible for him to wait that long. =
Shortly after midnight he slipped
oot Of bed and dressed. He slipped
out Of the house unheard and headed
for the business section Of the town.
At l O'Clock a policeman cornered
him In Knowlton's drug store.
How'd you get in here?" the po-
liceman asked. -
Joe indicated a small broken tran
som over a high door in the rear.
Through that" he said.
"What are you doing In here?"
"Lookin' for. one o. them camera
things you take pitchures with" said
Joe.
what are you going to do with
that?".
Take pitchures with it, Joe ex-
planned simply.
''I guess you won't need anything
to take pictures with for a few
years" said the policeman. Judge
Garvey'll send you to a place where
you won't have any time to be taking
pictures"
Then and then only Joe Kelly be-
gan to cry.
Judge Garvey committed him to the
reform school until he was twenty
one, explaining to him that he might
be released Oh parole sooner IL he
proved to be a very good boy.
In the history of the reform school
to which he was sent, Joe Kelly's be-
havior stands as the record for good
conduct.
A T the expiration Of one year he
"A wac released on parole.
1t took him nine days to amass the
needed sum.
He didn't take the outfit home. He
took It to a vine-masked cave in the
side Of cliff on the river bank. He
deposited his developing material
there, set a roll Of Aim in the camera,
and returned to town.
All day long he wandered around
with the box under his arm, but he
did not take a picture. Early the
next morning he started again. An
intoxicated farmer was kicked out Of
Cutters saloon. He got up to his
feet and began cursing loudly. A
policeman hurried up and arrested
him. Tho befuddled farmer resisted
in a futile drunken way. A crowd
gathered. In the front line of the
crowd was Joe Kelly. He clicked
the shutter Of his camera for tho first
time.
It was week before he used the
camera again. although he carried It
with him all the while. Then he
made flve pictures Of various athletic
events at a picnic at Suffers Grove.
Gradually little Joe Kelly and his
box became the subject Of humorous
/, comment about town. Some one call
ed him Camera joe" and the name
stuck. He discovered that there were
cameras he had that would make
better pictures. and started In to
make money enough to get one.
Whenever anything happened in
town Joe was there. to take a pic
ture Of It. Policemen chased him and
cuffed him when he got in their way
at the small riots that occurred when
the employees Of the plow works were
nm sfrike Fireman HtumhlAd over him