The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1925-05-28

the streets of a strange city did
not have the fascination they had
expected. They returned to Keno
sha and were found by Jacob
Turks brother on the street here.
Outside the door of a small neat
house at 31S Hanson street, yellow and
purple iris wave their flags jocundly
to the passersby. Up a little stoop
across the threshold and into the front
room. There at a window screened
with a lace curtain and looking to the
east sits day after day little old
grandmother with white hair, peerlng
down the street hour after hour for
little nine year old boy who does not
return.
Mrs. Catherine Fischer is the grand
mother; Earl Morehouse is the boy.
Some day when Earl is a man and ne
has tasted all the excitement that the
world holds, he will remember with
pang that a woman gave him her heart,
and he hurt it.
Father Joined the Circus.
Earls mother, who was Margaret
Fischer, died two years ago of tuoer-
culosis; his father, Gordon Morehouse,
Joined the circus And Earl, the boy,
seems to have inherited from his fun
loving, notwithstanding father the
lust for travel and wandering.
Last Friday he was lured away oy
an elsewhere magic" which beckoned
to him around the corner of the
spring-like morning. With him is an
eleven year old boy, Jacob Turk, 81
North Sheridan road, whose parents
are worried over his departure as the
grandmother is worried over EarPs.
In the little parlor of the Fischer
home, there were lilacs on the table
Indicating the peace that the old wo-
man had found in flowers; under the
table was a book by Horatio Alger, en-
titled making His Way" indicating
the thoughts that had been turning In
little boys head. The index page
showed that other books by this au-
thor for boys were "Strive and Sue
ceed," "Do and Dare" Facing the
World" On the cover was picture
with the Metropolitan Tower of New
York City in the background and IN
the foreground brisk hustling little
newsbeys hurrying with his pack thru
the crowded street.
at was cold, so cold these nights"
said the grandmother with shiver,
between coughs that racked her frame,
and tears that flowed unstintedly. Il
wonder where Earl was! They told
me 1 was too good to that boy. l let
him go to the movies so often and
tried to give him everything he set
his heart on. But he had no mother.
l had to be his mother. He had no
father. / had to be that. And l had
to be his grandmama, too. His other
grandmother is in California, but she
thinks of him always. She just now
sent some money so he could put flow
ers on his mothers grave and now he
won't be here to do it."
On the shelf in the corner was a
prayer book and a candle, two bum
MES that had belonged to Earl, lit
tie white one with pink ears, and
big brown solemn bunny. And above
was a souvenir Of EarPs confirma-
ton, a picture illustrating Christ in
the center of children, and above
Earl's picture taken with the confir-
nation paper in his hand.
sYou don't think Gordon would have
come here and kidnapped him?" some
one asked, remembering that Gordon
Morehouse had not been seen or heard
from since the last time he was in
Kenosha when he was putting up bill
boards for Ringing Brothers circus.
"Oh, no." she said simply. Because
L. l, ond him and
1 would have said, It's your boy and
let him take him if he wanted him
that bad"
Mrs. Fischer told of the last time
she saw Earl, which was Friday morn
ing, when he left as she thought to go
to school,
"In the morning on Friday said to
Earl, Earl, you go and get me lit
tie candy for my cold before you go
to school, and he said, All right,
Grandmama / gave him ten cents for
the candy but in a little while he
came back and he said, Grandma, the
candy kitchen is not open yet We'll
all right then, I'll buy it this fore
noon, / says, and you'll get your
piece of candy just the same when
school is out Then he put ten cents
on the table.
"He says, 4 don't take my bicycle
along at the school today and / says
'Oh, you got a puncture then, eh?' He
says, No. Grandmama, you look at the
bicycle, there amt no puncture. l
go with the Turk boy to school, Then
while 1 looked at the bicycle in the
shanty he called Goodbye Grandma
mall just like he did every day."
Again burst of weeping interrupt
ed her speech as the recollection Of
the last farewell from her little lad.
AT noon he didn't come home" she
at length went on, picking up the
thread of her story 81 sit here and
look and look but he don't come. He
always comes at half-past eleven from
the school and brings ne up water
from the basement. Then my son
comes home from work in the shop.
When / told him about Earl he said,
Maybe he didn't go to school at ALL
So l called up the sister in the St.
George school and she told me that
Earl was not in the school all morn
ing and the Turk boy was not there
all morning either. At the Turks
house l found they didn't know where
their boy was either.
81 called up the police office about
the boy and they said 1 must come
down to the Office and make the COM
plant l told them / could not go be-
cause l was sick. Then at night after
worksmy son went down and told them
what they wanted Jacob Turks