The Wolf Point herald. (Wolf Point, Mont.) 1913-1940, 1929-12-27

the more difficult it is to OBTAIN
unprecedented facts, or information
Of any kind, as far as that is
concerned, for everyone is afraid
the other fellow will attempt re-
prisal or tell on him" for some
of his in%discretions. talked to
the owner of the dog, but he could
give me no help. / visited the
dump where the carcass lay and
examined it closely. The hair rad
not been 6urned entirely off, and
on a fragment of fur I found some
specks of green paint.
There were two paint shops in
town, and into one of these
walked one day for a talk with
the proprietor. 1t was our bust
ness to make friends with the
residents, so l engaged him in
conversation. He was a coarse
looking individual, and from the
stories he told it vas obvious
that he was a man of crude n
stincts. My un~favorable impress
sion Of him was not lessened any
by the fact that he stared at me
with two small, beady eyes
through the thick lenses of his
spectacles. No mention was made
of the dog incident, but | learned
that he had recently completed
the redecorating of the interior
of a bakery shop operated by a
French Canadian.
Now the native of Canada had,
1 knew, a passion for green, so
my next unofficial call was to
the bakery. The color of the walls
was the same shade of green as
the paint l had found on the dog.
The difficulty now was in devel-
oping the proof of my conclus-
ions.
To me a child is the most in
taresting of Gods creations.
Their freedom from guile and
their standard of veracity r at
tributes we adults could well af-
ford to cultivate. The cruelty of
the dog incident must have been
resented by the younger genera
ton of Outlook, and l reasoned
that it must have formed the top
ic of many a childish converse
zion. l cultivated the friendship
OF the youngsters on their way
to and from school. One little
fellow in particular ~reciprocated
my advances. We were sitting in
front of the hotel one evening
when he began on the story of
the Newfoundland.
He ran out of that door right
there" and the lad pointed
to the bakery that had recently
undergone renovation. His slight
frame quivered with the intensity
of his emotion as he related how
the dog, a flaming torch, had
run yelping about the town, later
to slump to the ground dead.
| went before Justice of the
Peace O'Leary, made a complaint
against the painter, McKennon,
and he was brought into court.
He voiced his innocence of the
charge of cruelty to animals, and
told the ]. P. that he was going
report me to my superiors for
my stupidity. ! wanted, if posi-
bic, to conceal the identity of my
juvenile witness, so before court
opened, l made a statement to
the justice, being careful that the
accused man overheard every
thing l said:
Your Worship, l wish you
would advise this man of his
He must be given time
in which to retain counsel and
prepare his defense. When this
case goes to trial l will be able
to present evidence that he, while
under the influence of liquor, set
fire to the dog, AT the time he
was engaged in painting the in
terror of the bakery. | shall give
you the names of several persons
who saw him strike the match
and who saw the dog run from
he door of the bakery. But in
spite of this evidence, the defend
ant must have every opportuni-
y of defending himself"
All the while McKennon was
jquirming in his chair. AS l fin
shed, the j.. P. asked him his
pleasure, inquiring whether OF not
lie would enter a plea at this
ime.
open this court" he command
ID. 81 want to plead guilty"
From the time he had finished
declaring his innocence until he
lad pleaded guilty not V e three
minutes had elapsed. McKennon
vas fined $50, to be paid forth
nth. He became a friend Of mine
airing the latter part of my stay
It Outlook, and was of material
ssistance to me in two import
mt cases.
The incident went to prove to
be people of the district that
othing was too small or too
,rge to be given attention by
ne police. 1t was just such in
-ances that emphasized the