The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1949-02-22
The .
OF A FOOL.
BY BILL LEE

E ~ raw hS-Ih III titSt 1AAS " tsfScf-t
per business for more than 80
years. In that period we have
written about gangstcrs, murder.
ers, thieves and other objection.
able characters. We have covered
such events as the wrecking of a
train at Ashtabula, Ohio,--i
which 40 persons were killed; we
have been in the East Youngs-
town Ohio riot, in which 4l22
persons were killed; we have COW
cred mine disasters, fatal fires
and many other events. r.- s..@.,
But the other morning we were
introduced to something new.
We were sitting peaceably on q
bench at Duval and Greene
streets. Along came large man.
He grabbed us by the coat. Then
he swung and clipped us on the
chin. 1t temporarily knocked us
silly. That was merely starter
He punched us several times
more.
Then. another man, younger
man of about % or "a, weighing
at least 200 popnds, bounced -oa
us. He swung and clipped us on
the right ear. The blow stilI
rings in our ear. Another blow by
the big man landed on our nose,
which promptly bled.
We managed to break away.
Then one of the men followed us
to The Citizen Office. What fol-
lowed there was an attempt by
one of the men again to assault
us.
Then in court yesterday: One
of the men, the worst offender,
swore he did not hit US. He said
he was merely sitting on the
bench and talked quietly with US.
His attorney suggested that we
had fallen off the bench, and
that was how we got banged up
nose, the battered forehead and
nearly busted chin. The truth is
wonderful thing-but what can
one do? f 4'.s.4
/. Oh, well, there are people of
that nature in every town. We
have received numerous express
sions of regret that the incident
ever happened. One man said:
GO after them and good" : !. :.
A lawyer, when we consulted
about suing the two men, said
that one of the men had conceal
ed his assets, while the other
wasn't worth a nickel.
IF you sued them, it would
cost you about $780," tha .ilaw-
yer said. Then you'd be lucky if
you got only nominal damages
say dollar or two" -. 7i;.'
He wouldn't take the case; so
they probably will escape. We
hope the thugs enjoyed them
selves. 49,. 4. -: :,
X r r
Tomorrow morning we, 60 be-
fore the Monroe County Grand
Jury, presumably to testify
where we got the information for
the article telling how a local
man won $10,480 at bolita. :
Of course, court decisions have
ruled that reporter need not
telf~of- hisrsource of information.
1t is regarded as sacred. We so
regard it. But as matter of fact
we were told about the Key
Wester winning $10,480 about
five or six times as we went up
Duval street the following day,
Regarding gambling in Mon
roe County: You can't escape the
fact that many persons gamble
here. They think no more, of it
than of eating their breakfast,
Church groups hold bingo games.
Is bingo worse than bolita?- Is 1T
worse than poker, or any other
game for that matter? What
about drawings and such other
lodges that evade the law. a..
There would have been a
gambling investigation in Mon
roe regardless of whether the
article appeared in The Citizen.
The whole thing goes back to
persons who have written to the
governor telling of gambling not
only here, but in Tampa and 9th
err places throughout the state