Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 180, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 31 July 1915 — WOULD “UNIONIZE THE MONK" [ARTICLE]

WOULD “UNIONIZE THE MONK"

Court Fines Organ Grinder for Overtime and Cruelty to His Trained Simian. Palo Alto, Cal. —At the instigation of Mrs. Isabelle C. Merriman, humane officer, John Samponi, Italian organ grinder, was arrested for alleged cruelty to a trained monkey. Mrs. Merriman claimed that the monkey was jerked violently about in the hot sun and compelled to work 14 hours a day. Evidence presented showed that Samponi had obtained a license from the city authorities and treated his monkey kindly, but the Italian was unable to prove that he did not make “Jocko” work from seven o’clock in the morning until eight at night, with an intermission #f only two hours for rest. Justice Charles imposed a $lO fine upon the organ grinder for not having unionized the monkey’s hours of labor.