Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 181, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 August 1915 — STORIES from the BIG CITIES [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

STORIES from the BIG CITIES

‘Shoe Breaker” Uses Alarm Clock in a Box Car

MINNEAPOLIS. MINN—An alarm dock la Just as much a necessity to a man who rooms In a box car as to a man who lives In a fine residence or hotel, according to Joseph Monahan, municipal court prisoner. Patrol-

man Kommers was startled by an alarm clock as he went through the Milwaukee yards at Sixth avenue S. He looked in a box car just as Monahan jumped to his feet, rubbed his eyes and shook a collection of excelsior and hay from his clothes. A little later Monahan and his alarm clock, ticking so it could be heard 40 feet away, were in court. Monahan was charged with vagrancy. "What were you doing with the clock?” Judge W. W. Bardwell

queried of the owner of the timepiece. “Well, you see, I’m a traveling man and I room right there in the cars," he said. “You see, judge, I stay up pretty late and I might oversleep, so that they would pull my room out to some other town. Then I would be a long way from my work. I always pick a car that will stay overnight, but I don't want to oversleep.” “What is your work?” continued the court. "Why, judge, I’m a shoebreaker. I break in new shoes for the section men who have sore feet I wear them around till they get nice and soft, and then break another pair. I get a quarter a pair.” "You’re just the man we want at the workhouse,” said Judge Bardwell. "We have plenty of heavy shoes there and someone will call you early every morning.” Monahan left his alarm clock with the police and went to Camden place to take a ten days’ job.