Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 230, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 October 1917 — IN THE CITIES [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

IN THE CITIES

Baseball Fan Dies in a Moment of Happiness MEWYORK.—ltwastlTeninth Inning. The game stood 3 to 2 against the 11 home team. Two men were out, and William Koch, Jr., came to the bat. In the crowd that had gathered in the ball park on the old Morris estate in ,

the Bronx, tfhere this critical situation developed, was Koch, Si. He was fiftyfour years old and a baseball fan of the real, 24-karat kind. He was fond of the sport, proud of his boy and always ready with a whoop or a cheer for a play that made his team feel as though it had friends belli nd it. William, the junior, belonged to a club of local youngsters that played under no particular name any aggregation which came along and thought that it could take the laurels from

the Bronx boys. Nlne’strange and unnamed young men had come to dispute supremacy with them. The two men were out, one man was on base anti one run was needed to tie the score in the ninth. Young William picked a bat with great care. He faced the pitcher with the confidence of youth. "Strike one !” called the umpire. The pitcher wound up again. He sent one over the plate with a snap and there came a report that sounded like a rifle in full play. The ball sped on and on over the head of the center fielder. The man on base ran home and young Koch made the circuit of the bases. Everybody lost sight of the elder man in the general jollification that followed the home run until somebody called out that a man had fallen in the crowd. Young Koch ran over to see what had happened. He found his father dead. Heart disease had asserted itself and the excitement of the moment in which he saw his son proclaimed a local hero was too much for the 014 baseball fan.

California “ Fresh-Air” Cranks Attend Campfire LOS ANGELES.—Eighteen miles northwest of this city, near Roscoe, a colony of cranks has been enjoying the next-to-nature life during the past week under the watchful eyes of Dr. Leroy Henry, chief crank of the bunch.

The word “cranks” is not inappropriate, because the folks themselves call themselves such and their present stunt Is the “second annual campfire of California cranks.” Moreover, the colony had its rendezvous at Camp “Don’t-Glve-a-Durn,” located on “Freedom Hill.” Evidently the conventions are not observed to the letter and “have a good time” seems to be the mainspring of the outing. The cranks have been enjoying the simple life for more than two weeks.

Two sessions daily have been held, one at two o’clock and the other at seven o’clock, each lasting a full two hours. The rules of the camp forbade a dlseussion of the main topic. Incidentally there have been music and some recitations. Each crank has his or her own blankets and food and such a thing as a bed is taboo. No, indeedy; old Mother Earth Is good enough. Doctor Henry announced in the beginning that repose would be upon “garden beds softened with pick and rake,” and it has been so. Doctor Henry, who gets his mall at Burbank, invited his friends to wear washable clothes “and for a few days to live the simple, relaxed life under the trees with the birds and stars and Intellectual friends.” He also told them: “Tone up your inner life and adjust the wheels in your head so your soul, if you have one, will have as good a chance to grow as your potatoes and bank account.”

Pitiful Story Touched Kindly Heart of Judge KANSAS CITY. —A red velvet hat with a brim that drooped; a faded pink kimono, pinned by facile feminine fingers into the semblance of a gown; a face that an artist would seek anywhere except in a police court—a face not

yet woman, but no longer child—with puzzled round blue eyes. A big kindly patrolman not in uniform. A thfn, nervous woman-—the defendant. “Tell us about it,” said Judge Joseph F. Keirnan, not at all in his court manner. The fringe on the red hat brim trembled a very little. The lips that were not too red quivered—still less. That was all. “You tell us, then,” Judge Keir* nan said to the patrolman.

•‘This girl,” the patrolman said, “is thirteen years old. Her parents are divorced. She’s been living with her mother,” pointing to the nervous, sharpfeatured woman, “at 22 West Seventh street. The mother has been teaching her petty thievery and shoplifting.” A neighbor woman stepped forward. 2‘l’ve seen the mother beat herwlth a* wash stick," she said. And—~ other things.” The court looked at the girl. The girl looked at her mother. “Don’t be afraid,” the judge satd. “Are those things true? No one but the judge was close enough to hear the answer, but a tremor swept the hat fringe again. “When I took her from the house,” the patrolman ventured, “she begged me to take her away—anywhere." . “Five hundred dollars.” said the court to the mother. And this, lookIne at the girl, “is a case for the juvenile court.” The judge looked at the wondering eyes under the red hat brim, and took off his spectacles and polished them furiously.

Burglar-Proof Iron Safe Levied On by Attorney BTEW ORLEANS—David F. Williams, a carpenter here," now probably is N satisfied that even a burglar-proof Iron safe In one’s home is not proof, against lawyers, the courts and the civil sheriff’s forces. Three or four

months ago the National Surety company signed a sequestration bond for Williams, It alleged, for $3,023.55. Williams failed to deliver the goods and the bonding company had the amount to pay. The National then brought suit and secured a judgment against Williams. . -—s ——„ ———’ How to satisfy the judgment was a puzzle, however, as Williams had no property that the bonding company’s attorney, William Grant, could dis-— cover. Eventually, however, Mr. Grants

learned that Williams had an Iron saTe ln his house at 81fi Taking a chance shot. Mr. Grant had this safe seized. Williams refused>to open it until the deputy sheriffs threatened to send for a safedock expert and have it opened. . ■ > __ , ' Williams relented, opened the strong box, and In it were found $1,340 in cash and $4,400 in mortgage notes made out in the name of Mrs. Catherine Sheehy. Williams declared that neither th? money nor the bonds belonged *° h Sutnrday Williams called at the sheriff’s office, met Mr. Grant, and th? hiim was coinproniised for $2,500. Williams paid that amount in cash.