Rensselaer Republican, Volume 25, Number 45, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 July 1893 — TOPICS OF THESE TIMES. [ARTICLE]

TOPICS OF THESE TIMES.

A YOUTHFUL PHENOMENON. Youthful precocity is not uncommon. “Young America” is pre-, dominant and paramount, and the exhibitions of his enterprise and genius are received with pleasure and generous encouragement as a rule. Very seldom, however, is such a phenomenon developed as was accidentally discovered by the Brooklyn police on the morning of June 14. A boy of 15 was found asleep on a wharf at’daylight. He gave his ra ue promptly as Geo. Wilson. Said he had missed his boat and would fail to finish a horse trade bn which be was engaged. That his mother and father were both dead and had left him a large fortune in the hands of a trustee. That he was taking care of himself and was making an jncome of 125 a week trading horses. Pulling out a gold watch he looked at the time and said he was sorry he had missed the boat as his customer would be disappointed. Said he had two horses in a livery stable at Flatbush. The police were staggered by his effrontery and the manner he carried himself. His readiness and assurance were wonderful wso young a boy. but the police took him in charge for investigation. They soon discovered that he was a runaway named Geo. De Wint. That his story was a picturesque fabrication made up on the instant, tfhat he had hired a horse from a stable paying a deposit of $lO, but had never returned the animal, and had sold .it. He was found to have hired a bicycle and had Sold that. He had plenty of money, and is a handsome gentlemanly fellow who would easily deceive any one. A World reporter tried to interview the boy, but was sawed off promptly by the dignified response: “I do not care to say anything more for the papers.” This with the haughty aih of a bank President who can not be bothered. His* parents were found, who testified that he had been a lawless child since he was four years old. His escapades have been numerous and startling, and the parents are at a loss to know what to do with him. They idolize the phenomenal youth but would not go to the police station to see him. He will probably be placed in a reformatory, but the New York papers in lengthy editorials protest against this, and urge that he is worth saving at a post of great work and patience.