by Laurel | August 27th, 2009
August 27, 1907
Find Detective Stories Too Realistic for Pleasure.
Two small boys, Rene Millette and Leo Baulne, both about 10, set out last Wednesday morning to scare up for themselves some of the kind of excitement that is sold in printed form between the harrowing covers of five-cent weeklies. They had a meteoric career of crime and the pleasures thereof for the rest of the week, and yesterday morning felt the other side in the juvenile court. Whether their admiration for Detective Thomas E. Bligh’s work in their own case will compel them to become sleuths instead of Raffles when grown remains to be seen. Their wanderings Wednesday morning brought them to 92 Lyman street, the home of Mrs. Lena Talbot, which they judged to be temporarily unoccupied. Entering though a window, the found a trunk, which they broke open and rifled of $18. They made their exit safely and proceeded to enjoy life. One of the boys bought a watch and the other a musical instrument, and then they journeyed to Mountain park, where they spent nearly all of their remaining case in riotous flying.
Mrs. Talbot discovered the theft as soon as she returned to her apartment and reported the matter to Marshal Lynch, who set Detective Bligh to work on the case. Officer Bligh, with wisdom born of long experience, concluded that the robbery was the work of boys, and made a canvass to learn what youngsters’ financial rating had suddenly advanced a thousand per cent. He had not searched far when he picked up on the scent of Millette and Baulne, and it needed but a personal call on his part to extract from them a full and abject confession. The boys were arraigned for the larceny yesterday morning, and owing to previous good behavior and multifold promises covering the future, their cases were continued. It is expected that the money paid for the watch and instrument will be regained by returning those articles.
From The Springfield Republican.
