by Laurel | August 24th, 2009
August 24, 1906, page 08
Swimming in the Canal
The sight of a police officer with his arms full of boys’ clothing gave rise to stories of a drowning accident near the Gill paper mill yesterday afternoon. It appears that the youths of that vicinity have been in the habit of going bathing in the canal clad in nothing by a pleasant smile, and the residents and passersby objecting. Officer Moriarty went down there soon after 4 o’clock yesterday afternoon with the intention of capturing a few to make examples of. He did not have on a bathing suit, however, and the boys escaped by swimming, making displeasing personal remarks on their way. The officer found the clothes of four or five of the boys on the bank and brought them up to the police station, where they are waiting to be claimed. No one had appeared to claim the clothes up to late last evening.
[The photograph above is courtesy Kevin Haarmann (all rights reserved) and one of many photographs taken by his great-grandfather C. Robert Wilhelm around the time the above article was published. For more vintage photographs (and a larger version of the photo above) taken by C. Robert Wilhelm, please have a look at this link, courtesy of Kevin Haarmann.]
From The Springfield Republican.
