The Boy Who Only Wanted Ice Cream
A young boy's petty theft from a grocery store reveals a stark reality of neglected children in the city.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Willie Redmond, aged 10 years, is locked up in the city jail for stealing $6 from the cash drawer of Edward Huntley’s grocery store at Boulevard yesterday afternoon. The person in charge was upstairs and the boy, taking advantage of the situation, unlocked the cash drawer and pocketed the contents. The robbery was discovered and the loss traced to the right source. When accused, the boy confessed and gave up $4, the remainder having been spent. Mr. Huntley brought the young culprit to the city and turned him over to the city authorities. He is a bright boy, but this is not the first time he has done wrong. A short time ago he took a gun that did not belong to him, but later returned it. When questioned last night as to why he did wrong, he said that he wanted some ice cream and did not think he would be put in jail if he took the money. His great fear is that he will be whipped and he is anxious to know how long he will have to stay in jail. The boy has no mother and his father, John Redmond, went East to Ontario about ten days ago, leaving his son in charge of a woman.
“When questioned last night as to why he did wrong, he said that he wanted some ice cream and did not think he would be put in jail if he took the money.”
While juvenile detention procedures have changed drastically since 1891, the underlying issue of children left without adult supervision in urban environments remains a persistent challenge for Seattle's social services. The vulnerability of youth in a city that often overlooks the needs of its most impoverished residents is as much a civic issue today as it was then.
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