The Juvenile Crime Spree in Colfax
A gang of boys, sons of prominent citizens, ran wild in a night of vandalism and theft.
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.
A band of youngsters have been marauding the last few nights in the northern part of the city. They rolled a flat car off a switch and down an embankment, pulled the foundation stones from beneath the city pumping house, overturned several piles of lumber in Codd Bros.' yard, and broke into Mastin's flouring mill, carrying away 100 sacks of flour, which they hid under a culvert nearby. The police caught six of the boys today. They range in age from 12 to 16, and nearly all are sons of prominent citizens. The rogues will be arraigned tomorrow.
“They range in age from 12 to 16, and nearly all are sons of prominent citizens.”
This 1893 report of 'prominent' youths committing arson, theft, and property damage highlights a classic, enduring civic tension regarding how the law handles the children of the elite compared to others. The casual destruction of rail equipment and infrastructure echoes contemporary concerns about municipal vandalism, though the culprits' social status suggests they likely faced a very different justice system than their working-class peers.
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