The Prescott Saloon Burglary
Two young boys break into a local saloon, leading to a manhunt through the county.
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.
Two boys named Levitt Reavis and Samuel Breeze forced an entrance into the saloon of Louis Schmidt at Prescott several nights ago and carried away a small quantity of liquor and cigars. The boys had been seen hanging around the outside of the saloon early in the evening, and the next morning it was discovered that the place had been burglarized. Officers were notified and they succeeded in arresting Reavis, who was brought to the county jail at this place Saturday evening. Breeze has eluded the officers and has not yet been apprehended.
“The boys had been seen hanging around the outside of the saloon early in the evening.”
Petty crime and the social dynamics of small-town saloons remain familiar, though the 'manhunt' for a teenager reflects a time when law enforcement reach in the rural West was as immediate and personal as the local tavern.
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