The Drunken Lawyer Who Kept Coming Home to Jail

Ross Hogan, the well-known drunken lawyer whose face may be seen in the municipal court about twice every month, bobbed up serenely yesterday morning in his accustomed place behind the railing of the prisoners' dock.

Mr. Hogan amuses himself when at liberty by getting drunk and parading the streets, first in one guise and then another. On last Thursday he might have been seen parading up and down Second Street with a tattered lady's parasol, attracting the attention of all passers-by. One of his favorite delusions when under the influence of liquor is to imagine that that day is his birthday and that Odd Fellows should contribute 25 cents each toward celebrating the occasion.

Yesterday, while John Harrison, janitor of the Washington block, was passing in front of the block with his wife, Hogan asked him for a quarter. Mr. Harrison backed into the doorway to avoid Hogan, who followed him up and talked in a loud, vulgar manner. Mr. Harrison stood it as long as he could and then called an officer.

When Hogan was arraigned in the municipal court yesterday afternoon he pleaded guilty to intoxication and made an appeal, with tears in his eyes, for clemency. He makes the same appeal every time he is arraigned. The quality of the court's mercy had been strained so many times that Hogan was sent to the city jail to serve out twenty days remaining of an old sentence.

Hogan comes from good parents now living in Los Angeles, was well educated and at one time was well off in the world's goods. His mother recently sent him money to come home, and on condition that he would take the first train after he was released from jail. Hogan immediately spent his money for whisky and, of course, eventually returned to his home at the jail.