‘Herder’ Humor Again – Propensity for Preposterous Alliterations
Herder Humor Again
For some reason local Missoulian reporters exhibited a propensity for the preposterous (alliterations in this case) when they reported on the affairs of the City Herder. Here’s another example:
Bold Boy Bandits Grab Groceries Gleefully
Wandering Westward, Weary Willies Wantonly Waylay Waiting Wagon
Three young adventurers, who set out from the placid plains of Minnesota to wander through the wild and woozy west, came to grief yesterday afternoon in Missoula, when they robbed one of the Henley-Eigeman grocery wagons. Adventures had been scarce, indeed, but not half so rare as opportunities to eat. So when the driver left his wagon to make a backdoor delivery, Ed Myers, aged 18, of Winona, Minn.; Emil Meirs, aged 18, of St. Paul, and Lawrence Kennedy, aged 18, of St. Paul, swooped joyfully down upon its contents. They seized a stack of cracker boxes, a package of nuts and two pounds of cheese. The driver saw nothing but their eastern exposures as they beat it westward.
City Herder Mercer, who is a police officer ex-officio, rode by about this time and the driver put him on the scent. Within a few minutes he had the trio on the road to jail, via an uptown eating house, where he gave its members something more substantial than cheese, crackers and nuts.
The lads spent the night in jail, and will be brought before the police court this morning.
The above article appeared in The Daily Missoulian on April 2, 1915.
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/47844855/more-herder-humor/
Hungry Lads Freed By Police Judge Johnson
Boys Who Stole Groceries From Wagon Are Sent On Their Way Up Valley
Three frightened boys were arraigned before Police Judge Johnson yesterday, charged with looting a grocer’s delivery wagon the day before. They gave their names as Ed Myers, Emil Meirs and Lawrence Kennedy. Each of the boys is aged 18 years. Myers’ home is in Winona; Meirs and Kennedy hail from St. Paul.
Their guilt was apparent; City Herder Mercer had caught them red-handed, or, as they say in baseball, flat-footed. In a raid on a Henley-Eigeman wagon Thursday the boys stole some cracker boxes, two pounds of cheese and a package of nuts. They had devoured most of the crackers, but the cheese was recovered.
So, as the lads were sufficiently contrite and said that they had taken the stuff only because they were very hungry, Judge Johnson was merciful. All three were told to go. They left promptly for Stevensville, where, they say, they have jobs.
The article above appeared in The Daily Missoulian on April 3, 1915.