Cockroach Derby Excites "Rookies"

1916

HERB ROTH'S "ATTABOY" IS EASY WINNER.

Runs the Two-yard Course in Two fifths of a Second — A Classy Brute.

BOSTON, Massachusetts, (Aboard the U. S. S. Kentucky). — "Attaboy," the pride of Herb Roth's string of racing cockroaches, won the two-yard championship on a recent afternoon from a field composed of Dal Dawkins' "Hammock King," J. W. Bailey's "Ditty Box Bill," Herbert Reed's "Mess Jumper," Albert Schedy's "Scamperer" and a half dozen others. Practically all of the civilian volunteers and many of the regular crew witnessed the speed contests and the bookmakers did a thriving business.

It was thinness which finally resulted in victory for the Roth string. Hawkins had starved his roaches for two days in preparation for the big race, but some miscreant broke into the stables and fed them, so that they were a bit leggy at the start and not much interested in the mince pie which awaited them at the finish, while Roth's "Attaboy," ravenous, covered the two yards in two-fifths of a second.

The overfed condition of Hawkins' string resulted in all his entries running last, while Bailey's "Ditty Box Bill" and Reed's "Mess Jumper" were a bad second and third to the winner.

"Attaboy" is a magnificent brute, standing nearly three-quarters of an inch high at the withers and weighing not less than ten milligrams.

These cockroach races have proved so interesting a divertissement that it is proposed to arrange intership contests.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Sept. 16, 1916, p. 7.

Appetite Frees Jailed Man

1919

FAIRMONT, West Virginia — The appetite of Harvey Martin, arrested on a charge of nonsupport, threatened to bankrupt the county, so he was released on his own recognizance.

The first meal Martin ordered after being placed in jail was 50 cents worth of hamburg steak, 25 cents worth of wieners, nine eggs, sliced tomatoes, creamed potatoes, two apple pies and four cups of coffee. His second meal outdid the first by 50 per cent in cost, and each succeeding meal showed that jail life and Martin would never be accused of incompatibility.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Jan. 3, 1920, p. 12.

Comment: Hmm, so this is a jail where you can order anything you want. And if it turns out to be more expensive than they want to spring for they let you go. That sounds about right!