Denver. The children, therefore, must obey these laws and help enforce them. He broadened the doctrine of “snitching on the square.” It was mean to spy; it was wrong under the law to “get a man to break the law and then peach on him.” No child was to be “smart” and hunt for evil. But when a man sold cigarettes and liquor to children, that man was “making kids bad,” and for a pitifully small profit, too. Where- fore, the thing for a kid to do was, first, to warn the man, then, if he didn’t “cut it out,” to tell the Judge.
This was a very delicate part of the Judge’s policy, and many a man will shake his head over it. We all despise spying. But boys despise it more than men, and I know no better way to prove that the Judge made it clear and right than by stating that the boys of Denver, the big fellers, approved the doctrine and practised it. Take the “Battle-Axe gang” of Globeville, for example. Globeville is a suburb of Denver, and the Battle-Axes were the toughest fellers over there. Their leaders were three brothers, known as the Cahoots — “ Big Cahoot,” “Middle Cahoot,” and “Little Cahoot.” The whole gang frequented dives, drank, smoked, chewed (they were named after their favourite brand of plug tobacco); they did everything that
