1883-12-17uu

It was an unusual case held at the December 17, 1883 session of the Hamilton Police Court. The case involved four young lads being charged by an old lady.

          The Spectator reporter covering the Police Court that morning discovered that there was more to the situation than some high-spirited boys and a grouchy old lady.

          His column follows:

“Mrs. Shea is an eccentric old woman residing at No. 74 West Avenue north. She owns the little house in which she lives and sustains herself by picking up what is saleable on the streets and doing such works as comes her way.

“At the Police Court Saturday, she charged four little boys, named Andrew Gage, Albert Beaty and David Fox, with disorderly conduct. She said that for a number of years, she has been troubled with boys throwing stones and bricks at her house, clubbing her doors and fences and annoying her in many other ways. The chimney of her house was, she said, all falling down from having stones and clubs thrown at it. The mothers of the boys were in court, and of course claimed that their sons would not annoy the old woman, but that she annoyed them. The magistrate adjourned the case till Monday to get witnesses.

“Of this old lady many strange stories are told. It is said that she has a prodigal son, who, like the one of old, returned after being away and feeding on the husks, but, unlike him, this modern prodigal does not return in penitence, but for the purpose of getting what money his mother has saved up.

“Some years ago, the story says, he returned after being away for a long time. Mrs. Shea had by hook and by crook gathered together about $100, which the son wished to get, but could not, as it was laid snugly away. Not being able to get it otherwise, he resorted to a plan which he thought would work. He procured a can of coal oil and emptied it in a hole which he had bored in the ground, then calling his mother, he informed her that he discovered a well of coal oil, and would soon be rich if he only had money to buy a money to get it out. The unsuspecting old lady smelt the coal oil in the ground, and swallowed the story. Going into a corner of the yard, she produced a shovel and with it dug from the ground an old coffee pot, and gave the contents, the $100 above mentioned, to her rascally son, who pocketed it and skipped but never returned with the machinery. Whether this story be true or not cannot be stated, but people living in the immediate vicinity say they know it to be a fact.”¹

                ¹ “Mrs. Shea and the Boys : A Queer Story About an Eccentric Old Lady and Her Money”

Hamilton Spectator.   December  17, 1883.

In the end, Magistrate Cahill, while sympathetic to Mrs. Shea’s problem, was also inclined to be lenient with the boys, choosing to dismiss the charge against them. The boys did get a stern lecture from the magistrate and warned them that any repetition of their actions would be dealt with severely.