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Show NEAR CALAMITY IN BOYS WITH SHALL RIFLES ENDANGER ! LIVES OF MANY CHILDREN 1 The offence of shooting at in ulatOTfl holding high tension wins on the Utah Power ft Light company1! lino, paralleling tho mountain! eaei ol the city, cost four boys $10 each yesterday yester-day afternoon In the juvenile court and a severe reprimand from Judge Joshua Homer The offense, the Judge told the boys, was one of the most serious ser-ious whlCD could be committed at Ibis time, noi trom the mere damage to (ho Insulators but because of the tremendous tremen-dous amount of damage which mlghl result should they have succeeded in unstringing u wire. Manager P. M. Tarry of the Utah Power & Light company made a Btate ment concerning the ease thlfl morning morn-ing and point od out a few of the dan-gera dan-gera which might rosuit from breaking a high tension wire or loosing it irom a pole by breaking tho insulator. The four boys wen- arrested Saturday Satur-day on the hills east Of Twenty-seventh street, by lineman in the em-' ploy of tho Utah Power & Light com - pan? They were armed with 22 calibre cali-bre rifles and wore shooting at the ' huge insulators hich up on the stool towers which carry the high voltage Wires extending clear across the state and up into Idaho These wires reed 'many mills and smelters and other industrial concerns, furnish light for several towns and power for many smaller industries. They carry a tremendous tre-mendous voltage and are extremely dangerous. The boys, according to the lineman, hud been shooting at in sulators for some time and were evidently evi-dently enjoying themselves in great stylo when he approached and placed theui under arrest. Pay For Damage. They wore taken to tho juvenile court and yesterday were allowed their freedom -. 1 1 r agreeing voluntarily to settle witb the light company for the dainace they had caused. Judge Homer administered a severe lecture to the youthful culprits and warned them that a repetition of the offense would probably go seriously with them. The ranged in ago from 13 to 16 years. In the next section of towers to the one where the boys were standing there were about twenty -five little girls playing almost directly under the wires. Manager Parr called attention to tho uro.ii danger to those children, if the boys had succeeded in unstringing unstring-ing one of the high tension Wires and ii bad lallen to the ground There is sufficient voltage in tho wires to burn to a crisp anyone forming form-ing a circuit with it and the ground. "This practice," he said, "is one ol the most dangerous these boys could have Indulged in Tho damage to ih Hue is nothing compared to the delay which would have been caused In Utah and Idaho industrial plants, if a wire had been broken. Besides Hie wire might have electrocuted aeveral people alone the line btioi a warning warn-ing could have been given, as the foothills were swarming Vith young people on Easter excursions "These wires furnish power lo the smelters, mills and factories over the state and there would have been an appalling loss to these Industries, if the Service had been interrupted. Sui h a loss at this time would be especially especial-ly costly when all these plants are running at capacity. Tragedy Similarly Caused. "A tragedy occurred recently in Idaho which might have been repealed repeal-ed her. had the boys who were shooting shoot-ing at (he insulators succeeded in letting let-ting a wire down. A wire was knocked trom a pole and fell across a barbed wire fence. Two and one-half miles away a little girl started to crawl through the fence and was burned to an unrecognizable cinder by the current cur-rent which traveled along the fence from the high voltage wire. "A couple of years ago Ihe little Broadbont boy lost his life through just such a condition. Tbe high voltage volt-age wire which carried current to the rock crusher on the hills east of the city was knocked down in some manner man-ner and ho accidentally touched It. "These are only examples of what might have occurred, if these boys had Succeeded in their shooting Parents who buy rifles and firearms for their children as Christmas presents, or allow al-low them to buy them, ought first to see that their child Is thoroughly sensible sen-sible of the responsibility of having a gun and not aware merely of Its power pow-er to d stro and do damage." Judge Warns Boys. Judge Homer of tbe Juvenile court today i-uod a warning to all boys with rifles that they would bo subject to immediate attention from the courl. If they used them in a careless or dangerous dan-gerous manner. "There Is entirely too much of this promiscuous shooting on the foothills," he said. "A week ago a little girl was shot while playing there with companions. com-panions. Several days ago these boys were caught while Irving to wreck an immense power system. If the warnings warn-ings of the court will not be heeded by these young fellows, efforts will be made to present the error of their actions ac-tions to them in a more drastic light. "One reason why there Is so much shooting by juveniles and youngsters barely able to pull a trigger, with no idea whatever of the responsibility of shooting about the city, is that hardware hard-ware store.s of the city are so willing to sell them ammunition. Sior s handling hand-ling cartridges should refuse io sell to an i one except responsible persons and In this way the dangerous practice could be somewhat regulated." |