The downfall of a hungry hobo

Dec. 8, 1902: “Hobo John Riley” was arrested for pocketing 10 cents worth of apples, The Times reported.

Before he happened by the Southern Pacific freight house, he “hadn’t smelled an apple for many a day.... He likewise had not tasted a square meal for a woefully long period.”

At the freight house, “his nostrils scented the perfume and he saw men unloading a car of apples,” The Times said. “Just as naturally as the small boy would jump a stake-and-rider fence when squirrel hunting, and ‘swipe’ some of the fragrant globes from the orchard, Riley scrambled onboard the car and filled his pockets.”

Riley was scheduled to appear in court the next day “and he will, even if it does come by way of enforced charity, probably be treated to numerous bean-soup lunches on the chain gang, and his investment in apples, of the 10 cents he didn’t have, will have proven a good investment at this particular season of the year,” the newspaper said.