Dime Novels Send Charley in Wrong Direction
Now that Kansas Charley was again on the road, aiming for Chicago and then Rochester, New York where his sister lived, no one could look down on him for wetting the bed; not that he had a bed to sleep in. And he could read all the Dime Novels he wanted, or could steal and/or swap for ones he hadn't read. While riding in boxcars Charley reveled in the daring exploits of such characters as Pacific Slim, Buffalo Dan, or Jesse James. Perhaps he saw the irony in the fact that Jesse, like Kansas Charley, had an older brother named Frank. These Dime Novels about the super heroes of the era, all professed to be "the truth and nothing but the truth." Whether Charley believed this prevaricating statement isn't certain but still the impression these stories made went deep. Along with what he read in the novels, he was also learning when to run, when to hide, and when to duck whenever anyone official-looking came in site.
Kansas Charley the Deck Hand
In Chicago Charley learned that, as well as railroads leading eastward, there were also steamships carrying passengers across Lakes Michigan, Huron, and Erie, that ended up in Buffalo, which was near Rochester. He got a job as a deckhand on a freighter. At the end of the trip he collected his wages of fifty cents a day, enough to sustain him for a while in Rochester.
Hello Sister Carrie
In Rochester, Charley found his sister. She was doing well and residing in the heart of a respectable middle-class neighborhood. In November of 1889, in Rochester, New York, Charley turned fifteen. He had another newspaper job, could pay for a room of his own and, best of all, he could buy himself new clothes. He was having a grand time. When not working he could watch a baseball game, go roller-skating, or even go to the theater.
The Best of Rochester Remembered
A couple of years later, in Cheyenne, Wyoming, while waiting to know if the governor would save him or hang him, Charlie recalled what he felt was the best thing about Rochester, New York. It wasn't sister Carrie or having a good job and a place to live. It wasn't the unending forms of entertainment. What he recalled best about Rochester was the good clothes he wore there. But after only eight months in Rochester, he was off and running again. He told his sister he was headed out west to become a cowboy, which was probably a Dime Novel-fueled dream he possessed. But instead of heading west, he went south to New York City.
A Believed Inheritance
In New York City Charley hoped to find a friend of his deceased father, a man who Charley believed held an unclaimed family legacy for him. On his way he stopped in Lyons, New York and took another newspaper job. Because of the low wage he made, he had to take lodgings in the home of Rosa Pohl. Since he was unable to live on his own, he now faced the certain possibility that his bedwetting would again cause him problems and more shame.
A Dastardly Deed
One night, while the Pohls and boarders were slumbering, Charley crept downstairs and stole two gold pocket watches. He hid one watch outside the house, but kept the other one and returned to bed. The next morning the absence of the watches was noticed.
When the Mrs. Pohl sounded the alarm Charley attempted to flee. However, he was caught by the Pohls who found one of the watches in his pocket. It was the intention of Mrs. Pohl to turn him over to the authorities, but Charley put up such a convincing plea to be forgiven that Mrs. Pohl instead sent him and his few belongings on his way.
The Pohls kept the theft secret until later. When stories of the "Boy Murderer" were splashed across newspapers nationwide they told of the dastardly deed he had done.
Kansas Charley continues with Kansas Charley Becomes the Victim
Previous: Kansas Charley on His Own.
