Father and Son

Joachie Hubert, an unemployed Manhattan waiter, believes that a child who steals should be ruthlessly punished. When his 12-year-old son, Joachie Jr., stole $3 from his mother's purse, Joachie Hubert hung a sandwich sign over his son's shoulders, marched with him to school. The sign said: I AM A THIEF. I STOLE MY MOTHER'S MONEY.

Sidewalk spectators stared. Finally one of them halted Joachie Jr. He exclaimed: "Son, this isn't China. They can't do that to you."

Hubert's parental pride offended, he took a punch at the intruder, knocked out three of his teeth. The stranger, a policeman in civilian clothes, picked himself up, arrested Hubert. A magistrate's verdict: guilty of disorderly conduct. Sentence: suspended. Upshot: Mr. Hubert went home to pose for news photographers beside his weeping boy.