Of Mice And Men. Tessa Jalink

JUNE 20 1926

SOLEDAD DAILY CHRONICLE TWO DEAD, MASS MURDERER ON THE LOOSE? Woman’s neck broken, and barley bucker shot in the head. Martha Moss, the wife of Curley Moss, who will inherit a ranch from his father, in a few years was murdered a week go. We have found some evidence that make us question whether her death was accidental, or if it was indeed intentional and wellplanned. At first everyone thought that she was killed by accident because many people saw Lennie Small enter the barn, yet some people claim that they saw Lennie exit before Martha even entered the barn. Therefore we dismissed it as an accident right away. But then, yesterday we were told about the death of Lennie Small. “We now wonder whether their deaths were connected. If so there is another killer out there.” Comments Police Chief Smith. If this is so, then we are all in danger. We have been warned to be on our guard at all times. “The murdering bastard is already dead, we have nothing to worry about.” says Curley Moss, successful husband of murder victim. Then we have the people defending Mr. Lennie Small. “Lennie wudn’t do nothing like that, I swear it.” defends George Milton. Slim Tennant is a bit more diplomatic. “I’m sure he didn’t mean to, the bastard is way too strong for his own good. He can’t control himself. He ain’t smart enough.” Many other people they worked with agreed with Mr. Slim Tennant.

When Martha was found dead, many people jumped to the conclusion that it was Lennie. They then, pulled together a search party and left the ranch with many lugar guns, people who saw them leave said that Mr. Curley Moss was determined to find “The big son-of-a-bitch and kill him himself ” as Mr. Moss said. Therefore, the police did think that Mr. Curley Moss was responsible for the death of Lennie at first, but then we found out that Lennie Small was already dead when Curley Moss and Slim Tennant found him lying dead next to his old friend George Milton who was sitting there crying. Mr. Matt Carlson’s lugar was made the police suspect it was suicide. This would have been the best scenario, but then we saw where the gunshot wound was straight at the back of his head.

We then found out that this spot is impossible to reach with a lugar by yourself, especially in the position he was in. The police are now moving onto other possibilities. “We now think that whoever was responsible for the murder of Martha Moss was also responsible for the murder of Lennie Small , even though the two deaths were completely different from each other. It is very bad that there could still be a murderer on the loose in the streets of Soledad. Police are warning everyone to be on your guard, for you don’t want to be the next Lennie Small or Martha Moss. “We are all constantly on alert for more information.” reports police chief Smith. We hope they will be able to find the murderer and lock him up.

PAGE 1



JUNE 20 1926

A
week
ago
Martha
Moss,
 the
 wife
of
 Mr.
Curley
Moss
(the
successful
rancher
who
 will
inherit
 a
ranch
 from
 his
father
in
 a
 few
 years)
 was
murdered.
This
happened
at
her
 very
own
father‐in‐laws
ranch.
 
 She
was
born
in
1901
and
died
at
the
 age
of
25.
She
grew
up
in
Salinas
and
moved
 to
 the
 ranch
 a
 couple
 years
 ago
 to
 marry
 Curley
Moss.
 
 So
far
no
one
knows
for
sure
who
did
 this
 to
 such
 an
 innocent
 person.
 It
 is
 apparent
 that
 whoever
 did
 do
 this,
 didn’t
 plan
it
very
well,
she
was
found
in
the
stable
 of
 the
 ranch
 dead,
 after
a
 few
 men
 working
 at
 the
 ranch
 saw
 her
 enter
 it
 a
 half
 hour
 before
 she
 was
found.
 Some
of
 the
 ranchers
 think
 that
 a
 man
 by
 the
 name
 of
 Lennie
 Small
was
also
in
the
ranch
at
the
time
of
her
 death.
 
 Many
 people
 from
 the
 ranch
 think
 that
it
was
Lennie
that
murdered
her.
“It
was
 that
 big
 bastard,
 the
 one
 that
 crushed
 my
 hand.
 I
just
 know
 it
 was,”
 says
Curley
 Moss
 the
 husband
 of
 the
 deceased.
 Others
 have
 come
 to
 his
 defense,
 including
 both
 his
 former
 friends
 George
 Milton
 and
 Slim
 Tennant.
 “He
 didn’t
 mean
 her
 no
 harm,
 I
 swear
 he
 didn’t”
 says
 George
 Milton,
 the
 friend
 Lennie
 travels
with.
 “He’s
too
 strong
 for
 his
 own
 good.”
 Says
 Slim
 Tennant,
 who
 shared
 a
 room
 with
 both
 Lennie
 Small
 and
 George
Milton.
 
 Martha
 did
 many
 things
 in
 her
 life.
 She
 grew
 up
 in
 a
 small
 town
 with
 her
 mother,
 but
 got
 in
 a
 Pight
 when
 she


suspected
 her
mother
of
 stealing
 the
 letter
 she
hadn’t
gotten
from
the
man
who
said
she
 could
 have
 been
 in
 the
 pictures.
 That
 was
 when
 she
 decided
 to
 move
 out
 and
 marry
 Curley
 Moss.
 He
 still
 thinks
 she
 was
 very
 happy
about
the
choice
she
made
about
that.
 She
 was
 a
 very
 beautiful
 woman
 who
 was
 misunderstood
 and
 wasn’t
 paid
 much
 attention
 to,
 but
 could
 be
 kind
 and
 understanding
 if
 people
 stopped
 to
 tell
 her
 what
was
wrong. 
 It
 is
 a
 pity
 that
 she
 was
 killed.
 We
 will
all
have
 a
chance
to
pay
our
respects
to
 her
 in
 two
 days
 time
 at
 her
 funeral,
 which
 will
be
held
in
 St.
 Steven's
church.
 Everyone
 is
 welcome
 to
come
 it
 will
 start
 at
 one.
 She
 was
a
lovely
woman.
When
I
got
to
meet
her,
 she
was
so
sweet,
so
easy
to
talk
to.
Many
of
 us
are
very
sad
to
see
her
gone.

Work Wanted Barley bucker needs job. He can life at least one barrel of hay by himself. Not very smart, just needs a little money. Would like to work on a ranch. Work Wanted

barley bucker needs job Can life a barrel of hay with one other person Would like to work with his friend Just needs a bit of money

PAGE 2



JUNE 20 1926

Have
 you
 ever
 noticed
 that
 when
 you
 walk
 down
 the
 street
 and
 see
 all
 the
 people
 out
 of
 work,
 many
 of
 the
 people
 are
 women,
 and
 even
 more
 are
 negro.
 This
 is
due
 to
 the
 fact
 that
 there
 are
 limited
 jobs
nowadays
and
 white
 men
 have
 priority
 with
 jobs.
 I
 am
 very
thankful
and
lucky
to
have
 this
 job,
 it
 is
 one
 of
 the
 best
 jobs
 I
 could
 have
 with
 the
 paper,
 and
 they
gave
 it
to
me.
I
 got
this
job
through
hard
work,
 and
just
luck
mainly.
 I
 think
 it
 is
 very
 bad
 that
 when
 you
 go
 to
 a
 ranch
 the
 owners
 do
 not
 hire
 more
 than
two
Negro
men
to
work
at
 a
 time.
 The
 Negro’s
 that
 do
 work
at
ranches
have
the
worst
 jobs
available.
The
 only
people
 who
 have
 a
 worse
 job,
 are
 disabled,
 handicapped
 older
 men.
 The
 Negro’s
 get
 stuck
 sweeping
 up
 after
people,
 and
 having
 no
 friends
 because
 no
 one
 on
the
 ranches
want
 to
 be
 friends
or
even
be
friendly
to
a
 ‘black
 man’.
 
 I
 think
 this
 is
 completely
 unacceptable.
 Eventually
 people
 will
 start
 accept
us,
 it
 may
 not
 be
 soon,
 but
I
do
believe
it
will
happen. When
 Negro’s
 work
 on
 ranches
they
get
paid
a
 lot
less
 than
 white
 people.
 Even
 I
 get
 paid
 less
 than
 the
 ordinary
 journalists
 I
 work
 with.
 I
 am
 the
 editor,
 I
 should
 get
 paid
 m o r e ,
 i n
 e v e r y
 o t h e r
 newspaper
 across
 the
 country
 the
 editor
 gets
 paid
 almost
 d o u b l e
 w h a t
 o r d i n a r y
 journalists
 get.
 And
 yet,
 at
this
 paper
I
get
less,
 and
this
is
just
 because
 of
 the
 colour
 of
 my
 skin.
 It
 think
 this
 is
 totally
 unjust,
and
should
be
changed.

Have
 you
 noticed
 that
 when
you
 look
around
the
city,
 you
 don’t
 see
 very
 many
 Negro’s
 at
 all,
 there
 are
 about
 three
 families
 in
 the
 entire
 area.
 I
think
this
 is
because
 no
 one
 wants
 to
 live
 around
 negro’s.
 This
 might
 also
 be
 because
 in
other
areas
jobs
get
 d i s t r i b u t e d
 m o re
 e ve n ly
 amongst
 people.
 It
 would
 be
 nice
 to
 live
 somewhere
 like
 that
 where
 I
 would
 get
 what
I
 deserved.
 If
 this
 was
 the
 case,
 my
children
could
go
to
school,
 and
 my
 wife
 could
 also
 get
 a
 job,
 and
 we
 would
 be
 a
 lot
 better
off.
 Many
 people
 say
 that
 we
 are
 different
 in
 so
 many
 ways
 that
 we
 naturally
 avoid
 each
 other.
 If
 that
 were
 the
 case
 then
 why
 would
 we
 be
 living
 in
 the
 same
 country?
 Other
 people
 say
 that
 we
 will
 have
discriminations
no
matter
 what,
so
racism
is
unavoidable.
 I
 t h i n k
 t h i s
 a b s o l u t e l y
 outrageous.
If
everyone
at
least
 tried
to
be
understanding
 then
 no
one
we
would
all
accept
one
 another.
 We
 Negro’s
 have
 already
 done
 this,
 so
 now
 it
 would
 be
 appreciated
 if
 some
 of
 you
 would
 at
 least
 try
 to
 return
 the
 gesture.
 Maybe
 our
 world
would
be
 a
 better
place.
 You
won’t
know
unless
you
try.
 So
 please,
 take
 this
 into
 consideration,
 that
 is
all
 that
I
 am
 asking,
 in
 behalf
 of
 all
 Negro’ss
living
in
the
is
area.

PAGE 3



JUNE 20 1926

EX EA COMMODO CONSEQUAT DUIS. UT WISI ENIM AD Dear Mr. Editor Sir, I have noticed that your newspaper has been going into a lot of detail on the death of Martha Moss. I know it is a very big deal, but you have only been looking at it from one angle. I mean, did you ever consider that maybe he didn’t mean to kill her? I know it is inexcusable, but you really shouldn’t give George Milton a hard time about it. He didn’t actually have anything to do with it. He might have thought something like this would happen, but he really didn’t want it to. George Milton is suffering enough without your pieces that blame him for everything, Lennie Small was his friend, they were each others family. I really think you don’t need to talk about how it was him

Dear Candy,

I have taken your letter into consideration. I hope you’re not disappointed with our newspaper anymore. We have decided to take your advice and add in an obituary for your friend Lennie.

I am sorry to say that we can’t just ignore what he has done, and it will be in the headlines for quite a while as we learn more about him and the lady he killed.

Luckily, he and George just moved here, and no one really knows him. This means that people really aren’t allowed to judge him, but people will be people. I think it would be a lot worse if someone everyone new did this, at least they don’t know his friend either.

I’m afraid we can’t give him a lot of space for an obituary because no one around here knows

who killed him. He already regrets it, he doesn’t need anyone to remind him of it. I also have noticed that have not mentioned anything about the death of Lennie Small even though he was also killed. Evidently the people that work at your newspaper don’t care about people. You don’t want to make it look like you feel sorry for the man who murdered the wife of one of the area’s richest men. That will make your paper look bad, but otherwise you as a person look bad. I believe your newspaper is good, and I know you will make the right choice. You could at least give him one column in your daily paper in memory of him. Sincerely, Candy

him, and we still have to put in an obituary for Martha. And more people are worried about her. As I’m sure you could understand.

No one wants the newspaper to write nice things about the man who killed someone, especially not Curly Moss. The Moss family has written an obituary for Martha, and it has taken up a lot of space, so the obituary for your friend will be short.

I really hope you enjoy the newspaper from now on. We’re really happy to get someone criticizing our newspaper. It is very good for us. We appreciate the fact that you took your time to write us a letter with your opinions, it will help us improve the paper, and hopefully everyone will like it more.

Jack Harkness

PAGE 4