The morning call., 1893-10-23

of the prisoner, all of which must be
donued by him, however, ere the jailer
will bs likely to permit him to walk the
streets.
:. To. put it very tersely. Alfred Clarke,
attorney-at-law. was found in deshabille
attire.
:. 81 have been born again into the world
OF martyrs. ] am of the elect who are
chosen in all ages to suffer for the cause of
:: freedom and human rights, said the coun-
selor. -
Nevertheless there is no halo about the
head of Counselor Clarke these days, or
if there is it cannot be discerned in the
dim, uncertain. light of dungeon cell at
the County Jail.
OF course The dungeon part is purely al
lagorieaf. ::Counselo Clarke is guest al
s.. the Cnunty Jail. He inhabts ''the red
. room," and he is sorry for t, because 1t
robs his m artyrdom of some of its sweetest
stings.. He woud-or thinks he would
prefer one OF the black holes IN the cellln
= in tested. by the meek and lowly heather.
: "Here you see Alfred Clarke suffering
the dungeon and chains In defense OF the
liberties guaranteed the bnmblest citizen
BY the constitution Of the United States"
He seemed rather loqnaciOus for man
suffering great agony. Nevertheless 1t IS
There were pile of law-books on the ia
Bile before him. Thick iron bars separ-
ated him from the outside world. In one
corner a mattress was thrown down and
sufffcfency of colOred wOOlen blankets
spread over it. There was one other chair
besides the one in which the martyr sat.
-. 1t was occupied most of the day by the
prisoners niece. q bright-eyed. comely
young woman. who seemed not at all trag
ical, though strangely out of place IN the
bare dismal room.
"Some are born great, others achieve
greatness, and still others have greatness
thrust upon them. OF the latter l am one.
Not everybody in these degenerate DAYS
has the honor TO be chosen TO suffer for
justice and human rights" continued the
counselor, when his visitor had been shown
q seat on the edge of the mattress.
He was in dead earnest. too, and appar-
emily unmindful Of the rather anomalous
position in which he found himself.
Fifteen years ago Alfred Clarke would
have thought you mad had you prophesied
this day of confinement and cOntumely for
him. He was the clerk of the Chief of
Police, an active, able man, whose knowl-
edge of criminal law was already greater
than that of many lawyers. he framed
many of the criminal ordinances now on the
books, and other people than himself
thought he knew most all there was to
know of the extradition laws and usages.
He was we'll up. too, on constitutional law.
Alack, and alasi Now he is prisoner in
the County Jail because he refused to obey
the mandate of Judge Murphy of the Su-
perior Court.
II am in the hands of the Federal courts
OF the United States of America now"
said the counselor to THE CALL reporter,
''and while ! am waiting for its decision
which shall open my prison gates l have
been composing poetry. Yes, in the silent
watches OF the night the muse has broken
through these cruel prison bars and wooed
Ina as | sat and dreamed. The verses run
like this:
The law was before us ali.
1t shall exist when we shall
Have passed away. And carefully provides
For our wants before
We are able 10 express our desires. It
Gently leads
Forward.
It goes to the bridal altar with
Us. And mingles in our con1ugal relations.
In short, goes
"How do you do, Mr.. Clarke ?" broke in
the clear voice of Sheriff McDade. Then
there was no more poetry for season.
and the counselOr-martyr proceeded tC
call the Sheritf's attention to those pro-
visions of the Federal code which author
ICED him to set him at liberty at once.
But the Sheriff couldn't see it in exactly
that light, so Counselor Clark had TO stay
on and write poetry another night.
Like Walt Whitman. Poet Clarke dis
dains the tricks OF rhyme and jingle in the
movement of his poetic feet Like Walt
Whitman also. Poet Clarke's verses are
profuse and exhaustive. There would
have been more of them yesterday had mol
the Sheriff cut short their utteraDce.
When released from his martyrdom Mr.
Clarke is going to publish his poems in q
book of four volumes in red morocco and
GILT pdppg