Devils Lake inter-ocean. (Devils Lake, Ramsey Co., Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1905, 1899-06-09
FRIDAY, JUNE 9, 1889.
THE BATTLE WITH THE OCTOPUS

Being a few heroic lines con
memorating the recent Brya
Anti Trust Feast at 81 per. l
the city OF, st. Louis.
The stars shone silver overhead,
The Coliseum lights CLEANED req
Az BRYAN and his hosts were fed
Preparatory to killing dead
Which has its birthplace in the East,
And ramifies the country Ger,
In herds of one or two or more.
A thousand guests had gathered there,
From roundabout and everywhere,
To eat two dollars worth of fare
Per man, and then prepare to vat
The Octopus that they had caught.
At last the feast was done, and then
4 thirst for gore seized on those men
And in the midst of din and fuss
They trotted out the Octopus.
The startled beast oo okeelt round oad t and SHE'D
TO jump the high arena walls
The meanwhile uttering plaintive bawls,
But all in vain it could not move
Those cruel hearts to tender love-,
They Yelled and stormed and howled in glee
And dropped their thumbs in ecstacy.
Then Chairman Halves, who usedto be
The monsters ally, said that ne
Would name Champ Clark to LEAD the fight
AND AND e dha%dR thu aS%bp Beast = around the ring
And round and round like everything;
Then stopped; and De Armond David A.,
sst taasa fort forth . and ny Mit the a 6 5S8a ne0raS'
Alick that doubled up the cuss,
But ere he had a chance to slay,
The monster, slipped and got away.
Then Wetmore, Colonel Moses c.
Oh, Moses, why such crueity7,
Was called by Halves, and forth he came
To carry on the dreadful game.
And braveiy Colonel Moses strived,
But still the Octopus survived.
Then came a lull, a hush, a stop,
You might have heard a feather drop.
And then q wild tumultuous roar
That shook the roof, the walls, the floor,
And forth stood Bryan ne whose tones
OF Octopuses small and great,
In every county, town and state
OF this broad Land of Freedom which
Is slave and vassal to the rich.
And BRYAN bowed and bowed and bowed
And kept on bowling to- the crowd.
The Octopus, meanwhile, too late,
Essayed to jump tn Arena gate.
Then Bryan chased it. How the sight
Filled all the people with delight!
he landed on It various swats,
He sought to twist its tail in knots,
he batted it a hundred bats,
He fiercely punched it. in the SLATE y GS,vr
He waifopped it from heel to crown,
Then banged it one time in the neck
And left it on the sands, a wreck.
Then LOUD the people CuooroU IN CLlcoTOu,
And one or two went out and beered.
Then Belmont came, that o. n. P.
The Colonel's aide de campaign, he
Stepped forth to end the money beast,
AS fitting finish to the feast:
But when the monster saw him, he ,
Lay still and waited patiently,
Because he knew no other plan.
Would save him from this cruel man.
So Belmont didn't slay the beast
AS fitting finish to the feast.
Then Altgeld came-Great Scott, the o.
Topus knew that he'd get a shock
Unless he scooted, and he got
Right up and started on q trot,
With Altgeld after him, the crowd,
The meanwhile yelling long and loud,
When Altgeld caught him, he was hot,
AS Altgeld. always is, and not
Discreet as he should be, and so
He soon had laid the monster low.
That was the end the Octopus
Was quite too dead now to .discuss.
They left him lying on the sand,
And everybody said the land.
Was saved SO far, and then they yelled
Because the Octopus was felled,
And when the fact was fully learned,
With cheers the meeting was adjourned.
L'ENyo1.
Up from the scene of the scrap after a while
The Octopus rose with a wink and a smile,
And said us he firted his tail with a fling:
I'm slightly disfgured, but still in the ring
New York Sur