The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1903-01-20

n'r'aps, f | got a change, so l came over
here. an for a while ! dTifted all over
the shop. II my dough I'D a held out
I'd be on the mooch yet, l guess. ]
only lad twenty pounds when | got back
10 London. but my nerve was no good
an, tried for a job or the level, but
'twasn't no use. A bloke that's used
up for swipin' amt up TO no kind o work.
good or bad. Course l could a turned
fv cop. A Yank copper IN London OF
fered me good money I Id work 1or
him, but l didn't want TO be a mouth
piece. an that's what I'd a been + ID
taken the job. A fellow that the push
has treated square is a dirty sucker TO
90 an live on what he knows after he
gets used up. If l had my way, ID
shoot every son Of a cur OF a mouthplcce.
Well, / tried gamblin' for a bit, but |
couldn't win nothin': a man that's down
on is luck shouldn't touch the bones.
luck brings luck, and bad luck brings
bad. l came here to Liverpool with
some gamblers, but ] was out Of it here.
too, an got flat on my uppers. I could
"a raised some dough, guess, f I'd tele-
graphed home; my rep was good for
a thousand or two. an the boys 'ud a
sent it over. prob'ly; but a bloke dont
Ike 10 go nome alter III huOWS l llS
nerves gone. Crooks is a charitable lot
right enough, an stand by a fellow when
'e's Just hard hit, but they're queer as
the devil when they run up against a
dead one.
you feel the way you do when you're
in an insane asylum. Course a dead
one amt bughouse or anythin' like that,
but when you look at him you keep
thinkin' that p'r'aps it'll be your
turn next, an you get shiVery like. |
knew t 1 couldn't steal worth a damn
f l went back-any dead one knows
that when he's lost his grip-an' |
wasn't goin' to have the push an the
coppers over there bellyachin' around
about Carr being laid on the shelf. The
coppers in the States are the very devil
on a dead one. They keep tryin' to make
him cough up what he knows, an if he
Gon't cough they're liable as not to pinch
him for a vag. Wy, I've seen EN- ac-
tually railroad a dead one to the Pen on
a fake charge jus cause he wouldn't
help 'em get wise. / amt stuck on
England or the coppers here, but the cop
pers can't cut up with a bloke here the
way they do in the States. Course they
hammer me every now and then when
they take me to the station house, but
that's just a habit they've got into. You
see, the people over here won't let EN-
do, any hammerin' in the streets, an
as theyye got to get exercise somehow
they do the hammerin' in the station
house. They amt SO wise as our cop
pers, but they amt so crooked either.
I'd "a been dead long before | was /
I'd been an English crook. A bloke's got
to take his medicine over if they catch
him, an it's the medicine that kills.
Course some holds out longer'n l did,
but twenty-four years inside amt a bad
record, an that's the time I spent in
the Pen. They've had me shut up nearly
half my life.
"If I'd stayed in the States l s'pose I'd
be livin' with the hoboes now. They
amt bad blokes to pal with, but t I'd
hurt to have to drop down into tkci;
push. l don't know how to beg as much
as a piece O. bread. After I've sung 4
| song or done a bit of a double shuttle |
| don't mind passin' my hat around in the
| pub but l get ashamed when | ask for
| somethin' outright. If l should go to Il
| back door tomorrow mornin' an ask for
a poke-out I'd blush an stutter like a
| bashful kid.
q tried polishin' shoes for a while,
/ cAI bLS S1Al1So III ihC ~ 49, =
wasn't no good at it anyhow. All l can
| do is to loaf around, sing a song when
| people1l listen to me, an hold down
| this old barrel. This places been my
| hang-out for nearly a year now.
sometimes think I'd like to go back
home, but course II never get there.
| When I'm sober | try to make out t I'm
| English, but l guess the blokes is next.
| The other day [ got pretty Jagged, an
! forgot all about bein' English. Some
| jays over in a pub t | go to was runnin'
down the States, an | called EN- down;
| told EN- t we could stick their bloody
| little island in one corner of our country
and t I'D take Stanley twenty years to
| find it. Course they basted mel al
ways get it in the neck when I'm Jagged
but | didn't mind. After you're dead
4 big quiet like comes on you an you
1on't care what happens.
cit I'D be nice to see some O. the boys
| again, an I'd rather like to croak on the
other side, but ! don't think about such
things much. They got to bury me
wherever croak. Some O. the girls VI
IN Lime street took up a collection for a
pal t I had that croaked, an buried him
in style, but told 'em they'd better "a
given a big feed to his friends. | used
to be a great bloke for style, but style
don't cut no ice with me any more.
Course t Amt nice to wind up in a
barrel the way | have, but you can't
keep on top forever, an I'm glad enough
sometimes t | don't have,to worry bout
my reputation any more. You get just
as tired out tryin' to hold your Dosish
in the crook world as you do with the
m~illioraireS. | don't have them worries,
an it's a bigger relief n you'd think.
There amt no place for me to drop to
I've reached de limit
IF the blokes over here knew me an
pointed me out to strangers, course I'd
feel my tumble worse'n l do, but nobody
bothers me. You're the first blokes I've
talked to this way since | struck Liver
pool. | don't mind f you tell the blokes
at home about me. 1t 'ud "a hurt a lit
tie couple of years ago cause | had
some hope then, but it don't matter now;
nothing matters. See?
mo one can do anythin' for me. A city
missionary got me round to his shop a
L Du- -, 49, -r -