The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1903-01-18

! there hellyachin' about Carr bein' laid on
! the shelf. The coppers in the Stales are the
very devil on a dead one.
They keen tryin' to make him cough up
| what he knows, an if he don't cough
they're liable as no to pinch him for a vag.
Wy, I've seen 'em actually railroad Il
dead on to the pen on a fake charge
jus cause he wouldn't help 'enl get wise.
/ amt stuck on England or the coppers
here, but the coppers 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 Il habit they've got
into. You see. the people over here won't
let EN- do any in the streets.
an as they've got to get exercise some
how they do the hammerin' in the station
house. They amt SO crooked either. I'd
"a hen dead long before l was t Ia been
an English crook.
A boxes got TO take his medicine over
here if they catch h%tmy"an' rs tra mrd'cine
that kills. Course some holds out lanGcr'n
| did. but twenty-fouE years inside amt
a bad record. an that's. the time spent in
the pen. They've had me shut up nearly
half my life.
IF I'd stayed in the States | s'poSe I'd be
Twin with the .bo5oes NOW They amt bad
blnkes to pal With hot I 'ud, surt 20 hive
10 drop down Into their push. | don't know
how TO beg as mtcll rs 4 piece O pF"ai-
After I've sung a song or done Il hi; OF a
double shufia ! don't mind passin' my sat
around in tho fub. but get ashamed when
l ask for ..scpctb!ni outright.
III l should 20 10 a back door to-morraw
mornin' an ask for 4 poke-out. I'd bush
an sJntter ike n bashfui kid.
y tried rol'shIn' shoes fora while. hut the
shines sl.ycd me SO { I quit. | wasn't no
good at it anyhow. All ! can do. is to float
around. sing j song when peoples Listen to
me. an hold down this old barrel. This
places been my haEs-out for nearly u year
now.
Sometimes think I'd like to so back
home. but course III never get there. When
I'm sober I try to make out I 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 I go TO was
runnin down the States. an | calico EN-
down; | told EN- t we could stick their
bloody little island in one corner of our
country and Z 'ud take Stanley twenty
years to find 1t. Course they basted me
l always get il in the neck when I'm jagged
but l didn't mind. After you're dead a big
quiet-iike comes on you an You don't care
what hapyens.
1T I'D be nice to see some of 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 wher-
ever | croak. Some o. the girls I'D in Lime
street took up a collection for a pal = I
had that croaked, an buried him in style,
but L told EN- they'd better "a given a big
feed to his friends.
Il used to be a great b1oke for style. but
style don't cut no ice with me any more.
Course I 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 It
I 4nn'f halA 10 ~nrru '1Hr,f 49,, ra-,,...ta,
any mere.
You get just as tired out tryin' to hold
your posish in the crook world as you do
with the miilionaires. / don't have them
worries, an it's a bigger relief n you'd
think. There amt no place for me to drop
to-Tve reached de limit
III the blokes over here knew ME an
pointed me out to strangers, course I'd feel
my tumble worse'n I do, but nobody both
ers me. You're the first blokes I've talked
to this way since l struck Liverpool.
II don't mind T you. tell the blokes at
home about me. II I'D "A hurt a little
couple O. years ago. cause / had some hope
then, but it don't matter now; nothin' mat
tiers. See?
mo one can do anythin' for me. A city
missionary got me round IN his shop a few
months ago an tried to brace me UP. but
I WAS square. You're all right. boss I
said to him, but you can't help me, cause
I'm a dead one
II didn't understand what dead one
meant an I tried to explain, but he
couldn't catch on. an lsep', taIkin' away
bout religion. I give It to him straight.
Religion, boss l told him, IS for them that
cares. I don't care. I'm dreamed out. You
can lock me up or do what you please
'twon't change me a bit. My clocks run
down.
"'Course there's them that laughs bout a
bloke losiu' HIS grip an don't believe In it.
hut they're foolish. The. time was when I
wasn't leary of holdin' up an express train
single-handed; it's all + can do now to
scrape up nerve enough to kill the feas in
this barrel.
Some people calls the disease the shivers,
an others calls it The blind eye. / calls II
the staggers. You tagge In front of ev-
erythin' that II needs grit to do. Some day
I'll stagger into a hole, an the barkeeps
won't have any more Barnie to haste, an
the girls won't have to chip in an help pay
for my song.
Put I've had my fling In my day. men,
an don't you forgit It." and for an instant
his eyes snapped and he held his head high.