davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-10-29

the day he would have everything that was
| his delivered 10 him tand often from both
sdes) soon as the cops could get de-
cent excuse to be somewhere else for a mo-
ment If the cops were slow about finding
the excuse they were generally relieved by
better and brighter men.
Most of the time, though, those reformer
watchers would fade away long before the
heat and burden of the day were mere than
half accumulated 1t got on the nerves of
even the best man to see from forty TO
fifty Whyos or Short Tails watching him
all day out of the corners of their thievfsh
eyes and edging In on him every time he
raised his voice to pipe out protest against
some good honest citizen who had just
cast his tenth or fifteenth vote that day:
Everybody knew the WhyoS and the
Short Tails. They were men with records
and proud of 1t. Every reformer knew
that they never went unarmed, and as the
morning wore on and the free liquor that
was ladled out for them took effect they
were mighty embarrassing people to meet
socially in a polling booth with half hum
bred other repeaters jostling everybody in
sight and the police looking their eyes out
in another direction.
"The Whyo and Short Tail gangs were the
two biggest gangs of the lot and they per-
vaded the East Side in the days when one
block III the old eleventh ward could and
would and did outvote whole district on
the West Side. They were river thieves ana
housebreakers and sneak thieves, but not
really as professionals. They did it for
mere living. Iher true vocation was W
live a lazy life and merry one, drink as
much beer and liquor as they could hold,
sleep it off drink some more, lick police
man once IN while and strut through the
streets like a ruff1ing blade of old France.
taking the wall for no man, admired by
the girls for their wickedness and prowess
and feared with very evident and fiat
tering fear by the sober and milder citi-
zens.
And they were cheap. too. cheap as dirt
oh los nj I-rj
we compare the prices we have TO pay now
(when dare TO pay at alb with the
prices of a good, husky gang then.
Whyo or a Short Tall was willing enough
to steal what he needed for his simple life.
We didn't have to support those chaps in
lodging houses for weeks before registra-
ton day. No, indeed. They took what they
wanted and all we had to do was to see
that they didn't go TO Jail for it.
Also, we had to fix it so that they could
indulge in pleasantrIes with the police when
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-10-29

be oppressive. Presently the canking of
chains and the fall of footsteps were heard
coming from the outside. A dozen men,
downcast in appearance and wearing clothes
that were threadbare and ragged, were
marched into the revolving cage and out
into the prison lobby. These were new
prisoners from one of the county jails, each
one destined to live in the penitentiary for
from two to fourteen years. With irons on
their ankles and wrists they marched up to
the desk, where the smiling clerk-Mr
Machen-recorded their names, their de-
seriptions, their crimes and their penalties
This completed, the handouts and shackles
were removed from the prisoners and they
were ushered into of the cell WINGS
where other guards took charge of them
and conducted them to the bath house.
Each prisoner was thoroughly bathed and
given his suit of prison clothes. Then the
former trade or occupation of each pris-
oner was aseertained II he had been
tailor he was assigned to the prison tailor
shop, where all the prison clothes are made
and where pants and skirts are manufac-
tured for the wholesale trade in the large
cities. The butchers and bakers and can
dlestick makers were each placed where
their training would best fit them to per-
form their prison work.
The Star representative returned to the
clerks Office
How are things down in Washington"
asked Machen.
"oh, we are managing to exist was the
reply; .u -o, 10,
my friend BeaversT'
The reporter assured Machen that the
government was still after Mr. Beavers,
and that his trial probably would be called
soon.
Then Maehen leaned back in his arm
chair and began reading the morning
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-10-29

ron q aealas haals IN hia hand ana gan %
h1s pocket. = isn't against the ifw even
now to stand around On election day with
know. Hut ncvadays Il there was trouble
afteyward and Jury heard that you did It
you would have some trouble In convincing
them that It was only your way Of carrying
your money
..In those days the jury was yet to be
born that would have objected TO a man
carrying his money any old way. and the
district attorney was yet to come VINO
would have been impolite enough to men
tion the thing IL there had been a Jury. So
the old chap stood year after year. his mot
tied red fist full OF money, and stretching
away from him a long line OF buns. All
they were after. of course. was ballots.
which an assistant district captain had in
big canvas bag. The fact that the roll
got less and less as the line dwindled was
coincidence. and nothing more.
And. mind you, this was done in the
open street Once. when there was par
ticularly bad outbreak of reform the leader
bowed enough to popular clamor to carry
on his operations in more secluded place.
The secluded place that he selected was
my own dads back yard. where he fed out
ballots ard dollars to the independent voter,
while poor old dad who was the reform
leader. was sweating and talking himself
hoarse trying to convert voters to his side
at the painful rate of about one and half
votes in ten hours.
well, it's different now. Instead OF
merely keeping the machine creased and
oiled and trusting to 1t to drag in the votes
on election day, the district captain has to
work away personally ait every voter. In
my day I've known captains who didn
know half their voters. They spent all
their time in their little back room club
and kept the tough men happy. and the
tough men had to deliver the goods.
But now a captain has to talk with
every resident in his district personally. He
has to convince him. He has to keep after
the organization men as we'll the oppo-
sition, for even the regular organization
man is altogether too much concerned now
in municipal problems to be left alone
through a campaign. They all read too
much and talk too much, and you can never
tell which way a is going to think
when he begins to think at all.
They talk about the cut and dried vote
that democrats and republicans can always
depend upon. / wish the reformers could
see the way the captains sweat and toll the
year round over cutting and drying that
vote.
It's all day long and all the year and
even then we're not sure. We can't count
the vote the night before any more. It's
true that we usually know some days be-
fore election pretty well where we're at.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-10-29

the scene was wonderfully like a scene in
the Terror
I saw another stoop-tearing episode
There was a house with an enormously
high stoop. In 1t were seven or eight resi-
dents who had planned to vote wrong. APP
peals and threats had no influence on them,
and the other side had raised money
enough that year to hire a big lot OF ruff
fans of their own to protect their voters.
So when kindness failed the Short Tails
visited the house early in the morning be-
fore the people were up and took the stoop
away; and all that day there wasn't a man
nervy enough to carry ladder to the ma
rooned voters. The first men who tried 1t
got something that did them no good.
The police saw their duty and did 1t.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-10-29
HOW WASHINGTON PRISONERS ARE FARING
AT THE MOUNDSVILLE PENITENTIARY

good behavior during this period they are
put in prison gray. and If they have been
unruly they are placed In stripes. Lorenz'
not having served six months, IS sun wear
ing the suit of checks.
Quite appropriate, volunteered the cap
tain of the guard. IF he had left checks
alone he would not be wearing them now.
With one of the guards The star repre-
sentative was conducted to the PRISON
bakery A dozen convicts were hurry1nS
hither and thither, in the bakers aprons,
mixing dough and attending to the ovens
In charge of the force was big broad
shouldered and good-natured German. He
greeted the visitors with a smile and an
outstretched hand He showed them
through the bakery with as much pride as
he would display IL he were showing MS
own shop in some city outside the prison
walls He seemed lost in the love OF his
trade and with chest swelled with pride he
declared that he made 100 loaves OF bread
a. a baking, and they were big loaves too.
do you employ him to run the bakery
asked the reporter. He looks out OF place
alongside these criminals.
The guard smiled. No, he replied 'The
big German baker is a life convict. He
murdered a man some ten years ago, was
sent here to the penitentiary for life. but
year later was pardoned. Then he went
back to his home town and killed another
man. Now he is in for life again, with no
prospect of pardon"
From the bakery the reporter went TO the
dining room, where the l. 400 convicts were
eating their breakfast.
At each place was a dish of boiled rice, a
tin cup of coffee and another tin cup half
full of molasses. Four guards were sta
toned, each in the center of one OF the four
quarters of the room. Before each guard
was huge pile of sliced bread Whenever
a convict wantetd slice of bread he raised
his hand like a small boy at school. The
guard then took a piece Of the bread and
sailed it across the room to the hungry con-
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-10-29

from the hospital a young man in convict
uniform and cap to match came out of the
door at the south cell wing and with quick
and buoyant step crossed the prison yard.
He carried a bucket on his arm. The young
man was James NJ A. Watson, formerly
trusted clerk to the auditor for the District
of Columbia. Now he is assistant shipping
clerk at the Moundsville penitentiary.
He works and eats and sleeps with the
other convicts. At his right hand is a
man who robbed bank; at his left Grim
inal of still deeper dye. Near him is a man
who must serve his lifetime for murder.
And so it goes. Machen, Lorenz and the
Groffs are gentlemen prisoners. They eat
by themselves, before the other convicts
are permitted in the aiming room. They
are essentially the prison aristocracy But
sits on the long wooden bench with 1,4O0
otner convicts, eats his rice and his bread
and his coffee, and marches out between
the ever-watchful guards.
And because of this James NJ. A. Watson
Is dissatisfied He seems to think that he
should be granted the same. privileges and
immunities that are granted TO Machen and
his felow-conSpiratorS Then, too, Watson
believes that justice has miscarried to some
extent In his case, In that he received a
ten-year sentence, whereas the members OF
the prison aristocracy" received only two
years Be that as 1t may, Watson is not
looking upon his confinement from the phil
osophical point of view.
It was $50 o'clock In the morning when
The Stars representative was ushered in
through the revolving door of the peniten-
tiary and all the prisoners had not awak-
ened. A heavy fog hung over the prison
buildings and from the two long cell wings.
stretching away to the north and south,
there came gusts of cold, damp air. The
very atmosphere within the gates seemed to
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-10-29

and he hurried through without much
as raising his eyes to either Machen or
the visitor. 1t was DR.. George e. Lorenz,
formerly postmaster at Toledo. Ohio. In
dicted, convicted and sentenced with Machen
for conspiring to defraud the government.
Lorenz Is much steuter than when he faced
trial before Justice Pritchard, and he looks
if the prison life agreed with him.
The visitor was conducted to the prison
library, where the shelves are weighted
down with ten thousand volumes, In big
arm chair sat the librarian. Diller B. Groff,
third member of the band of POSTAL con-
spirators He, too, has grown fat on prison
fare and HIS back Is not bent as the result
OF the hard labor which was specified
In the sentence imposed upon him by Justice
Prttchard.
In another building IL the prison hos
pital and there the visitor found Samuel
Croft, gentleman of leisure. Sam Croft,
as he was known in Washington when he
served on the police force and invented let
ter box fasteners as side ISSUE Is not in
the best of health. The prison physician
would not explain to the representative of
The Star the exact nature of Sans Illness,
but Croft himself admitted that he was mot
well enough to do any work" Consequent
ly he sits around in the hospital. takes oc-
casional strolls In the nice fresh air, eats
hospital food (Which is better than the
average citizen gets outside of the prison
walls), and enjoys watching the other con-
victs who actually are performing hard
labor
AS the visitor descending the steps
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-10-29

They posted . COP IN front q tho houpe =
make certain that nothing else happen0o.
Clearly Il was no part OF the cops duty 20
help those men to set out to vote. and ~
didn't.
'"rhas old ward leader who SO kindly psr-
mitted dad to vote was q simple soul.
got my first lessons In practical politics
from him in the back room OF his whisky
morgue-onss Of those places on the river
front where the rum was drawn from great
painted barrels at prices to suit all purses.
He used to show US the best way to butt
man in the face while speaking to him
innocentIy. It was a great trick You took
hold of your party nicely and confdentially
by the iapels Of the coat, spoke to him In q
low. gentle voice that led him to bring his
face near yours, and then, biff! you rammed
the top OF your head into his countenance
with all the might of your neck and back.
Then the other party went out and made
no more trouble that day.
There was another way You suddenly
pulled him forward and downward by the
Iapels, and at the same moment bent your
leg and brought your knee into his face or
stomach, whichever was most convenient;
only you ran a risk in that because IL the
other party was quick he could and often
did, get his knee into your abdomen first,
and then you did not feel so WELL
THE old man always warned us against
the straight kick, for. he said, the other
party can lift his leg and hold his foot out
so that he meets your shin with 1t, and
then you break your own leg with your
own kick, and that's poor policy. He used
to do all the real voting in that back room
Of his on the night before election. Many
and many time I've sat there and seen
him moisten a stub of q lead pencil while
he scrawled on a scrap of paper figuring
out the vote that he was going to cast and
how much 1t cost.
II remember one night an old bum looked
through the little hole that opened from
the bar room into the snuggery and told
the old chap that he had raised his price
for the coming election from 81 to 81 for
his vote. The old man said not a word.
He seized bung-starter, and then and
there reduced the price to the old basis;
and the other buns stood around waeging
their heads solemnly and advising the rebel
that 1t served him right, and he ought to
make up his mind never to go back on his
protector and friend. Mr.. knows
what's right said they He plays fair and
square.
1On election morning the old man used
to appear on the open street with a great
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-10-29

[IIEN HEY'RE getting in the vote for
- mayor of New York by the
same old system this year as
they did in the years gone by,
hut not by the same old methods.
"ft was the same old system in my
time said the old district politician,
"the election district captain, who worked
at hard labor all year to gather In the vote,
vote by vote then the assembly district
leader. who gathered In the vote brought py
the captains and delivered It to the chiels
That's the way they do it today; but an
me, the way they do it is so different
81 can't tell you better how great that
difference IS than by two anecdotes. Ihirty
years ago l was at meeting OF electio"
district captains They met in a back room
in their shirt sleeves. and they didn't Settle
down to business TIL they had decided
mooted point about the best way TO per-
form a certain horrible bit of mayhem IN
the fighting that was called 'rough-aho-
tumble" from which few except experts
ever emerged without being manned ior
life.
ION the way home two of the captains
mixed il up with policeman ana that
official person went TO the hospital. Last
week attended another meeting OF election
district captains. They met in an expensive
hotel up town. There were about one nun
bred and fifty of them, and they represent
ed all the districts-the poorest as well as
the richest.
Only seven of them wore ordinary bust
ness clothes All the rest wore evening
clothes and. what is more, they wore EN-
I'm way that showed that they were used
to EN-.
The men who didn't wear evening
clothes all wore dark suits. l didn't see
any diamonds Out OF the lot should have
picked about forty as being any good at all
I'm a scrap, and only about half dozen
looked like real oId-time tough men, who
would be able TO hold their own anywhere.
1t was a most depressing sight If a man
hadn't known they were district politicians
and the real s!new of the machine, too
he might have taken them for clerks, drum
mers. business men or most anything else.
"Those men get out the vote, and they get
81 out we'll; but how helpless they would be
81 they had 10 get 1t out the way we used
10 do it, Almost as helpless guess, as We
would be If we had to get it out their way.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-10-29
Eastern Colleges and Western Critics.
From the Topeka Capital.

From the Topeka Capital.
had always had an idea that the under
graduate body at Harvard and the other
big eastern colleges was OF a sort different
from that with which / had been brought
into familiar contact in the fresh water
colleges of the west But the Harvard
bunch had a strangely familiar look. They
were coming on every trolley car the day
we were In Cambridge. and while the pro-
portion was not so great as at Washburn.
for instance there were a good many who
looked as though they had yet TO take their
first lesson In sleeping In night shirt. And
I concluded, after a careful scrutiny Of the
bunch. that the Bud Hickses do not all ma
circulate at X. L.
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-10-29

paper. Lorenz, In his checked suit declined
to be interviewed. He feels his conspicuous
position in that he Is the only member OF
the prison ariStocracy. who has not
donned the uniform OF gray. The prison
rule Is that all conyfcts wear q checked or
plafd suit during the first six months OF
thelr confinement II thsy maintain thsir
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-10-29

but thats merely . matter of estimate. and
g tyn'$ q cfnch. in my time 1t was q einch,
and estimates didn't play much part In it"
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-10-29

why. they've got to talk issues to 'em
now-things about municipal ownership and
debt limits and sanitation. Even the good
old backbone of our city vote, the tenement
house people that make 1t possible to de-
liver from forty to seventy-tive votes from
a single house even they want to know
about all sorts of stuff that would have put
the same kind of voters to sleep twenty
five years ago.
The San Francisco call., 1905-08-18
Cirn serrice Exnminatlons.

The United States Civil Service Com
mission announces the following ex-
aminations at San Francisco, Fresno,
Los Angeles, Marysville and Reno on
September 13: Constructing engineer
for sewers and water works, Philip
pine service; age limits, Is to 40 years;
salary. sl400 to $4,000 per annum.
Trained nurse for Panama canal;
age limit, 20 to 35 years; salary, $50 per
month, with board and quarters.
Trained nurse, Indian service; 20
years or over; salary, $500.
Farmer, Indian service; age limit, 20
years or over: salary, 5000.
Copyist topographic draughtsman;
age limit, 20 years or over; salary 5000.
Architectural and structural draughts-
man: age limit, 90 years or over; SAL
airy, $500
Applicants should apply to the United
States Civil Service Commission. Wash
ington, d. c., or to the secretary of
the Board of Examiners, Postoffice, San
Francisco, for application forms, which
should be properly executed and filed
with the commission at Washington.
The San Francisco call., 1905-08-18
THE PEOPLE ALL
In Chorus Cried. Give us Newbro's
Herpicfde.

This word of late has been in every
ones mouth, and many are wondering
what the word signifies, though no one
has yet been found who will deny that
NEWBROS HERPICIDE does the work.
Well, for the information of thousands
of people who like to know all about a
good thing we would say that HERPI-
eide means q destroyer or killer of
"Herpes" Now Herpes is the family
vegetable parasites. A similar microbe
causes dandruff, itching scalp and fall
ing hair; this is the microbe that NEW
BROS HERPICIDE promptly destroys;
after which the hair grows Sold by
leading druggists. Send 10c in stamps
for sample to The Herpicide Co., De-
troit, Mich. At leading drug stores or
sent prepaid from Detroit, Mich, upon
receipt of $1.00.
The San Francisco call., 1905-08-18
COUNTY EDUCATION BOARDS
MAY NOT REGULATE PRICES
Attorney General Webb Gives Opinion
ON School Book Question Which
A6ecfa Minor R0dies.

Attorney General U. S. Webb, in re-
sponse to an inquiry from District At
torney j. H. Campbell of Santa Clara,
has rendered an opinion holding that a
county board of education may not en-
ter into contracts regulating the prices
of text books supplied to school
children. 1t is held that when the
State Board of Education has not
adopted a text book on any particular
subject, 1t is competent for the local
Board of Education to prescribe text
book on that subject, but the power Of
the local board ceases with the adop-
tion of the text book.
Prior to the amendment of the law
in 1903 the local board had power to
enter into contracts with dealers as to
the price at which books were to be
sold to purchasers. Such contracts are
novel and only exist by virtue of the
statute. With the repeal of the statute
In 1908 the power to SO contract ceased
to exist The Attorney General states
that the wisdom of the action of the
Legislature in taking this power away
from the local boards is not matter
for his consideration.
The San Francisco call., 1905-08-18

In securing the services Of Lillian
Albertson for his leading woman. Denis
O'Sullivan. who opens Sunday after
noon at the Grand Opera-house in
"Arrah Ma Pogue." has been exceeding
ly fortunate. Miss Albertson's rise in
the theatrical profession has been mar
Nelous and to-day she is regarded as
one Of the cleverest leading women in
the country.
She is cast in the role Of Arrah Ma
Pogue, which gives her unusual oppor-
tunities to display her merit, as the
character is one Of action. Miss Albert
son is q San Francisco girl and studied
on the stages of this city She made
her debut at the Alcazar and from that
time her ability has been recognized
and she has risen rapidly. O'Sullivan
viii handle the roie Of Shaun, the Post,
in which he has scored many successes.
Several Eastern theatrical managers
had been endeavoring to secure Miss
Albertson's services, and Liebler, one
of the big mogUls Of the mana gerial
held. finally succeeded in getting her.
AT the conclusion Of her engagement
with O'Sullivan Miss Albertson viii go
East and play a leading part with VIII
liam T. Hodge in 2 new piece, called
Eighteen Miles From Home