The sun., 1905-08-20

was porTnltt6Q 10 SEQ eOfno OL tno bon8e
and poems written by prisoners which are
the most popular in the Charlestown bas-
tile. Some OF these are appreciated more
by certain sets Of prisoners than others.
as, for instance. the song known az AThe
boston Burglar which "a Is familiar to
second story workers and safe blowers who
have done time in Charlestown a. their
own names. The song relates through
many verses how q man who wa raised
tenderly became thief and was arrested.
Here is the last verse, with the moral:
The Jury found me guilty
The clerk he wrote II down:
You must 60 TO charlcstown."
And at each and every station
ss4, fSss sSss R:s sss RiSRs :ss
In iron chains he's bound,
For H. sGms s on afiGs ao cs.rIes.o&n' ri ssSsheI
H0W ana s9"ef seep ff II You 70, can can my -'''
And don't 60 on the streets at night
To break the laws OF man
The men who have had expert ence In
the varied and unsettled life OF tramp
appreciate this song and the full signifi-
cance OF the last line:
R,dns +, y. 4. IN N ase n6e oe. es,, cars
We are two buns.
We eES iiS. 'iSlsy 'ilss roSsi oSSp ru4Rs snS@'
when VIC have luck
To hell with the man who works.
Then there are a number Of songs about
noted criminals-men who were hanged
and noted outlaws. These are familiar
to the men who have served more than one
term and who are regarded as belonging
to the strictly criminal class.
But there Is another class. who. though
serving time because Of q keen temptation
or an ungovernable impulse which has been
their immediate undoing. are usually well
a different turn to their muse. Among
these songs Of boyhood days are popular.
and the following Is the most noted per-
haps in this class:
am thinking Of my homestead sd,.I am dreaming
OF quiet shady hooks OF the little babbiing brooks.
The osha Sss mr boy ssd 70
seem 10 hear her gently say 70 me:
no ms wheTs 1c.s you .s
my boy. where'er you be.
CHORUS
Dear old Homestead mes ,sd on on the hillside midst the
Their branches making music In the breeze:
How long to see see the pastures with their herds Of
The sunshine on the clover and the bees.
Some prisoners given to song find In
their downfall lesson they, are apparently
has been done. that is freely acknowledged.
hut an optimistic view ia taken OF the situa-
ton, as the following, entitled Halt
which was written by young Southerner.
atpresent in Charlestown prison on charge
OF forgery committed when no had Deen
graduated from college but year:
Listen to me. you erring ones.
You men who think and feel.
shake out the kinks from your atrophied legs
S,raigh,en your dropping shoulders up.
Throw OF your burdens OF care.
=, As men who can do and dare
Don't be a fossil at twenty Ave
Don. 5ss 5i HI ALL ess,s.s e., @ ySsss !. prison
Rather think OF the fun you used 70 have
Dom, brood over things that have passed and sone
OF the many failure, you You happened to meet
The and n, iSsr@y PEOPLE have both improved
They are better than ever before:
eS a. .ns msy sSr shouldn't
pause, YOU sinners. while yet there's time:
Put on the armor OF might and main
y. And GO to work With VIM
7 Of q. h' ,Bc woa sns vii TG say q the D'''
71ss, s,. Ar, are no longer the fools that were,
The same writer has evidently had eI-
peerience with some OF the learned 'bores
who are probably found in prison a. well
as out OF prison. He summarizes, such Q
bore in the following facetious verses:
There lives man In our town and he Is wondrous
Why. ali the things that tina, man knows would
II. al you % yS Th 81 Of Huxley and O, James,
II fact, his Uranium is full Of scientinc names.
lie undersands astronomy. knows the names OF
He even knows what's happening up in the planet
He's y.r,ed In ali the languages. in Latin and in
81 sssnns
M pm R s's ap PRISON. ns "a S.T an .sna .s
That man Rsp was e p guide the helm of the mighty
But S,si Where cleaned he e. this knowledge that he
andW ever he imagine. th.s ,hs others 81 hs sham
And AR are slzins him for something 'twixs polyp
The plsudi,s Of his fellow men may be won BY any
Who viii VIII md some way of mu..,,ns .h,, empty
Memorial day Ia the theme. for many
2 burst OF song from some OF the gray
haired men behind the bars. Sad must
the veteran who put his thoughts into
words while his comrades were holding
their national convention In Bost on last
Year. There are four stanzas ringing with
the glory of the flag and the valor OF his
comrades, the final being:
Ali how the veteran ranks are thinned by the
Since III: Sis q ss'sas R story lay O..hed in blood
How dim the eye, how hushea the lip. once resonant
When io Giory s"RE REs,leu.n inspired million strong
SLOW move the feet that swift and strong through
- bloody onsets whiried.
While deeds Of peerless courage thrilled watch
ful started world
The Mowers OF Northern valor with the fragrant
bloom Of May
Are coming. comrades coming. to recrown the
Blue and Gray
In all the songs and verse written behind
the prison bars that through the courtesy
OF Warden Bridges the writer was per-
mitted TO see not one touches peesimAtic
note; there seems always something to l3ok