Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1907-03-27

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act he not only made. himself ridicu-
Ious. but fell into the clutches of the
very element that had endeavored to
throw him out of office. All attempts
to defend him against himself had
failed. His headstrong unreasoning
nature had finally landed him.
The spectacle was one that no news
paper could overlook. Both Rock Is
land papers referred to it in their news
columns. but the fact The Argus, be-
cause of it's standing and influence,
though it had gone to all reasonable
lengths in its fairness of spirit toward
McCaskrin, could not forget its mis-
sion as a newspaper and suppress this
bit of information, was more than Nc
Caskrin could stand. He was in
frenzy. He was beside himself. He
paid no attention to the Union, but
with a copy of The Argus in his hand
he tore through the streets. He did
net think of the gambling houses that
had brought about the embarrassing
circumstance, and the proprietors of
which stood grinning in their door
ways, but he rushed into the cigar
stores and ordered out the slot ma
chimes. exhibiting The Argus as a rea-
son for his course. "CHARGE 1T TO
THE ARGUS" was his admonition.
Then he closed the saloons Sundays,
all to spite The Argus. He made a
public exhibition of the destruction of
the slot machines. Lining up his po-
licemen at o'clock in the evening. he
made a grandstand play of destroying
the machines with an ak. He got
OUT on parade Sunday mornings,
and flanked by policemen, made
personal inspection of the saloons
to see that none of them was open.
BY this time he was completely in the
control of the unhoiy element from
which but a short time before he had
been saved. That element was in Joyful
gIee. McCaskrin distributed with his own
hands and had his policemen deliver in
the street cars lying and sIanderous
literature directed against The Argus
and indicted by the same elements
from which The Argus had done its
part to deliver him. He was rampant
and furious. and all but totally ire
sponsible. He accepted the commenda-
tory resolutions OF the ministerial as
scciations in the good faith with which
they were offered and at the same time
was telling the saloon men that as soon
as The Argus let up on him he would
open them up again.
With a mayor that the paper had
done its best to be patient with, and who
had nevertheless run amuck and into
trouble in the face of every endeavor
to hold him back, thus publicly assail-
ing that paper, and worst of all, laying
at its door the responsibility for the
fool he was making Of himself, what
would the average citizen have done
had he been in The Argus place?
Would he have fought or would he have
been passive?
WANTED TO Kill. THE TOWN.
Among ether threats McCaskrin had
declared that ne would TIE THE
TOWN UP TIGHTER THAN A DRUM
AND HAVE GRASS GROWING IN
THE EETS WITHIN SIX
MONTHS TIME. There were scores
of business men who took him at his
word, and they came to The Argus
office Petitioning that it be patient with
him, overlook his irresponsible antics
and for the sake of the city to bear
with him until he had worked off his
temper. To these entreaties The Argus
yielded, Notwithstanding that day after
| day the paper became the subject oil
abuse and fasehood for which McCask
rim was responsible ard coming from
the very sources from which he hac
once been rescued. He was in thu
hands of his former enemies swapping
at his former friends.
! Among other things that McCaskrir
had done in his rage was to defiantIJ
declare that there were no immora
dives in Rock Island. no places harbor
/ ing women for dsreputabIe purposes
1t was not long after this before the
sheriff upon the advice of the state.
attorney went out on a raidnq expedi
ton and gathered up p women in tn,
notorious dives. McCaskrin heard o
the sheriff's movements and started hi
own men cut in post haste, and the,
gathered in II. McCaskrin was ther
ENRAGED AT THE SHERIFF FOF
"SHOWING HIM UP" Numerous 9th
er Saturday night raids followed, ant
finally, just at the close of the frs
year of the McCaskrin administration
the council passed a stunning resoIu
ticn upon the petition of AZ saloon keer
ers, and which were all again ope
Sundays by this time, so that the resc
luton could not he construed as spite
fui, condemning the Iaxity on the par
of the police department in enforcin
the law against the saloons of low typ
harborinq women.
During the winter the moral atmo.
phere grew from had to worse, one on
growth being the tragic ending of
gamblers life by his own hand.
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