The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-06-07
TRIES ID BLEED THE POOLROOM MAN Fake Reporter Gets Up a Big
 Story BUT GRANADAY WON'T PAY Daring Attempt at Blackmail Fails and Leary Goes Back To Poker For
 Living-Tiresome
 Tick Took.
BUT GRANADAY WON'T PAY

Ieary, the policy man, hadn't writer
 up a book in three weeks. One of Su
 rerintendent Hamiltons men had trailec
 runner to Leary's shop, and thougl
 leary had sloughed off the evidence be
 fore the super called. he had to lister
 to a whole lot of straight talk iron
 Hamilton that irked his sensitive soul
 T got your number, buddy" the su
 rerntendent had said, and any time
 catch you with so much as stylus IT
 iand you in the hoosgow as sure as youi
 name ain't Leary.''
 Leary gave plenty of attention to wha
 Hamilton said, for Hamilton had a rec
 ord of 100 per cent convictions in tn,
 mater of the poke outfits, and you don l want to go against a game as strong as
 that. At least Leary didn't want to. He
 eased his mind by hoping Hamilton
 would choke
 Pending this deliverance Leary Ian | guished He couldn't write up any more l books, because Hamilton and the Judge l Whitman people were out on the look 1 see. and the packer allowed he wasn't 1 going to carry a dead one on the books l indefinitely. So Leary reviled everybody l he could remember. and his heart was ] sore within him. The poke game hadn 1 Dtt0 d IOTlune, lOi llt WdS Oul9 o t- lS per center. and the play hadn't averaged more than 15 bucks for the morning drawing and about the same for the aft ernoon But 1t had been a living and that was all Leary cared about, for n } was a piker Three or four dollars day from the poke play, added to what might be realized from dog stealing, Kept Leary as well as he had any idea Jf Icing kept.
 fIa ron of Paddy Pigs select atelier, Leary saw a Boston bulldog making friendly motions, to which he was quick to respond. The dog owner was registered up to about the l0-drink mark, and incapable of telling whether the bull belonged to him or the Union, and Leary had little trouble in turing the brindled beast over to the free lunch counter, and thence to the rear room, where MT. Dog was snapped up with the ever-present chain that was a part or Leary's working plans and specifications.
 So the poke writer and the Boston bull strolled out of the thirst parlor sociably enough and shortly thereafter made triumphant entry in Granadays just about the time Fingers was setting out the little pads for the players to write their guesses on.
 A bulldog always appeals to sporting persons and the subject of the fifteenth amendment, and Leary had to answer lot of questions and cut into several drinks as the regulars idled around him and his charge.
 They been putting the blocks to me lately" explained Leary. 'I lose $2OO to Roseben the last time out, and I'm down to the cloth. That's why l got this nut on my staff. Belongs to my wife, and she thinks more of him than she does of twins, but l got to let him go. Taking hlm over to the Knickerbocker. guy over there under the King Cole sign IS going to buy him for 50 hard men. l wouldn't let him go only need the change"
 You been reading the Three Witches Dream Books, :" sneered Granadoy. You ought to leave that stuff to the poke play CTS At that, I'll give you $4 for the brute Where'd you swipe him?"
 Pretty soft for that guy, Granaday,' said Leary to the man next him.
 ''Oh, I don't know said his neighbor. '.Of course he holds a lot of the take in, the biggest part, I guest, but his ex- penses must be something fierce. You can't get the sort of protection he must have without coming across strong.
 Then, he's bound to be a mark for any body that comes along and makes roise like an elbow"
 Well, he'd ought to get shook down good and proper the way he takes ad- vantage of the poor fellows that come Tn here" said the righteous Leary, who a few weeks before was writing gigs, horses and saddles for the pennies the women of his neighborhood had pawned the babies shoes to get.
 Yes, Leary unused as he walked away after the last race, somebody ought to gather from Granaday, and why not that l somebody Leary? It would be fine to | roll this cocky. self-satisfied Granaday, | who ever had sheer for the honest | workingman as represented by the 1 l earys and whose remarks on the sub- l iect of dogflesh and the manner Of It's acquiring were not bit popular with
 the gent at whom they were directed. l Leary wasn't at all sure how Granaday was to be turned off. It would have 10
 pe a new wheeze, for the poolroom mar 1 was MT Wise when it came to any of
 the old standbys of the separationists. 1 Pounding his brain pan for the righ, 1 idea Leary brought up abruptly before | the side entrance of Mulligan Bros.
 house of call, where they set out the l biggest beer in all Eighth avenue Nat 1 uraIly enough. Leary drifted through the 1 swinging doors, for there might be 8
 buyer on the premises, and also there ! might be a chance to interest the Mulli- l gans in a policy book which they would l back themselves, unbeknown to the syn dicate, and in the profits of which MT Leary would share.
 None of the Mulligans was in evidence but at the end of the bar the Tiresome Tick Took was lingering over the maxi mum scuttle, making 1t last as long as possible for the reason that when this
 one was consumed there was no telling
 when an encore would be sounded. The
 Tiresome Tick Tock-so-called because his real name sounded something like that
 and also because the designation ntteo him like the bark fits the tree-never knew where the next drink was coming
 from, but Providence looked after the
 Tiresome one. and he seldom went thirsty to sleep.
 The Tick Tock somewhere along about the time Stanley was working for the elder Bennett, had worked an entire week as copy boy on an afternoon pa
 per. and ever since had spoken of him. self as a journalist. Whenever he rode Tn
 the elevated he gathered all the discard ed papers, and with these tucked under his arm blew briskly through the streets. anno,incing to all who would listen that he was hurrying on to report the Iha" trial or the democratic convention or whatever news feature happened to be ,,npermost at the time. Although so lm- nortantly employed, the Tick Took always found time in his journey through llle to pause by the way long enough to ac- cent all invitations extended by the anti- prohbitonist forces
 The sight of the Tick Took with his | shabby shoe on the dingy brass raii oi inc Mulligan Brothers bar was in- | spired to Leary, the poke man. He | thought rapidly and then wrench ed | tn