The mirror., 1914-07-02
A FRAGMENT OF
AUTOBIOGRAPHY
A Prisoner Tells the Story of His Life
and What Inspired Him to Become a
Better Man. He found the Good in
Mankind.
| SHALL BE SOMEBODY
By a Prisoner

L1y u TtSOHSJ
Ii ever man deliberately chose
a criminal career. | suppose it was
|. With malice aforethought' as
the legal sharps say, | matched my
wits against the might of the law
and laughed at them with my finger
to my nose for many year. | felt
that [ was justified, suppose, any
way | made believe that | did. |
was raised in a rough country,
amongst still rougher men. took
to gambling like duck takes to wa
ter After the Spanish American
war was over the trend of times
eradicated gaming as legitimate
vocation [ returned from the
Philippines to find that the open
towns | had known so well were
dead and buried. I resented this
encroachment upon what | consid-
cred my personal liberty. An Off
Ger attempted to arrest me on a
technical charge of gaming. He
made it a personal issue. and when
the smoke cleared away he had
stopped large bit of lead from a
forty-eight. To evade arrest
crossed the border. The man was
not seriously injured and friends
patched up the matter. That was
my first offense, | suppose, against
the letter of the law.
drifted deeper and deeper into
the undercurrent of crime. Always
| stood ready to take gambling
chance on anything. | made friends
in criminal circles. | found many
of them intelligent men-men you
could trust with your life OF your
last dollar-provided they were
your friends. In every port, in
every city. in every town found
.hem-and as a matter of fact it was
only short step from gambling to
downright stealing-in truth the
two are Synonymous. Get the
money" became my slogan. and by
hook and crook | got it.
Come Easy, Go Easy
Finding may be keeping-but
stealing isn't keeping by a long
shot. The faster | made money
the faster spent it. Criminal law
yers are expensive luXuries and
many of my purloined iron men
went to fatten the bank accounts of
respectable criminals. | played
with politics long enough to find
that the game was seven shades
more disreputable than highway
robbery. Being on the inside | dis
covered only rottenness and graft.
When United States congressman
approached me with a criminal pro-
position | jumped at the conclusion
that they were all of the same ilk.
Actually | had ceased to believe
that honesty existed. | considered
it fable or myth manufactured by
wise guys" to discriminate among
the initiated. Personally | found
more manhood and honor amongst
my associates of the profession"
than amongst the asi-criminals of
the so-called respectable class.
With one exception, be it truthfulIy
told, and that exception the much
berated heather Chinee. Trere may
be Chinese crooks, but there are no
crooked Chinese; that is they always
do just what they say that they will
do, and you can gamble on their
word.
Understand that my opinion of
the world was formed from what |
saw with my own eyes. Now |
know that my vision was distorted.
| hadn't cultivated the right sort of
friends. Possibly that was alto
gether my own fault-but no one
ever tried to cultivate my friend
ship, l was an outcast and / knew
it. Decent people turned up their
noses at me. and in time 1 came to
pride myself on my isolation.
Never for moment did l allow
any one to deceive himself concern
ing my vocation, Many a chap has
hurried away from my proximity as
if I had the yellow jack'' when in
answer to his query I'd reply. MY
profession? Oh, l am a gambler"
And if I'd added and thief, III guess
they'd have broken their necks. So
wags the world!
Time to Think
Well, the prison never even dent
ed my splrit--it gave me an oppor-
tunity to think. found upon GO
ing over the ground that I'd been
playing against a bigger percentage