The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-08-09

conditions which he has set forth in
"Tammanys Tithes" with tragic force.
And any man on the force might make
the same criticism of "Tammanys
Tithes" that was made Of "The Smoke
Eaters"-that it Is not literature" I;
that 1t was not written by real
author; for that too bears the evidence
of reality.
IT'S a dirty game, politics. They're
a gang of fakers," declares the patrol
man who has been pounded at Head
quarters, in "Tammany's Tithes." And
the old Waterman. who in his turn has
tried to fight Tammany and been
broken" answers: ITS like ivry-
thin ilse. It's what we make av it..
But 1t takes big men to play it big an
the little men 1t makes little shysters.
Man alive. IL we Irish had the men to
lead us! II we had the men! We
stick to such as we have-we vote fer
thin. an believe in thin whin iv'ry one
ilse is peltin' thin with prosecutions
an by God, they chate us, an sell us,
an laugh at us-laugh at us!--till
some one ilse sends thin to Jail fer
slealin' from us! An even thin do we
give thin up? No, sor! It's the curse
av loyalty that's on us-the curse av
loyalty! / mind the day when I'd we
bit off me thumb fer Bill Tweed"
81 am told" said Mr.. O'Higgins, that
'Tammany's Tithes' was reprinted as a
campaign document in a fight against
Tammany, but l am sceptical of that
because l never saw the reprint. An
other of the stories, The Hired Man.
had a curious recognition. About the
time that 1t was printed in Golfers
there was strike on the Canadian Pa
cific Railway. meeting of the traffic
managers of the Grand Trunk Railway
Of Canada was called to take measures
to avert a similar difficulty with their
employees. At this meeting the general
superintendent of the road spoke In
favor of a certain policy toward the
men. of which his hearers expressed
doubts. Well he said at the end of
the argument, 4 have probably not
made myself very clear. I'll send you
copies Of an article that states the case
as l see it, And in a few days he sent
them copies OF Golfers with The Hired
Man marked. That is the kind of criti-
cism that makes short story writing
seem worth while"
An omlnous and'dreadful reality under
lies "Silent Sam which a well known
authority on penology and prison re-
form has declared the strongest story
Of the kind that has ever been written.
Sam Daneen, sentenced to prison for life
for train wrecking, was a real man, and
his tragedy was truth. though Daneen
was not his name and Mr.. O'Higgins
has not disclosed the geography of the
story. Silent Sam" was the poor hobo
on whom the railroad hung the respon-
sbillty of the wreck in which thirty
people We're killed, thereby saving the
paying of damages by the road, and the
railroad was able TO hang this response
bility on the poor hobo because the case
came to the court whose judge had been
backed by the railroad at his nomina-
ton to the bench and had been doing
the railroads dirty work" ever since.
The warden knew that "Slent Sam
had been "jobbed." But the warden
knew also as a politician that he
couldn't NEEDLE with any decree of in
justice that had been inspired by the
great D. and c. 1t made the Govern
ors; 1t picked the legislatures; 1t nomi-