Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-03-07

6
We're crowded when we arrived. and
we had to push our way in. Later,
other loads arrived from other pre-
; cincts and the men they brought
showed in behind us until it seemed
as though not another body could be
| squeezed in.
The room is about 90 feet long
and 90 feet wide and fully 125 men
were damned in there. standing so
close together that it was an effort
to turn around and breathing was
Il difficulty. 1t was like cattle crowd
ed into the stock yards. The black
hole of Calcutta was an airy palace
in comparison. Virtually all of the
prisoners were slowly recovering from
the effects of liquor and in the throes
Of hang overs. Everybody was cough
ing, sneezing. splitting, and the air
was fetid.
A Sardine i'm Can.
Splitting was a delicate art. as
there was scarcely any floor space
left to hit. and shoes and trousers
suffered as a result. / found myself
half way across the cell wedged in
between three evil smelling brutes,
and there | stayed for some time,
seeing no place better to go. There
were benches around the wall. but
these were occupied by 80 of the first
arrivals. with others continuously
being pushed into their laps. Glanc-
ing up, / was suddenly aware that
one of the late arrivals was an old
f,i1 oF 10 CT "A or "
out Of place in a top coat, derby and
white muffler and obviously WAS
there on some speeding charge. Fear
ing recognition and embarrassing en-
plantations, I beat Il haSty retreat. Or
rather, with much squirming and
pushing and Glowing. | was able to
wiggle my way slowly to the far COR
ner of the room. / kept my face to
to WALL but surreptitiously peered
around for other familiar faces.
Here it was that l was startled 10
hear a certain large gentleman eX-
planning to the whole world in gen.
eral how we'll he knew a certain per-
son on The Star (Which same person
happened to be mel and how this
great pal of his would fix up anything
he wanted and how he was going to
write many editorials for The Star
exercising the entire police system of
Washington for the terrible injustice
done him.
I had never seen the gentleman
before, but fearing recognition, again
moved on still further.
And Now for Breakfast
The first hour was taken up with
questioning the members of the as
sembled mob concerning previous ar
rests, the great majority admitting
more or less recent visits to the same
courthouse for not approaching the
seriousness of the eighteenth amend
ment.
Then breakfast was served. TWO
colored boys with cans of coffee and
boxes of sandwiches tried to supply
the hungry mob through a window
but so dense was the congestion that
only a few could reach the window
and move away until a whirlpool
method was started wherein the
whole crowd of struggling humanity
rotated in one solid mass, until finally
everybody had passed the window and
exchanged his ticket for one sand
wich and lineup of coffee, continu-
ing on with the current. usually
having most of the coffee iostled out
of the cup down some one else's
back. The coffee was a gift Of the
gods, but the sandwich l slipped
into my pocket.
The Hour of Judgment.
After what seemed an eternity
10 o'clock arrived, court was opened
and, a few at a time. the men were
let out, disappeared up an aisle and
into the courtroom. soon to return TO
announce that Judge Mcdonald was
on the bench. Most of the old
timers heaved signs of relief and re-
counted former fortunate experiences
before him. AS each in turn came
back, he was bombarded with the
same question asked many times,
"Whaju get?" The answers varied;
10 days, 15 days. 20 days, but some
few had been let off because 1t was
their first cffense. There was where
l made my worst mistake.
had been sent to Jail to study
conditions and ] must get to Jail. Inc
judge must give me at least days:
If not 10, so that l could get to jail
and see the inside, If he didn't. all
these preliminaries would go Tor
naught and the bottle breaking pro-
cedure must be gone through again
which would mean another night In
a precinct cell and another day In
that packed courthouse cell. 1t was
my first offense and probably the
kindly judge would let me on. l
determined to be hard-boiled and
make him send me up. And l was
and he did.
My turn came presently and l
skunk into the courtroom ana TOOK
my place on a bench with dozen
others to await my turn. The court
room was crowded. Several people
looked at me and laughed. l thought
/ had been recognized. Two or three
lawyers knew walked past and l
tried to look worse so they wouldn't
pierce my disguise. The Judge was
in a rare good humor. He seemed
jolly to every one.
Just drinking cider, Ell? Stagger-
ing on two glasses of cider? You
better stick to milk after thls' ne
was saying to the man before nc.
l decided to be tough.
l was before him. lie scowled at
me. I scowled back.