Evening Republican, Volume 15, Number 67, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 March 1911 — The ONLOOKER [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

The ONLOOKER

“I’ve been a wicked man,” he said, “I’v* done a-many crimes; • r - I’ve shot at folks by way of jokes a half-a-dozen times; I’ve gone In broad daylight an’ stole a wldder’s fattened shoat / But though I’ve been a man o’ sin, I never-Sold my vote. “I’ve set fire to a tenement to see the engines run, > I’ve swiped the alms from blind men’s palms an’ thought that it was fun; An’ ones when It was bitter cold I took a cripple’s coat; I’ve scuttled ships on pleasure trips—but never sold my vote. “I’ve dynamited savings banks an’ skipped off with the cash; Gold bricks of brass I’ve made to pass with all a con man’s dash; I’ve been a counterfeiter too, an’ made a greasy note; I’ve held up trains out on the plains—but never sold my vote. “I’ve worked the shells at county fairs, an’ pockets, too, jt’ve picked: I’ve sold fake stocks in thousand blocks—the common I have tricked; Each victim’s tears were _ like three cheers whene'er I'd get his goat; Yet though, old pard, my heart was hard, I never sold my vote. ~ “I’ve burgled here and burgled there, an’ run a racin’ book; You’ll find my name Is one o’ fame with almost any crook; But set this down”—the dying breath was rattling In his throat—- “ Although I’ve been a man o’ sin, I never sold my vote.”