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The Macon Daily Telegraph
SECOND SECTION
I EIGHT PACES ?
ESTABLISHED IN 1826. -
MACON, GA, SUNDAY MORNING, DECEMBER 13, 1908
DAILY, 17.00 A YEAR,
AGED SKIPPER IN STATE’S PRISON
MAKES HEART-TOUGHING APPEAL
TO AUTHORITIES FOR A PARDON
1|'*W
lr, Rum, Hell’s Prime Minister,
Ruin.’
I drank enorm6ua 'quantities of liquor,
never holding 1 tip until the last cent I
Sole Cause of Mv had WAS exhausted. I never met a
* man upon whom liquor haa the same
effect aa upon me, changing .my whole
nature. Aa I cannot' command lan-
guage which would carry to you any
conception of the utterly traneformlng
effect liquor haa upon me—how. after
being deprived of It at the close of a
spree, the burning hell It leaves goads
ALL HANDS AGAINST HIM" iwaW-JMSS:
nni,uu nwn,llul HHw mg thirst—I simply repeat that rum.
hell's prlilie minister, was the sole
r .use of my ruin and my being where
am today.
When
“WHEN A MAN FETCHES UP
U. W. Hart Waa Bom In 1828 and Haa
8«en Service on Many Seas, Follow
fng all the Trades From Plain Sailor
Before the Mast to Master of a
Clipper Shijr—After Enjoying Confi-
dence of some of the Largest Ship
Owners, Among Whom Was Com
modore Vanderbilt, He Fell Victim
to Rum, Which Brought Him Ruin-
Convicted in Chatham Court of Bur
glary in 1907 and it Now on State
Farm—Novel Appeal in Prose and
Verse Filled With Pathos and Hu
man Interest. • ,*
ATLANTA, Dec. 18.—J. W. Hart, a
white man. who was born In 1828 and
has known, through a service of more
than a half century, all tho trades of
the sea from that of a plain sailor be
fore the mast to that of skipper of a
merchantman; who sailed the Pacific
before? Japan was opened to modern
commerce by Conynodore Perry; who
was in the ports of Franco In the days
of Louis Phllllpe; who ran blockades
In southern ports during tho civil war;
who Is now languishing In his 81st
year at the state prison farm, has ap
pealed to Governor Hoke Smith and
the state prison commission for a par
don. The unusual history of tho ap
plicant Is no more remarkable than
the odd nature of the Application,
which has been made in verse.
A Remarkable Appeal.
The documents containing the ap
peal for mercy.- as made by the aged
Hart, will live as among the foremost
human-interest documents In the
archives of the state of Georgia. HIs
letters to the governor and the com
mission evince a literary talent that
In one of younger years might he de
Veloped Into, genius; they bear a
breath of the sea suggestlvo of Rue
eell, and a philosophy .that has a hint
of Kipling. For one who has “gone
the gaits’* to which tho writer con
fesses for a period of more than sixty
years, they are more than remarkable.
Story of Hart’s Crime.
J. W. Hart was convicted of bur
glary in the superior court of Chat
ham county In 1907. He was sent to
the penitentiary to serve a term of
three years In September of that
year.
•He was seht to the state farm,
where he has been permitted to live
In comparative comfort He begs the
privilege, however, of being sot free
and allowed to go New York and
npend the remainder of his itays at
the “Sailor’s Snug Harbor” on Staten
Island, to which he contributed with
liberal hand during his prosperous
days and to which tie la entitled to
admission.
Attributes Crime to Whisky.
Nothing.Is known at the offices of
the commission here about his crime,
but he makes no denial of the offense.
His only defense la whisky, to which
tie attributes all the misfortunes of
his old age.
"Whether the quotation, 'An open
confession Is good for the soul,' has
nr.y foundation In fact or not,” says
this aged prisoner In one of the most
remarkable human documents ever
addressed to tho governor of Georgia,
**I hereby openly acknowledge that I
am a criminal. But in doing so I
would wish to most especially Jmjfres#
upon your excellency the fact that If
I were ever a professional criminal,
or if I* had ever resorted to crime for
the purpose of accumulating ill-gotten
gains, or had I ever even resorted to
crime to obtailn a living, or If l had
not been goaded on by acoursed rum
to do what haa made me an inmate
of the penitentiary—oa far as the east
Is from the west so far would X be
from asking any consideration or
mercy from any of my species of this
earth.
His Life 8tory.
•1 am a sailor by profession, and
waa launched upon the tea of life the
28th dey of April, 1828, went to sea
In the year 1844. followed a nautical
life for over forty years and occasion
ally up to the ’90s of the last century.
I am now an old wreck. 80 years old,
and am about as useless ns n spare
anchor aboard ship. But though I be
wrecked physically. I am not suffi
ciently wrecked mentally to prevent
my telling the truth, and In making
this appeal to youi mercy. I purpose to
abide by the truth pure and simple.
“Rum—Infernal Rum."
“Very naturally you will Inquire.
•How Is It that you. after filling all
the pesltlons aboard ship from deck
•weeper to master of a clipper ship;
after enjoying tho confidence of some
of the largest ship owners in this
country (Commodore Vanderbilt being
among them)—how was It you have
fetched up In state’* prison?’. One
word will answer the question—rum.
Infernal rum—was the sole cause of
my wreck and ruin.
How Drink Habit Was Fastened.
rtod of the civil war. when I entered
the blockade running business, as It
requires constant watchfulness and
much mental anxiety, caused m.» to
resort to liquor as a mental sslaee.
From that period I date the beginning
eff my downfall. Though I never was
a besottadi disgusting drunkard, stag
gering amm the streets Vullowfng in
tho gutter making a nuisance «f my
self as the year* rolled on. I became
addicted to spree*. While they lasted.
Men’* Down He’s Kicked.
“Though It be a fact that when a
man fetches up as I have fetched up.
on the lee ehbro of adversity, with,
excepting a few broadminded and
human men, every man's hand, and
voice, too, for that matter, is against
him; though his word Is no more re^
garded than 4hat of a Baron Mum
chausen—were I summoned into the
the presence of tho Almighty and the
Inquiry made of me. ‘Aro you Innate
ly bad; did you resort to crime by
choice?’—If I should reply ‘yes’ r
would h« a liar after the order of An
anias.”
In a letter to the prison commission,
submitting a copy of the poetic plead
ing which he had formerly made to
the Governor. Mr. Hart says;
Appeal to Prison Board,
'H am venturlnr to approach you as
I have, in verse, hut I would wish to
especially Impress upon your minds
tho fact that I have not done so la
boring under the delusion that I am a
poet after the order of Homer or Vir
gil, or even that I am tho poet-lau-
roate of the Georgia penitentiary. iBut
I have done so because there are two
ways of presenting' my case—prose
and verse. And though I have no as
surance that my verse Is worth the
lead exhausted In writing it. I have.
In approaching you gentlemen, chosen
the versified form by mason that. If
verse has tho least merit. It Is just as
much or more liablo to awaken
thoughtful consideration ns prose.
"As the Scriptural quotations and
language employed by me In my ap-
pml to your mercy may carry to you
gentlemen the Impression that I am
striving to pose before you robed In
jpure and undented Christianity. I here
wish to most especially Impress upon
your npnds the fact that however low
I may hare-fallen I'have not fallen so
far In self-respect and manhood as to
attempt to beguile your compassion
with a religious cloak. While a crimi
nal Is presumed to hose his plea for
mercy on reformation, it would be non
sense for a fallen man like me to seek
In under the cover of Christianity.”
Ho favors the-authorities with his
opinion on morals, public and prlvuto.
The Smitten Criminal.
“Regardless of tha fact that tho
common crimnal may have redeemng
qualities,” he says, “the haqd of every
inan, excepting tho compassionate few.
Is raised against him—and that re
gardless of tho multi-millionaire’s pl-
ratlcnlly-gotten wealth, which, like
charity seems to cover an ocean of
sine, when such criminals as he doles
out to charity a morsel of his blood
stained plunder, those whose hands,
yea, and voices, too, are raised against
the like of me, lift up their voices and
chant to an eagfer listening world tho
pirate’s saintly benevolence(?). And
though the low-cast criminal may bo
far above the moral plane of the pi
ratical millionaire, tho selfsame minds
will have Just as much confidence In
the former's guilt as they have In the
power of tho sacrament to absolve
themselves from sin.
“The moment the lowcast crlmlnn!
attempts to demonstmte that he Is not
the chief of sinners, that he Is not to
tally depraved, though he may not,
like those who cheerfully and uner
ringly cast stones at him. dally Invoke
the Lord to not lead him into tempta
tion, he Is branded as a lineal deacen
dant of Ananals.
The 8*rmon on ths Mount.
'But while I am as void of Chris
tlanlty ai I am of friends, I have the
greatest respect for the Christian pure
and simple, one who practices what he
preache* «nd professes Mo believe.
According to my light the Christian
church is founded on the Sermon on
the Mount. If thoro Is any portion
of the New Testament I have respect
for It is tho Sermon on the Mount.
And Its charity towards fallen men,
Ita brotherly love and tender solici
tude for fallen men like me. makes It
a defender of mercy. And.perchance
the author of that sermon had this
Idea In iplnd when he exclaimed In
tones that echoed down the ages and
whose echo will not cease till tho eiyd
of time:
“'Blessed are the merciful for they
shall Inherit the earth.’”
Mr. Hart atates that while on
tramp stumer plying between New
York andJaeksonvlllc, he went Ashore
with some friends, heoame drunk and
lost both money and passage. The
spree was continued and he drifted to
Savannah, where he committed the
crime for which he was sentenced.
Longs for Sailor's Home.
He sayp that his sea-service entitles
him to admission Into the home for
salolors on Staten Island, besides the
fact that for fifteen years of his pros
perous day he was a liberal contribu
tor to the support of that Institutlqn.
He begs leave to retnm there and
spend the last days of his life among
old fellow tollers of the sea.
The poem, which constitutes his di
rect appeal to the authorities Is as
follows;
By jTwThART.
“The days of our years are three
•core years and ten; and If by rea
son of strength they be four score!
years, yet Is there strength, labor and
sorrow.’’—Psalms.
iBendlng ’neeth a burden of life’s re-
And the crashing weight of eighty
years.
In thlnrulsejl
Frail mortals seek when stem death
E9
i
THE DIXIE CO.’S
Grand Introductory Sale!
TO EMBRACE ENTIRE STOCK AND CONTINUE FOR
15 DA VS ONLY
AT 454 THIRD STREET
Having moved our Millinery business to the second floor and converted the entire
ground floor into a store for the sale of Men’s and Boys’ Clothing, Furnishings,
Hats, Shoes, etc., we are desirous of quickly acquainting the public with the excel
lent quality'of the merchandise we are handling ,and the more than moderate prices
which prevail on the entire line.
liberal Reductions on Entire Stock to All who Call During Next 15 Days
We Guarantee You a Clean Saving of $2.50 to $7.50 on Every Suit
SUITS that you pay
for elsewhere $12.50 we
sell you just as
' good for only
SUITS priced you at
$35 for $27.50 and
$27.50 and $25
suits for $22.50and*P""
SUITS priced all over
town $20 and $16 we
easily duplicate
| _ | t here for $15 and
Overcoats and Odd Pants at Like Reductions and EveryGarmentGuar-
anteed Strictly New—All Received in Stock Within the Last 30' Days
“ROYAL” BRAND CLOTHES FOR BOYS—Guaranteed Absolutely the Best Values at the Prices Asked Ever
in Macon. Mothers, Bring Your Boy and See How Cheaply You Can Clothe Him Here.
Hats and Caps
FOR (*
Men and Boys
All this Seasons Styles, both Soft and
Stiff. Our regular prices lower than
same grades have ever been sold in p
Macon. During this sale SPECIAL j !
REDUCTIONS will be made on the
entire line.
Trunks, Bags, Suit Cases
We have a particularly well selected stock of these, bought with
the view to convenient arrangement and durability,’ combined with
unusually reasonable prices. During this Sale Special Reductions.
Gent's Furnishing Goods
Our Stock is all New and of the very latest designs. Everything
sold on CLOSER MARGINS than any other store. ' ,
Shoes for Men and Women
O UR Stock is strictly NEW, bought direct
from Factories; made to our order with
special view of combining Style with Wearing
Qualities. PRICES uniformly lower than at
any other store supplying GUARANTEED
SHOES.' Special Values in Children’s and
Infants’ Shoes. During this Sale Extra Dis
count throughout this Department.
t pleading for those
f\ 9aMd n/mavfmawit Is now located on the SECOND FLOOR*—
Our Millinery Department Elevator right at front door-and is supplied
with the largest and most varied assortment of Ladies’ Hats to be found in this City and at
PRICES UNIFORMLY THE LOWEST,*
Ukc my f.llnwmwi «!n« th« rrrtlkm—
(Cont<nu.d ,n Pag. Tw«)
454 Third THE DIXIE COMPANY
Street
Macon,
Ga.
PHB aw