J G Cannon
WASHINGTON, D. C.,
JUNE, 1922.



PREFACE

"Where were you previous to the eighth and immediately
subsequent thereto?" asked the city attorney.

The prisoner looked sheepish and made no answer. A box car had
been robbed on the eighth and this man had been arrested in the
freight yards. He claimed to be a steel worker and had shown the
judge his calloused hands. He had answered several questions
about his trade, his age and where he was when the policeman
arrested him. But when they asked him what he had been doing
previous to and immediately subsequent thereto, he hung his head
as if at a loss for an alibi.

I was city clerk at the time and had been a steel worker. I
knew why the man refused to answer. He didn't understand the
phraseology.

"Where were you previous to the eighth and immediately
subsequent thereto?" the attorney asked him for the third time.

All the prisoner could do was look guilty and say nothing.