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[page 1, column 2, continued:]
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. . . There was a gentleman named Joseph Locke, who had made himself
especially obnoxious, through his pertinacity in reporting the
pranks
of the cadets. At West Point, a "report" is no every day matter, but a
very serious thing. Each "report" counts a certain number against the
offender
— is charged to his account — and, when the whole exceeds a stated sum,
he is liable to dismissal. Mr. Poe, it appears, wrote a long lampoon
against
this Mr. Locke, of which the following are the only stanzas preserved:
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As for Locke, he is all in my eye,
May the d—l [[devil]] right soon for his soul call.
He never was known to lie --
In bed at reveille "roll call."
John Locke was a notable name;
Joe locke is a greater; in short,
The former was well known to fame,
But the latter's well known "to report."
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| The result
of all this was just what he intended. For some time
Colonel
Thayer, to whose good offices the young cadet had been personally
recommended
by General Scott, overlooked these misdemeanors. . . . |
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