Mr.Walsh was the predecessor of our present coroner, Mr.Maginn.How Mr.Walsh was elected he informed me in these words: "You know," said Mr.Walsh, "that I didn't want that position.

When they talked of nominating me, I told them, says I, 'It's no use; you needn't elect me; I'm not going to serve.

D'you s'pose I'm going to give up a respectable business to become a kind of State undertaker?
I'm opposed to this _post-mortem_ foolery, any way.

When a man's blown up with gunpowder, it don't interest me to know what killed him; so you needn't make me coroner, for I won't serve.' "Well, do you believe that they persisted in nominating me on the Republican ticket--actually put me up as a candidate?
So I published a letter declining the nomination; but they absolutely had the impudence to keep me on the ticket and to hold mass-meetings, at which they made speeches in my favor.

I was pretty mad about it, because it showed such a disregard of my feelings; and so I chummed in with the Democrats, and for about two months I went around to the Democratic mass-meetings and spoke against myself and in favor of the opposition candidate.