Sioux City register. [volume] (Sioux City, Iowa) 1858-1871, 1859-07-21
From the Ban Francisco (Cal) Golden Era.
THE OLD CARTMAN.
BY BLUNDERBUSS.

have mind to tell little story. That
it is brief may be seen at q glance; that it
is true, l most emphatically vow. If the
reader despise it because of the first, or
the editors Of the Era reject it for the
reason of the last, then will l eschew
truth in the future. and devote myself to
the elaboration Of lies into chapters and
the purest fctions into volumes of seven.
teen hundred pages each.
once to iaAAad tha. FIVE years aHss5 SGD, g! g!
thereabouts, John Ainsley-or Pap Aims
ley as he was familiarly called--was the
owner of handca.t, and earned living
by conveying miscellaneous parcels from,
one section Of the city to another, and re-
ceiving therefor the reasonable remunera-
ton Of fifty cents per load. To designate
the occupation in the prossiest language
possible, he was hand.csrt man, and
when not employed, could always be found
at the corner of Montgomery and Califor.
MIA streets. His hair and long beard were
quite grey and his limbs feeble and if he
could not shove as heavy a load through
the deep sand or up the steep grade above
him as the stalwart Teuton on the oppo-
site corner, thereby losing many a lob
and many a dollar, all the light loads in
the neighborhood fell to bis lot, and kind
hearted men net unfrequently travelled q
square or two out of their way to give an
easy job to "Pap Ainsley."
Four years ago last September, II re-
collect the month, for had note of four
thousand dollars to pay, and was COM
PEELED to do some pretty sharp financier-
ing to meet it, having two or three dozen
volumes of books to transfer to my lodr-
ing, gave "Pap Ainsley" the task of
transportation. Arriving at my room jus,
as he had depo sited the last armful on the
table, aud observing that the old man
looked considerably fatigued, after climb.
ing three flights of stairs FIVE or six times
invited him to take glass of brandy
bottle Of which usually kept in my
room, for medicinal and soporiic purpo.
ses. Although grateful for the invitation,
he politely declined. urged, but he was
infexible. l was astonished.
DO you ne~e, drink p sasu L.
very seldom he replied, dropping
into chair, at my request, and wiping
the prespiration from his forehead.
Well, if you drink at ALL ! insisted,
you will not find in the next twelve
months as fair an excuse for indulging,
for you appear tatigned and scarcely able
to stand.
To be frank, said the old man, Il do
not drink now. | have not tasted intox-
cating liquor for fifteen years-since-'
Since when ? inquired, thoughtless>
ly, observing his hesitation.
The old man told me. Sixteen years
ago, he was well-to,do farmer near Sy>
rucuse, New York. He had but one
child-a daughter. While attending a
boarl.ng.school in tha. city, the girl, then
but sixteen years of age, formed an at
tachment for young physician. Ae,
quainting her father with the circumstan-
ces, he fatty refused his consent to her
union with man he had never seen. and
removing her from school dispatched a
note to the young gallant,l with the some.
wat pointed Information that his pre-.
sence in the neighborbood of Ainsley
farm would not meet with favor. The
reader of course surmises the result, for
such proceeding could and can have
but one result. In less than q month
there was an elopement The father
loaded his double barreled shot, gun, and
swore vengeance, but failing to find the
fugitives, he took to the bottle. His good
wife implored him not to give why to des-
pair, but he drank the deeper, and accus-
ed her of encouraging the elopcment.
In three months the wife died. and at
the expiration of year, when the young
couple returned to Syracuse from Connec-
ticnt, where they had remained with the
parents Of the husband, they learned that
the old man, after the death of his wife,
of which they had of course been appris-
ed, had sold his farm, squandered the pro
ceeds, and was almost destitute. Learn
ing Of their arrival, Ainsley drank him.
self into a frenzy, and proceeding to the
hotel where they were stopping, attacked
the husband, wounded him in the arm
with pistol shot, and then attempted the
life of his daughter, who, happily, escap-
ed uninjured through the interposition Of
persons brought 10 the spot by the repor,
Of the pistol.
Ainsley was arrested, tried and acauit-
ted on the plea of insanity. The daughter
and her husband returned to Connecticut
since which time, the father had not
heard from them. lIe was sent to the
lunatic asylum, from which he was dis.
missed after remaining six months. In
1851 he came to California. He had fol-
lowed mining for two years. but finding
his strength unequal to the pursuit, re-
turned to this city, purchased hand cart,
and - the rest is known. Since then,
concludce tho old man. bowing his face
in bis bands in agony, 4 have not tasted
liquor. nor have ] seen my poor child !
regretted that had been SO inquisitive,
and expressed TO the sufferer the syms,hy