Pomeroy weekly telegraph. [volume] (Pomeroy, Meigs County, Ohio) 1860-1866, 1865-12-07
THE OLD CARTMAN.
A TRUE STORY.

nave nina 10 Tell Hltle story IHal
it is brief may be seen at a glance, and that
it is true l most emphatically avow. If the
reader despises it because of the first, Or the
editor rejects it for the reason of the last
then will eschew truth in the future, and de-
vote myself to the elaboration of lies into
chapters, and the purest ictions into volumes
of seventeen hundred pages each.
With this understanding, | proceed at once
to remark that five years ago, or thereabouts,
john Aimsley-or Pap Aimsley," as he was
Familiarity callcd-was the owner Of hand.
cart, and earned living by conveying mis-
cellaneous parcels from one section to anoth-
muneration of fifty cents per load.
To designate the occupation in the prosest
language possible, he was a hand-cartman,
and when not employed, could always be found
during working hours at the corner of Mont
gomery and California streets.
His hair and long beard were quite gray
and his limbs feeble; and if he could not
shove as heavy load through the deep sand
or up the steep grade above him as the stall
wart Teuton on the opposite corner, thereby
losing many dollar, all the light loads in
the neighborhood fell to his lot, and kind
hearted men not untrequcntly Travelled a
square or two out Of their way to give an easy
job to Pap Ainslcy"
-Four years last September, Il recollect the
mouth, for had u note of four thousand dol
lars to pay and was compelled to do some
pretty sharp financiering to meet t,) having
two or three dozen volumes of books to trans,
fer to my lodging, | gave Pap -Ainslcy" the
task .of transportation.
Arriving at my room just as he deposited
the last armtul on the table, observing that
the old man looked considerably fatigued, af.
ter climbing three flights Of stairs five or six
times, invited him to take a glass of bran
dy-a bottle of which | usually kept in my
room for medicinal and sporifc PURPOSES
Although grateful for the invitation, he po-
litely declined. | urged, but he was infexi-
ble was greatly astonshed.
'Do you never drink?' said l.
Every seldom" he replied, dropping into a
chair at my request, and wiping the perspira-
ton from off his forehead.
'Well, if you drink at all" insisted, "you
will not find in the next six months so fair
and scarcely able to stand"
"To be frank, said the old man, 81 do not
drink any now | have not tasted intoxicat-
ing liquor for fifteen years rs-since-since--"
Since when?' asked, thoughtlessly, OBJ
serving his hesitation.
The old man told me that sixteen years
ago he was well-to-do farmer near Syracuse,
n. Y. He had but one child-a daug ghter.--
While attending boarding in that city,
the girl, then but sixteen years of age, formed
an attachment for a young physician. Ac-
quainting her father with the circumstance,
he fiatly refused his consent to her union with
a man he had never seen, and removing her
from school, dispatched a note to the young
gallant, with the somewhat pointed informa-
ton that his presence in the neighborhood of
the Ainsley farm would not meet with favor.
The reader of course surmises the result,
for such a proceeding could and can have but
one result.
In less than month there was an elope-
mcnt The father loaded his double barreled
shot gun, and swore vengeance; but, failing
to find the fngitives, he took to the bottle
His good wife told him not to despair, but he
drank the deeper and accused her of encour-
aging the elopement
In three months the wife died, and at the
expiration of year the young couple return
ed to Syracuse from Connecticut, where they
learned that the old man, after the death Of
his wife, of which they had of course been
apprised, had sold his farm, squandered the
proceeds, and was almost destitute. Learn
ing of their arrival Ansley drank himself
into frenzy, and proceeded to the hotel
where they were stopping, attacked. the hus-
band, woundng him in the arm with a pistol
shot, and then attempted the life of his daugh-
ter, who happily escaped uninjured through
the interposition Of persons brought to the
spot by the report of the pistol. Ainsley was
arrested, tried, and acquitted on the plea Of
insanity. The daughter and her husband re.
turned to Connecticut, since which time the
father had not heard from them. He was
sent to lunatic asylum, from which he was
dismissed after remaining six months. In
1851 he came to California. He had followed
mining for two years, but finding his strength
unequal to the pursuit, returned to this city,
purchased handcart, and-the rest is known.
".Since then" concluded the old man, bowling
his face in agony,"I have not tasted liquor,
nor have seen my child" regretted that
| had been so inquisitive, and expressed to
the sufferer the sympathy really felt for him.
Alter that seldom passed the corner without
looking for Pap Ainsley," and never saw
him but to think of the sad story he had told
me. !fiit ~ ssH .fga'g tfa -d
One chilly, drizzling day in the December
following, a agentleman having purchased a
small, marble-top table at an auction room
opposite, proffered the old man the Job of
conveying it to his residence on Stockton
= /. j.