The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-03-29
THE LAMBETH CASUAL'S LATEST
:, = SKETCH.
PRIVATE LIFE OF A PUBLIC NUISANCE.
natural History OF the Organ Grinder
HIS Haunts, Habits, and HumOrs.
BY JAMES GREENWOOD.


is. ont of what at first sight seems calamity.
As. for instance, friend of mine an Alpine
traveller, and an interchangeable naturalist, whilst
on Journey of exploration in his favorlte
mountainous region, one night retired to his
couch exhausted by the fatigues of march and
faint for sleep. 1t was denied him, however.
Not that ''Nature's soft nurse" was ill-disposed
towards him; not that his conscience was i'll at
ease; not that he had supped rashly or inordi-
nateiv. 1t was because he was wanted for sup
ner. That ravenous monster, the Alpine hea
but meagrely fed through many months on
hardy herdsmen and chamois hunters, shifted
his tender carcase, and without even the
warning of 'fefo-f-fum," fell on him
from the roof rafters, and commenced his
savage and sanguinary repast. A man of
common mind and courage would have
engaged the enemy until exhausted, and
then yielded at discretion. Not so my friend.
He struck light, and calculating his chances
of nights rest and finding the balance heavily
against him, he coolly dressed himself, and uu-
hacking his miCroscOpical instruments, selected
and mpaled few OF the largest and finest of
his tormentors, and passed pleasant and pro
ftable night in Investigating the peculiarities Of
the form and structure OF puLeT jTTltd1S There
is no knowing how much of ingenuity dwells
in the human brain till 1t is pressed between the
hard mill-stones OF necessity. Before now,
despairing captives have begulled the tedium OF
dungeon lite by study OF the habits and man.
ners of the very rats which at first were SO much
their horror aud aversion.
| have an enemy more tormenting than any
flea that ever hoppe1-more voracious than the
rat, inasmuch as he feeds not on my bread
and my cheese, but on my brain. l have little
mouths to fill and little feet to cover, and little
backs to cothe; have house-rent to pay, and
waterrate; have to contribute shillings and
pounds towards the maintenance of the poor
and the police and the main drainage; have to
provide against the visit Of the income'taX col
lector; and to meet these various demands,
beng a scribbler of the hard-working Sort
am compelled to set my pen dancing over the
paper with considerable rapiditY and perse-
Verance. And am very willing to do so. l
am willing to sit down in the morning early as
any tailor or cobbler, and make my hay while
the sun shines. But this my tormentor forbids.
He, too, has hay to make while the sun shines.
He makes his hay out OF my green hopes, sapped
and withered; he grinds my brain to make him
bread. He bestrdes my sober pen, all sudden
and unexpected, as it is plodding industriously
over the paper, and sets it iigging to the tune
of Hop Light Loo, or the ''Batcateher's
Daughter" He fills the patient, weltinten-
toned quill with the inglng idiotcy common
in the mouths of banjo-playing, bone
rattling Sambos and Mumbos, and turns the
common sense about 10 be uttered by it into
into my storehouse ofthousht and turns its con-
tents topsy-turVy. He seizes my golden hours,
and condemns them to a lingering and horrible
DEATH manglng them and pulling them into
flinders, and leaving me to make the best | may
OF the few minutes his monkey mischief has left
entire. The name of this bloWAy in my larder,
this weevil in my meal-jar, is organ grinder.
1t is, Of course, well kno Wn to me that, in
accordance with a recent act of Parliament, |
am at liberty to set the engine Of law in motion
to crush the organ man if he annoys me; but
there is power much greater than any act of
Parliament ever passed aud backed by it, NV
fOTmpnfOr grin dphanrn q bic orCb
Bass. No less true than paradoxiOal, the superior
power In question consists In a weakness-the
weakness inherent in every fre born English
man, to succour all such as he NAV find down
trodden and driven to the wall. VIM down.
trodden Is question which the nobe-minded
Briton never stops TO inquire. 1t is enough
mat poor fellow Is down, to enlist for him the
Briton's hearNest sympathies. Never mind how
richly he may have merited the shoulder hit
mat laid him low, he has only to groan plain
lively as he lies In the mire-to whine little
and 6eseech pity, and hundred hands are
stretched forth to lift him up, and a hundred
mouths are opened to cry, "Poor fellow - There
as ointment for his bruises in shape of gather
ing OF money and he is set on his legs and
lUsi nalle9 as as man and a brother. Who did ity A
parcel OF stuck-up, purse-proud bloated aristo.
CTats why don'tyou hit one of your own size
dlt MN again, II you dare. This noble senti-
me9L mas Deen OF immense service to the down
trodden organ grinder. The law, acting in he
nan OF y. G.'s suffering victims ha vino fnocted
" u uoWn, the hlgh-minded but toupb.sl5inned
British mob has set him up again and tai-sn
MIN under It's special protection. I have no in
isu Snauon M to ulsp9te Its right to do so. 1t ad-
mlres organ grinding. To be sure. the iact oF
It's utter indifference to the existence of herreIs
organs and hurdy-gurdies before the passing OF
The act is calculated to give rise to fbe erSsni
clon that pig-headed obstinacy may have some
thlng 10 90 with 1t, but there is notbino for
CERTAIN Inc miller who could sleep tranouilIv y
while his mill was clashing and crunching any
rum bling, awoke the moment the mill stonnaS
The mob is the best judge of what suits Il ~ ~
hkes Its music full favored and with plenty ri
gllC IL ~. weaker quality falls idly on its
tymPanum. Some animals are so thin slinr tU n5
that the it'll llation OF hair will drive tLann ~
madness, whereas the rhinoceros deligbts ~
have his hide rasped with the pronps of 3 ISitT
lork; put that Is no reason why the rhinoceroe
should not be tickled if he likes n N'N'0e'os
So it comes about that the organ-gripdor g., !,
in the notice OF ejectment that WAS served ON
him new lease. But few months si,oo ~ ~
was a skulking, surlY wretch, with 6ooIt' n'
tread, a hanging head, and the general air of
felon, hopeless as to this life, and nv no r1on, M
comfortably assured Of the next. n bro.r
shouldered muscular doomed for some mon
Btrous iniquity, TO tramp the highWays o,a,
byways of foreign land, fettered eternallV 4
demon of dlscord-a lunatic Orpheus ri9in
him, acknowledgements tortarine his SER
tunny" music, worthy of st. George's-in-th,
Fields, or, at the very least, of Earl
wood. A treacherous, lean dog, read
Tor haltpenny to NOW and grin an
show his teeth to win the smiles of little Chi
dren at the window, and equally ready shouI
ne De rashly informed that the little ones a
Ill, 10 Maggie and make terms as to his conser
lng 10 cease from racklng their poor lit
heads with his horrible din; worse tbs
ghoul, hunting for sickness that he mig
make a meal Of it, with vulture ewes for sad
dropping Wlndow-blinds and mufiled knocker
and keen scent tor mercitullY streWn tan N