The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1869-05-06
THE OLD CARTMAN.

Then why Should alone be dumb?
THE OLD CARTMAN. !"
An Affecting Story.
have a mind to tell you littl'
story--a brief. yet true one.
About five years ago John Ainsley
or "Pap Ainsley," as be was familiarly
called, was the owner Of a hand cart
and earned a living by conveying mis-
cellaneous packages from one part O.
the city to another, and receiving
therefor the sum of fifty cents per load
When not employed, he could always
be found on the corner of Montgomery
and California Streets. His hair and
long beard were quite gray, and his
limbs feeble; and as he could moi
shove as heavy load through the deer
sand or up the steep grade above him
as the stalwart Teuton on the opposite
corner, thereby losing many job and
many dollar, all the light loads in
the neighborhood fell to his lot, and
kind.hearted men not unfrequently
travelled square or two out of their
way to give an easy job to old "Par
Ainsley."
Four years ago last September,
having two or three dozen volumes to
transfer to my lodgings, I gave Pap
Ainsley the task Of transportation.
Arriving at my room just as he had
deposited the last armful on the table,
and observing that the old man looked
fatigued. after climbing three flights OF
stairs two or three times, ! invited him
to take a glass of brandy--a bottle OF
which l usually kept in my room for
medical and sporific purposes. AL
though grateful for the invitation, lie
politely declined. was astonished.
"Do you never drink ?" said I.
"very seldom" he replied, drop.
ping into chair at my request, and
wiping the perspiration from his fore
head.
"Well, if you drink at ALL" insisted,
"you will not find as fair an excuse in
the next twelvemonth for indulging,
for you appear fatigued and scarcely
able to stand" .r
"To be frank" said the old man, ~
do not drink now. / have not tasted
intoxicating liquors for fifteen years
since" ...t ....
"Since when ?" / inquired thought
lessly, observing his hesitation.
The old man told me sixteen years
ago he was q well-to-do farmer near
Syracuse, New York. He had one
child-a daughter. While attending a
boarding school in that city, then a
girl sixteen years of age, she formed
an attachment for a young physician.
Acquainting her father with the cir
cumstances, he fatty refused his con-
sent to union with the man he had
never seen, and, removing her from
school, sent note to the young gal
liant with the somewhat pointed infor-
nation that his presence IN the neigh
borhood of Ainsley farm would not
meet with favor.
The reader, of course, surmises the
result, for such a proceeding could
have but one result. In less than a
month there was an elopement. The
father loaded his double-barrel shot
gun and swo7e vengeance, but, failing
to find the fugitives, he took to the
bottle. His good wife implored him
not to give way to despair, and he &C.
cused her of encouraging the elope-
mmt 49, +rI -. -..
In three months the wife died; and
at the expiration of . year, when the
young people returned to Syracuse
from Connecticut, where they had re-
NAMED with the parents ofthe husband,
they learned that the old man had
squandered bis money, and was almost
destitute. Learning Of their arrival,
Ainsley drank himself into . frenzy
and proceeded to the hotel where they
were stopping, attacked the husband,
wounded him in the arm by . pistol
shot and attempted to take the life Of
his daughter, who happily escaped un-
injured through the interposition Of
persons brought to the spot by the 70.
port Of the pistol. neist
Ainsley was arrested, tried and &C.
Quilted on the plea Of insanity. The
daughter and her husband returned
to Connecticut, since which time The
father had not heard from thsm. He
was seat 70 lunatic asylum ftoA
which BE- vas dismissed after remain
i's a. soa'hs. In 1851 he came 70
II se.l1i,G ga tsl ,t@4l! ,qaa.i