New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1886-10-03
I'LL.
Contiwuee

houses with him where the black sign OF death
met us OF thresholds, and where loss would not
seldom wear much snivellng hypocrisy as real
regret. Michael too, was very keenwltted In
his way he had a swift knowledge Of his clients.
He was born for his dreary calling. There was
nothing unctuois or mock sober about his ap-
proachcs. He saw through shans and dealt with
fhem by o shrewd and summary diplomacy. l
remember that we once entered together u narrow
little room in German tel .cmenthouse not far
away from the Bowery. We were received by
woman nearly as tall as Michael himself. who
wore not vestige of mourning, and carried an
ornate gold earring In either prominent ear
Her gray hair was drawn tightly backward from
each temple she was the most Dutch-loolSing old
woman, with her big, tallowy visage, and her
hrsute wart and her small rheumy eyes, that
ever recollected having She received us in
frayed wrapper aud pair of CARPET slippers
She put her head little on one side as she said
"Ven, Mr. O'Wara, he's &c t"Iie" was
the late Mr.. Sciimitt, grocer wi whom Martha
had formerly dealt. lilo pass away ch'iss tge
O shild. guess bout an hour ago. vas vaitln
fur you ever since. / uord you mide be arount
Mike nodded, and scratched ono blush cheek
lie had his best professional expression One
Thing between a leer and scowl had become
perfectly familiar with it, and knew Its wholly
commercial nature; he put it on and on at mo-
inents notice, like the white cotton gloves uen
in his pocket "Ycs, ma'am,' he now said with
great sobricty al baird LASH night as Mr.
Smith was putty low, an'-wen, wcll, I'm sorry
na'am an guess there's nanny another hafn
even be sOrrier mol"
He vas q got man., said Mis-. Schmitt She
did not appear to be sorry. "Ile always gif your
wife goot measure. amt it, Mr. OWaia? She
suddenly asked.
"Oh shure ma'am, yes, indeco!" declared
Mike. thoroughly thrown off his guard.
Mrs Schmitt nut her head a good deal more
on one side, and siclSly smile crcpt out at the
corners of her lirs IL thord you say SO, Mr..
OWara. Mr. Rosenbar;n in shuss before
YOU cone an We vas q talkin' 'boud dc casked"
To talk about the casllct with Mr. Roscnlaum
was of course. serious matter for Michael
Roscnbaum was riy al undertaken. an Oily niue
Jew with sliding scale Of prices he could De
"beaten down numerically as he usually was and
exnccted to be. Michael. on the other hand had
O set Of infcxible prices for all his uismai wares
-, services. and held the haggng Rosenhaum
In grand contempt. SuIl, business was business
and Rosenbaum was q German aud must not &c
roughly spoken Of here. if the present lob was
10 be secured So Michael scratched his cheek
again and cleared his throat, and said:
We'll ma am, an did We come to amy turrums
wild the other eintlcman? Pr lie disllkcd TO nro-
nounce the odious name, but 1t must have cost
him pang to call Rosenbaum gentleman
ven said Mrs Schmitt with a cough as
dry as the rustic of dead maize stalliY u guess
ord to teal Wit Rosenbaum. Mr.. O'Wara ord
do cause he's a coundrvman o. mine If fur no
older reason. Still snhsosn you'd cmme haf
DO caslIed sheaper. say a tolleror so shearcr v,
midc 70 to YOU. do wand no ice nor noddin',
hal pflO
vclder an | god bode dc vinders up. an a fiddle
salreedcr always or his face, an he'll keep fIsd
rate till de funerrel SO now. how mush you
sharre fur shuss de casled an vat has TO be done
dc dav of de funerrel an vun caridch beSites de
Eairss do efryting elss myself. Vat you
sharge 2'
Michael promptly told her, and received little
fa1setto scream of dislnay. Rosenhaum would 90
II nearly Sc cheaper II at once became evident
e. Michael that Mrs Schmitt had beaten koseh-
baum down just as far as she could POSSIBLY make
him 60 anu was now using the last desperate
offer Of the Jew as a means of forcing his rival
into a stil lower offer Young as ! was. felt
tins raw greed, shown at such time. flush my
check Michael drew me out OF the room very
soon afterward There was look on his face
wholly unprofessional and sincere. And just be-
fore ne left her he told Mrs. Schnlitt that If she
had been q very poor woman she might have had
Some excuse to stand there and barter about her
husbands burialfce but that being woman of
thrift and means. il was discraceful in her Tor
pet his precise words. but they were very ten-
chant lie left the house at once after sreaEilng
them, and in the sort of low rumble that ms hrs
made durinc tho next few minutes am AFRAID
that I detected good deal Of hard profanity
Still his disgust quite Iardonabe. IL
would have made good many men, worlds more
,cttered than hc swear just as roundly "Shure
r. he hadn't left her the shtOre an the b1zness'
he prcscntly said, becoming coherent and perhaps
a tri1e apologetic to myself as well, III wudnt
moind a bit But it's a heap o. money he's leit
her so he has bad luck TO her fur as stingy and
misserruble a wan ever walked y
The sadness of such glimpses as this into human
life would often stay with ne and haunt me-
was Just at the age when we begin to thlnk and
muse. If we are lowered with fair Intelligence
what sort Of planet fate has cast us upon bu'
Michael was not always obdurate and unyied-
,nc IN his customers / remember going with
him up several stairs TO an attic in Hester street
Tho ,,oom which we entered contained the corTse
which we had come to bury. 1t was sheeted.
and the inevitable Romanist candles burned al
its head and feet Mr.. Lynch had dled' ahd
his relict Mrs Lynch, greeted us amid FAMILY
group of no less than seven chilren. The eidest
of them were girls, who stared upon US oianky
and all of them had bare feet gear torn and dirty
and tangled hair. There was print OF Our Lady
pf Seven Sorrows over the mantel could not
help thinking, as I counted the frowzy Children
scattered about the room. that Mis- Lynch was
a lady with seven SORROWS. too. The little girls
were plaintively noisy and the little boys barshy
20. One was baby and it had been left quite
naked ON the floor near a basin Of water which
il wished to paddle in and could not, having
fallen over on its back. l rccollect going to 1t
amid the catter and pitfully raising it up. While
did SO heard Michael's deep voice sayi
swell, Mrs. Lynch, III do the bcsht can flir
re. an no man can do more, dye understand. nur