St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1886-12-26
SAD DEATH OF A PIRATE.

adjourned the court and left town in dis
gust.
SAD DEATH OF A PIRATE.
Incidents and Accidents i'm the Ca.
reer of Celebrity of Twenty
Years. Stauding-.A Courageous
Battle For Existence.
New York Star.
Tommy is dead Every person you meet
in London terrace tells you this without
tear or sigh. In fact. there is exultation in
the speech. When Admiral Farragut lived
there it is related of him that he often sat
out on the porch of pleasant night bonn
harding TOMS musical perch with bottles,
bricks. and every other cheap and available
missile. The old gardener remembers
Tom away back as far as 1866. When he
first appeared he was an invalid, thin, tot
tering, and weak. No one extended the
hand of charity toward him. and he was
quick to learn from experience that charity
began at home. He provided for himself
diligently and well-so well, in fact that
he came to be regarded as dangerous. I'M
scrupulous buccaneer. Every mans boot
and every wOman'S broom was soon raised
against him; yet he lived on with a
of which he became the self-asserted leader,
until it was dreaded as the very worst of its
kind in New York. Every device imagn-
able, every Subterfuge conceivable, every
practical and desperate means was adopted
in the endeavor to destroy him. All in
vain.
Two weeks ago Tom was boldly parading
in his ancient preserves undaunted, though
the loss of leg, together with the broad
scars won in many a knghtly jOust. showed
how hard his lines had proved. About that
time gentleman from the coyote-dotted
West supposedly cowboy. unused to
nightly clamor and skilled in the methods
of depressing it, took up quarters in the ter
race. Tom saw no sufficient cause for a
change of habits and distributed his noe
turnal favors with such equality that the
new lodger became deeply impressed. For
ten nights the stranger sat until long after
the yawning hour for churchyards, waiting
to fifty receive his obtruSive visitor before
his patience was rewarded. The bullet
was so big that it tore hole through the
m 'serable victim into which bootleg
would have passed without shrinking an
inch. The burial of Tom was as uncere-
monious as his death, and not less ostenta-
tious. The remains were east into the
river with great eclat, at least forty young
Sters attending the obseques.
Tradition has done so much for Tom that
he deserves a niche in clearinghouse
history of the city, than whose universal
hash he was more mysterious and invinci-
bic. He was chameleon in complexion
sometimes white, oftener gray-at times
black and glossy. and not infrequently he
reSembled the spotted leopard, save that
the spots were hairless. The old gardener
was an indulgent, observing friend from
the first. and now delights in recounting
those of TOMS many achievements and ad-
ventures with which he is familiar. When
Tom adopted the terrace as his permanent
abiding place, the colony was under the
dictation of Maltese knightling named
Oscar. The two crossed their pointed
weapons one night in controversy over some
feminine favor, and Oscar was vanquished
ingloriously. After that Tom dominated
the tribe not without the kindness and
consideration of an intelligent monarch, it
seems. to all but his defeated enemy, who,
driven to madness by the contempt of his
downfall, is said to have calmly walked
down to the river one day and. despite the
well-establshed fact that his klnship have
an overwhelming dread OF cold water,
jumped deliberately Off the wharf and into
a suicides grave.
1t is only just to explain, respecting this
important point. that the intent to commit
suicide is disputed. There are some who
say that the unfortunate Oscar was not only
escorted to the river side, but that he was
helped to his untimely end.
Toms regime gradually grew irksome-
not to his followers but to his prey.
Scarcely family on the terrace but would
have given their best armchair to know
that he had been properly disposed of.
There seems to be no doubt that many
times he was thrown into the river with
a respectable sized sinker attached to his
neck, but on each one of these occasions
the master of ceremonies returned home
only to find Tom, or his material looking
ghost reclining in sunlit spot and smooth
ing his ruff1ed coat. Feeding him dainty
morsels of meat seasoned with poison was
a common kindness of the neighbors.
With the exception of the strychnlne,
it is told with Christian assurance that he
ate meat, poison and all. with evident
relish.
News concerning Tom travelled rapidly
in the terrace. One morning it transpired
that he had swallowed a box of rat poison
the previous night; everybody expected to
momentarily hear of the finding of his dis
tended remains. A few hours later he
was seen lodging around the corners. more
alert and agile, apparently, than ever.
Whenever Tom detected strychnine in the
repast so generously provided. he would
contemplate it for some moments and then
deliberately pick it up and drop it in the most
convenient sewer inlet. Tom was essen
TALLY protectiOnist.
One ingenious lady hit upon plan which
would surely annihilate him. She mixed
strychnine with ground catnip and spread
the preparation over mess of meat. She
was astOnished to see the real enjoyment
she had thus innocently furnished. Tom
never partook of the tempting moroccan. He
simply rolled around in it to his hearts de-
light, kicking his legs with the ecstatic
emotion of French dancing master in the
five step. Having surfeted himself with
enjoyment he called in his progeny, and
they, too, rolled and kicked until they were
tickled pretty near to death.
About five years ago Tom got pretty
badly nipped. This by incautiously stlinb-
ling into a steel trap. He left his leg and
went on about his business with undisturbed
courage. Strange to say. not one of his
companions has been seen in their accus-
toned haunts since his death.
Tom was the most successful cat that
London terrace ever knew.
Lord Salisbury UnsOcial.
Iiyerpool Post