The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-03-18
AIJFE AGAINST A WAGER
cow 1T FEELS TO FALL THROUGH
THE AIR.

s4eve Prodie Tells How He Rose from
street Gamin to the Exalted Posi-
,4on of Bridge Jumper and Freak
Notoriety That Pays-The Ambition
of MIR. Brodie, Jr.
(Copyriaht 1897
Nvw YORK. March ia striking prod
rct of that exceedingly lively locality
Known in New York as the Fourth ward is
stave Brodie, the bridge jumper. Steve Is
. man of medium night, dark complexion
ord dark eyes, between which is a nose
rather Grecian nor Roman, typical Gel
tc Saxon nose. The eyes are deep-set and
.urinkle like those of a ferret with specula-
ton. His jaw is square and strong, indi-
eating resolution and recklessness. He has
a nervous temperament and is never quiet.
Here. there, and everywhere, Steve is al
NAYS on the move, even in the narrow con-
6nas of his bar room on the Bowery. A
nrettv tough place! The usual collection
Of stimulants in bottles is ranged in front of
the customary mirror, but the chief at
traction behind the bar is pretty and plump
Mrs. Brodie, No. 2. She can mix a cock
tail or slide glass of beer down the coun-
Ter. and smile as sweetly as cigarette girl
in tobacconist'S window, and although
some turbulent characters drop in to sam
nIe Steve's LIQUIDS, not one of them forgets
Thai he is a gentleman when Stoves partner
in petticoats serves the refreshments.
In the back room is white Nanny goat,
the property of little Steve Brodie, peck
ct edition of his dad. lie has already at the
tender age of seven shown a decided taste
for jumping, and has twice fallen through
the skylght But his time is mainly taken
I'D vita riding the Nanny goat. Big Steve
has strong hopes That little Steve will emu
late his father in feats of daring when he
grows bigger.
Steve Brodie was born twenty-five years
ago last Christmas at the corner of Baxter
and Grand streets. Three weeks before his
birth his father was killed in a street fight
between the "Bowery Boys" and the Dead
Rabbits" The bullet lodged in his back.
He fingered for fifteen Gays. Although
the diving ma knew who had shot MIN he
refused 10 disclose the secret, not even tell
ing his wife. He died with these words on
his lips:
Twas fair fight, an l wouldn't squeal p
After her husbands death Mrs. Brodie
supported herself by taking in washing. In
the pursuit of this vocation she unwittingly
washed and mended the clothing, brought
to her by the notorious Maggie Jordan, of
the criminal Sharkey, just before his escape
from the Tombs At the age of nine Steve
was turned out to hustle for himself and he
began by selling papers. At about that
time he took his first rudimentary lessons
in jumping. These consisted in diving for
silver quar- tiers from the piers along South
street. At the age of fifteen Steve evolute1
into pedestrian at the Newsboys' Lodging
House in Duane street, where he covered
ninety miles in twenty-four hours. He
claims the distinction of being the first man
in this country TO race against horses.
For many years Steve led a rowing life
and gathered neither shekels nor virtue.
His first really great achievement was the
organization of band of TWENTY-FIVE young
Fourth warders, whom he sent on a filibuS-
tering expedition to South America for the
purpose of numbering one of them niger
presidents in Honduras as Steve says.
The joke of it was however, that the boys
thought they were going to pick rubber.
Steve, like careful general, remained in this
city, while the boys we're captured and i'm
prisoned on Turks Island, where as Steve
observes, "Thev lived on the salt of the
land and no beer to quench their thirst"
Through the Intervention of the Ameri-
can consul the Fourth warders were re-
leased in a starving condition. In order to
raise the money to buy something to eat,
Steve says, they got up an entertainment
on this island in a salt house, which they
called Hamlet" The boys were little
mixed in their Shakespeare, for they got
the characters of most of the great TRACE
dies all into one play. The man who played
the part of the blackamoor had to use coal
tar to black up with. Christy Dunnegan
who acted as barber to the expedition,
played the part of Macbeth" Sandy Dix
assumed the roll Of Hamlet for the nonce
Jimmy Bogart portrayed grave digger,
and George Perry, now a veterinary sur
geon in Brooklyn, play ed the GHOST"