The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1890-04-09
LITTLE JIM'S FUNERAL,
Little Jim's death has caused good
deal of talk.

Little Jim's death has caused good
deal of talk.
OF that there was no doubt.
Every motherly person in that por-
ton of South Brooklyn known as the
'.Patch'' has been talking about it for
the last week, for Jim was one of tile
celebrities of that locality.
1t is not alone of his death they are
talking however, for that had been
anticipated for some time, and be-
sides deaths are SO common there that
but little is thought of it. Mrs.
.Moriarty. one of the leading ladies of
the 'Patch,n expressed the general
opinion tersely but fairly when She said
recently: ''Sure the worst thing about
dvin' is that betchune the docthors, the
wake, the undertakers, an the buryin'
it's chaper to live"-a rather mixed
statement, the meaning of which is
clear. however.
No, it was not the death of little Jim
that caused all the talk before referred
to.
Not at all.
B.. 1t was his funeral that gave rise to all
the talk. 1t was one of the most re.
markable funerals ever seen in south
Brooklin.
No one who knew Little Jim in life
would have supposed that he could
command such honor in death.
Jim's life was not one that even the
ordinary street arab would naturally
envy.
The locality in which Jim lived and
died does not include among its inhab-
itants any whose names figure in any
elite directory. There are sprinkling
of longshOremen, some junkmen and
truckmen, some ordinary laborers, and
some people who neither toll nor spin
There are the usual dingy rum-shops
that are more prosperous than any
other kind of shops. There are pigs,
and goats, and dogs innumerable, that
always seem to be engaged in breaking
city ordinances and getting their OWN
ers into trouble. Taking it all in all,
it is a unique locality in mole respects
than one.
Tradition in the patch has it that at
one period Jim had father and
mother. Now, society at the Patch
does not ask for much, but it would
seem that the parents of Jim did not
come up to the social requirements o.
even this easy-going locality, so thai
there was no regret when Jim's mother
died after Il prolonged spree, and his
father left the Patch never to return.
This did not occur, however, until after,
in some friendly brawl, one or the
other, OF both of them, had in some
manner, injured Jim so that he re-
mained a cripple until the day of his
death.
1t was about this time that Timothy
Murphy, longshoremen, coming home
from his work one night, and being
thirsty, directed his steps to Il resort
for the bibulously inclined, known as
the Hole in the Wall" He was just
quenching his thirst when he saw Il
dwarfish form enter, partly with the
assistance of an improviSed crutch.
The gentleman who presided in the
establishment leaned over the counter.
'.Wel, what is it?n he demanded.
''I'm lookin' for me fadder," was the
reply.
''Well, yer father ant here, so you'd
better get out"
Hold on" said Mr.. Murphy, long
shoreman, at this juncture. Come
here, me lad. It's meself that knows
yer blaggard of a father, an its me
opinion yell see him no more, an sorra
the much loss"
The boy set up Il whimper, and then
the big longshoreman put his broad
hand over his mouth.
'Whisht." he said, ''come with me-
and the burIy longshoreman and the
little cripple left the store together.
A few moments later Mir. Sullivan,
Iongshoreman, appeared in his own
domicile with little jim.
Its that bye of Flaherty's Mary,
said he to his motherly looking wife
"Give him a sup an place to sleep
We've enough av our own to feed, bu
wan more'll make little difference. |
we've a feast we'll not miss what hC
eats. If we've famine sorry bit aN
me but thinks that he's used to tht
same"
And that is the way jim becam,
domiciled with the Murphys. Hare
enough times the Murphys had of it
too, for there were days and week
when Murphy, longshoreman, hat
enough to do 10 keep his family il
bread. Yet the ugly duckling that h
had taken in got as good as tn
Murphvs did. The warm heart of Mrs
Murphy went out to the little forlOr
cripple, and she treated him as thong
he had been her own child.
Nor was jim ungrateful. He de
| yeloped a variety of talents tina
| brought many penny into til
treasury of the Murphys. He wa
errand boy for most of the Patch, an
spite his crutch could perform Il missio
more Quickly than most other boys an
with more intelligence. He also picke
I'D somehow the art of writing in
queer spider-Eke fashion, and wrot
! letters for those denizens of the Pate
who could not write themselve
There is formula followed in writin
such letters as these, for the write
ALWAYS starts out with the rather supe
fuous announcement that he TAX
his pen in hand" and always ends
..wishing this will find you in goo
health as it leaves me at present"
oardless of his actual condition
health. This formula is as immovab
as were the laws of the Medes and Pc
. slams, and by his fidelity to it lit
Jim added to his popularity and his
come.
Then Jim had little, cracked voic
|. with lust a little sweetness in it, and
sang two or three songs in a mann
that the people of the Patch consider
as being extremely artistic. jim
r repertoire was not extensive. He sa
oOnlv Picture,n and warbled abe
= A. Coo+ob Iad GaOrdiR who left