Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-12-13
MURRAY'S MUSINGS.
A Pull Is Greater Than the LAVA Navy
Mans Hat = Archbishop Ryan ana

ladies' shopping district Of New YORK.
Some scores OF thousands of respectable
women and innocent children pass back
and forth over those glass 1lluminators
every pretty afternoon. Happily they 40
not know on what they tread. If they dld
the walk would burn theii dainty feet. But
the policemen standing there at or .
o'clock i'll the morning know all about IT..
They hear the sounds Of music. the ribald
songs. the drunken shouts; they see the
glistening lights through both walks and
witness the going and coming of the scum Of
the streets of both sexes all night long.
Down two broad flights of steps the glare
of the electric lights through wide open
doors shows the long bar, the busy bartend-
ers and walters serving drinks, the King
Divekeeper, mustached and blear-eyed,
perched upon his subterranean throne
There is no pretense OF concealment, no
sneaktng evidence of conscious shame. All
day, all night, Sundays-the place never
opens or shuts. There is q pleasant legal
fiction to the contrary, but it must make the
devil smile. Beneath these walks are gilded
casemates where His Satanic Majesty open
ly stores his ammunition. The law-what
rot! What do the Goulds and McGlorys
care about law? And after sight of the
half hundred wretches under those walks
and the policemen idly grouped above them
what does anybody else care about lawf
There is something higher and wider and
deeper and more mysterious than law in
New York. 1t is called "a pull"
The Power of the Imagination.
The successful exertion of the human
will in the direction of honor and goodness
is always a beautiful sight. We are largely
creatures Of imagination. To compel the
Imagination to serve a good turn Is great
achievement. The "small servant OF the
late Mr. Charles Dickens struck the proper
chord when she declared that il you made
believe very much II glass of water with
lemon peel in it was almost as good as wine,
and she greatly strengthened the remark by
adding that if you didn't make believe very
much, why, of course, it wasn't quite so
good, you know. When used to go out in
make believe good deal and it worked, but
Imagination weakens as we grow older and
society seems merely the water with the
lemon peel in it. The imagination, how
ever, can be largely controlled by the exer-
else of the will. As proof OF this, the
other evening saw four gentlemen seated in
an uptown cafe at lunch. That is, three OF
them were lunching and the fourth was
trying to make believe. His face showed
signs Of recent and heavy dissipation and his
nervous system was rather unstlung. He
tried a brandy cocktail or two, but they
didn't seem to reach, as he continued to pick
at his clothes.
A nice, affectionate old tabby cat purred
around his chair and curled its tail up be-
tween his knees. The tail was rather pretty
and had stripes on it, but somehow the sight
of that tail made the man tremble like a
leaf He made covert grab at it, but it
was gone. Then he laughed ghostly sort
cat, still out of sight beneath his chair,
again hourished the striped tail around and
curled it up on the other side. He turned as
white as sheet. His friends were alarmed,
but by powerful exertion of will he recov
cred his nerve and for moment was quite
gay. The cat rubbed his leg-he shifted that
foot uneasily. The cat rubbed his other leg
he jerked that aside SO violently that his
companion almost yelled with the pain of q
bruised shin. He seemed afraid to look
down.
Whatever it was he resolutely refused to
look for it. When the cats tail touched his
hand he brushed that hand like it had been
burnt. never saw cat so full OF electric
ity. Yet the man sat through all this af-
ing believe to a degree that would have
changed circus lemonade to 50-year-old port.
And when that cat finally strolled out into
step, the man should have collapsed. But
he didn't. He just swore low but fervently
between his set teeth and ordered q bottle
of wine.
The Set Of Navy Mans Hat
-"You can always tell navy man by the
way he wears his hat" said an ex-officer.
"There is rakish set to a navy mans hat
or cap that can be attained by nobody but
those who have seen service at sea. 1t may
be so slight a popularity that you wouldn't
notice it at once but can distinguish it at a
glance. Nobody else can wear his hat just
that way"
Nonsense" remarked q companion. "I
don't believe 1t. Now, there's man stand
ing over there at the bar-that dapper look
ing little fellow with a pointed beard of
picked oakum-he wears his hat just as you
%I,o
possibly from Coney Island boat?"
The Art gallery trio laughed, but the ex-
navy officer, who has been out Of the SER
vice these 20 years, ,scrutinized the indicated
individual through his glasses and to the
surprise Of lis two companions offered to go
a quart Of Pomery that he had seen man.
of-war service,
'Ill go yon." said both the others in a
breath.
"Do you know hinl?" inquired the old |
navy man, suspiciously;.
Never saw him before" both declared. |
"And your" |
Not to my knowledge. and there is some |
thing-no: never saw him, but if he isn't a |
I'll buy bottle and if he is
you'll buy two"
arose, went over to the bar and tapped the
young stranger on the shoulder and ad-
dressed him politely. Both come over to
the table looking somewhat amused, the
saying, "this is Commodore |
~. We have a bet -
"Not Commodore n, Of the Tennes-
'ee?" interrupted the new conner, his face
III p my father served
p, just ordered to the Philadelphiap'
An explosion followed that was explained
,ver the first battle, and the old Commodore
vas in the middle of the third and five
;he place was closed up.
Story of Railroad Passes.
-"Archbishop Ryan was dining with
Ieorge W. Childs the other day." remarked
Philadelphia gentleman, "and the usual
dinner party was present
Wayne McYeagh and the rest. There is
ertain dining set in Philadelphia, four
lfths Of whom form almost every private
Inner of prominence. You give me the |
ame of the dinner giver and the number of
uests, and I'll call the turn on who were
resent. Well, of course, McVeagh was
resent at this dinner, and the ex-Attorney
ieneral sat next to the Archbishop. During
he evening the subject OF railroad passes
Tas brought up, very naturally, when the
said he had never Travelled on q
abroad pass in all his life and had never
cen offered one. or course, this singular
tatement attracted the attention of Colonel
Clayton McMichael, Wayne Nc
'eagh and the rest, and caused general
why, my dear Archbishop said Nc
eagh, you have missed one of the real |
of life as she is known in PhiIa-
elphia.'
"tThe sensation of travelling on a pass
-ould certainly be new to me- said His
race.
".I1l have to see Mr.. George W. Boyd of {
le Pennsylvania road, about this said Nc
eagh. .and use my influence toward having
lis oversight corrected
=" Really replied the Archbishop
"'Oh, that's all right interrupted Nc {
aarr in f1uanca get L !