New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-07-10
TRAVELS IN NETWORK.
THE BROKEN-DOWN VAN.

on their sides rolled and plunged slowly along the
street Each drawn by four horses, and each
almost touched the roaring elevated road above
They the uptown track of the surface road
indeed the street narrow that they must be
on one track the other.
They tossed and pitched and proceeded slowly, and
q horse car with a red light came up behind. The
car was red, and the bullseye light was red,
and the drivers hair red. He blew his whistle
shrilly and slapped the horses lines impatiently
Then he whstled again. Then he pounded on the red
dash board with his carhook till the red light
trembled. Then with green light crept up
behind the with the red light; and the green
driver blew his whistle and pounded on his dash
board and the Conductor OF the red seized his
strap from his position the platform ana rung
such rafting tattoo the gong over The rel
drivers head the red driver became frantic and
stood up on his toes and pufed out his cheeks AS II
he were playing the trombone In German street.
band and blew his whistle til Imaginative person
could see sliyerS flying from IT, and pounded his red
dash board TIL the metal dented in and the
carhook bent. And Just the driver OF
newly car with n blue light began TO blow his
whistle and pound his dash board and the green con-
ductor began to ring his bell IKE demon which drove
tile green driver mad and made him rise up and
blow and pound how pounded
before, which made the red conductor lose the last
vesge Of control Of himself and caused him TO bounce
up and down on his bell strap as he gnped II with
both hands In a Wild. man a cal dance which OF course
served to drive uncertain Reason from her totternS
throne In the red driver. who dropped his whistle
and his hook and began TO yell. and hyt. and whoop
harder than the worst personal devil encountered by
the OF Scotch Presbyterians yelled and
k-yied and whooped the darkest night after the
good had drunk the most hot Scotch whiskey
just then the left-hand forward wheel on the rear
van fell of and the axle went down. The
gave a mighty lurch and then swayed and rolled
and rocked and stopped the red driver applied his
break with jerk and his horses turned out to keep
from being crushed between car and van: the other
drivers applied their brakes with Jerk and their
horses turned out the two cir-dwcing the
shelf halfway up the trout Of the stranded began
to shout loudly to their brother cliff jewellers on the
forward van; girl, SIX years Old. with pail Of
beer crossed under the red bOrseS' neck; 10y,
eight years old. mounted the red with the sport
ing extras OF the evening papers Er ten years old,
went In front Of the horses with two paals Of
beer; an unclassifed boy poked his finger in the
black grease In the hub % the righthand hind van
wheel and began 10 print his the red land
scape the vans side; boy with little head
and hg examined the white rings on the mar
tingales Of the leaders with a view Of stealing
them In the confusion; sixteen ear-od grl with
out any hat and with roll of alfhnshed vests under
her crossed the front platform Of the green
As she stepped up on 10 the sidewalk barber from
a ten-cent shop said All there!' and she answered
smarty !" with whitening and went down side
street. few drops OF summer rain began 70
FALL
Well, the van was wrecked and something had cot
% be doae. ii was on the busiest car track on Man
sattan Island. The clif-dwellers got down In some
mysterious way-probaby on a rope ladder. Their
brethren drove their down side street and
came back 10 see what the matter
The nut IS off," said the captain OF the wrecked
AYES said the first mate, "the nut is of"
"Hah.' said the captain Of the other van. "the
nut is off,"
Yer right" said his first mate. the nut Is off,"
The driver Of the red came up hot and rri-
tai d. But he had regained his The nut
is off," he said
The drivers Of the green and Of the blue car came
along. The nut" they said in chorus. lis on
The red, green and blue conductors came forward.
They examined the situation carefully became men
occupying higher position. Then they made this
report through the chairman. the red conductors
1.-The nut is gone"
"Yes," said the dryer Of the crippled van, who
had spoken first ayes. the damned nut is lost"
Then the driver of the other swore. and the
two assistants swore the three drivers
and the three conductors used some polite but
profane expressions. Then a strange man. an I'M
known and outsider. with his trousers held
up BY a trunk-strap who stood at hand, swore
harder than any OF the rest. The others turned
and looked at him inqliiringly and savagely The
man wrfggled nervousy.
You wanter to tie 1t up" he said at last.
Wot yo' goin' tie it you cussed fool7' asked
the the head scornfully "a berloon"
Z" Ha, ha!n laughed the others.
"Some folks make me tired. said the second van
driver.
go and lose yourself with the NUT said the
red conductor severely.
That's it, said the others. Git out. fore We
t'row you out
The ofciously profane stranger skunk away.
The crisis always produces the man.
In tlA: crisis the man WAS tho first van driver
"Bill" said the first driver git some candles"
Bill vanished
car with white Hight with white aru red
light car with a white light and green bar
it, with blue light and white circle around 1t,
another cur with red bullseye light and with red
fat light had come up and stopped More are coming
to extend long line The elevated trains Numbered
overhead and made the street tremble. dozen horse
cars weDt down on the other track, and the drivers
made derisive noises rather than speaking derisivc
words at their brother vanbound drivers. Each de-
layed car fun Of passengers and they craned their
necks and peppery old gentlemen inquired what the
trouble was, and a happy individual who had been to
Coney Island began TO sing
Trucks, mail-wagon, and evening paper cnrts
crowded past. a jam imminent. Chatham
Square cab fought It's way along with a inside
wearing a diamond like an arc-ight. y hundred people
stopped either sidewalk; ten per cont OF them
whlstled "Boom-deay. a half dozen small boys
managed To Just miss being killed by passing teams.
Four Jews looked out Of four different pawnshops.
Tunersin for three clothing stores were alert The
tcn-cent barber eyed Divsion-st girl who mil
Hnery pulcr-in and who chewing with an
earnest almost fierce, motion of the Jaw. The
forward flowing tide OF the GROWERS flowed on Tic
men searched under the slantlng rays OF the electric
light for the lost nut back past dozen cars scatter
ing drops OF rain continued fall and a hand organ
came up and began an overture.
Just then Bill up from somewhere with four
candles The leader lit them and each took
ono and they continued the search for the nut The
humorous driver on blue asked them why they
didn't get a freely the equally playful driver Of