The sun., 1893-12-22

| typlcal wit from the "ould sod: few knew
how to temper sorrow with ready tongue and
twInkling eve better than he. There will come
10 his funeral o.dav many friend who knew
tho worth and pleasure OF his company.
AZ the foot Of Court street in Bfooklyn IL Z
queer-shaped. blue. painted shanty. planted
on the edge OF forest Of masts. Over the
door is this sign;
..........,..,..,
| REsTuRANT.
Within are a long table. a few rickety old
chairs. a chest Of drawers. and an old-issh-
ioned cook stovo. built on the ancient double
deck plan. The only window is an oval
shaped glass. that may have served az the
front OF a showcase. but looks not unlike a
ships 6eadeye. II is not such a residence as
a poet with fixed Income would seek but II
was good enough for Tom Kelly. who wrote
poetry for pleasure and not for hire. There he
lived with his partner Jerry O'Neill. and
worked at his trade OF ehipbuildlnR In the
yards nearby. Jerry is quite heartbroken
over the death OF the old man" as he called
Tom. though It Is doubtful which is the older
Both were Young in spIrit. and Kelly despite
his fifty odd years. cracked jokes with the
! priest un his honest soul was started for an.
| other journey
| Kelly came from ireland TO Brooklyn thirty
| years ago. and becameR treenall driver and
| fastener along with merry crowd OF young
| Irlshmen who we're quite ss droll and witty as
he. twas when shlpbuildinE was busy trade
and the men needed recreation. At such
times Kelly was tho soul OF fun. and TO his
death remained the prince OF them all With
out any education worth mentioning he had
| a singular GIT OF making rhymes for every oc-
caslon. He made rhymes about his friends.
| the boss OF the yard everyday happenings,
| and even conversed In rhyme when his How OF
Why" said his pretty. black. eyed niece
| Yesterday uncle would make poetry while
looking at You and lovely poetry. toe !"
tho man. "Iust grind them verses out while
YOU were waiting FOR something to say"
ships and told his friends that he wanted a Job
that would give him some standing in the
opened an undertakcr,s shop in Houston street
Not long after this Timothy J. Campbell ran
being red-hot friend o. the candidate made
pfe,t1na GSps@ h. rcr sGpport thropgh p Srcu.
on as the moral law rScSe the vrss Gfa o
Timothy and whoopin0 II un for him at me-
teorc pace. Among the verses wero these:
H.. " tie s ssnn.f h n Ss's & stay
His hands on the helm OF the snip OF our state"
There. a smile on their faces wheu you tSk about
nhs sSH'n.s. s.sH.'Os tn: t.rssxns cant s,sm.
well HsnHS @ poe @s
man was both reelected and captured.
The life Of an undertaken, however. proved
much too slow for Kelly, and one DAY not long
ago he locked he shop door and went back to
spidemic OF b" grin ho read in some parcr
that the trohihitionlsts we're alarmed M over tie
therefore wrote . poem. entitled brandy De-
fendLng ,Imtsli Hs an Ame1SS. TSa. wyi;i,en
Driyp Him llut q the Country Tlirtpan
verses were needed 10 dispose Of the authors
Views. few OF tho verses read
lam not afraid Of any disease
And IL xii tue patisS; tisS; right away away A''" '"
II had been ambitious
Ana y. no. a tew rioh,birion
That nov could vote me down.
Ihsve .ttl some roysl subject.
10 SDIIs h .se.sns pre- en- Sa,l nj,
Ny taxes tor 20 pay.
Yet with all this merry rhyme Tom Kelly had
a sorrow that hastened his death. His niece
t6inkins about i. Yesterday az among Hs ''I,s the
mOurners who sat beside the burning candles
fn3 Ry wst 'Ms s eary
She made pitful picture n she rocked in the
chair and Walled meapingIess words, lears
part OF the time she lived In n charitable insti.
tuition. but at Irregular intervals there were
to Brooklyn but after lew days her mind
would again give way. and she would be- taken
back to the asylum. Yesterday she came for
the last time and seemed to quite appreciate
the fact that Tom had gone forever. kelly'S
comrades say that during tho spells Of depres-
sion he would grind ont poetry VI all sorts a. u
great rnte.
one time he gave n stag party at the little
blue shanty, There was no iUrmallty and no |
exclusive list Of guests. In neigh5nring |
saloon un invitation was written In the Irish
hroGue. so that all the uoys could understand |
II. as Kelly explained 1t read:
Come al! ye JyeG what's drnG.n A-re and l.ns wild
IN take round aud show yer What good hvin' yer
wd tIrGeT pie and hs-res aud drop OF the to'L.en
Iut1e amt tune hcu he.y ant good fellow. yea
can bet,
The boys in the neighborhood say that |
nothing In the history OF Ieyery ever beat |
this dinner and many others like IT, Instead |
OF the turkey there WAS goose cooked with |
sage. as kelly learned TO cook II ~ Ireland, |
and. wild drop OF the p0theen." there was
a big cH9 OF tobacco and y lot Of new clav pipes
Tor the last course. Finally. there was Iu after
dinner anterta inment with Tom Kelly IN the
as will not be forgotten in many a. day. On
these occasions Kelly always talked back to
his guests in poetry. an - Aeil's great regret
now is that he did hot writo down some OF the
good things said
Yesterday afternoon Kslly's Old friend and a
srN reporter searched through the chest Of
drawers TO tnd a f0w literary relies Oi the dead
Thymester. Very few OF these We're found. The
poem booming Tim Campbell and several
others had been printed, and weTO scattered
about am ong a lot Of OLD knalsaCks.