Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1895-02-15
GRIPMAN M'CHUNK.

Through the rough wool and war;
that made up the character Of Gripmal
Andrew McChunk there ran a silve:
thread of sentiment To those who sim
ply saw the uncouth exterior of tn,
man, as day after day he stood upon tn,
front platform of the car over whose
performances he presided, playing rude
ly Oh the alarm gong, swearing at thu
truckmen who would block his trium
phal passage this would have seemed al
most impossible. But the thread wa.
there nevertheless and showed itself OF
every afternoon when he was off duty
and with two youngsters, the property
of his landlady, Mrs. Halligan, hang
ing to each hand, he left the small fiat
on the fifth floor of 1854 Ninth avenue
and betook himself to Riverside park.
Gripman McChunk loved nature, not
as she reveals herself in the dollhouse
atmosphere of the so called gardens that
line the Harlem, but as she discloses
herself on the Riverside. He loved the
broad, silent stream, the high, wooded
palisades, the green grass at his feet,
the green leaves above his head, in
which the birds chirped and f1uttered to
and fro ON the balmy summer days.
Many a pleasant afternoon as he stroll
ed along the narrow gravel pathways he
would close his eyes to shut out the
sight of the endless line of equipages
rolling by, and trusting to the guidance
of the children at his side would listen
10 ~r No
ms and to the swishing of the breeze
among the carefully pruned branches
and imagine himself back up country.
Now, had he not had some little senti-
ment he would have spent those same
afternoons sitting in his shirt sleeves by
the open window Of Mrs. Halligan's
stuffy fiat smoking his pipe and gazing
stolidly down on the elevated trains as
they ratified along below.
To the man who delights in wander
ing among green trees and over green
grass, where he can see overhead a few
thousand acres of blue sky dotted with
white clouds, unsoiled by black smoke
and unbroken by the rough outlines Of
factory chimneys, the time always comes
when in imagination purely ethereal
some one gazes with him on those same
beauties. Perhaps it takes form of q crea-
ture clad in light, airy drapery, with
long, golden hair, deep blue eyes and
seraphic smile. Andrew McChunk, when
he first began to stroll on the Riverside,
went alone, with the exception Of the
two Halligan children. Then, as the
days flew by, the purely ethereal crea-
tion walked with him, and those were
the times when he used to close his eyes
and squeeze little Miss Halligan's hands
quite tenderly. Later the ideal form
took upon itself a change; the golden
hair assumed dull red hue; the eyes
once blue became snappy black; the
form shortened little and spread out
in proportion; the airy draperies were
changed into solid red calico. In fact,
the ideal some one that once walked by
the side of Andrew McChunk became
the exact counterpart of the buxom
young woman who dispensed lemonade
and knotty apples from a small stand at
she southeast corner of Trinity church.
yard.
Who was this creature? Andrew Nc
Chunk did not know her name. He al
ways thought of her as "her" and
"she" Her customers knew hes as
plain Annie
McChunk had presided over cable
car for whole year before he first came
beneath her softening influence. For
that year he had been the most daring
gripman Oh the whole line. His con-
science never smote him in the least
when he flew by forlorn females as on
rainy days they stood on the corners
frantically waving their umbrellas. No
look Of compassion ever passed across
his stolid face when he left behind him
a truckman helplessly dancing about
broken wheels and axles.
Then the change came-slowly, sure
ly. One day as his car was spinning by
Trinity churchyard his eye fell upon
the form of her. She had taken the
place of the old woman who for years
had kept the stand there and was sit
ting beneath the shade of a green UNI
brella. With one eye she kept watch
upon her glass covered case, in which
glistened the surfaces Of numberless
blocks Of chocolate of various sizes;
with the other upon her customers, to
whom she was dispensing 1 and 2 cent
glasses of lemonade. She was a short
woman, not over 35 perhaps and had
wavy red hair, a complexion not unlike
that Of the apples in the basket before
her and broad countenance beaming
witch good nature.
The very next day on his down trip
Andy McChunk looked her way again,
and the next day, and the next day, until
ar length he acquired the habit of
straining his eyes to see her from several
blocks up the street. But she never no.
ticed him until one day when passing
he petulently jumped on the gong pin.
Then she looked up, and their eyes met.
She smiled, and he smiled, and the car
banged into q truck. A moment later
as he spun by Andy McChunk smiled
his unconcern at a profane and injured
driver. 1t was for she first time i'll his
career on the road.
After that as he clattered along to-
ward the churchyard he used to pound
the alarm. Then she would look up and
SMILE and his joy was complete. And
thus his love grew up on him. Then
came tho time when he used to squeeze
little Miss Halligan' S hand as he walk
ed along the Riverside, with his eyes
closed, on his half days off, trying to
imagine her at his side. He 10 longer
bumped trucks off the track without
warning. but considerably gave the
alarm. like rattlesnake before coiling
to strike. Unless he was behind time he
never ran by corners, but always gra-
ciously stopped at the sign of the way
ing umbrella. And SO from the most
reckless gripman on the line Andy Nc
Chunk became the most considerable, the
most polite.
Then came his great disappointment.
One Sunday afternoon in the early fall
when he was off work he fixed himself
up in his best, and for the first time Oh
day off started out without the little
Halligans. But he did not go for a stroll
in the park He journeyed down town
instead, intent on enduring no further
suspense, but to know both her name
and address and to talk to her He had