Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1895-02-26
GRIPMAN M'CHUNK.

GRIPMAN MCHUNK.
Through tho rough woof and warp
that made up the character of Gzipman
Andrew McChunk there ran silver
thread of sentiment. To those who sim
ply saw the uncouth exterior of tho
man, rs day after day nc stood upon the
front platform of the car over whose
performances he presided, playing rude
ly on the alarm gong, swearing at the
truolzmcn who would block his triuln-
phal passage this would have seemed al
most impossible. But the thread was
there nevertheless and showed itself on
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 tho small fiat
ON the'ffth floor of 5o54 Ninth avenue
and betook himself to Riverside park.
Gripman MoChunk loved nature, not
as she reveals herself in the hothouse
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 fiuttered to
and fro on the balmy summer days.
Many pleasant afternoon as he stroll
ed along the narrow gravel pathways no
would close his eyes to shut out the
sight of the endless line of equipages
rolling by, and trusting to tho guidance
of the children at his side would listen
to the twitter of the sparrows and rob
| ins and to tho swishing of the breeze
among the carefully pruned branches
and imagine himself back up country.
| Now, had he not had somo little senti-
ment he would havo spent those Same
afternoons sitting in his shirt sleeves by
the open window of Mrs. Halligan's
stufy fat 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 sec overhead 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 orea-
ture clad in light, airy drapery, with
long, golden hair, deep blue eyes and
seraphic smile. Andrew MoChunk, when
he first began to stroll ON the Riverside,
went alone, with the exception of the
two HalIigan children. Then, as the
days few by, the purely ethereal orea-
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 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 somo ono that once walked by
the side of Andrew MoChunk became
the exact counterpart of the buxoDp
young woman who dispensed lemonaG5
and knotty apples from a small stand at
the southeast corner of Trinity church
yard.
Who was this creature? Andrew Nc.
Chunk did not know her namo He al
ways thought of her as cher" and
"she'' Her customers knew her 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 on the whole line. His con-
science never smote him in the least
when he few 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 truclanan 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 green nm
| brella. With one eye she kept watch
upon her glass covered case, in which
! gIistened the surfaces of numberless
blocks of chocolate of various sizes;
with the other upon her customers, to
| whom she was dispensing and cent
glasses of lemonade. She was short
woman, not over So perhaps and had
wavy red hair, complexion not unlike
that of the apples in the basket before
her and a broad countenance beaming
with good nature.
The very next day ON his down TIP
Andy McChunk looked her way again.
! and tho next day, and the next day, until
at length he acquired the habit OF
| strainine 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 pm
! 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 profane and injured
driver. II was for the fzst time in his
career on the road.
After that as he clattered along to-
ward the churchyard he used to pound