Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1896-09-24
TEE MESSAGE OF
CUISEPPE'S ANGEL

Ann Moynihan lived in a genteel quarter |
on upper Madison avenue, on a double |
corner lot valued ut something like hum
drcd thousand, and in a house worth pos
sibly, considered as lumber junk, some
thing like twenty dollars. Ann kept a |
COW and boarded several goats, and |
passed a rather rural existence, although |
her horizon was barred with the iron lines
of AN elevated road two blocks distant,
and her farm yard reyerberated with the
rumblings and ratings of cobble pave
ment and echoed with all the steam aud
electric voices of that part of the town.
Her shanty WINS perched with sort of
Swiss recklessness on the apex of n great
old rock, md was approached in a cir
cuitous fashion by rickety wooden stair
case that led where il could itself best
climb up the broken surface of the
boulder The rock was tufted here and
there with course growth of grass that
gave ii the unkempt appearance of an
ill-shaven face. To the rear of the shanty
II sank away more evenly into miry
| yard where the heritage was stamped into
paste by the cows hoofs.
| There was II shed in the back yard and
| genuine bit of country fence stretched
/ across the rear. In the morning, the bars
We're let down and Ann MOynihan's cow
| passed through them into vast vacant
lot beyond. where inulens iourished, and
where, here and there, among heaps Of
rubbish, broken glass, twisted, rusted tin,
and tatters of ancient bill posters. there
We're yet to be found sweet little GASES of
grass. In the evening the gentle creature
returned-sonetimes in a big red sunset
| glow that had rare chance to spread
| itself in this open spot. Some of the
4
was being blasted AWAY. In the side
street, big derricks swung their black
| frames-itlle against the sunset at night,
and by day steam drills and pickaxes
4 added their din to the street sounds. But
AIMS COW had the gaze of the country
in her eyes, and her outward ana home
ward tread showed IL dignity above the
| trivial accidents of environment.
Ann herself appeared Indifferent to the
fact that she and her shanty were gro
tesque and extraneous in this decorous
quarter of the town. She lived her own
life in her own way, and she made the
way as easy as possible. A curl of smoke
issued from the chimney of her small
establishment like its life's breath--a
modest announcement of soul within.
She generally had Il pot of some rank
vegetables humming and steaming on the
stove, and this and an ever present supply
of cheap liquor kept .'thc atmosphere con-
spicuous." Once a week. out of Difference
for the popular fashion, she pinned a few
wet Tapping rags to the clothes strings
which she ZigZagged from tree to post in
the yard. There was just one thing that
she stood in awe of and that compelled
her to n certain pretence of decency, and
this controlling influence she alluded to
t.N e
Hilth." But she reduced her housekeep-
ing labors to minimum and had an
ample leisure. She was generally to he
seen folded in an old shawl and hugging
. herself up in the front doorway of the
shanty. Here she sat by the hour and
smoked n short clay pipe, and looked
down with her little narrow red eyes, from
her rocky fortress upon the happenings of
the avenue below.
! The Madison avenue ears logged by
at an old-time pace; ladies in marketing
; or calling costume got on and off. Ann
possibly was fairly well posted as to the
: modern fashions of feminine garb. AT
all events. she took in the most startling
exhibitions of modishness with no other
comment than u stronger puff at her pipe.
, , Half way down the next block there was
a giant hat-housc. Ann was familiar with
its great honeycomb face and knew by
distant light many of the inmates. Some
: of them occasionally came and went in
) carriages, and the halliday was n proper
: hall-boy in broadcloth and brass buttons
All of which Ann saw unmoved.
But there was something that made
!, Ann swell with metropolitan pride--try
|, AS she would to puff evenly as it passed
y and that was Dennis Moynihan, her only
n son, in his new ash cart. Ann had lived
:, through the old regime of what was
Il plainly termed ''the swillman," AM
,. Dennis, with his new cart, fat horse, and
" neat uniform, was something she had
never expected to see-onc of those mod
- ern evolutons that fairly take your breath
+, away.
There had been Il great parade of the
: street-cleaning md strcet-improving forces
, and Ann on the occasion had overcom,
: her usual aversion to society, and ha5
stepped across to a convenient corner OF
~ Fifth avenue where she had seen it al
u pass and Dennis in it. All the street
I; sweepers in white duck, immaculate unt
y Jolly, shouldering their brushes and pre-
- Scnting arms. the sprinklng-cart men will
" their big bectle-like wagons in grand file
- the STRENGTHENING inspectors on their hi
u cycles, with their fore-and-aft caps like s,
IL many Stanleys going after Livingston, an,
'o the garbage carts like Roman chariots jolt
W ing i'll the shOw-and Dennis in it. An,
~ there We're elegant speeches. and gentle
. mon making bows, and there. was pnrad
=, ing. and there were manuuyres. and tn
" whole town to watch-and Dennis in il
!" Ann Moynihan didn't see 1t all, but sh
AZ saw more than she could bear, and the,
she went ckand rolled herself up tighte
~ than ever on her Swiss chalet Doorstep
Nv And when an especially grand lady passe
~ in the afternoon and glanced I'M Mt iii
~ sbanty with gentle patronizing inquis
u tiyencss, Ann looked dreamly the othe
a way, removing her pipe. and spat wit
,e the negligent aim and the raised eyebro,
ne of Indifference.
. Dennis Moynihan did not live with hi
W mother; he boarded with the ianitor an
W Janitrcss of a decent tenement farthc
Nv east. Dennis had lived in New York Ion
T. enough to he Il naturalizcd citizen and Ii
~ bad taken out his papers-which might q
ut without saying, for otherwise how coul
he have joined the force of the ID, S, G.
His position, though it might seem hun
bic to some, implied political prefrrmeu
3. and the successful unwinding of ever s
of many yards of red tape, and, in the eve
al of Ann Moynihan, ut least, his oiIic
ed conferred distinction above its cmol,
w mcnts.
t. Ann WIS not without other family cor
1