The sun., 1896-10-16
W. LEARY'S TERRIBLE LOSS.
MS FRIEND, MISS MANATEE,
FINES AWAY IND DIES.
The Desperate Am,etiou OF tho Secretary


| OF the Park Board and His Desperate
| Efforts to Achieve Gnrb of MourninG
which shall Be Adequate TO the Case,
Glad in mourning so deep that 1t was fairly
abysmal, the Hon. Billy Leary, Secretary to tho
Park Board and general conidant OF all the
animals in the Central PARK menagerie APP
| peared at the Fifth Avenue Hotel last night.
With downcast head and averted eye. he has
tened through the crowd of politicians, making
no reply to the greetings of his Acquaintances.
lined himself up against the bar. and orna-
mented himself with triple interior decora-
tion in liquid amber color. Then he sat down
on a settee and sighed sonorousy In the midst
OF this dolorsus performance Sun reporter
found him.
Whats tho matter. Mr.. Leary 2" asked tho
i reporter
The Secretary silently pointed to his black
suit black necktie, and black gloves, and, pro-
| ducing black -bordered handkerchief, fur
| lively wiped away tear. The reporter ven-
| turcd to express coincidence upon the death of n
| member of Mr.. Learys family.
| NO." said the afflicted one in mulled tones
| mo one in my family But it's Just as hard to
| bear"
The reporter turned away, unwilling to in
trude upon n strong mans grief, but the Secre-
tary stopped him.
Don't GO" he said. "Irl be better in mo-
1
| "lndeed!" said the reporter, rather surprised.
| "I-Il don't believe know whom you mean"
| You knew her" continued Mr.. Leary, un-
| mindful of the Interruption, "and / appeal to
| you; would you have thought that she was one
| to perish and pine away from excess of emotlon2
| Would you, young man. to look at her, think
| for u moment that, in the words of Mr.. Shake
speare, the late Poet Laureate, jealousy. like n
worm In the bud. would prey upon her damask
cheekf"
Certainly not" declared the reporter assur-
ingly. not that he felt so certain about 1t, but q
heart of stone would have been melted by that
appeal into some encouraging response.
"fet. alas and alack! that's just what hap
pened to her. She gave one last gasp. turned
up her beautiful green eyes. and gurgled out
her soul in agony. Ho requiescat in water
tank. Miss S. c. Manatee. She was of Gentlo
and retiring disposition, respected and beloved
by all who knew her. That was me-" added
Secretary Leary as he wiped his nose in an
ecstasy OF anguish.
THE manatee dead" exclaimed the reporter.
Dead as Methusaum. Seeing that you knew
her when she first came-how well remember
the day l introduced you to her and the
playful, not to say coquettish, manner in which
she waved her left hind FIN, making what | call
fin de sea-cow salutation-I cannot but
What's the matter? You weep, too2 You are
broken heart good to find a sharer in Its woes"
Under the circumstances the reporter judged
1t best not to state the real reason for his an
guish, so he smothered his emotions and re-
Quested the other 10 proceed.
was merely about to say. said Mr.. Leary.
that as you knew her you might put a little
obituary notice in the paper something poeti-
cal, ike this:
Sea Cow Manatee; beloved friend OF William Leary
ya. Of sea grass Sd vat es
her friends may be cent TO the menagerie tanks.
How would that do? II could see that in |
TIE SuN. II would help me to a realizing sense |
=" Very we'll; we'll print it." said the reporter.
about this sad affair as you can"
its long story. To begin with, you remem- |
ber how fond she used to be of me. was the |
only Hl hs .he 9"k any Interest in at AL from
"Moo?" sad tn, reporter II didn't know
There's great lot of things you don't know
about sea cows young man." said Mr.. Leary.
moody cow. And sometimes she'd low. She
was a lowly COW, too: You never saw a COW
u love, at first sight affair: I'd sit by her tank
and and talk to her, and she'd try to prick up her
~ didn't know she had any ears" the reporter
You didn't know" sneercd the Park Boards
secretary. or course you didn't know. She
HaNe any ears II hNt nAu sne q nave
uricked 'em up; but she didn't have. and so she
could onIy try TO prick EN- up. Why. many's
sn, sne time h Iva ve seen ,hHt poor manatee almost
ana hear what was saying TO her.
That's very interesting" murmured the re-
porter as Mr. Leary paused.
Interesting. is IL? Don't interrupt again.
t Ihrn thSs s
ns;" and the speak er gritted his teeth so yio-
itently that his mouth emitted sparks like an in
Who is Miss Murphy: the janitress ?" ven-
TIRED the reporter. alarmed but still intent upon
81. "IIssnitrs.,! NO! The hippopotamus. She's a
ialthess nirt; In order to gam my attention
lavished her caresses upon me while i had nv
head in her mouth trying to find out when OF
Say. did you ever have q hippopotamus try to
kf1 YOU when your head 1 was vas, In her mouth :"
ear; Not that blaine Miss Murphy - 20 mach"0 Ss G"o
and here Mr.. Leary's grief Tor a moment gave
speedily dlsapleared as he continued" but
%Fsys her sIs # got
sss s9na Ss
20 iSa sSoStSs, dear %S M9nsss s1s
sudden that | never landed iii reached the the
i was only as!ittle lovers tif, that would pass
r,gM, rS, nt away; way, but by thunder when came
| wouldn't. ~
" or course began to understand then that
IT was serious. tried to explain TO her that | |
had no use for Miss Murphy: that she wasn't |
my style. made fun Of her figure uhe mana
tee was slender young thins-only weighed
about 900 pounds. and said she had a face like |
q barrel. with knotholes for eyes, but il
nidn't nmi.d go: Try as ! would she. gave
Miss Mnrphy, Poor Manaiee! She pined and
Iin"d. This last fortnight she lost 800 pounds
ll"ver knew until she turned up her hippers to
the water lilies aud II was too la,cl Alas! :
Alack. bartender, Seven absinthe cocktails"
Good heavens" said the reporter. You're
not going TO drown your grief that deep, are ,
youi' ''
Amt I" returned Mr.. I.eary gloomily. 81
Just am. I'm man that don't do things by 3
halves You seeanythng the matter with my
GRrbI Z" ,
The reporter assured him It was perfection ,
"Thars hrcause Won don't see deep enough =
and this l. deep sea subject of mLurning"
'sd tie SECRETARY OF the Park Board. - have
hat / 1 a rit Il