The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-12-26
TENDERLOIN'S IRISH BARON
JACK CONHoRS DEAD dNb a SUB
SCRIPTIOy TO JURY HIM.

ne Was n Observation-Disclosures. = Troubadour
or tho Liauar saloons. Ono or the Co
hort That Lived ON George LAW. Sr.,
Never begged, ana Always HNd Money.
with the passing Of John II. Connors, "Tho
Irish Baron" who died of pneumonia on Wed.
nesday In tho Presbyterian Hospital. upper
Broadway and Sixth avenue lost n man who,
moro than any other in n collection Of shiftlcss
scapegraces. distinguished himself by the ease
and gracefulness with which he lived on his wits.
jack Connors. as most folks knew him. had no
purpose in life other than to laugh and mako
others laugh, to keep the attention Of crowd
whiio he told q story, to be admired BY a sort OF
women whose standards for admiration were Of
the lowest. Now that he Is dead. his body hns
been prepared for burial by nm undertaken who
ia 10 be paid from the proceeds OF a subscription
, paper circulated among mixod.ale prize fighters,
gamblers, bnrtenders. and such parasites upon
the life Of the Tenderloin as he himself had been.
Jack Connors was a rather handsome fellow.
His face did not differ much from tho type
attributed TO the modern beardless youth OF
fashion by tho illustrators OF the public
prints. He carried his shoulders we'll back
and stepped out with q full, long swing. He
carried his chin up and looked every one
cheerfully In the eye. He was invariably
fashionably dressed. with q tendency toward
Ho Voho Ato ohhSo " 'eO
| knew him used to say. "as well as though ho had
paid for them" For that mattcr, there is no
knowing for certain that he did not pay for his
clothes. He always started the day with money
and always ended 1t without a cent In his
pockets. He told all sorts Of incredible stories
to account for his supplies Of money. There are
few men who would not have been nightly in
| censed were they even remotely charged with
the dishonorable things OF which JACK Connora
accused himaelf most freely.
Few people know. II amy ono does, who hi?
parents were: Consistently. with his general
talk about himself. ho was fond Of giving out
hints that II the secret of his birth were ever
f hnDMh, o would nE 'S Be- involved 9t ESS fof a 8 His
general carriage and the manner which he Az
sumed at will caused many to have faith in these
: Jacks estate has fallen greatly in ten years.
He was tho most prominent Of the group OF
ton George Law, Jr.. used to amnse himself IN
the days when that eccentric millionaire would
and turn 1t over to his guests for days at u time,
ending up the dcbauch by distributing gifts OF
I}s ewsdlry J. vd In i, 2 T sSe , GiffsT Of GoI VIZ TSn SG 1aSlItre also
The Colonel used to employ THE Baron" to
come in after a dinner to recite or read or sing
/ Lexow committee biighted the ranker growth Of
the Tenderloin,s gayety the Baron never lacked
enough to carry him along from day to day
without, starving, though, as has been said
tea nnd No SeH SIw fsr i sesmsa f P5Dsp stSrVo fHa "f In
that time 1t was his boast that he knew every
man and woman in tho daily Broadway parade.
aceompanied 6y one or TWO men, who we're
skeptleal regarding his large, talk OF acquaint;
greetings with every man and woman he met.
II, ON such an expedition. he me a man whom
aea H"iT o. shlsn1Bl a Gon G DID NOT %ne saru hi W" to a aa:
dress him 6y the first name. fior !, his
are you, Harry; how are things going Z
Since the pianos in the uptown dives were
silencod Connors took to wandering among tho
perhaps alone, perhaps with one or two Of the
admirers who followed him about, and without
began in a low tone, and raised it only when he
had the attention OF tho customers in the place.
His, singing mnsis, TSs r mor W.! powerful is way df fa eHaits y
crowd by making, it laugh. and then to switch
into pathetic ballads. Barkeepers q ways feared
Before he finished there were almost always
four or five maudlin men leaning against the
He never passed his hat for a contribution.
He never asked. for q loan. He would always
that he considered. it more than a recompense
for anything be had done; AS an encore he used
tS FlS' b %h inp he ss,lsd s Both pF paSi fsh. in s@ a pe in
hot fight. he, ended this exhibition by deliver
ing to himself a terrific knockout blow under
always given {; him.
writer, whom Connors greatly resembled., it
II anybody minated a belief that Skelly was
dead. Connors smiled in a superior way and
said. my dear fellow. that is only a newspaper
rumor; l am Sicily, and l am not deaf"
To convince the s~keptical he sang Skelly' 8
songs with 30 close an imitation OF the manner
isms char ,cteristic OF tho dead singers, work on
the stage that there are many to-day who stead
lastly believe that John Connors and John
skelly were one and the same man; As a mat
ter of fact there was no reason why the Baron
should initiate Skelly. Counors composed many
OF his own songs, md the weakest of them was
as good as Skelly's best.
The Baron was 80 years old when no died.
He did not look a day older than he did when he
was "a.