The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-03-26
THE WILDS OF BROOKLYN.
MISHAPS OF 4 SEARCH ron 4 WIN
ICiL PETER FORD

n"y In the Dark There and Back.
ANY one who suprosrs the expression the
wilds OF Brooklyn" to hC { punded on a myth is
Z hereby eNhortcd 10 70 to the corner Of Schc-
nectady avenue and President street some mod.
erately dark evening. This il the wall "f one
who has tried It and j. thankful TO have got
back to civilization alive.
To begin with. let 1t be understood that the
! corner OF Schenectady avenue and President
street is not geographically definite. one
needs a strong Imagination to find il. stronger.
for instance. than that % the man who makes
the maps Of Brooklyn. II doesn't appear in his
efforts at cartoGraphy. President street hav-
ing ceased to exist some half II mile cityward
Of Schenectady avenue. For his benefit and
that of any other person who may wis to make
Il map of the vicinity. 1t is here stated that HE
SPOT where the corner would be II the street
kent up Its courage long enough is at present
or was recently occupied by u stunted tree
quite innocent Of any sign board. Il deep snow
bank flowing down II steer hill into a mud
puddle whose effect of being frozen over is a
hollow pretence. and II road cut through "A
sand hummo"k and leading into IA meadow
luXuriautly hesuangicd with large rocks.
! This description is from the personal en-
periencc Of Il SrS reporter who ha. iiounder"d
through the snowdriit into the ill-trOzcn pud-
die and escaped through the cut road ONLY to
bark his shins on the aforesaid rocks.
On the whole 1t Is not the sort Of place to
tempt the casual wandcrer unless he yearnS
for solitude. There is solitude in large patches
all around the locality. The reporter who visited
the spot IA few nights ago WASH looking for
that, however. but for Il mythical person named
Peter Ford. who was said to live in that local
ity. The reporter had left the Fulton street
ear with hope in his heart and Il Troy avenue
transfer in his pocket about X O'Clock. The
great grandson of .Ananias. who was acting as
conductor of the ear. had told him that the
place he was looking for could be reached cas-
lily from the Troy avenue line. But the car TO
which he transferred. after going in the right
direction for three blocks. got disheurtened
at the general aspect Of wilderness and turned
toward the bridge. So he set of on foot and
walked for blocks and blocks AMI blocks until
he had passed the Parkway and was near the
place where President street should have been.
A general survey Of the prospect did not result
in the discovery Of Peter Ford or of any place
whereof he might reasonably be supposed to
reside. unless Peter was a grounding and lived
in n hole. There wasn't u house in sight.
Under these circumstances it seemed proper
10 climb a tree aud look for landmarks but the
only tree handy was not OF the proper propor-
tons to climb, 50 the reporter climbed a sand
bank instead and gazed about him. 1t was
uOU al cuIlNtullR Stent tlul SlTtltntu DtlOTt
him. Very far aheud-so far as to look like a
mere pin point of l~iGht-glinted an electric
light. III between the country was ii mass
of dim undulationS, amid which schenectady
avenue, which had long since become less of a
loal habitation than a name. seemed 20 lose
itself. 1t was Il misty. starless night and the
notion CT wandering over those boundless
meadows without any guiding mark was not
one 10 cheer the soul; still. it seemed to he
necessary TO find Peter Ford. and there was al
ways the possibility that President street
might crop w. somewhere beyond-tne iluc-
tuutions of thoroughfures being u well-known
Typographical phenomenon of Brook!yn-so
the reporter set out. Meantime severa! hum
dred dogs for u mile or more around took cog
~nizance of his progress and spread the glad
tenor. and baae. The absence Of trees on tie
country side became a matter for painful
SpeculationS.
The reporter kept to the road as well as lie
could. with occasional uiscuraions into the
fields when the way became blind or hidden IN
was dipping into a deep hollow. In this hol-
low were signs of habitation in the form OF a
fence. made OF the roots OF trees torn up and
ret together. There vas also a small stream.
which ,ineandered casually across the road
way. The inaIInaker hadn't considered 1t
important enough to merit a place in the al
las. Perhaps IL wasn't there when the map
was made. The SandGrer discovered it Gy
the simple process Of failing into it and wad-
ing out on the, further side. 1t is not deep.
but cold. and there is II" bridge. While the
reporter was standing on one foot to let the wa
ter ooze out OF the other Shoe something stirred
IN the root fence, and a heart;chililng yell
board of his spine. Or course it vas only a
cat. but there are cats and cats. Tahhy
: WmG ne is Oy an ln esti H n StYF Genst. bur ba, l the % sTt
that goes forth and howls IN waste places a;
night ought to be executed for the practice Of
witchcraft. TIT wandercr shhd OF into "a
field, skirted a muddy cliff for a few wards and
presently foregathered with the roadway at
tho fnp Of 81 GIIKhf .lnnIluttN
1t was. so slight II declivity that nothing
was visible from the crest If it save blackness.
concentrated in one quarter, and making his
way thence the reporter found himself in front
Rt Hs I he eould DIR on nai HeT tell ii w aheiheF The nee p9 OF q
was that he was on the outside Of the house,
md hoped earnestly that there might be some
Peter Ford was wont to lnhabit. After re-
pcated knocks "a voice from inside RESPONDED
in fluent Italian. followed by specific English.
"Gitta Gon along, Irish drunka fool. Ihiua
you a poke Vita club"
Evidently such visitors as chanced along
thns way were not 81 the sort to endsnr them
worth while TO explain, the misunderstanding
particularly as the poke vita club might lie
iSs he saH1 a,a at any W Wos mennt; so the visitor
house was left behind so lonely that the wan
derer sought TO re sive his spirits by whisting
he chorus, OF distant taying thsre was : sud,
u'lilS hhbCh ~ hcolpD hJlt VI uetp SlPulllcdltn,
and "a large dog ot some kind or other AMI no
breeding ut all came lOpinE out of the shadow
Of Ii clump of bushes. The reporter. by way
OF establishing pleasant relations, said In soft,
sweet tones:
Good doggie. Nice old fellow"
But the dog didn't answer to the name or
the description. Instead he began 10 France
around manpurring for an opening and show
ing more teeth than an advertisement OF pain
less dentistry. 1t Is a pity that some OF the
cheerful Idiots who artlessly prattle about
mans best friend being the dog couldn't have
been there. The reporter invented new epi-
thets for them and felt in the road for a rock.
MnanIilne the animal was edGinG up nearer
dashes and swift retreats. All hinged upon
whether the dog should first lind an opening
or the man q rock. As the latter revolved.
keeping his face to the foeIthOugh not from
any particular motives og courage -hi- foot
struck upon a large, robust, round cobble.
stone. presumably Of the glacial Ieriod. At
any rate. it was a cold dap for the dog when il
came there. swiftly gathering it in. the re-
porter assumed the aggressive.
BY dlnt OF frequently felnting with the rock
he slowly retired until he came across "A second
stone to use as reserve. Then he took his
time to aim and let the cobblestone fly with in
spring results. II the dogs Rullet had been
a little larger he would be at present attempt
Ing TO digest that small boulder. As it was