The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-10-21
TOWN TALES.

III anu out Oh IHe uOOTS VI lAe uSpot' n
little fellow, hecannot be more than five
years old, stands near one of the stone
pillars and pipes forth some plaintive
air that brings him not few coppers
from sympathetic group of listeners
His dress, little adapted to the chill
winds of fall, consists of a very ragged
pair OF trousers and q shirt much the
worse for wear, He has no coat, and
for the very pity of it one feels like
giving him money A hickman, who
has his stand near the station, and
who has often seen the poor little tot
bravely sing his one song, says that
there is a drunken father in the case,
VINO spends at a saloon nearby what
his son can earn for him. 1t is not poll
cy FOR him to dress the boy in comfort
able clothes, for that would take away
from the receipts, and so the poor lad
has to shiver, while a brute drinks his
life away. The boy has not been seen
Tor some time lately, and the friendly
hackman says that he is very sick,
Standing out in a cold rain for hours
was too much for the boy, and now
the father has to go without his daily
debauch, unless he has other means of
getting a drink.
This is a mere incident, and Is but
touched lightly upon here. There is
the material for a story in the life of
the man and the boy. One wonders
what sort Of a family life is going on
IN some miserable tenement, and If
there are other children suffering too.
Perhaps there is nothing that can be
done. There are hundreds of other
things Just as pathetic going on every
day, only we do not know of them.
But to satisfy my own curiosity lam
going to find out more about the fam
&c r.fI =, ~
'raggety" boys home will furnish
another tale of the town.
IL is amusing to go into the stock
brokers' office at times and watch the
man at the ticker. If ever there was a
wise individual in his own belief it is
that same man, and sometimes by mis-
take he hits it right. Every stock brok-
er's office in Worcester has one and
most of them believe that the financial
responsibilities of the community rests
upon his shoulders. He sits upon four
legged stool all day and occasionally he
takes flyer himself; but as a rule
there is no telling whether he has the
price OF ham sandwich or not. He is
a good natured, harmless individual,
VINO Knows no more about the causes
underlying actual and market values
than he knows about the Greek alpha
bet. But the hangers on are always
greedy to hear all he has to say, and if
in the hurly-burly and excitement of
the day he should tell them that black
was white. they would not gainsay him.
1t is the sight of lifetime to watch him
as he yells out, 1.-THE Vanderbilts are
in the market" and Morgan is buy
ing" and that such and such a sale
means that "the Standard Oil inter-
ests are on the move"
But he is at his best when the bank
statement comes out. About 10 minutes
before it is due, he straightens up his
back, twists his legs firmly about the
legs of his stool, takes a firm grip on
the tape, clears his throat and looks
wise. Then he shouts, Bank statement"
and the whole congregation holds it's
breath as If the next minute was it's
last. Then he reads in stentorian tones,
Reserve decreased but before he pro-
ceeds any further he is interrupted by
hens and haWS or something worse be-
cause of fears that stocks will decline
and wipe out meagre margins. At the
end the ticker man calls it a bad state
ment and the whole flock, one and all,
rush out to sell at a loss.
John G. Hagberg's friends are telling
q good story that has developed out of
the legislative contest in ward 5. Ac-
cording to the story, Mr.. Hagberg was
approached few days ago by a strang-
err, who said: Are you Mr.. Hagberg?"
II am replied Mr.. Hagberg. Let me
hear you talk" said the questioner.
Mr.. Hagberg proceeded to find out
what the man was driving at, and was
informed that a Ryan supporter had
told him that Mr.. Hagberg was a Swede
and could not speak the English Ian
guage intelligibly
My night lunch stand has closed UP.
I don't know anything about the why's
and wherefores that brought it about
but 1 do know that it is a matter of
very great inconvenience to me and
that leads me UP to the main point I
have lived in a good many cities of the
United States under a good many con-
ditions have known what it means to
scramble for a sandwich when poverty
was prodding her prongs into my stom-
ach, and I have enjoyed the luxury of
lunch at the Waldorf Astoria and left
there with money in my clothes. know
where to find the cheapest eating house
in America, and know, too, where one
could spend the most, so that 1 find no
difficulty in striking happy average
But I have never yet found a city in oil
my travels so peculiarly situated as
Worcester Such a thing as the Tkomo-
son Spa in Boston, the Attorney Dairy
in Washington or the New England
kitchen in San Francisco is unknown
here. They are too cheap or else it is
too little understood. If one wants to
go to an eminen.iy respectable board
ing house it msA IS buying the place en-
installments witIout ever coming into
possession of the property. Hotels are
out of the question unless che IS in q
nd ri nj nv ~ In,
railroad company. s one must needs
seek the so-call9d cheap lun?h here and
now mine has busted Alas. Alas!
A young man we'll known about town
who works a press wire in one of the
newspaper offices, had all sorts of
trouble while acting as escort for a
party of young ladies the other after
noon. 1t was a beautiful day, and
one of the girls remarked that it would
be pleasant to take walk in the sub
uThs. The suggestion was acted on,
and when the party got out beyond New
Worcester, one of their numbeS~ sug-
gested that it would be good fun to
pick few apples, that hung tempting
ly from the limbs of a near by tree.
OF course the young man volunteered
to be the hero, and, club in hand, he
vaulted the wall prepared for an as
sault on the apple tree.
His heroism was short-lived, how
ever Just when he was congratulating
himself on being the real thing, so far
as securing fruit is concerned, the
owner of the property appeared on the
scene, and threatened to have the en-
tire party arrested. The young man
argued with the farmer, and after an
impassioned appeal, in which the ex-
IRENE youth and beauty of the young
ladies, and the effect of confinement in
a prison cell was brought out, the far
mer consented to waive proceedings
and the procession moved on.
The Bumpety-bumps and Neverslips