The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1901-08-13
MISS MoLLIE HANNIGAN.

| Pheim Reardon, late of Ballinasloe,
| County Galway, and later Of Dublin,
where he is yet remembered by ire
quenters Of College Green and the Bank
| of Ireland as Handsome Jericho" the
| cabdriver, is now conductor on Chi
cago street car He has black curly
hair the shape of Apollo and brogue
as broad as the Curragh Of Kildare.
Rumor has it that he's about to be
married to Mollie Hannigan, the pref
test girl in Father Kelly's parish, and
here's the way he answers the gossips:
"Marr'd? Well, OF dunno IT'S ais
Ter The married thin THE buried, but
! TIL latther is gin'rally more parmin1nt,
partickly in this country, so VI m
| told. OF niver bin married an Oh never
bin buried, but OF s'pose they's no es-
cape frum aither. Asst Miss Mollie
Hannigan, two doors frum tn power
house. IT'S her funeral, anyhow, as Oh
hear thin say
| Miss Hannigan works in laundry III
Franklin street,and her wit is as bright
as her eyes. She has the yellow mar
and blue eyes of her German mother
and the sharp tongue and quick intelh-
gence of her father, Mike Hannigan,
who kept the Owl saloon for ten years
before the horse barns We're turned into
power houses He's been dead these
six years, but the motormen and con-,
ductors who frequent the old place yet
call it "Hannigan's."
Miss Mollie had already a score or
admirers when Conductor Reardon
came to board at her house She voted
him a greenhorn the first time she
heard him talk, and in spite of his good
looks and ready smile resolved that ne
was mot her kind" But the gallant
greenhorn was not to be denied. He
made no secret of his ardent adm1ra-
ton for Molie, and with grin ignored
her efforts to treat him with silent con-
tempt. He never saw her without
"gud mawnin, Misthress Mollie, or
"gud evenin', Misthress Hannigan, till
she began to feel that ridicule and not
dignity was the best weapon with
which to deter her unwelcome admirer,
She had, until two months ago, never
deigned to notice him in the street car.
She has two or three girl friends of the
neighborhood who work in the same
laundry and who accompany her to
ana from WOTh every udy cAScPI 1"i'
day.
When the conductor first began his
"eud mawnin's' the other girls always
had a laugh at Mollie's expense. She
never condescended to smile or give
the retort courteous, but she couldn't
suppress the blush Of anger that only
served to make her pretty face prett1er
in the eyes of the Irish conductor. But
in the meantime she schened an auda-
cious method of making life miserable
for the conductor,
One evening when the car was packed
with MERGING people Conductor
Reardon, edging his way through the
crowd, appeared smiling before her
with "Gud evenin', Miss
That was as far as he got, for Miss
Mollie broke in in high-pitched and
purposely affected tones. thus:
Jaw. I say, conductor, is this the
road to Mandelay?"
Poor Phelim's brown skin turned
purple as he heard the loud roar of
laughter which greeted this query.
Everybody looked at Mollie, one man
suggested that it was "the rocky road
to Dublin" and the girl herself felt sure
that she had taken "a fall out or the
persevering admirer. But Phelim came
back pretty quick with:
mo, Misthress Hannigan, 'tisn't the
road t. Mandelay r amy other kind O
delay. So be quick wit yer nickel.
Then there was another laugh. The
women agreed that Mollie had the
worst of the exchange, and the men
took sides against the conductor. The
girl was a little puzzled as to how the
honors had gone, but she resolved to
try again. In the meantime Phelim
whose vanity and heart were both bad
ly hurt by Mollie's ridicule, resolved
to avoid her entirely. When he sat at
the same table with her or met her
about her mothers house he just
touched his hat and said nothing. In
the street car he refused to ask her for
her fare, and so contrived it that his
method of overlooking her proffered
nickels always seemed like mistake
on his part.
The conductors changed manner
piuued Miss Mollie beyond expression.
She saw how handsome he was and
how the other girls in the neighborhood
were running after him. and besides
she felt Inundated at being obliged to
accept free rides at his hands. Finally
one evening, when he had deliberately