The Pickens sentinel-journal. (Pickens, S.C.) 1903-1906, 1904-10-26
G5e
Red Flannel Patch.
1T CONCEALED THE TRAGEDY OF A
HUMBLE LIFE.


lW2l one morning recently half
Go%en newspaper men gathered, as
was their custom, in one OF Bread
way S restaurants to do justice, at
what wGuld be called an unseemly
nour By the New York day worker. to
square" meal. After dining wisely
one OF them remarked that Eugene
Field had stirred more latent SYM
pathy IN the hearts of the reading
public with his Little Boy Blue" than
any newspaper man he knew, and this
led to the telling Of an incident that
had occurred the day before to j. The
story was told to j. by friend, who
had hastily jotted down the facts:
Tonic Salvatore, organ grinder
This is the name and occupation OF
him who has disturbed my daytime
sleep. has tortured my overstrung
5.erves when awake, and has sent roll
ing through my brain confused and
confusing tumble of sounds, very un-
musical at times, from The Little
Widow Dunn to a distorted creation
of Les Rameaux by some hand-organ
builder who sought sound rather than
truth of composition. You night work
eES, who even in sleep have teeth on
edge and blue pencil poised ready to
attack the weakling reporters contri-
button to the daily paper, have per-
hapS heard and cursed Tonic Saliva
tore fer grinding out his dscordant
organ notes, have turned restlessly on
your pillows. or made fcint to grasp
o1ything within reach and hurl it at
Vic uHSuSpecting disturber of your
rest, and then calmly pulled your bed
clothes over your heads, to sink agai,!
into your restless sleep, with beats
and city editors and news editors chaS-
ing one another through your ever act.
i've brains. Hear my story OF Tonic,
and perhaps you will say, Such
thing as that organ grinder carrying
the faded photograph of dead daugh-
Ter on tAe cover of his organ never
entered my head
''TCniO Salvatore and his wife are
tSiciianS of the better class with n son
md daughter religieuses in Italy Ton
10 is - years old. and his wife is 49,
MiStoriuAes occur under the Italian
blue dome as under the American gray
dome. and SO Tonic, with his wife and
daughter OF 16 years, chose to seek a
new life here. For an old italian, with
the artist sense of music, sculpture
and carving, there are few oDpCrtuni-
IirS i'll New York and mental posi-
lions arc not always open to an Ital-
ian p2tr!archal in appearance and with
no knowledge of English The organ.
9he organ his new found friends sug-
geSted as a means to earn his livel-
hood, meagre though the income be
frcm the daily trudging up and down
and across New York's busy streets,
and. SO that little Battsla and her
mother might retain the shelter pro
vidcd for them with the money
brought from home and now exhausted.
Tonic procured, by paying small dai-
Iy rental for it, an old time organ,
husky, hoarse and discCrdant of tone.
and, with Battsta assisting him in
drawing the barrow on which the or
gan rested, he started on the path from
which Victory was sidetrackcd. and
The end Of which was the Grave OF
BattiSta.
II saw the shivering Tonic and Bat.
tista last November in the street i'm
which | live, she with n thin plaid
shawl drawn around her attcnuatcd
figlIre, and Tonic grinding away, with
eyes now looking up at the windows
for the chance contributions of lovers
of bis music, or of haters Of it, who.
with wave OF one hand and the close
ly wrapped penny thrown by the other
hand circling in the air demanded
that he move to another house or an
other street, and then looking loving
ly at Battista as she ran to pick the
penny from the street and hand IL to
him. At times Tonic gave a searching
glance at his daughter and dropped
his head until the stubby gray beard
rested on his breast, then quietly lifted
the hand which held the organ up
right, allowing the instrument to rest
on his body, and placed it on the girls
shoulder, smoothing the plaid shawl
and beaming on her with his dark
italian eyes.
Yesterday, on Brocme street, west of
the Bowery, saw Tonic Battista was
not with him. and he was trudging
along. pulling his barrow and organ
the cover of the organ next to him
having a red patch over it to cover
n rent In tho cloth, | thought Organ
and barrow seemed to me to have
doubled in weight, Judging by his bent
back and tense muscles. He stopped
10 grind his instrument, but gave no
sign of being Interested in anything
going on around him. His head was
bent and his chin rested on his
breast. He was alive, that was all.
AS 1 was interested in Battista and
In him when / saw them In the begin
ming Of the winter, 1 made bold to
stand near him, and noted the change
In his appearance He remembered I
suppose. having seen me somewhere
on his daily travels, especially os I
had always contributed to Battista a
coin of some denomination, and he
lifted his old cap to me. He ceased
churnlng out his music, and stepped
close to- him and tried to convey my
ahoughts in English 90 him regarding
Ria daughter. He couldn't understand