The daily morning journal and courier., 1904-09-15
ALONG WATER FRONT
SOME OF NEW TORK'S QUEER
 EST OF CHARACTERS.

Duke'ss Encounter With a cunard
 Party.
 That tramps have natural aversion to water is a popular belief, and yet no ipart of this cosmopolitan city seems to lhave so much fascination for the va grant as the river front, and nowhere else can such queer specimens of hu- lmanity be found.
 Along the west side docks and down by the East river, where the bowsprits of vessels project over the narrow lstreet, there are wanderers whose lives would read like a romance if given to 1.-the world, and whose adventures prove the truth of the assertion that truth IS lstranger than fiction.
 Among the vagrants who make lpractice Of hanging around steamship land ferry-boat landings is distin- Iguished looking man of about forty-hve, lknown only as "The Duke" He must have been handsome before dissipation lset its mark on his face, and there IS lsubtle something in his bearing that be- speaks military training. His clothes iare not as good as those worn by a self lrespecting scarecrow, but he manages Ito have his linen immaculate, and his lnails are always carefully manicured. He is taciturn as a rule, but occasional Ky, when his tongue becomes loosened under the mellowing influence of i've cent whiskey he talks volubly and with lthe accent of an educated man.
 That he is a graduate of Oxford uni iversity and was once on terms of intl- tmacy with Englishmen of note has been Igathered from remarks dropped in an unguarded moment, but he has never given any one in this country a hint of This real name or lineage.
 Regularly every three months a rep Ereseptative of Wall street banker lcalls on him and pays over a remittance Ireceiyed from England. He thereupon hands the proprietor of dingy hotel on West street sum equivalent to Q quarters rent for room on the top floor In this way he Is at least sure of having roof over his head until the next check arrives, The balance he promptly blows in on liquid refresh Iments, and depends on luck for his meals.
 He is popular with West street ha- bitues because of his generosity while , he has a cent in his pocket, and they show him deference In many ways. Just now they are whispering among themselves of an incident that occurred two weeks ago.
 1.-The Duke" was lounging outside the Cunard dock watching the. crowd that hurried off a big liner, Presently a tall man, who walked with the swing of an English army officer, came by Cling ling to him was pretty, del:-lte girl and beside her walked a naughty dame with a cold hard face. The trio saw "The Duke" about the same moment he saw them. They came to an involunta- Try pause. The pretty girl uttered cry and held out both hands. The older woman's face grew white, but she kept her stately erectness and, clutching her young companion, hurried past, her es- cort following closely in her wake. : "The duke" stood stock still, looking, as a corner loafer expressed it, like a corpse wit de sun on it's face" and he lneyer moved until the cab into which the three had disappeared was a speck lin the distance. Later in the afternoon. while drinking at the bar in his hotel, he was accosted by a foolhardy hobo, who proceeded to twit him about "de lswell guys what gave you de go by
 Dat old lady looked like enough to be yer mudder," laughed the fellow, ian if de young preacherina wasn't tdead stuck on you; I'll''-He got no further, for determined hand gripped T his collar, and in trice he found him. lself reposing in the gutter, while "the Eduke" strolied back and finished his drink.
 Another odd character, who bears about. him the ear-marks of an old tworld aristocrat, is often seen in the vicinity of Christopher street ferry. s He drinks Hike a fish, swears in seve- lral languages. and is known to all the bar-keepers in the neighhorhood as "The Holy Terror.
 Yet there are moments when the in- lstincts of gentleman rise spontane- lously to the surface. A few days ago The ran to the assistance of a woman who had slipped on an orange peel as she was leaving the ferry. He brushed the mud from her gown as deftiy as a Ilady,s maid and, when she thanked him, ltook off his hat and bowed with Ches- Iterfieldian grace. She handed him 8 lquarter. He hesitated moment, then laccepted it, but before she had gone lmany steps he caught up with her again, and presented a long-stemmed rose which he had purchased with her lcoin.
 Tt is fitting that an American beau ty should wear her prototype and namesake,'' he murmured, She took the rose with a smile and impulsiyely held out her hand. He touched it and rushed away. ,s 4@ .
 The uncrowned king of the. tramps, whose happy hunting ground is situa- ted near that classic region known as I"Helrs Kitchen" is low-browed, round-shouldered individual rejoicing in the nickname of "Bull'' He an- swers to it genially enough, although l. it was originally intended as a ref1ec- ton on his neck. which is of bull-like proportions. z..s.. ,. ... |