The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-07-22
CLUB THAT MEETS ON A DOCK
4 GROUP or NATIVE BORN HOUSE
DWELLERs ON THE EAST SIDE


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There's q Meeting Every sunday where You
Get the River Breeze N beer and
I8ob Hinds's Ch0wder Enough 90 FIJI
tine Onices and One pain Member.
The dock at the foot Of Fifth street TO
which lumber schooners and coal barges
come up the Fast River TO unload IL the
home Of the Robert Kinds Association.
Never heard Of itp OF course not. for It 10
not a self-advertIsing body, the little group
OF native born who have lived near Dry
Dock street all these years. gradually
growing smaller and smaller in numbers
as the iood Of Russian immigrants pushed
them further and further toward the river.
The pride Of the members Of the associa-
ton Is that not one OF them has ever lived
in a fat. They all occupy small houses on
Sixth or Seventh or Lewis streets. As
n Of tho members said yesterday, I'VE
may have more bugs. but we also have
more room"
The association is a flexible body andNis
not hsmpered by constitution or bylaws.
The old fellows used TO gather on the dock
pleasant summer evenings and talk over
the news long before the younger genera
fiVt "OlV iOi.tt WI VI Nhe Oho ~
are gone now. There was Old Man Mosher.
whose real name was John MCNEIL. He
was a bath house keeper. and he never
lived in a fat in all the years Of his long
life. And you will hear the boys talk Of
Mike and Tom and Pat. They're all
gone most of them dead, once in a while
one Of them has move away. Tho only
one of the old timers left is Ned Riley, who
works in the mahogany yard where is piled
mahogany and cedar from Cuba and Mexico.
Ned Riley never misses walking out on the
dock OF a Sunday afternoon and having an
hours chat and a glass Of beer with the
boys.
On winter evenings the association meets
in the cosey little shack OF Robert Kinds,
the night watchman on the pier. But it
is on pleasant Sunday afternoons that the
real reunions are held. Then Kinds. the
chef, and therefore the head Of the club,
gets out the old chowder pot. which shows
its age more han Riley does. and the boys
are set to work opening clans, peeling
potatoes and bringing out the plates and
kni yes and forks and spoons from the shack.
The ingredients once In the pot, nc one
but Kinds 10 allowed near II until he an
nounces Ready" Then everybody helps
Joe Woods's Office is second only to that
Of Kinds. Joe goes up the street and re-
turns with a key over one shoulder. He
sets the keg on wooden legs, with a top so
Contrived that ice can be packed all around
All is covered with a rubber blanket. From
time 10 time Joe takes a sip. He spits it
out in disgust, and the thirsty members,
who have half risen, sink back in their
chairs. Finally the temperature Of the
beer is lowered TO the point demanded by
the expert. and the boys file by with their
mugs in their hands.
There are but eight active members OF
the association. Old man Riley may be
considered an honorary member. All were
in their places ready to hear Rob Hinds's
Ready yesterday afternoon. There are
likely TO be a few guests. These are taken
in charge by Tom Sullivan, president, who
ia a builder in the city Dock Department
on weekdays. Bill Kern, a stoker in the
department, is vice-president; Harry Luh-
man, a stevedore. is secretary; Tom Mclean
is the nominal treasurer, and Christian
Blush, a bridge boss. is ergeant- at-arms.
John Kern, brother Of Bill. has the honor OF
being the only member without an Office.
We was going TO fix up an Office for john
said one OF the group yesterday. but he
says he thinks there ought to be at least
one plain member. SO John Ia it,"
Yesterdays meeting was under a tar
paulin stretched across the tops of two
trucks. On one side OF the i~mproyised
meeting hall was moored the Seth NJ. Todd
OF Bangor, a three master in with a cargo
OF lumber. On the other side were the
Nora OF Newark and the Muncy Of Phila-
delphia, coal barges. just out on the river.
a stones throw from the men. private
yachts and excursion steamers OVID
with holiday seekers passed.
Il guess this isn't better than spending
the day in a hot saloon or getting in the
jam at Coney Island, said a member as he
deposited his coat on one Of the trucks and
reached for another glass of Joe's beer. ;
They are a temperate crowd. the mem
beers OF the association. The moderate
speed at which the keg liz emptied would be
conside red a disgrace at College Point.
But these men are not politicians. And. !
besides. they have a chaplain who drops
around occasionally and talks to them.
This man OF the cloth is George Deecken,
better known as Boy or Preacher"
Deecken. Preacher is a lumber handler
who eats his lunch in a hurry and then
spends the rest Of the noon hour talking
to the boys about their souls and about
drinking too much and whatever other Of
their sins may have come to his attention. |
When he can get away from the dock
Preacher visits the hospitals on the East
Side. the various prisons and the work.
house. He is younger than most Of the
80. His wife died some time ago.
him three children. His mother
keeps house for him at 1 Dry Dock street.
We used to guy him at first the boys
say. but we found out that he really meant
what he said Now they listen to him
He is a wonder to the boys, for
with his working in the lumber all day
and his preaching and visiting the sick
and imprisoned at night they can't see when
he rests
One member, the mascot. has been for
gotten. He is Jimmy. a very small and
very black kitten. Jimmy hasn't been the
long, and he is just learning TO like
chowder. But there is plenty Of fish.
the boys catch and bring to the
meetings. Jimmy watches chef Rob Kinds
and rubs against his legs until he gets his
Then he orawls under a truck
il. Yesterday the fish was pretty hot
Jimmy tackled his share. He walked
and round the steaming food until
the river breeze cooled IL.
When the chowder pot Is empty and the
pipes are lighted there are stories Of the
night the brewery burned. of the Mary b.. |
came in with n wondr0Is tale OF sea
Of Jack the Rat, who used to
sleep on the dock, but who disappeared on
a boat and finally brought up a long time
after ut Staten Island. Charlie Newman
drives over from Avenue D now and again