New-York tribune., 1908-07-12
nrsAsTERs BRING FORTUNE.

-- .ortr,na which raised Conners to this dizzy
-,,sncs among his kind had come 10 him through
ss-ies Of disasters. His parents We're Canadian
'.. his father had been successively lake sailor.
stoneoutter. and finally. when he had saved
.,eb money owner of that same little saloon
- she culxert william J. Conners, only son OF
-. marriage was born in Western New York in
* He had one sister. afterward Mrs. Hayes,
- +vo hslf-hrcrhers named Hurley. He had gone
:. .bs ruFl.- and parochial schools; at the age of
,.-an or Twelve he had plunged into life as stew
4s assistant on one of the 5ld lake passenger
..-,s-z II Is on record from his own lips how he
s.-nss and saved his first dollar above his salary.
q nos lurein' a supper from the galley TO the
s-x- cabin" he said. an l spilled bowl Of soup
!, ne pants 7 stood ready 10 bawl. wen a deck
,sssenzer said he'd give me a quarter for the re
--sins took ne quarter an ne hastin from the
s-sTard After that used 10 spill little soup on
rsssfs every day 10 prove it was an accident, md
n business with the deck passengers He served
:, the lake steamers until he grew into the dawn
- his great phvsical strength. Then he took job
-,ry card7vood for the railroad. and at the age Of
seventeen or 50 he graduated TO he a dock laborer
sn5 = loueshore-nan. He drank with the boys: he
established kind of rude chieftainship in his own
r,nr ard he fouEht-from the tradition which lin
,,-s his life in this period must have been long
,sinsr One of his defeats came near costing the
rsrac-srv Of New York z state chairman Work
ingon glske's coal trestle far above the water he
81 out with Jack Fletcher. another dock scrap
,-" Fletcher punched him fair and full in the
isx at once knocking him out and topping him
,-,o fhe lake When the bridge gang pulled Con-
-s-s srt he WIS senseless and half drowned
Pr mat tine he had lost his thumb and won his
nickname Several stories are afoat on the docks,
hui his Is the accepted version: lie and play
rste xsra boaszing hack apd forth Of their nerve
."AT bet you" said the playmate. you amt got
hs nuITe 10 let ne chop your fngey- T II bet you
-7or snt got the rofve TO chop it." said the child
.rr-ns-s They got 2 cleaver: Corners laid his
tgri doEu on the bIock-and they both won
Dgzo the street ran Jimmy Conners. waving his
EoodT stump and Yelling: He chopped me fngeyi
Hs chorped ne fngey-" For the rest OF his career
Fingsy" Conners fought with crippled left hand
The Corners family lived IN their own small cot
lags down by the docks. Mrs Hayes. whose mar
rsge had turned out badly, was at home with her
parents The house took fire in the night The
inmates got out alive, but Mrs. Hayes ran Rack 10
rescue her sewing rnas,hine-and the roof fell on
hg The shock Of tfEs disaster killed Mrs Con-
-rez Only year later the elder Conners died
Fingey" sole survivor of the family. except his
iatg niece Inherited the saloon. the insurance on
Tie cottage and the life insurance Of his parents
and bis sister. So he became g saloonkeeper, with
srs money IN the bank.
Els first investment was another saloon Across
he 0hio Basin stood a haunted house, avoided by
rs nsghbors after dark on the market for song
Rlgey" Corners boe1ght II and turned the old par
N 1no bs-room, the upper apartments into Iodg-
kE tC lake sailors They'll lay that ghost for
nl' ssi6 'Fingey." No sooner had he set the
Pare going and proved that no ghosts wanted to
Esy Il conners saloon, than Of the periodi-
r- violent strikes ran along the Buffalo docks