The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1910-09-04
NANTUCKET'S TOWN CRIER
FHINISCENCES OF THE LATE
BILLI CHARM.
He DIed Last Wear. the Last Of HIs Inc
some Odd sayings and MIstaLe~
Attributed 60 Him Ono Of the char
ariers mat Made Nantucket Quaint


Al Nantucket the visitor j. likely to have
chills and fever almost any day Not
the kind Of Chils and fever that calls Cor
! quinine That's ma IaIia and II IL de-
| clarrd that there ~ not now has not been
amt never can 10 ma laria on Nantucket
, Island
/ The visitor can have chillS and fever
| nevertheless. chilla when he realizes
that little by little Nantucket's traditional
quaintnsss IL al "A ppearin before progress
ana fever. a fever OF satisfaction when
he comes upon some corner or custom
or character about which hangs the old
delightful favor
There are a good many OF these cor
n"rs left. a few OF the customs and even
now aud hen one Of the characters: but
IN" most famous have gone Why
there isn't oven a town crier For scores
Of wears Nantucket had a; least one crier
and sometimes two or three The occIpa-
ton has lap-ed now and tho only evidence
that u once hourished j. Billy Clark's
hell and horns IN the histori al museum
Billy Clark died only last year. hut he
hadn't cried for several years before his
death Some literal minded persons say
SUN correspondent aid 20 one OF Bills
contemporaries What did he die OFF,
tho old gent lenan replied
WHY. h. Just hollsred himself TO
DEATH
Billy certainly did bot 81 hollering
in the forty-hve years that he offciated
A. town crier It's not exactly correc;
10 say otficiated, for the post was one TO
which Billy appointed himself The town
paid him nothing. except when he cried
a town meeting Then u paid tho usua |
fee which was 81 cents for sing. cry .
or rs cents apiecc ~ he was hired Ia cry
for more than one person
Billy gave good servio~ for the money.
Armed with horn and he'll he perambu-
lated the winding wAvs Of the town TO
it, utmost hounds They say that back
IN IssI when Billy decided 10 he town crier
he had q fine voice and even stransers
Nould understand every word he said
but 10y dint % much hollerin he sort Of
wore out his VOICE say the old timer.
Sfrangers not only couldn't under-, and
a word he said hut were pretty tolera BILE
well scared th" first time they heard his
TauCous roar.
" INEXPERIENCED they sometimes stopped
him and asked him what he was saving
But they never did ~ a second time HIS
resentment took the form Of a crushing
hut silent scorn. lie simply stalked
grandly ahead and kept on holierin'
One 81 his predecessors. Chari.s- y Chase
was PERHAPS quicker NJ repartee than
Billy was. summer girl once called
out pertly from a hotel veranda as he
went by
Hello. MIR Crer' whered you get
your bell2-
Young woman. said he. i got my hell
wher" you got your manners at the
brass foundry
He was mighty quick. was Mr. Chase
hut Billy was all there m the matter Of
dignity W cour-e most folks spoke Of
him then a. they do now a. Billy Clark
h'It they didn't do II 20 hi- fac. II any
body said Hello. Billy 10 him hs re-
plied With a Grandiloqu-nt
Mister Clark. n you please
NAntIck"ter- describe him mildly A.
mot quite all there or with a screw or
two lacking Tina, may b4 q hit wor-.
than having =cr~w lon~e ANYWAY
something was lacking in Billy Prob
ably u was screws Certainly u wasn't
energy "r honesty Away lark ~ war
time visitor to IN. island arranged with
New York Newspaper to l~t Billy hav.
al the "np'e~ 81 the paper he wanted lie
guaranteed they should b" paid for.
whether Billy got around To u or not
IN" paP"r- were sent u Billy's order.
but the ONO" never had a chance - for
ward hin for them Billy kept sending
money until the ohice was driven IN re-
monstrancs
Mr.. Clark they wrote please do not
Send any more money until ws AK for t.