The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-05-17

Roy L. McCardell, in the New York
World
~ ONE, you who would know New
York Come with me to the
~ havens of the hidden men-the
cheap hotels of the Bowery, the cheaper
lodging houses, the rookeries of FUR
nished houses, the rookeries of furnished
rooms, the homes of the down and out
where failure dwells.
There was Dudley .Jardine's case. lie
lived for a generation Bowery derelict
at the old Germania hotel. He died as
civilian smith," pauper. in Gouverneur
hospital.
In the havens of the hidden men they
will tell you how he looked and all his
oddities, for while he lived a pauper, he
d,sSa rich man, and two things greater
than all things be, even in the havens
Of hidden men. and those two things are
money and death.
How did he look? Well, he was feet
10. He weighed about 175. up to his last
illness. He was smooth shaven, save for
a tuft of whisker on his chin. Wore
eyeglasses, was bald, was unwrinkled,
was erect.
He dressed shabbily but cleanly In sec
opd hand dark clothes. wore second hand
shoes, second hand shirts, second hand
derby hats and read second hand books
ard second nand newspapers and ate
sparingy in cheap restaurants alongside
of other second hand men.
Dudley Jardlne was gentleman of leis-
inn In cpant He
was temperate in his habits and never
drank unless he was treated. He would
Lot solicit, but he would accept free feed
tickets, and if invited he would attend
all free dinners, special or ordinary At
mission or Salvation Army Christmas and
THANKSGIVING dinners Dudley Jardine,
with income from stocks ard bonds OF
thousands a year, would eat the free
holiday meal beside the pennless hobo
and the man out of work.
He died worth $4,000 or 100000 in gilt
edged securities in strong boxes here and
there, also several pounds of worthless
stocks the cats and dogs" even Nor
gan and Hartman have bought in their
time.
.Mr. Smith" played the piano well. He
would volunteer to do so at mission meet
iugs. In fact, since the song, the story,
the recitation, the play and the moving
picture Of 1.-THE Volunteer Organlst" there
are always several waiting among the
ragged men at mission meetings in the
hone the regular musician will not appear.
"Old Billy smith," the Bowery delelict,
or. rather Dudley Jardine, who died
worth 100000, vas one of these. He de-
lighted to rise up, go forward and play
as volunteer crganist or pianist at such
times.
And he left WILL as well as the money
to substantiate It, One-half Of his money
vent to mission charities and the other
half to his relatives. They had lost all
sight of him for years. The Bowery says
that this miser near millionaire had made
and boarded nine-tenths of the fortune he
died possessed oil.
And so he passed, and all the other
characters" in the havens of hidden men
have added prestige since his taking off.
Here is '.the professor" He gets a pit
tance from his family. 1t is a widely
known family. He is addicted to drugs.
The pittance is paid to the lodging house
keeper 1t is the professors delight to
rise up and correct Interpretations either
ia the classic tongues or in the vernacu-
lar. He gave me this adaptation from
Anacreon:
The spring is coming, 1 hear her voice
In every Whispering wind that blows
Bidding the weeping woods rejoice
Ard waking to life and love the rose!
Then there Is 1.-The doc" He, too, is a
..dope., Some small income or pay
ments from somewhere sustain him. He
gives free prescriptions to those who are
i'll in what is now his world.
And here is another curious phase
of character In this gray land of the lost
and forgotten. There are men here grow
ing old who ease along these sodden ways
because they like it. Men neither given
to drink nor drugs, as are the doctor
and the professor, men not misers, as
was Dudley Jardine, but men of common
place ways who like the shlftlessness of
existence in the haven of hidden men.
Such one Of many is ''ths captain