The New York herald. [volume] (New York, N.Y.) 1920-1924, 1922-02-05

AS soon as his car
had driven away the
man turned into the station and walked
heavily to the check room, where In ex-
change for ticket he received a large
package wrapped in thick paper. This he
carried with him to a garage near Third
avenue. which he entered, to reappear in
a few minutes entirely transformed. He
sat in a small cart, low as wheelbarrow,
hut with two side wheels that he propelled
with his hands. A rough coat, torn and
patched here and there, completely COW
cred him down to the waist and on his
head he wore disreputable cap.
But the principal transformation was
his legs. Instead of the two active ones
that had carried him without difficulty
into the garage, there protruded in what
may be called a barefaced way two
wooden stumps At sight Of them, pas
serby had to be extremely hard hearted
not to experience feeling of pity
A few revolutions of the wheels of the
ancient cart and the beggar was sta
toned near the subway entrance that was
always astream with people coming up or
going down to and from the underground.
Few in the constantly changing crowd
passed without seeing the helpless Grip
pie and many were touched by the sight
10 the extent Of a quarter or at least
dime. The coins fell into the disreputable
can that now rested between the wooden
stumps.
Eighty dollars a day is said to be the
minimum of these charitable donations,
while when anything extra is going on,
like a procession or an Army and Navy
crowd, these takings are more than dou-
bled. In good weather and bad, season in
and out, they have to be sufficient to keep
up the butler, the motor car and other ex-
penses of the Long Island place. The over
head charges are pretty high. 1t may be
presumed, but never too high to be met.
In contradistinction to the legless man
there is Tony, who thumbs mean guitar
string. No one ever slipped any loose
change to Tony because he felt sorry for
the young Italian boy. Nor did any one
ever present Tony with any extra pin
money under the charm of Tony's music.
But Tony collects just the same.
Tony's Singing Is-WeH,
But Smile Is Engaging
He crawls into a nook on any of the
theater streets above Forty-second street,
thumbs his guitar and sings his little
repertoire of Italian songs AS guitar
player Tony is in class d. He sings
mostly in G minor. But he has smile
that is a mile wide and at least ankle
deep.
There is something pathetic and yet
tremendously cheerful about him as you
see him sitting there, his voice tuned well
below the traffic, only an occasional strain
of his guitar music audible above the roar
OF the Forties IF you are half human, you
stop and listen to him-and then shell out.
Tony is minus one leg. He lost 1t
years ago in bad accident that nearly
cost him his life. For while the world
. looked very black to Tony He was doomed
to be a hopeless cripple. None Of his
wealthy" relatives came forward with
offers OF assistance and Tony faced the
prospect of rounding out his days in an
institution for the disabled.
Then one Christmas a group OF Tony's
ncighbors on the East Side took up col.
lection and presented him with guitar.
Not that he was a musician or had any
lcanings toward breaking in on a regular
symphony career. The guitar was con.
sidered more of toy.
How He Found the Value
Of Holding Out His CAP
Tony began playing by ear. Fortunately
he had an Italian ear. Tunes that had
dinned in his ears when he was boy tot
tcring about the streets OF Sorrento came
back to him by scraps and half measures
For two years he played nothing but med
leys then he began to separate songs and
remember few OF the original words. BY
another spring he had acquired quite a
repertoire.
He bepan his professional career in n