He was the fireman
attending the engine in a noted manufactory, and in our brief
conversation he told me many facts regarding his profession which I
fear interested me more than the after-dinner speeches of some
distinguished gentlemen I had heard the preceding night. I
remember that he spoke of his engine as "she," and related certain
circumstances regarding her inconsistency, her aberrations, her
pettishnesses, that seemed to justify the feminine gender. I have
a grateful recollection of him as being one who introduced me to a
restaurant where chicory, thinly disguised as coffee, was served
with bread at five cents a cup, and that he honorably insisted on
being the host, and paid his ten cents for our mutual entertainment
with the grace of a Barmecide. I remember, in a more genial
season,--I think early summer,--to have found upon the benches of
Washington Park a gentleman who informed me that his profession was
that of a "pigeon catcher"; that he contracted with certain parties
in this city to furnish these birds for what he called their
"pigeon-shoots"; and that in fulfilling this contract he often was
obliged to go as far west as Minnesota.
Pages:
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280