Show BROADWAY AND MAIN STREET izaak walton of east side did arresting angling job by BILLY ROSE when I 1 was a kid on the east side a couple of hundred years ago 6 a sidewalk was a lot more than a strip to walk on it was something to dream on tap dance on pitch pennies on and scribble philosophical ic lo sayings on ot the sort not found in bartletta bartletts Bart letts familiar quotations however to gimpy myers the leader of our gang a sidewalk was none of these things it was primarily something to fish through tp to put a tine fine point on it what gimpy fished through was not the side walk fallt itself but the iron gratings over cellar windows and ventilation shafts and what he fished for with the aid of a blob octar of tar dangling at the end of a string was everything but fish coli coins picture buttons and other bits of treasure which had fallen through there were two hazards however which used to annoy this izaak walton ot of the asphalts asp halts cops and dogs cops because a subway fisherman attracts y crowds a and n d 49 crowds os as a rule attract picklock ets dogs because gimpes exposed rear was an invitation for a q quick u I 1 c k sn salick lick and on several occasions neighborhood mon grels grel had given it billy rosi rose the I 1 full and painful treatment As he grew older and more ambitious bit ious gimpy did less and less angling on tile the lower east side where the droppings drop pins and therefore the were slim instead he invaded the lusher territory terri tor iea to jo the he north and finally settled on the gratings near the union square subway where it if the streets were not paved with gold at least the ventilation shafts yielded a reasonable amount of silver THE copon street in those days was orte one ike fogarty a cynical gent who always suspicion eill that while gimpy was fishing in the subway an accomplice was fishing in the spectators pockets but he was severable nev never erable ta pin anything on the kid and this irked hirn him so much that he be finally threatened to pull him in for obstructing traffie traffic the next time he caught him gimpy took me hint and went back to Df delancey lansey street one may morning when the me sun jun atvas dohig its stull stuff and goins going to school was it as out ol of she question que silon at his bil suggestion our suns sang headed north nor th on abo prowl prow lor for cigar binds bands and od on lath sheet we sato sail a wo manet OW out of a taxi tavi stid suddenly denly clutch at her ber throaty sproat and then men stoop OP over and peer th rous a sis grating ear the curb lost soman lady gimpy asked her A locket said the woman 11 it II worth much but it has a picture of baby I 1 ke there were wera neither fidei coi cops nor ca nines in sight ill git it fer yo ya said gimpy from a prince albert tin he took a chunk of tar and held a match under it until it was sticky then he lowered lowe it on a string and began to maneuver it over the locket AT THAT MOMENT officer fogarty rounded the corner this time im ya in he said pl Play ayin ln hookey and obstruction obstruct ln traffic at one and the same time im only aryn ta git this lady the pitcher of her baby said gimpy in exactly orie oaf minute and 46 seconds our leader delca delicately fely emed eased the locket through the pulled it ii free from the be tar tai and handed banded it is to io its owner thanks said be woman lei the only picture I 1 have ol of baby lets get coln 11 said fogarty stalling for time gimpy said to the woman wouldga Woul dja min ian I 1 took a look not at all she said and snapped open the locket inside was a picture of a mean looking pekinese pekingese Pe kinese pup that aint no baby snarled gimpy its a lousy dawg 11 watch your language young man said the woman babas Ba bys won more blue ribbons than you have lingers fingers and toes gimpy slowly stuffed string and tar back into the empty tin and dropped it down the grating then he turned to fogarty okay copper he said do ya duty |