Story from John Vonderlin
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George, Polly, and the Jewel
Hi June,
This is the continuation of the “Dismantling The Colombia,” story that was published July 18th, 1896 in “The San Francisco Call.” Those not familiar with Chimmie Fadden, which included me until I researched him, should know he was a comedic fictional character in a number of books written by author Edward Waterman Townsend. Chimmie was a Bowery hooligan whose heavy New York style accent makes for dialogue with a lot of apostrophes in it. The young Cecil B. Demille made two silent movies in 1915 of his adventures; “Chimmie Fadden” which was lost and “Chimmie Fadden Out West.” The website Archive.org has several Chimmie books you can read on their website for free.
Also a lapsus linguae is what we now call a slip of the tongue. Enjoy. John
Ship’s Baker, George Borowsky says the crew of the schooner Jewel are pirates. On the night the men abandoned the schooner he carefully carried his five parrots away with him, and in the morning three had flown. He is sure the sailors on the Jewel had much to do with their flying. They were the most intelligent birds every hatched in a Central American tree, he says, and under his instruction were learning to express themselves quite fluently.
One of the lost pollies, the first and most intelligent in his school, would recite a whole chapter of Chimmie Fadden without a lapsus linguae. So the indignant baker brought his other feathered phonographs, back to the steamer, and if they catch the language regarding the Jewel pirates, they will not be fit associates for nice birds or nice people.
Borowsky was the baker on the Colima and missed sailing in her on her fatal trip. He went up on the dock for an errand, and the steamer pulled out before his return. He doesn’t regret losing that job, as the man who took his place is somewhere under the Mexican seas. He says he lost the Colima by being stopped on the street by a reporter who wanted an interview, consequently he looks on a newspaper man as his mascot.