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AMERI PILKSTUFF/
TT: NJ YORK
'r'ORK: Earl Bowman
86 West 12th St
New York City
February 6, 1939
SUBJECT: "OLD JERRY' HAD 'HORSE SFIISEI
Narrator, Tom Nolan' (Homeless)
Age 73 years
Interview at Daca s Bookstore
63 Washington Square, So.,
New York City
N7r,d YORK
"OLD JERRY HAD HORSE SENSE"
(Told my Tom Nolan, homeless,
(jobless, Irish American
(horse truck driver, displaced by
(old age and the change from
(horse to motor trucks in
New York City)
(Unedited)
It was a typicalay 'wet' New York winter night misty,
drizzling, rain; the skeleton like branches of the trees
in the Square dripped steadily the deserted benches along
the lonely and silent walks; steady rhythm of warning
whistles came monotonously from the fog -shrouded harbor
and river.
A good night to be off the streets.
On such a night Dacais Bookstore, 63 dashington Square,
with its ceiling -high shelves crowded with old books —dusty,
smelly and intimate was a good place to be; a friendly place
for men to sit and talk...
It was there, in the thick clouds of smoke from Daca
So.,
"OLD JERRY HAD HORSE SENSE," Page #2
--Earl Bowman
and Tom Nolan's pipes and my own 'hand -rolled' cigarettes,
that Old Tom, for many years a New York City horse truck
driver but now jobless, homeless and living by his wits
because the -re was no place for him in the trucking or any
other industrial field since 'age' and the coming of
motor trucks made him 'obsolete,' discussed horse -sense
versus man -sense and wondered which was most worth while;
this is his story:
"Sure and it is true, Lad, that horses have 'horse sense'
and men have 'man sense,' and I'll be damned if I know yet
which is the better. Horses are wise, like ye say; like he
cow -horses ye have been tellin' about that out -smarted
the cattle and knew after very little experience all of the
tricks of their 'profession' of ropint and brandini or
whatever it was they were required to do out there in Texas
or whichever place it was.
"The same was true of 'Old Jerry.' He had 'horse
sense and plenty of it, and I observed it many times in
the twelve years that the old gray devil and me were engaged
in haulint things about New York before the damn motor
trucks made us 'obsolete' and he was retired to the Company's
farm over in Jersey to enjoy his hay and oats in peace for
the rest of his days while was 'retired' to --well, ye
can see what I was 'retired to merely by looking at me..
"Indeed, Jerry had horse sense and lots of it. And the
HOLD JERRY HAD HORSE SENSE," Page #3
-Ea rl Bowman
important thing was that he used it. He knew all the
traffic rules and unlike a lot of people drivini automobiles
--and motor trucks these days, he never broke any of them.
Nor did he ever 'run down' some bit of a kid that got so
excited playing that he chased a ball out into the street.
"More than once I've seen Jerry set back in his shafts
and hold the weight of a loaded truck, stoppin' it dead
still when some kid, not lookins what he was doin ran in
front of the truck and in another instant would have been
under Jerry s feet.
"Indeed, Old Jerry wanted the blood of no little child
on his conscience, he was that careful of children...
"But on the other hand, I've seen him, when we were
standing by the curb, reach down and nip hell out of some
damned dog that was mu.ssins up the walk closer to him than
he cared to have such things happen.
"Yes, me, Lads (a bit more of your tobaccy Daca, if ye
please) Jerry had horse sense and applied it to his daily
life. He learned of his own experience that the thing to
do when he heard the shriek of a fire -siren was --if there
was a chance --to pull to the side and stand still, or if
there was no place in which to pull out of the traffic, then
to stop where he was until the fire wagons had passed
or the noise of the siren had disappeared on some other street.
"That kind of 'horse sense' is the sort that comes
from experience. Some horses have a good deal of it and
some don t have so much. it Jerry had his share with a bit
"OLD JERRY HAD HORSE SMSE" Page 4
--Earl Bowman
more, I'm thinkin' than most horses. And I used to admire
him a great deal for it in them years that Jerry and me
were 'fellow employees' on the truck.
"But he had another sort of 'horse sense' that I admired
even more, and that, since I have had nothing to do but
think about things...and wonder at em...Ilm afraid have
decided is a damned sight better than 'man sense'
"What I mean is that no horse, and Old Jerry least of
all, ever wasted his time worryin' about the 'future/ and
frettint about what would happen to him in the future like
man sense makes men do.
"For instance, ye can go around this block...or ye
can sit out in the Square on a sunny day...or ye can go down
to the Bowery, or to the 'flop joints or to the beer
hang-outs and what do ye see?
"Ye see hundreds of men like meself--and many of -them
unlike meself who have been 'big money shots' in their time
and*thought they were on top of the world, and who have
spent the best part of their lives Iworryint about thl future'
schemint and plannint skimpina and savint and often starvins
themselves, or even cheatinI their fellowmen' to get enough
,511
ahead so they would be sure not to starve --or practically
starve in the 'future.' And what the hell happened?
"The 'future' sneak ed up on them in spite of all their
worryint and schemin and se forth and smacked them in the
eye for a row of garbage cans the same as it did me...and all
their damned worryini and frettin' had been for naught:
MOLD JERRY HAD HORSE SENSE" Page #5
--Earl Bowman
"Many times I have worried about me 'future' which is
now me 'present' and got scared for fear I would not have
a place to sleep or something to eat when the damn 8 Alture'
came... Bo, I would skimp meself, out down on ke tobaccy,
i Chinaman
wash me own shirts instead of lettin' th 2kt:roma do it --even
do without me beer... Once I saved up $19.00 and tacked
it in me shoe, I was on the way to bein' a
'capitalist' with me future well provided for... What
happened? 'Twas then that them teeth that had been
botherin me bothered me a damned sight worst: and, well, hell
the dentist got the $19.00 and five dollars more out of me
next two week 2 s wages:
"Twas always the same. But still, with me 'man sense'
instead of me 'horse sense' I spent a good deal of time
worryin' about the 'future.' Indeed, sometimes to such an
extent that it all but spoiled me enjoyment of the 'present'
Often, remorse would overtake me if 1 drank an extra mug
or two of beer and I would find meself thinkins-- 'Tom Nolan,
ye damned old fool, ye had better be savin' this money ye
are.squanderin on beer and tuck it away so ye 11 be havin
it in the future' When no doubt ye 11 be needin it worse
than hell!'
"Yes, I would find meself thinkin' to meself like that
and Itwould spoil the enjoyment of me beer... That was
me man sense workini.
"But Jerry, now, with his horse sense' instead of
'man sense' like we have got-- Did he ever worry about thl
"OLD JERRY HAD HORSE SENSE" Page #6
--Earl Bowman
'future?' lie did not. When I put him in his stall at
night, he knew he had earned what was comm' to him, and
he knew also that he would get it and had no anxiety at all
in his mind.
"He would go at his oats and his hay with a clear
conscience and a good appetite --with never a thought of
losin his job or his income or of anything else to upset
his digestion and cause him remorsful dreams about what
might happen to him in the 'future'
"And when the 'future' came what happened to Jerry? He
--well, he, was a damned sight better off with never a minute
lost in his life worrini about the 'future' and which showed
that he had good horse sense', that' was with all me
damned worryins about the 'future' of meself with me 'man
sense'-- I'll,be damned lads, if understand it, or know
which is better 'horse sense' or man sense, and so far
I've found no age else who does understand it or know what
its all about...."
CDaca and I had to admit that, like Old Tom Nolan,
neither4 did we understand it, or know what 'twas all about.
And Old Tom went out in the drizzly night, shuffled along the
wet street...through the mist and the fog...to a 'flop
house to sleep and perhaps still wonder what it was all about.)
END