“It was a pipe,” he says, “to get next to doin' de act wid a pen an' ink, an' as fur de readin' gag, oh, good night. I wuz Johnny on de spot wid dat. But wot got me goin' was telling de time. On de level, it took me t'ree months before I got next. Wot twisted me up wuz the little hand always sneakin' by de big hand. Say, it was like a race between a thoroughbred an' a piker. But I'm on now, all right.”
No tough boy in Gotham can equal his mannerisms and talk. His is the original tough dialect untouched by education.
Chuck's distinction is attributed in a manner to his style of dress. A blue flannel shirt, a short coat with white pearl buttons, a white tie and a very small hat; that makes the character you read about. In fact, his dress is as famous on the Bowery as himself.
It is in his talk that the remarkable qualities of the man are revealed. Men of all stations in life are held by his wit, his originality, the honest, forcible character of his mind, the uncompromising manner he knows best. The life of the Bowery, “de lane” he calls it, the streets he loves, he could not be torn from.
He is the supreme interpreter of Bowery slang. “De real ting,”
“Ah, forget it,”
“Go in under the table,” and “Oh, good night” are phrases that Chuck invented.
His popularity with the Chinese is remarkable, and his honesty has never been questioned for a moment by anyone.
