Cable
Cars |
Ballad
of the Hyde Street Grip
by Gelett Burgess
Oh, the rain is slanting
sharply, and the Norther's blowing cold,
When the cable strands are
loosened, she is nasty hard to hold;
There's little time for
sitting down and little time for gab,
For the bumper guards the
crossing, and you'd best be keeping tab!
Two-and-twenty "let-go's"
every double trip
It takes a bit of doing,
on the Hyde Street Grip!
Throw her off at Powell Street,
let he go at Post,
Watch her well at Geary
and at Sutter, when you coast,
Easy at the Power House,
have a care at Clay,
Sacramento, Washington,
Jackson, all the way!
Drop the rope at Union,
never make a slip
The lever keeps you busy,
on the Hyde Street Grip!
Foot-brake, wheel-brake,
slot-brake and gong,
You've got to keep 'em working,
or you'll soon be going wrong!
Rush her on the crossing,
catch her on the rise,
Easy round the corners,
when the dust is in your eyes!
And the bell will always
stop you, if you hit her up a clip
You are apt to earn your
wages, on the Hyde Street Grip!
North Beach to Tenderloin,
over Russian Hill,
The grades are something
giddy, and the curves are fit to kill!
All the way to Market Street,
climbing up the slope,
Down upon the other side,
hanging to the rope;
But the sight of San Francisco,
as you take the lurching dip!
There is plenty of excitement,
on the Hyde Street Grip!
Oh, the lights are in the
Mission, and the ships are in the Bay:
And Tamalpais is looming
from the Gate, across the way;
The Presidio trees are waving,
and the hills are growing brown,
And the driving fog is harried
from the Ocean to the town!
How the pulleys slap the
rattle! How the cables hum and whip!
Oh, they sing a gallant
chorus, on the Hyde Street Grip!
When the Orpheum is closing,
and the crowd is on the way,
The conductor's punch is
ringing, and the dummy's light and gay;
But the wait upon the table
by the Beach is dark and still
Just the swashing of the
surges on the shore below the mill;
And the flash of Angel Island
breaks across the channel rip,
As the lash of midnight
falls upon the Hyde Street Grip! |