The Wyandot pioneer. (Upper Sandusky, Ohio) 1853-1868, 1853-06-03
~ ftA 1e1 ~ ~
"Ihc NWinetle.

1hls y uhe uame ol fony Locomo-
tive, on the Railway from, Richmond to
New Castle The Courier Of the former
place narIa.es the story annexed in o,der
t" inform the pnblic how the name Of the
Pony originated Which Of our Ciucinna-
ii fat Presidents had been, running a rig
on the equally fat Elliot, we know not nor
Iare We advised of the precise nature of
the bit that brought cut the ..'Swnette,"
as, a retort, and therefore are not able TO
say who was ha The hdrdea in this rencou !.
tire of wits, or whether victory perched on
the banner of either Of the contestants, or
the battle was a "drawn'' one. The Cour-
Eier'sstory reads thus:-- Gin. 0az. ,, f.
The first, Locomotive for, the Cincinnati,
Logansport and Chicago Railway. arrived
lat Richmond last week. Il is a, irony"
10 be used in construction, was built at the
Boston Locomotive .Works--isa a fine spec
linen Of Yankee mechanism, and bears the
somewhat euphoneous cognomen Of the
"Swinettp. H.. ..,.... ,s4 .....f,... ..f,...
lthas already been put active. use
in construction. and we indulge the pleas
surable anticipation Of hearing its ''squear''
reyerberating among the Blue River hills
Rduing the month Of October. .e
! As much inquiry has already been made
and much more will arise as the "Swnette"
"works Its way" out West. in reference
to the origin and meaning Of this singular
name. and Of the ''pieture accompanying
it, VT. may as well tell the sto y, at the
risk of losing much of the interest, that
might attach to. U in other hands. ~ s..l,
Something more than a year ago, when
the President Of our Railway-who is 9.
genuine Eoosier -."to the manor born -
made his first trip East" he was accom-
panied by another Railway President
hallng from Porkopolis. noted for his
black eyes and fun loving disposition,
not less than for his estimabe quail
ties as q gentleman and an excellent bust.
ness man. On !, trip from New York to
Boston, with q large party Of Railway
men, to examine and purchase Locoro-,
tive and machinery, our Cincinnati friend
INDUCED in a good many fine stories at the
expense Of the Hoosiers, in not u few of
which our President figured, yridiculously
enough, rs the hero, to the great amuse,
ment of the party. But who ever knew a
Hoosier beat At the game Of telling asood
story or giving it proper application, :
SO. after his friend had '.held up little,
our President asked the party if they were
acquainted with the musical instrument
called che "'Swinette.', .,I....s..... B
Of course they were not: had never
hea,d Of il, ana being a gentlemen Of
refinement and taste in such matters, were
anxious to hear il described. Foremost
in this anxiety was the Cincinnati President
who, Of course woald christie up" at the
first mention Of anything bearing the name
Of ,soiae. Our friend was much astonish
ed ttat none of the party had ever heard
of the INSTRUMENT, and especially that his
Cincinnati friend should be ignorant Of so,
important an invention; one that had oril-,
ginatrd In bis own city,. and was now ex--
tcnsively IN use among the upper tens"
Of that Wustern Metropolis supplantinng
in most instances the place Of the Piano.
He then, went on, to describe the instru-.
ment as being box OF about ten feet in
length by four vile, msde, il. .sttyle. and Or
naEent to suit the taste Of the yownsr.. In
to this box, were placed. saYls7 specimens,
of the swinish trlbe, from the yeritable old
bass grpnler, down to the tenor toned pis, /
who eounted the days Of his life by weeks
givins,a full seven. octave instrument, run
ming the whole scale Of the ,gamut, from
deepest bass,to finest treble seas q ,.,.., i.
In Tie rear Of the boy were holes thhro,
which were protruded the lateral appen-,
lagos Of the hogs, (yulgarlty called tails u
md the performer.o standing behind the,
instrument and skillfully pulling the pro
ruding tails,extorts from the hogs a squeal \
~ grupt, and producing, q iscqneqrd ofEI
iweet, sounds unknown and aRheard, of
outside the great Queen City efi the West,
A less expensive instrument was much IN
lse, he said, among the poorer classes,
consisting of one pug placed under the arm
md made to squeal by biting his tail, the
notes sarYiiw.tl the uenergyFof the
,ite.g ii areis rl6i ,lio qnlsl d'ia llaa issti
The company had, aagood laugh sthe !
,incinnati President acknow led, ,ed himself I
eat. and when Judge Elliott purchased a
euple Of Locomotives at Dosten, thssei e
l. L. ~ = I. u