The Potter journal. [volume] (Coudersport, Pa.) 1857-1872, 1858-10-28

/ '4N- +EtHCtr -Dttl OH TIE score OF his
fame, aud of general convenience.
Please to understand, then, ignorant
Reader, that this curious alphabet reduc-
IS all the complex machinery Of Cadmus
+ and the resi- Of the writing TO char
actcr5 as simple as can be made BY do,
! a space, and a line, yariously combined
nus, the marks - designate the letter
\. The marks -. designate the let
ter 3. Al the other letters are desiguat-
cd III as simple a manner.
! Now / am stripping myself oe one OF
the private comforts Of my lite fbut what
will one not do for mankind?I when l
explain that this simple alphabet need not
be confined to electrical signals Lang
and at0yt make It al, and wherever long
and short can be combined belt in marks.
sound' sneezes, fainting-fts. canes. or
children, ideas can be conveyed by this
arrangement Of the long and short togcth-
er Only .ast night | vas talking scandal
with Mrs. Wilbcr.orcc at a summer party
at the Hammersmiths. To my amaze
ment, my wife, who scarcely can play
" The Fishers IIornpipc," interrupted Us
By asking Mrs Wi.bcrforce if she could
give her the idea otan air in " The Butch
er Of Turin" Mrs. Wilberforce h.d new
or heard that opera ra,--indcel, had never
heard Of it. Ny angcl-wife WAS surpris-
ed, stood drumming at the piano
wondered she could Lot catch this very
odd bit of discord2nt accord At all.-but
checked herself in her effort, as soon as !
observed that her long notes aud short
notes, II their tua;-tee, tee,-tee-tee. tee
tum tuuI, meant, He's her brother
The conversation on ner side turned from
g" The Butcher Of Turin" aud 7 had last
timc, on the hint thus given bY Mrs. L,
. pass . grateful eulogium on the iistin-
1nished statesman whom Mrs. Wiber-
force with all sisters care, had rocked
u lis bsbv-credle,-mhom but for ny
wife's long and sh5rt no.es, should have
clumsIy abused among the other states
men Of the day.
You viii see, il an instant, awakening
Reader. that II Is not the business simply
Of operators" in t"legr2phic dens to
know this Morse alphabet, but your busi-
ness, and that Of every man and woman.
Ii our sch0ol-committees understood the
times, it would be taught, even before
photography or physiology, at school. l
believe both these sciences now precede
the old English alphabet,
As I write these words, the bell of the
South Congregational strikes dong, donr,
dong dong, dong, dong, dong.
dons,-donc. Nobody has unlocked tie
church-d59r. The old tin siga. :" II ease
II dre, tie key viii be found at the oppo-
site house" has long since been taken
down, and made into the nose Of a water
pot. Yet there is no Cody TWc-Shoos
,ockcI i1. No But, thanks to DR.. Chan
.iugs Fire Alarm, tie bell Is informing
Tie South End that there IS FIRE in Dis
Irict Dong-doag- -dlng,-tbat Is 10 say,
District No. 8. b. ore ] have explained
to YOU SO far, the 81 Lagic p cngiue, Win a
good deal Of noise, ha= passed the house
N lis way to that tated district. An I'M
mensc Improvement this on the old sys-
TEN; when tho engines radiated from tLeir
houses in every possible direction, and the
ire was oxtia-uishad by the few maehIucs
whose lines Of quest happened to cross
each other at the particular place where
the child had been building c0b-houses
out of lucifcr-matches in . paper-ware-
house. Yet it is a very great improve
ment All those persons, like you and
ne, who have 10 property in District
Dong-aoDg-dong, can NOW sit At home Al
ease,--anl little need VIC think unon the
mud above the knees Of those who have
property IN that district and are running
to look after It. But for them the i'm
provcment only brings misery. Iou ar
rive wet hot OF cold, or b5th, at the large
District No. 8, to find that the lucifcr-
matches we're hall mile from your store,
and that your own private watchman,
even. had not been walked by the working
Of the distant engines Wet property
holder. as YOU walk home, consider this
When YOU are next in tie Common Couu-
ell, vote an appropriation for applying
Morse's alphabet OF long and snort to the
bells. Then they can be made to sound
utelligibly Daang ding ding,-ding,-.
ding da1ng da0ng dsung, and so on, will
tell you, as you wake in the night, that it
is Dir. BIS store which is on fire, and not
yours, or that it is yours, and not his.
This is not only convenience TO you and
a relief to your wife and family, who viii
thus be spared your excursions to unavall-
able and unsatisfactory fires, aud your
somewhat lrritated return,-it will be a
great relief to the Fire Department. How
placid the operations Of a fire where none
attend except on business The various
engines arrive, but 10 throng Of distant
-. ..---., IL h,.-S cnrf,,l Il Ia L.