Baton Rouge tri-weekly gazette & comet. [volume] (Baton Rouge, La.) 1865-18??, 1868-01-02

! ufaCitite OF the United Dtaies, says
the American Artisan, is assuming a
fixed aud definite position, aud Que
that is permanent III the business Of
the county. Although at first il
might seem that the employment OF
capital in the manufacture of articles
Tor juvenile amusement would be a
precarious and somewhat hazardous
Investment, yet facts assure US Of the
contrary and we are Informed that
the inventor Of the return ball."
which is simply wooden ball with
an elastic cord attached, has gathered
many thousands of dollars from the
proceeds of his venture, and otber
persons have reaped fortunes from
equally simple inventions.
We rscoIect fhat, during our juven
he days, our "pIaytbings' were few
and often OF a rude aud clumsy man
ufacture. Our balls and bats were
generally made by an obIiging pareut
or our older brothers, as the idea Of
purchasing such things would have
been preposterous. Tbe same might
be said of kites, hoops, slelghs, and
the thousand aud one thugs that we
see so plentiful in the market at The
present day. he onl y toys deemed
worthy of purchase were The clumsy
aud i'll made skates, OF a cheap mate
rial small wooden flies Of foreign
importation, Jews harps at penny
piece, and now obsolete form Of
II whistle This latter 10Y was the
1elght Of juvenile po,oesso's. It con
sisted of two Hanged pieces Of tin
pln:e sodered together, with a hole
pierced through the centre OF each
lhis whistle, on being held between ,he
lips, or rather placed in the mouth and
he breath forcibIy rejected through
DE aperture, produced in our estlma.
tion the very essence of sonorous graf
ifcaiion. We used to imagine that
,he country tlnsmth who manuac
fuIed those STAPLE articles was, or
must be, little elevated above tie
ordinary mechanics of that period
We remember that in after years,
when improved articles presented for
the acceptance of wbistIing Juveniles
had almost superseded our youthtuI
pet, we were astonished to sec an at
tempt made to revive lis form, and
adapt it to the purposes for which
the steam whistle is now employed
As might be anticipated, failure III
such application entaiIed laugh Of
dersion on the unfortunate mechanic.
We beheld with interest the at.
tempted resurrection OF the defunct
fayorite of our juvenile existence, and
we believe that it must have been the
last of its kind ever made.
IL is no uncommon thing in differ.
ent pacts of our country to see large
and magnificent manufactures, album
dant capital, and much skilled LABOR
devoted to the manufacture Of TOYS,
and in all large cities we see mer
chants whose occupation Is the pur-
chase and sale of such articles, and
who are ready to furnish all the anus
ing things possible for the rising gen
Grafton Of Young America. 1t has
been asserted 10 our hearing, by those
who ought to know, that any patent
obtained upon toy was valuable, aud
any capitaI properly invested n slch
manufacture was reuumerarlVe. The
truth Of this assertion cannot now be
doubted, and as proof Of it we BOW
see, on the approach of the annual Dol
idays, a varied collection of miscella-
neous toys, some old and familiar,
some new and striking, presented for
public, aud especially juvenile accep'
ance. Not onIy is mechanical skill
called into reqnisitlon to produce these
articles of amusement, bat chemistry
and other sciences and arts are called
upon to lend their assistance, and each
contributes share toward the amuse-
ments of the rising generation.