Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1881-06-20

Baltimore American.
The sounds of summer in the country
have been celebrated by poets in all ages.
The rlstling trees, the ''purling'' brooks,
for brooks always, ,purl except when they
''babble' warbling of birds and the
chirping of insects, these make up the
music which mankind in all ages have
prOfessed to admire. The winter sounds
of the Countrywide whistling winds and
roaring woods, and the plaintive bray of
the mulc-are held in less esteem. But
the city has its summer and its winter
tones that are characteristic and have
their peculiar interest. Among these are
the cries of the street arabs, who hawk
articles of food around for sale. In the
winter these cries come to the listeners
through closed widows, heavily curtained
and they fall on inattentivo ears though
sweetened and mellowed by distance. The
slbilant Fre-e-e-sh Fl. s-h loses its grating
character, and the tone Of the oyster horn
SO still and clear, and stiller, clearer tar
ther going, is Eweet aud far as the horns
of elfland family blOwing-sO to speak.
But in the summer the cry of the
hawker bursts suddenly into blossom,
like the spring flowers. Through the open
windown ho may be heard far up the
street, making the wild music of negotia-
tiOn. There is great variety of note and
rhyme. Each trade or calling-if the
word calling may be used in this connec-
tiOn-has its own tone ; specific melody
or cadence by which it may be recognized
at distance, that renders words unintel.
ligible. Like the unlettered signs that can
be read at vast distances, the barber's
pole Of colored stripes, tho three balls
of the avuncular relative, the cOlored
bottles Of the apothecary, or the red lamp
that tolls the remote wayfarer that the
pangs of thirst may be thereabOuts as
suaged-these unwritten signs, visible at
greater distances than wOrded signs, are
like the. cry of the street Arab, whose
meaning may be guessed at distance
where words lose their articulato form.
The tune gives them individuality. Some
have fine sOnOrOus vOwels that ring out
clearly. Rags, b-O.o-o-nes," hath a
sound like trumpet, none the less SO be-
cause of the nasal timbre that they often
acquire. The race character is often
discernible. The gentleman who mends
umbrellas may be known by crisp pro-
nunciation of tho two rs in umbrellas
as none but an Italian can. The
person who mends wash tubs has hard
time of it. The words will not flow to-
gether. He is driven to the necessity of
exaggerating the explOdents and inserting
Wash-tub-stumend." The
vender of peaches sings a little tune-
Peaches o, peaches, o, peachy- peach
peaches" Deviled crabs give fine scope
for rhythmic effect. The gentleman who
deals in that diabOlizcd crustacean has a
melody.
Devilcd craps ;hcvilcd crabs.
Who will buy my deviled crabs ?"
that may be heard on summer night for
a quarter of a mile. Ann-a-ran-dlo water
millions may be heard as far as an
ordinary steam whistle, "Clams" come
with stentorian clamor. "Strawbcrrics
usually get their heads cut off and become
"awberries."
A very interesting book was written
years ago on the street cries of London.
Hawkers in that ancient city have cries for
selling their wares of remote antiquity
and tradition. "Hot corn," "Ogh clo."
"old. chairs to mend," the cry of the
sweep, the cOstermonger, the fish.
monger, the picman-these and hundred
others were dutifully set down in musical
rotation. The cries of America are not
like the English. They arc of indigenous
growth. a careful notation Of the songs Of
our street arabs will be of historic value
some of these days. It may be interest
ing two centuries hence to know how our
streets sound as we'll as how they look at
the present time. The rattle of drays
over cobble stone pavements, tho clink Of
street cars and the jar of factories may TO
by divinely noiseless inven-
tions, and the responsibility of A. D. 2181
may have baEished the tuneful voice of
the hawker and arab from the silent thor
oughfares.