Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1883-04-27
The Boy Who Whistles.
"a He trudged along, unknowing what he
And whisaed as he went for want of
tbouUhf "

HE trudged along, unknowing what he
And whissed as he went for want of
thought
1t was probably memory of his boy
hood time which prompted DRYDEN
when he linked the iiagling, lines. to-
opther which head this article, for GER
tainlv no man can read them without at
once catching the whole sentiment of
the couplet. = itt ~sr s.~.
Because John Dryden, the poet and
dramatist, was buried in-Westminister
Abbey and lives in history, it is not i'm
probable that Johnny Dryden, the boy.
often whistled his wav through the
lanes of Aldwinckle to confess, on
reaching his home, that he had for
gotten one of the many most important
articles his mother had sent him after
BOYS whistled in the seventeenth CEN
fury Just rs they whistle now. In fact
whistling has always been and always
will be one of the prerogatives OF boy
hood, and he whose ability to whistle
lives with him to. maturity or old age
has always a reserve force with which
TO blow aside many Of, the aches and ills
Of a lifetime.
Where is the boy who has not had n
dear companion, whose face was. no
more promptly recognized than his
whistler livery boy has a. memory of
the signal which so often rreac lted his
ears, and his alone, from the chum who.
knowing that 1t was against rules and
regulations to be out OF doors at tniobtl
persistently puckered his lips and Blew
temptatiops terrible TO resist and not
nlWaUG ..It =
: How many boy has lived, who. per
maps able TO whistle IN but one fashion.
has enyied hiSmoreaceemplshedfrie friend
who coI1td give the calls in two or three
different ways? What a paragon was
the boy who could perform the act of
whisthng in an known styles! ,rr
y Low we boys used to STARE wonder
lngly and with admiration as the cham
pion whistled with four fingers fiIlipo
his mouth; with two fingers, with any
one finger and even with the thumb and
IN each instance causing a shrill shrek
loud enough TO be heard half. 4 mile
away. Then withwhat a patronizjnu
air the champion would sink his skin 70
indulgence in the ordinary lip-whistIe
or the almost, as, common and very
tsonorous, doltbled-fist- WHISTLE To- atoeain
Jump with bewildering brilIiancy to that
chef d Guvre of sifllement-the tongue
and-teeth whistle p. p
i''' 1t is surprising how MANY are the
moods indicated Enthusiastically by "a
boy S whistle. There is the whistle in
which the head is held erect the ewes
look straight ahead, but at nothing in
particular, the lips show the utmost
muscular contraction. the distend.d
cheeks. prove total Indifference to ap-
.pearances and the noise. a strain most
monotopous, because it ends in the
wrong place, only to again take up the
hrst note and give "A repetition to the
cratic finale over and over again.
totally obHyious to all surroundings.
Iheh.there is the disconnected whistle.
doubtful, often false, and generally ac-
eompanied by slow pace, hanging
head and a general indication of regret
and unwillingness to do ANYTHING but
whistle. Again there is the boy, often
grown to manhood, who does not know
one note from another, yet who insists
on whistling constantly, in a hopeless
effort TO catch'a tune which he heard
the band play at the, county fair.
iSharps and flats are alike to him, while
measure wholly unknown and TN
thought OF. Perhaps tile man and his
Whistle are tborei' to "a majority of
people, but tits bread and meat tohim.
1t Is an unconscious sanitary measure.
doing much to keep lungs and stomach
on good terms with each other.
Where is the boy who has not often
"whistled aloud to keep his COURAGE
- while hl1sxr in - - !
mischief or slyly in the pantry search
ing, out the cake box How many
wives and mothers now live and love
their boys whistling because it re-
minds them of the time when they
used to listen for the whistle Of the boy.
OF long ago who now sits over there in
the great alqn7chair with spectacles on
his nose, LEGS CROSSED and the heel and
toe OF the. free boot rocking in time to
the whiStling of the young man who.
having mastered a new operatic aria. is
Putting ON his hat and gloves in the
hallway preparatory to going over to
let his sweetheart know~of his latest
accomplishment. 80 O..
1t Is only among boys that whist,inp
becomes fine art, and it is often aston
lShHng to observe the perfection which
some OF the artists attain. A hundred
boys viii attend the production of a
new opera, and the next day fifty of
those boys will be heard whist
ling selections from that opera.
each one having chosen. the air which
most pleased him. In this way have
the regulations of song-writers been
made. Fritz Emmett's LULLABY, .,
william Seaman "NPeek-aIBoo,"ran
many of the old-time Foster melodies
are notable eYhmples seflPrsilar songs,
and the first herald or Mat popularity
were the boys who, whistled the airs
all over the streets of America. Much
of the success of "Pinafore,," -" The
Mascotte," of that oddltys|The Turkish
Patrol, =" and Of numerous other compo-! /
sitions, is directly attributable to the
boy who whistles.-Detr0ft Free Press.