Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-08-29
MEDIEVAL BOSTON INSTITUTIONS.
Certain Ancient Customs Which Boston
Refuses to Abandon.

lS9"cial Courspondencel
Boston, Aug. 23-The Boston Lancers e.
cortei the governor the other dav out Ia
Harvard college commencement The Ian
GERS wear red Goaf', fiat topped helmets, a
long white dropping feather, besides the r
trousers and other corpOreal appurtenancts.
They are armed with poles On each ,oe is
red tlaE. Every lancer Is packed about on
the street bv horse. 1t is u very Old mill
tary organization. Boston is proud Of them.
They look pretty and are as useless As they
are pretty In modern warfare they might
get within 100 yards of the enemy's line be
fore the last lancer was surgically operated
ON and tunneled through by "A ball from re
peating rifles. Their principal Use Is to pro-
tect the governor when be Is hauled through
the streets on college commencement DAYS.
They ill the bill in Boston that the lord
mayors coach does in London Here that
coach would readily pass for circus chariot,
and the newly elected mayor, in his purple
robe, as one Of the principal performers.
Another medieval Boston institution are
the fire alarm bells They ring slmulta-
neouSly, though miles apart, whenever a
hySterical woman smells somethin' burnin' "
and turns ON the fire alarm To live near a
three times per night from three to five times
a week This both tries and develops an
evangelical patience and resignation. A
mania prevails here for bell ringing. In
many of the suburban towns within fifteen
miles Of Boston they start the church bell
regularly at . o'clock at night. as they have
done for the last 200 years. There is no
reason for their doing it, except that they
have always done it. 1t Is a necessity, Gus
tom has made it 50. In one village, through
the "1ertions OF certain progresslves, this
bedtime ringing was stopped. They were
Obliged to resume it The conservatives
couldn't sleep without their . O'Clock peal
The chimney sweep is another medieval
feature here. He can he found and hired
from certain dingy cellar in BrattIe street
He can be seen after operating on some old,
aristOCratic, blue blOodei chimney, like a pur-
gative, to clear it of SCOT, returning to his
hole with his long brush, his short brush, his
scrapers and himself, a walking mass of SCOT
and dinglneSs and terror to light summer
dresses and the wearers inside of them as he is
wormed toward them by the conyolutions of
the midday crowd ON fremont street
l know here i'll Boston large business
house whose head did all he could to discour-
age stranger from engaging in an enter
prise requiring a certain service from that
house. The stranger was assured that there
was no money in 1t, that scores Of others had
in the same way tried and failed. The stran-
ger by his perSlStency carried his point and
the reSult is an increase Of business to said
firm
The head of the firm in this instance did
not know that the stranger was the agent of
a company with half million of capital, and
that the proposition made him was but one of
several entering wedges, and that the afore-
said company, for good reasons, desired as
little publicity as possible in their tranSac-
tionS
The head Of that firm imagined at the time
that he was the dog and the stranger the
tail He has since found out, from finan-
cial standpoint, that he is the tail and the
stranger the dog. Still, as there is money in
1t, he swallows his cUnceit and allows himself
to be wagged when the dog, by virtue of su-
periOr power, Is pleased 10 send an agitation
to the caudal machinery. And this is the me
dieval Boston business man.
When you are very sharp" to Outwit a
bulldog, look sharp that you don't run plump
on u bull.
There's great deal of damaging conceit
here AS well as elsewhere, on the part of busi-
neSs men You will be told here in various
ways that you don't know anything about
business unless you are strictly in the lines
Of the business world, and this before that
business world has had any chance Of testing
your capacity or incapacity. | know of one
very strict business man here who is always
talking of having things done in strict busi-
ness fashion, who will show by his answer to
anOther's business letter that he has forgotten
what was written him, if, indeed, he ever
really got hold of it. | know of a great cor
pOratiOn, having scores of branch offices here,
whose employees, in self-protection, are
obliged at times TO protest against the caro-
less method OF sending unknown and un-
authorized persons TO collect moneys daily
due, without written orders from headquar-
tsrS PRENTICE MCLFORQ