New-York tribune., 1889-10-20

the Eolian harp; and hour after hour through the
day and through the night it's longdrawn pathos
of moaning serves as the accustomed lullaby Of
the baby Turks of the city.
One more illustration of the stage of advance.
ment which has been reached by the mechanical
geniuses OF Amasia I will borrow from cutler
shop Remember that it is the best work of men
who are in the full heat of the struggle for life
that we are noting. These cutters have to compete
in the streets Of their city with the work of the
men of Sheffield. And this is the device that
they have been able to originate as the climax
Of ingenious machinery for the sharpening OF
knives. They have grindstone mounted on an
axle fixed upon the platform Of the little stall
where they do their work. A rope is passed three
or four times around the axle Of the grindstone
and out in the middle of the narrow street, In
front of the cutters shop stands man with one
end of the rope in each hand, gravey pulling
away. When he pulls the right hand the grind
stone revolyes toward him; when he pulls tho
left hand it revolves from him. BY the grind
stone squas the knife grinder crosslegged, obliged
TO turn the knife over every moment as the stone
changes its course of revolution. There is some
thing pathctic in the spectacle of these men who
have wrestled with the problem of changing
reciprocating motion to a rotary one have wrestled
nrohlems of ctro.dynamicS, and then have given
up the problem lnsoluble, like the problem
of the flying machine, ana have settled down 10
such devices as the most favorable OASIS on Wnlcn
they can contest thelr Market WIN 'le aggressive
Europeans. 80, "A,
Crude compromise with the difficulties that offer
themselves in the way OF men VINO seek 10 40
for themselves appears IN the whOle business OF
the life of the city as you walk through the
markets The shops contain the coarse homespun
fabrics that our great grandfathers may nave
worn in the DAYS when they were yet pilgrims
and strangers i'm the land Skill in dyes and in
ncodlcwOrll appears very often. But as soon as
the fabric is wood or meta the workmanship iaIis
TO master it. The very character 9t the articles
the people TO live as if they were camping for
a very few days. In all this city OF 10000
inhabitants there is not one furniture store nor
can one find separate articles or household flrnl
ture such as bedsteads, tables, and chairs. There
is the cotton, tow, or straw, ohered Tor sale.
with which one may make n mattress 10 lay on
tbe floor at night. or thicker bed that answers
for n sofo There are mats that one can spread
on the ground when one wants to sit and can
ron no and take away AT any moment. There
arc conner pots and kettles and even table
dishes Of copper. all of which are strong enough
TO hear the rough usage Of the road. But the
idea of a piece of furniture which is 10 stay in
tbe 6ouse which is the home Of the family
does not seem to have entered the heads of these
children of the nOmadS Of the Far East. The
impression of the vast mlg@t0nS OF the Middle
Ages when all Central Asa was IN motion toward
tho West seems 10 have remained among the
uaonIo and they live aS if they were to be called
10 migrate at any moment.
r. Is customary to recommend the small boy
oh l. stonng the frogs or persecuting the flies
~ tbinl, how he would like TO be in their place.
Tho feelings of a Chinaman or other ms.clothed
creature under certain circumstances in our streets
were vividly suggested to cur minds by the atti.
Smosia To these young Turks appeared TO
he "s ontlandsh and as helpless was the China
man 10 NcwYorI street Arabs They followed us
and with lOOfinVS and tbeV pb
,nnS at ms from the safe shelter OF by-sPeets
SeWerol times some little barefooted youngSter
wonId fl both his chubby hands with the dirt
oF tLe road and run softly up behind MS To cast
~ ~; nrotest against the foreigner and his ways,
mnon olr unsuspecting backs. We thus learned
| 81 l,now how it is ourselves.