The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-11-24
WHAT THEY WHISTLE AND HUM.
An Eccentricity of WellKnown Peo-
pie of a Musical Turn of Mind.

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An Eccentricity of Well-Known Peo-
pie of a Musical Turn of Mind.
copyrighted, 1897
New YORK, Nov. 23.-"We are gradually
getting to be musical people," said ma
tive composer the other day. mot that we
have yet begun to rise to the full apprecia-
ton of Wagner, but there is unquestion-
ably vast difference in the popular must
cal tastes Of to-day and those of the days of
our immediate forefathers. l expect
that the present generation will live
to see the real American opera
Nowadays, almost everybody is more
or less musical, and unconsciously or other
wise, there are very few men or women
who haven't acquired the habit of hum
ming over some bar or catch to themselves
in moments when the mind needs some
thing to sootne it, whether it is engrossed
in business or pleasure. l could mention
fifty people who have this habit well pro-
nounced, and it is an interesting study to
watch their peculiarities and listen to
them when they are supposedly free from
restraint.
'Now, there's Edison, the inventor. He
used to be great tobacco consumer. Since
he abandoned the weed wholly he has taken
to whistling softly and grooming over in
low tones the old plantation air, "Way
down among the Yaller corn" or something
very like it. 1t seems to rest him, and he
will labor for hours on the most compli-
Gated electrical contrivances and keep up
his humming, for all the world like human
top, while his assistants move ABOUT him,
careful not to interrupt. They tell me that
ex-President Cleveland, too, is an inveter-
ate hummer, and that when at his desk in
his law office on William street. in moments
of abstraction he taps his plump fingers on
the arm of the chair and murmurs in a
deep bass, stave from the old song, Wen
hunt the buffalo, varying it with John
Brown The Buffalo is an old timer,
and may yet be heard shouted by conven-
tion-going parties, when they get to the
frollcking point. Col. Lamont also, when
in Washington, used to tap his foot and
hum, Johnny, get your gun, get your gun.
He does 80 still, but in a slower and more
philosophic manner, as becomes man who
has eschewed politics and settled down to
business
General Sherman for several years had
a craze for seeing 'Pinafore.' The song of
the captain seemed to have a fascination
frequently detected humming it, while a
grim smile played around his square-set
face. have even heard 1t averred that he
So far forgot himself, on one occasion, as to
endorse on one of the official papers of the
war department somewhat boisterous
sentiment from the famous opera of Gilbert
and Sullivan.
politicians, too, Ehave the humming
fever, like the rest. Hugh Mclaughlin,
the boss of the Kings county democracy,
keeps up the whiting habit he acquired
when he was master shipwright in the
Brooklyn navy yard many years ago. AS
he works away with his knife, he huns
'S'wanee Ribber' and his eye lights up with
a soft and almost tender fire, for he has
hummed that same stave ever since the
night when Patti sang it in the Brooklyn
Academy of Music, years ago. Then there is
Hugh J. Grant, New York's youngest mayor,
who amuses himself, while he is engaged in
the tedious task of signing his name with
big Quill to hundreds of official documents,
bv humming and softly whistling the old
Harlem boating air, who Will Kiss Her
Pretty LipsP The fact that the handsome
Young mayor Is still bachelor may account
nartially for the selection. His friend and
adviser, Richard Croker, the chief of
Tammany, is one who would never
be suspected of musical tastes; yet
Croker, too, is a hummer, and finds
the same charm that ECleveand does in,
tWe'll Hunt the Buffalo, Bourke Cochran,
one of the brainest orators in New York,
lightens the strain of routine work by in
o1iring of himself in low, songful tones,
Wv here Did You Get That Hat? Cockran's
voice is so big that he can never control
enough of it to master a whole bar or pas
sage 1t runs away from him, no matter
how he tries.
"Almost everybody connected with the
stage is musical, and nearly every one
huns Not for world would an actor or
actress be guilty of whistling, least they
should hoodoo the theater, the play and
themselves. But in the dressing rooms, or
even around the wings, you can hear the
low murmur of airs being crooned by the
people of the stage, wno are either going
over their singing parts, or simply amusing
themselves a little while waiting for a cue.
Pretty Marie Jansen and Marion Manola
are among those who hum, the latter's
favorite being the Caprice Waltz while
Miss Jansen purrs forth lit from the
Little Fisher Maiden that sounds very
charming in her dressing room, to an I'M
seen listner
''Then there are the distinguished hum
mers, some of whom can be hardly said to
have any tune whatever; but they drone
away, all the same, and seem to take
great delight in it. / am told by Mr.. Gould's
friends that whenEhe is thinking deeply,
he emits a mutfied sound, with SHUT llps,
and never goes beyond three notes. 1t isn't
yet it has distinct rhythm of its own.
Mr.. Depew's favorite is solo on the
first, third and fifth of the scale, repeated
in varied time, and which sounds as though
it generally accompanied pleasant thoughts.
He is the opposite of Russell Sage, who Is
noted for his queer habit, when bothered
and perplexed, of expressing his annoyance
by puckering his lips and droolng 10 a sing
song monotone. Mike Dwyer, the turfman,
when his horses are running and the stakes
are the heaviest, buries his hands in his
pockets and whistles on two notes, some
times varying the effort by rubbing MS
smooth chin with his left hand.
"Yes; it may be safely set down that
majority Of people hum, and that very
great number do it unconsciously. IL Is
safety valve and keeps one in humor when
everything else fails. Why, l have even
seen your grand danes humming and keep
ing time with their fans, smiling as they
did SO. But, except In company, ladies
rarely hum. They lit, the difference being
Al. al. THAR linz rh