The Portland daily press., 1890-01-18
SEEN AND AEARp.

spirits OF some of my friends caused by the
changes In the temperature.-Do not fear
reader am not about to speak of the pre-
yailing influenza, but of the almost thermom-
etric movements of my friends feelings.
The Major for one, has not seemed himself
at all this present winter until the nipping
DAYS of the latter part of last week. He then
seemed to grow taller as the thermometer
went down until when it reached the zero
point he, or his head at least, projected
several iuches out of his ulster. He walked
with firmer step and took more of them, he
spoke with more decided tone, as il he had
the courage of his convictions and in short
he ''braced up" generally. On the other
hand. naturalist seemed to wilt down as
quickly and as completely as the Major
braced up. He appeared on the street with
a huge comforter wrapped around his throat
and walked with feeble gait and In bowed
over manner entirely foreign to him on ordi-
nary occasions. His voice lost its accustomed
vigor and took on rasping whine that was
to say the least, disagreeable. The contrast
In the case of two of our lady boarders was
quite as marked. The school mistress who
not being in one of the newer buildings is
smowhat subject to headaches, and is conse-
quently not always the best of company, be-
came bright and lively. while the other lady
who graces our table drew her shawl tightly
about her shoulders and shivered over the
radiator. When the weather softened up
these things were reversed. The Major
shrunk back into his ulster and the Natural
list came out of his comforter. On the whole
1t reminded me forcibly Of those fancy bar
ometers that used to be quite common rep
resenting man and woman on opposite
ends of sensitive bar. When it was to be
pleasant the woman came out and when bad
weather was expected the man made his APP
pearance at the door while the woman went
inside until the sky gave promise of clearing
again. ~ f..-..-
The Naturalist speaking of the case when
Icalled his attention to it said, as piano
repairer once told me when expressed sur
prise at the difference in tone of piano on
two different occasions that at was the
difference of temperaments. Now, he
said, the Major is short and strout
and light complexioned while am tall and
thin and of what you were once pleased to
call an olive complexion. In the same way,
the School-mistress is stout and light while
the other lady is tall and dark. 1t is so all
through the year. On warm days you will
find the slim people walking around as hap
Ply as larks, and the blondes suffering from
early dawn to dewy eve. On the cold days
1t is exactly opposite. Then according to
your theory, said. the inhabitants of the
warmer lands ought to be all brunettes and
rather angular than otherwise, while in the
colder lands where the thermometer never
rises to the upper register, and where sun
strokes are few and far between. the inhab-
itants should be a race of comfortable light
haired people. The Naturalist said that that
was his theory and that would find upon
investigation that 1t was the case Accord
ingto his theory, l suppose people in this
latitude, where cold days and not alternate
with astonishing swiftness, would do we'll to
change temperaments as certain fur bearing
animals change colors as the weather
changes.
The more l thought about this arrange
ment, the more its practical utility struck
me. We often times hear people signing and
wishing they were light while they are dark,
or vice versa. If they could change, follow
ing the weather all of these grounds of COM
plant would be removed. Then beside re-
arranging ones peace Of mind this system
OF changing might prove useful to people
who are in the habit of making use of back
streets in order to avoid their creditors. On
the whole this DIR. Jekyll and Mr.. Hyde
arrangement could not fail to prove useful
to every one in this so-called temperate
climate. If no way can be devised to effec
the changes 1 am afraid that one half of the
population will have to suffer whenever the
thermometer changes. All things considered
however, the best way would be to suffer in
silence. @ aoedfs ~:
How many people do you know? do not
mean how many people stop you on the
street when they meet you and grasping you
by the hand inquire solicitously after your
health; but how how many people can you
call by name when you meet them? This
question arose In my mind the other day as l
walked down Congress street behind GER
tain policeman, and watched him speak to
people as he passed them. Itseemed to me
that out of every five people he spoke to
four, and the one he did not speak to he
looked at If he recognized him. 1t occurred
to me that If this man kept on travelling
around town all day, meeting and speaking
to people, the total of his acquaintances
must be pretty large. From noting this
policeman's acquaintance list went to keep
ing account Of my own. found that from
High street corner to the City Hall passed
on the same side of the street sixty-nine peo-
pie whom ! could have called by name, and
as certain person once said, sit wasn't a
very good day for meeting people, either"
When l went home to supper asked the
question which asked at the beginning of
the preceding paragraph and offered the
same explanation. The boarders began
counting up their friends. First, however,
the Major and Jack Flint tried to estimate
1t, in an off hand way. Jack placed his list
OF acquaintance at 5000. AS he can general
ly find friend at every cross roads hamlet
in the State, and six or eight on every rail
road train think his estimate was rather
low than otherwise. The Major began with
two thousand but as he thsught of school
mates in the Sandwich islands and ex-mem--
bers Of the city government in California
and Mexico he added another thousand. The
School mistress after few attempts to fix
the limit of her friends gave the matter up
saying that If all of her children were to be
counted 10. she thought her list would be
longer than any other. The Major under
took the duty of making list of his ac-
quaintances. He reached some five hundred
and then gave it up as every new name he
added suggested dozen others. If any OF
my readers desire to waste their time In this
pastime / should be interested to know the
extent of some of the lists. The ticket.clerk
at the Union station for instance, or the
clerks at the hotels might make lists that
would discount the lists of graduates which
the PRESS printed short time ago.
saw a sight uptown the other day that
convinced me again that some dogs as wei
as some men have vivid sense of the fitness
of things while on the other hand some
dogs like some men have not As l was
walking along certain street a small dog,
of the "yellow" type sailed out of a yard and
70 10 for l.