The Portland daily press., 1890-02-22
SEEN AND HEARD.

is seen and understood. This rule I think
went into effect last Sunday night. At any
rate early on Monday heard it in full oper-
alton. Between five and six o'clock in the
morning several freight trains leave the city
for down country points. was lying awake
Monday morning at about this time and ,
listened to the whistles. The first signal,
two long and two short, is given at the w
post just beyond the county road crossing
Then the train stops at Woodfords. Then
it starts with more or less Kissing and putting |
and in moment repeats the whistles. In
moment more it is again repeated. Then
the train slows up at Westbrook junction |
and gives two long whistles. The man who |
runs the signal balls at the station sets those |
which gives the Maine Central the right OF |
way and then comes in rule 81. loot! toot! |
goes the engine and the train starts
said l heard all of this last Monday |
morning while lying waiting to get up
| sufficient courage to arise and prepare to
battle with the world again. 1 heard not
| only one train, but three-all of the stops
| and starts and whistles, and not only this
| time have / heard them but often My
room is on northern exposure and on still
days and nights the distance at which the
sound of whistles can be heard is surprising.
| One hot night last summer when there was
not breath of air stirring heard the hoarse
| shrek of the engine that hauls the night
Pullman when the train must have been at
West Falmouth station, for five distinct
| whistles for five repeated crossings came
afterward. One thing have noticed In re-
gar to this train whistle business. The
cid fashioned double bass whistles of the
Maine Central such as that of this Pullman
train can be heard further than the newer
chimes can. On the night when the hoarse
whistle goes down at IL o'clock, the chime
whistle comes in at 2 in the morning. Ihave
heard five hoarse toots plainly when only
three chimes came back.
Speaking of whistles reminds me to. say
that there do not seem to be as many, or as
noticeable. at least, factory whistles in use
in this city new as there were ten or "a dozen
years ego 1 remember in those days before
the O'Clock leil was struck by electricity
what racket there used to be at getting up
time in the morning. First of all used to
sound a little thin shrek which l believe
was on the old Ogdensburg shops. Then
the rolling-mills sent out great deep basso
profundo growl long and loud, with Just a
little pause in the middle. Just as they were
about finishing, the whistle on the Eastern
railroad shop at Turner's Island took up the
song and carried it until reinforced by the
sugar house whistle which began with a
Ah-whoo! and soon settled down into a
strong and steady roar. By this time Mr.
William Stillings used to be walked up
thoroughly. and the old First Parish bell
commenced ringing out the information that
another day had begun, assisted by whole
battery OF shrill whistles in the middle of
the city. This performance, repeated at
noon, O'Clock and at 6 in the evening was it
seems to me better way to notify people of
the time of day than the present meagre
announcements that are made A man of
sonnolent turn Of mind may not hear the
struggling blows that are given on the fire.
alarm at stated intervals; and If he does not,
he will not hear whistles enough to spur him
to the getting-up point.
These sentiments were set forth, of course,
at our dining table. and were met with yari-
GUS comments. Jack Flint murmured to the
Boarding Mistress that somebody, whose
name did not catch, was an old fogy. He
further said that times bad changed. and the
city with them. A grand howl may be neces-
sary to wake up country village, but in
city the people ought to be alert enough to
get up in time without assistance. said
nothing in reply, for felt that there was
grain of truth in what Jack said; but the
School Mistress took up my defense in fine
earnest sit makes me laugh" she said
with snap of her eyes, "to hear people talk
as if Portland was great city, when some
things here are so small and countrifed. 1t
doesn't seem right to put on metropolitan
style with country pay" This brought out
the Major. His favorite theme, next to the
great horse question, is the state and condi-
tiOn of the police force; in particular their
pay and equipments. OF course the talk
once started, drifted into various channels,
all more or less connected with electric cars,
asphalt pavements, and other metropolitan
things, but as it had gone so far adrift from
bells and whistles, | ceased to be interested.
/ read in Boston paper.the other day that
the Board of Aldermen of that city propose
to stop the throwing of hand bills and dodg-
Il
of sandwich men up and down the crowded
sidewalks. Sandwich men are extremely few
and far between here in town, but hand-bills
and dodgers are unpleasanlly common. l
used to go down town early Sunday morn
ings when was in active business, to look
into my post Office box. The amount of
waste paper, mostly hand-bills, that was ly-
ing about In the cutters aud elsewhere in
the street, was something astonishing, and
when, after teams began to go abroad, the
wind breezed up, men were not the only
beings that were astonshed. 1 remember
distinctly al event which occurred nearly 20
years ago, but which will serve today to
point the moral of this hand-bill business.
came up Casco street one Sunday morning
in the spring of the year, when Congress
street seemed to be almost knee deep with
hand-bills of the period, dilating upon the
business of Cogia Hassan and others, then
fiourishing business men. A double beach
wagon, from out of town, was coming down,
with three children on the back seat and two
men in front. When just in front of the
hair store. that stood about in the middle of
the present Brown block, whrlwind of pa
per rose up directly in front of the span and
astonished them visibly. They stopped
short, then jumped apart and broke away
from the wagon, one bringing up against
Irving Blake's fence, the other skipping
down Casco street and stopping in the yard
of the Casco street church. The wagon it.
self tilted gracefully over for moment, and
then there was shower of children and
men that was laughable. to say the least.
The late Officer Rice was, l Think, the first
man to lend hand in rescuiDg the unfortu-
mates. l lent two hands in rightng the
wagon after finding that nobody was hurt in
the least, and spent some time trying to
bend sprung wheel back into position
again. Nobody was ever sued for damages
because there were no damages worth men,
tioning; but if the children had struck on
the horse car track and broken any of their
limbs, think an action might have been
maintained against somebody. The dangers
that might arise from this great and wholly
unnecessary custom, it seems to me. out
weigh greatly the advantages to be derived
| from 1t, for it is well known that the bene-
| fits received from this kind of advertising
| ara very sma n indeed SIIvEaTrp