Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1890-12-31
THINGS ONE OUGHT TO KNOW.
Every Day Matters OF Which There is
General Ignorance.

General Ignorance.
Among group of gentlemen the
other day New Yorker offered to bet
there was not man in the company
who could explain the workings of the
electric dynamo, or the common loco
motive, or the ordinary steam engine,
or even the precise process Of sending 4
telegraphic message, says the sun.
The accumulations of the dead letter
Office are constant proof OF the lament
able ignorance that prevails relative 10
the postal laws. The packages of I'M
mailable matter, the documents with
short postage, the miSdirected letters,
the attempts TO smuggle goods in the
mails, all show how much time, trouble
aud expense is lost to those who fail to
obtain information which can easily be
procured.
The reckless wrong spelling of names
is another illustration of common igno-
rance. 1t is safe to say that in almost
any company of 20 acQuaintances there
are not two who can write correctly the
names of all present. This is particu-
larly true of city life, where one meets
many persons daily. Several years ago
the Sun, published Il list, which proved
70 be novelty, of the middle names of
many well-known public men.
The police records are striking Illus
tratiOnS of the careless spelling of names.
The average police sergeant will unheS
itatingly spell name by the sound.
For instance, man gave his name rs
r. c. Smith. The sergeant got it Arcy
Smith. Recently several prisoners in
the Tombs held for trial for trivial
offenSeS had to be discharged because
by the miSSpelling of their names iden-
tity had been lost. II is common thing
in the criminal courts TO have mans
name spelled different ways in the same
document.
The popular ignorance concerning the
management of stoves, furnaces, gas
metres, locks, faucets, sinks and basins,
and various mechanical cOntrivanceS of
modern domestic life is appalling.
Plumbers make fortunes out of the
stopping up Of drains which could be
kept clear with very little intelligence.
Houses are kept unhealthy by the
spread of coal gas or kept chilly for
want of heat, all because no one in the
household has the intelligence to man
age the furnace. 1t takes considerable
gumption to manage an ordinary kitch-
en- range, and no one can do IL without
knowledge as TO the use of the hampers.
Often kitchen range is condemned and
torn out when, in fact, all that is need
ed is TO know how to work it. This in
formation the sellers of the range will
be only too glad to impart.
There is good deal of popular igno-
rance on the subject of managing
watches aud clocks. Many people
manage 10 never have the right time,
and eXpend good deal of money on re-
pairs of their time pieces that could be
saved by rudimentary instruction.
There are many costly pendulum clocks
that never tell the time, because their
owners have given them up in despair,
although there may be nothing against
them except that they are not level, or
that the delicate pendulum has got dis
arranged by some ignorant twist.
II is surprising how some people will
continue To use things in daily life
without any attempt to learn how prop
erlv 10 use them. There is, for instance,
the man who can never learn to sharpen
his razor, the woman who winds her
watch the wrong way, the people who
do not know that the time OF starting
the principal trains on the different rail-
roads and the time of closing the mails
is advertised in the newspapers, the
people who blow out the gas, the folks
who Jump the wrong way from NOV
ing car, the unfOrtunateS who are al
ways getting left, or suffering injury or
losing property because OF unfamiliarity
with things they ought to know.
The couvenicnccS of modern life are
50 many that it ought TO bc part OF
eyerybOdy'S education to have at least
general knowledge of how to use them.
You should know how 10 take care ol
YOUR umbrella and your eyeglasses, to
keep your clothing in order, TO night OH
the insects that will Overrun any house
without precautiOn, to meet the emer-
gencieS that daily arise In civilized NE.
Thoro O. "a good deal of popular isno
rance OIL the subject of exercise; Tor IN
stance. some people fooliShly take long
walks after hearty meals, with the alb
surd notion of settling their dinner
Let them learn from the intelligent dog,
or the learned cat or the well-informed
COW. who know enough TO rest after 4
meal.
There is 4 surprising popular lack OF
/ information on the subject OF the powers
and functions OF courts. II would be
amusing in any ordinary company TO get
the ideas Of most OF those present on the
/ distinctions between the courts OF the
| United States. the State, the county and
the municipality; the limitations OF the
| civil and criminal courts and the powers
of police magistrates. IL Is common
thing FOR people 10 express surprise that
on such brief trials police magistrates
should be able to COUNT people
to prison for months. The fact is
that police magistrates have no such
power, although the form Of expression
used in police reports, ale got sin
months" might well lead TO such 4 be
lief. The fact is that the sentence of
Imprisonment in such eases is alterna-
tive with the giving of bail for good be-
hayior. 1t is common thing for peo-
ple who ought to know better to sit all
day in police court, only to find ut the
close that the remedy they seek could
only be had in civil court.
There is popular belief That in this
State a man makes marrlageable
woman his wife by calling her his wife
in public. But this is far from the
L