Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-11-08
MURRAY's MUSINGS.
Stump Speakers Not What They Used to Be
-Detecting Counterfeits BY Touch-A
New Idea in Robbing People-Story Of

New Idea in Robbing People-Story Of
Ai,% BHiy Birch. s -.S.;@s5st
| tFFosI STAFF coRREsroNpFNr.1
| NEW York, Nov. 7.-'The grand, old
/ fashioned campaign orator of our boyhood
! days has gone out" said an old time polr
tician yesterday. "There are no such men
/ now as Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A.
Douglas and Henry G. Lane and hundreds OF
| lesser fame, but similar methods. I've
been listening to the recent speeches and
couldn't help but compare the speakers to
the men of half century ago who used to
move the multitude. 1 was in the midst OF
great campaign wherein Douglas and Lin
| coin held joint debate and spoke to assem-
bled thousands of both parties. There has
been nothing approaching Il a. celebrated
discussion since, nor has there Deen any
such campaign oratory heard.
"You could hear Douglas across 40 acre
lot. The modern campaign orator can't be
heard across Madison Square Garden. His
words are not worth hearing anyhow. His
ideas lose force by his own presentment
instead of gaining strength by the grace and
power of speech. 1t is lost art. We
rarely find a man now who can sway
the multitude by word of mouth. Even
finished orators of this day, best represent
ed by Chauncey Depew, appeal only TO
quick intellects and highly-cultured audi
ences. There is no fire there that sweeps
over q crowd and consumes all before it
none of that extraordinary magnetism ana
rythmic flow of sentences that take people
of their feet-that make black seem white
and white black. 1t is quality wholly
apart from education and refinement, and
was as often possessed by the ignorant rep
resentatives of a crude civilization as by
educated men,. Under our new system OF
popular education and the universally of
the the daily newspaper the campaign orator Of Of
voice have practically disappeared. When
ever speaker tries that on the modern audi
ence he subjects himself to ridicule. And
TO be ridiculous is to be lost. Plain, every
day En2lish, sound ideas and plenty of
them, are what best reaches most men now
adays; Even then most people would rather
read the speech in the papers than hear it
from the orators lips"
Lightning Change Man.
There are meE and women in New
York who handle money in small quantities
from to 95 cents, who acquire a skill and
dexterity absolutely marvellous. TheyIare
cashiers of restaurants, popular dining and
lunch rooms, where the rush is very great
at certain hours during the day and where
everything in the shape of payment comes
along in what is called Change" that is, in
amounts less than 81 and never uniform. 1t
may be a young girl, or young man, who
never had any former experience in hand
ling coin and notes, but he, or she, becomes
SO expert that it makes an ordinary business
mans head swim to watch them. One of
these lightning change artists, q red-headed
young man named Hayward, who is in a big
lunch room near the postoffice, has long
standing wager of $4,000 that he can beat
anybody making change, bar none. And
that young man is certainly wonderful. He
has the touch of instinct. Like those of
many women in the redemption bureau of
the Treasury at Washington his motions
are too swift for the ordinary eye to
count. saying nothing OF the money feature. |
But the work of the Treasury woman expert |
counter is with round numbers and bills |
alone; this involves constantly varying |
amounts of minor coin and bills together. |
Certain hours of every day will find an un- |
broken line of customers with lunch checks |
and money passing the cashiers desk. To |
see ser young ,y HAYWARD, s,,,l manipulate those
"Bad money! 1 can tell a bad coin at the |
touch" !" said he: "Dimes are the most COM |
mon counterfeits. Anybody can tell bad |
money, time enough but I've become able to |
detect at the touch-not rubbing-I haven't |
time for that-in u flash too quick for the |
eye. 1 couldn't explain it-and to know |
anything is quicker than to see it. There |
are bad dimes passed here every day. Most |
of them by our regular customers, and with |
unquestioned innocence. No, we'd rather |
lose the money than call a man back before |
the crowd and charge him with passing a |
counterfeit. And there'd be 90 people |
blocked up here in front of me in two min |
utes. 1t wouldn't pay. Range? l have
cent piece to $50 note every day of the |
year we run. 1t must be done instantane- |
ously. No bank note detectors or consul |
Of thing. And mostly from a lot of people |
you never know anything about. 1t ought |
to make man expert, anyhow"
Billy Birch's Bad Quarter
-"When I was playing in luck" said Billy
Birch, the old minstrel landmark familiar to
the habitues of upper Broadway, "the impe-
cunious crowd that used to hang around the
stage door for a stray dime or q quarter
struck me pretty often. Some were pretty
smart fellows and always had o word of fiat
terry for those who were kind to them. Now
that am old and down in the world 1 do
not regret anything gave away. One night
an old actor touched me for a quarter. He |
was q very bright and hungry fellow and
after thanking me profusely went off to get
to eat-or drink. In about half
some fellows. He came right up with a
broad smile on his face and tapping me on
the shoulder said to the crowd:
Here's that quarter, Billy. 1t was
mighty good joke and tried to work it on
the barkeeper around the block but it
wouldn't go. Then l tried it on lunch
route and the man actually got mad and
would have thrown me out If hadn't told
him you gave it to me. He said then it was
one Of your Jokes. confoundedly good
good joke it was, too" said he, "for 1 got n
drink and a meal out of it. And now here's
your quarter-give me good one, please for
you"
Everybody laughed as gave him another
quarter and took the bad one back, ana no.
body would believe 1t was anything but q
practical joke OF mine"
A New Way to Rob People.
An Ann street tailor and an indignant
Ind persistent customer developed anew
cheme the other day. Hanging in the show
window was one of those lovely exhibition
uits of clothes one sees almost everywhere,
With q card simply setting forth the cheap- |
less "to order" The chance customer saw
t, entered and expressed desire to get u |
uit OFF the same piece. The loQuacious | ,
alesman declared that they had such n run
IN the goods the material was exhausted,
,ut assured the customer the firm had an |
interest in large mandatory and more
would be ordered at once. A sample was
hown and the price was way below the cost
luly taken and the customer was required
% deposit S5. In few days the latter called
nd was informed that it would be iInpossi-
lie to get the goods right away, but he was
which are BETTER" said the salesman, but
wing to your disappointment we'll put 'em 6
n at the same figure ,
The customer saw the new articles were
lot as good, and straightway demanded his !
money back. He was refused. The s. was {
or measurement, it was asserted, and
rould be forfeited unless q snit was taken. q
n vain the customer ragged He went to $
he Tombs for q warrant, but this was re-
used also. He was told to bring civil suit
'aking a. detective he went down to
store to get rbs the oe
Jared he was merely a manager, bnt prom i
SEQ the officer the money should be re- 4
1nded. Afterward to the customer him.
e obtained on which to base the civil suit t
nd after spending about $50 the outraged v
gave it up as q bad case. All this Z
rom the exhibition suit. How many vic
IF In liu II ind 1lucr x-ith inf tl1h-