Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-04-24


| were sacred to people who knew how to
drive fast horses, OF Thought they did, and
| life ana limbs were always in danger unless
you rode in an ice wagon. 1t wasn't even q
dead sure safe thing to sit on the front porch,
unless it was reached by goodly stretch OF
steps, for you never can tell what will hap.
pen when young men who have tndulged In
beer indulge in chariot races with livery
stable rigs. There was something ptctur.
esque and rural in all this, and you could
almost fancy yourself in YOUNGSTOWN. O., or
Ebensburg, or some other lively but en-
bryotic town.
ADecadence and Then a Revival.
Then this epoch became history, which
means it Joined the other ages which are
subjects OF promiscuous lying. The gas COM
panies cut up the streets to lay pipe; sewers
and water pipes seemed to be In demand
everywhere, and there was no place to drive
in the city limits. Carriage horses became
scarce and fancy turnouts were about as
plentiful US they are in Venice for several
years. That was a time when new friend
ships and new associations grew apace, for
some distance or to come and see you and
you had perforce to get acquainted with
your own family and your neishbors. Then
Magee, Finn and Bigelow invented sohen,
ley Park, and there was another magical
change. Horses and carriages became more
numerous than ever, and OF q new ana pre-
tentious character. Victorias, drags, mail
and nondescript two-wheeled and four.
wheeled affairs in yellow and orange fitted
and do fit unto this day in and through the
suburbs and the park drives.
Even four-in.hand coaches have come
into vogue with US, although it is rather
on the installment plan so far, and
in the way of liveried coachmen
footmen and grooms. we are nothing II not
peculiar. As rule footmen are only used
here for park purposes, it being understood
that they are safe there, as the MOB cannot
in time to do much execution. Then, too,
the small boys pony and the roadster of his
elder brother and sister have multiplied in
the land until there are droves OF them
it is. Once the juvenile mud piemaker or
marble shooter paused in his avocation to
greet the equestrian of either sex with pro-
longed shouts of LADY on horseback!
lady on a horseback!"-a custom of doubtful
origin and uncertain purpose-but OF late 1t
has lost its hold on the youthful mind and
bids fair to Join kissing games and other
pastimes of the mound builders.
Forbes Street Has Seen Its Day.
And yet, though there be q plentitude
of horseflesh, and what q flnancier might
playfully dub accommodation horsefiesh"
at that the streets in the lower portion Of
the city have not regained their lost traffic
of this nature. The ladies have grown
nervous about accidents owing to the num-
Der of cable and electric cars which seem to
chase you hither and thither.
"When mamma goes to town in our car
rfage," remarked a laughing girl in street
car the other day to her companion, "she
hints that the rest of us ought to stay at
home and do the service for a person gone
to sea'"-ard she thus described great
many mammas very neatly. Tho tables of
showing the striking force Of
an electric bobtailed car, are discouraging,
when an ordinary carriage Is the point of
impact. 1t is in the eastern portion of the
which is paved with asphalt and is quite
level, has altogether eclipsed Forbes street
and the other old favorites of the horsemen.
Business Men Learning to Live.
Another thing which has changed won
derfully within few years, is the character
Of the ''business man's'' lunch in Pittsburg.
what may be aptly called the city's
middle ages the lunch was invariably regu-
lated by how much it would cost and not by
what it consisted OF. The rule was some
might only be a balance of a nickel, but bal
ance of some sort there must be- Roast |
bee: or raw oysters and cup of coffee was
and they had to be bolted in half an hour.
Nowadays the cafes have upset all the |
ira ditions, the city fathers have yielded to |
the wiles of the French chefs, things with |
"a Ia" in the middle of the names have |
triumphed over roast beef, the menu has |
been extended to goodby lengths. there Is a |
decided tendency to linger and talk shop or |
That remains unchanged from the days of |
darkness and Egyptian bondage is the Bit |
ters before lunch. 1t would be Of interest |
to interview some old physician on the COM |
parative stats tics as to dyspepsia.
Duelling at So Much a Column.
Il wonder if it is at all true that Bor- |
rowe and Milbank, the "duelists'' of Cole |
a
q New York literary syndicatef How de- |
Iightfully ingenuousI suppose they will in |
clude "Modoc Fox" in the partnership in Or
der that that accomplished Indian fighter
may do the writing and sell the letters which |
the others obtain or which they write to
each other. A good steady income might be |
obtained by judiciously selecting notable
victims to be syndicated or shot at as the
exigencies of the case demanded. Think of |
the thrilling subjects Fox would have to
,"All rights secured"), "On the Field Of
Honor" ;" "The Ping of u Pistol Ball." "How
{ Got, Cut With Sword" Pooling the
French Police"
1t really brings up the question as to
" neither in the future duelling for space
rates OF by assignment will not take its
place in American newspaper offices Of the
'or editors, indeed, to kill two birds with
one reporter by having someone whom they
have had a quarrel with challenged and shot
moved, and the Office would, of course, have
scoop of much detail. Who was it said
If everything-"they do these things better
n France?" Do they, indeed? No; they are
primitive and go duelling without any
lotion of regarding the rights and privileges
,fthe press.
An Affair Of Honor in Maryland.
Speaking of duels, know of an affair
,nce something like this much-written-
bout one of Borrowe's. 1t was over in the
Western Maryland mountains, in the days
when farmers went to market with a long
rife thrown across the
,ommel of the sa ddle and when catamounts
ind "cri tiers" OF that ilk were too thick for
comfort and notions of "honor" we're as
oose in some respects as they were rigid in |
,thers. Two farmers, both famous as hunt |
IFS and notable in local politics, had enjoyed
fvud of long duration. Somehow 1t did
rot take the shape of polling leach other
rom behind trees as they. did in West
Virginia just across the backbone. At last, |
however, things must have reached a crisis, |
,ut how it came about and what was at the
bottom of it do not know.
| was at the house of a farmer named
Reilly with some other boys getting ready
or wild pigeon shooting one morning when
;wo men rode up to the house, each carrying
.ifes and looking particularly savage. Old