The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1893-11-06

between the genuine and counter1eiI
have been led 10 the abovs rsfleefsoos
BY an incident that occurred IA Tacoma
few cavs ago. While speeding couple OF
days In .has city had occasion 20 make
small purchase in . store en- facaEc
avenue. On passing cut OF the store
came face TO face with Ran xacse per-
BON sesnsd familiar. bat whon did not
instantly recognize. He advanced few
fee. within the store and stopped q tae
nsares: coantsr, his back toward me After
scrntinixsng his Egars few moments /
aucibly addressed bis back In these words:
+Isn't that Hill Harroa7"
Speaking and farming simultaneously,
before bis ere met mine, he exclaimed.
..Heiio. Prosch. WHARF did you come
from7''
81 carne from Seattle to testify in the
ease Of Bslch vs.. Palmer and others. WAS
ny reply.
Il am witness in the same ease" said
Harmon. "Wait . minute and III 90 over
10 the conrt With you"
He accompanied ms 10 the court room,
where We had q talk about men and
events on Puget sound more than tairty
years ago.
Quite twenty-five years had passed since
Hal Harmon had last heard my voice, and
his instant recognition Of 1t proved:
Eirsf-That my voice had undergone no
change in that period.
Second-That the ear Is more retentive
than the eye: in other words, that the ear
remembers after the ere has forgotten.
Even when the ere. as often hsppens, re-
tains q recollection of the iineaments Of an
old acquaintance. the ear Is always quick
est to recognize him by the sound Of bis
voice.
The late s. L. Maxwell, originator OF the
Seattle fsrELIroEycER, vas well known 70
ms IN San Francisco nearly forty years
ago. When came to Puget sound. in the
winter of 1878, he remained in California
Some years later he. too. came TO Puget
sound and located in this city. Thirteen
years after leaving him in California |
visited him ut his printing office on Mil
street, about where the PosT-IsTELII-
GESeE1 Office stood when the great IRE re-
duced it to ashes. ! arrived at twilight
from Olympia. His Office being pointed
ont to me. / opened the door and looked
IN. The only person visible was boy 1.-THE
devil. / supposedly in the far end OF the
Office. between whom and the door were
eight or ten composing stands. Seeing no
one else, | addressed the boy across the
intervening space.
"Can you tell me where i can find Mr..
Maxwell 2"
Before the boy could answer-nay. be-
| fore had finished my query-a head
bobbed up between the stands twenty feet
| distant and responded:
Mr.. Prosch. God bless you, how do you
do2'
Here. again, the recognition of the voice
was instantaneous. Mr. Maxwell would
| have required time ii he had met me on
| the street 10 scan my features before he
| could be certain of my identity.
Some twelve or thirteen years ago I
| raid my first and only visit TO Walla
| Wai,a. There had the pleasure of meet
ing lady whom had known in Olympia
| ten years before and whom had not seen
| for nearly eight years. Sunday INTERVIEWED
| during my stay in Walla Walla, and at
| 1915 a. m. was seated in pew near the
| entrance of the Episcopal church. Ten
| minutes later the lady in question entered
| and took seat four or i've pews In adj
| vance OF the one occupied by me. She
| did not see me in passing. During the
| service my responses were neither louder
| nor more distinct than those of q dozen
| other men in my vicinity. Yet / had
| hardly uttered syllable when she turned
/ her face so quickly in my direction that
| for moment | feared she had disiocated
| her neck. A mutual smile betokened q
mutual recognition.
At the close of the service awaited her
| coming out at the door. As she cordially
extended her hand, asked:
lis il possible you remember my voice
| after all these years2"
| Gould one srer forget that voicep was
her smiling rejoinder.
| 1t never before occurred to me that there
| was anything peculiar in my voice. Her
| reply led me TO think there was. Senator
Squire and Others have since reminded me
| that it differed from any Others of SINH
| lar tone they had ever heard. / am only
conscious of the fact that my ordinary
| voice Is louder than that of most men.
This arises from strong aversion TO re-
/ peating remark or question. 1t Is never
| pleasant 10 do so. Il is equally unpleas-
ant for people in any degree hard of hear
ing. to request the repetition of words adj
/ dressed TO them.
| large proportion of the people we
daily meet are more or less deaf, many of
/ them unconsciously so. One of the few
who Is not so afflicted is my precious little
| wife, who sometimes checks me on the
street with the remark: "I'm not deaf"
This generally happens soon after labori-
| Gus conversation with somebody who has
taxed my vocal powers to the utmost.
/ have always regarded il IS a species of
1 cruelty to talk TO deaf people in voice
|, every word of which they cannot hear. 1t
leaves them painfully puzzled as 10 what
was really said. greatly emoarrasses them
and deprives them of much enjoyment
they might otherwise have in society.
| Such unfortunates have always had a
large share of my sympathy.
l remember in my youth very estima-
bic middle-aged man in New York city
| named Howard. who was partially deaf
and extremely fond of society, especially
the society OF young people. He often had
| parties OF young men and women at his
| home, and manifested much pleasure in
their company. though he could hear but
| little of what was said by them. When
| their conversation was accompanied with
| pantomime, as often happened, he COM
| pretended and enjoyed both; when some.
| thing was said which he neither heard nor
| understood. but which provoked bolster
| ous laughter, his countenance assumed an
expression Of pain. Then, in tone that
/ appealed strongly TO the sympathies OF all
/ present, he would say: Wont YOU tell
me what you are laughing AZ. that | may
| laugh, too?" CHARLES PgoscH-
/ xAEAZTNEa.