New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-06-09
4 VIDE cHoiCE :oF ANsTEHS.

"I.r,r Den eC1rn AMMEN' APPARENTLY MEANS
MANY THINGS.
In tho par,v which went - visit n big German
corcor' hall in the Bowory wcr" two or three
men who had a knowledge Of the German language
ranging from a smaierng TO fair acquaintance.
These men were extremely ready with iheir in''r-
nation so it VAS quite natural that one Of the
young women should ask.
'What does that mean
That" was the title OF n composition which was
70 be given IN the orchcs;rion and IT read: Bel
den Schrammon."
Pei den Schrammcn." thoughtfully murmurcl
the man 70 xhom the question was PIT. = ought
20 know what that means. Let me ihinE u VIII
cone me In a minute
Hut IL didn't come 10 him. In spite OF hs cor
ruratod brow ana his evident effort at doing som"
tall thinking Then the inquiry was repeated to
another Of the party who had been student IN
Germany He rolled the phrase OF his tongue once
or twice. and showed that he. too. was 's'nmp"d ~
"Bei den Schrammen. We'll. Wei. that's queer.
Oh. yes. II has got something 10 DO with sponge
II must mean: BY the cponscs.
That's an odd name for "A piece 81 music. sug-
gestcd the visitor from up the State. in whose
honor the expedition had been formed. The author
Of the translation tried to defend IT, but its evident
righteousness only provoked laughter
Then n third man took n shy at the puzzle Il
believe" he ventured somewhat timorously. that
'schrammen' is n mechanical tcrm-mcans some
kind OF a screw Yes that's it: by the screws ."
There was storm Of laughter at this. Then one
OF the young men mustered up enough German
to ask the walter Csho doubtless spoke excellent
English what the title meant. The waiter looked
baLkly for a moment. and then had to admit that
he didn't know. But he would lnd out He hurried
off, and bo.or. long returned. bright smile on his
face
IT'S the same as 'Auf Vcrlangcn.'" he an
nouncel trlumphantly. in German.
"Why, that means by request was the relieved
comment OF the who had started the waiter on
the trail. ''Iow stupid t. make such fuss about
simple thing"
But the ghost would not down Other men Of
for A translation Of the term. and while no two
agreed on the answer. the decision was unannous
mean time. the question was passed from one 10
another. until the gallery in which the aliens sat
was agog with discussions Of H.
one man came up to give his version He couldn't
srhrammcn.' he said. ITS one of dem tings
what you TIE rope on when you go on a boat;
%na de rGpS %To%9a Ee dis and he went
yachismnn But he didn't mean that. After much
cudge,linr of brains the word ''clcat' was hi
upon Yes. that Vas it, "Schrammen" were clcats.
Then IT must De some kind OF "A boating song"
reasoned the out-of-town visitor.
This wasn't entirely satisfactory. bui just here
one Of the walters brought up a tail with
troduced him as Herr Professor Schultz" n
waned To Know The Herr professor henrg
the question with due gravity, and. clearing his
throat. announced in judicial manner;
'Schrammen is the name OF a little town in
Germany which noted for its noises. II was a
very noisy place and people said when they heard
great disturbance. that is regular 'Schram-
men,
The Herr Professor was duly thanked. and he
retired with many bows. Then another good-na-
tured volunteer came forward
III you will pardon me-. he said. with much
poeness, n schram' is wound 'Schrammcn' is
the plural and is applied to the wounds dealt I'm
students duels. II Is also used to designate the
duels themselves. The music is descriptive OF such
a duel"
There were more thanks, but further discussion
OF the question was forgotten In the interest ex-
cited by two young women who appeared the
stage TO sing. You Shant Play In Ny Yard"