The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1897-02-11
Facts About the Origin Of
the Barber'S Pole.
An Sword Message Sent
10000 Miles In 55Sec0ndS.
New Chapter Relating TO the Historic
Boston Tea Party.

Some time ago, In response to IN In
Quiry the Gossiper gave the origin OF the
BARRIERS pole as we now see 1t. local
weilder OF the lsther brush and razor now
sends another which while 1t covers prac-
tioally the same ground gives some de-
tails not contained in the first explana-
ticn which may prove interesting. In
earlier days venesection was one OF the
chief resources of the person called In to
relieve the, sick..- So universal was blood
letting that he who lived by practising
the arts of healing was called a"lssch."
The barber's shop furnished conveniences
for practising blood letting either by the
lance or by the application OF the leech,
and the barber finally added thi. to the
assumed duties OF his profession. The
appliances were stan to support the arm,
. cord to bind 1t, and bowl to catch
the flow of blood. These we're usually dis
plsyed in front OF the shop; the bandsge
being wound around the staff, the cord
tied above it.and the metal bowl inverted
on the top.
After time these were initiated by an
artificial sigma pole was at first fastensd
in the ground, wound with bandage, and
capped with the bowl. Then a painted
strip of white was put on the pole in
place OF tho linen, and . wooden cap Of
metal color surmounted the solid staff.
1t was natural that the pole should be
painted red, not only to show the white
stripe more plainly, but as suggestive of
the use to be made of the bandags. The
bowl became Q ball and the brass or
pewter gave place to gold or silver leaf.
In some parts Of the world the barber
still retains his skill in venesection
but bleeding is now the rare exception in
medical practice even in the heroic school
for treating the sick. But where ths bar
Der is no longer . leech, the sign, shorn
OF fts sienIficance,f is stili retained and the
stripes and gilt cap will marx the bar
ber's pole We suppose, to the END of time.
Its use certainly ante-dates any complete
historical rec0rd.
A very interesting test was recently
made to show how much tine would be
required to transfer a telegraphic message
from London to Valparaiso, Chill. An
arrangement was made with the telegraph
and cable companies to keep open the
wires and get the tslegrspbic results OF "a
recent sporting event to Valparaiso with
the least possible delsy at the intervening
stations. Ten minutes before the mes
sage was to be sent the wires were cleared
along the entire distance and all the ordi-
nary communications through the cables
were suspended. At the given astronom-
don to Carcavellos, whence the message
was transferred through q submarine
cable to Pernam buco, wherefrom the
Brsxilian coast cable conducted the mes
sage to Buenos Ayres. 1t was from there
dispatched over the South American
Trans-continental Tel egrsph line and ar
rived at Valparaiso 80 seconds after leav-
ing the London Office, :although the dis
tsnce 1t had to travel in this short space
of time amounted to almost 10,U00 miles,
and the eight words OF the message had
TO be repeated. four times.
Mr.. Fred 8. Hassam has recently added
an interesting chapter to the many relat
ing to what is now known as the Boston
tea party. He says that wnen the 30 or 40
disguised Sons OF Liberty emitted their
warwhoop and rushed down to board the
tea ship At Grifin's whsrf,a body guard of
about 100 OF their friends guarded the en-
trance to the wharf, and thus prevented
any possible Tory :from going down and
subsequently, being able to identify the
activs participants In the affair. The tea
was consigned to Governor Hutchinson,
and thsrelss 80 much of 1t thrown over
board that It fioated dcwn the river, and
the next morning some OF 1t was recover
Cd by people at Dorchester point, who
found ii floating as perfectly. dry as when
turned out Of the chests. Several families
in Dorchester have today small quantities
Of Ii preserved In bottles as cherished
mementoes of the event in which their
ancestors took part, and the Massac husetts
Historical Society has q large bottle in its
collection. The building in which the
patriots put; on their Indian disguises
was owned by John Hancock, and IL sti n
stands, with ell the narrow stairway
without hand rail just a. IT was when
they hurried down il in l773.