The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1897-08-11

Yankee Doodle BY that time / was
jingling the small coins in my pocket.
Such an occasion called for more than
mere coppers; even the 'thruppences"
looked too small. The Star Spangled
Banner" and Yankee Doodle" are
worth more to a man in London than
they are in New York. But before the
fatal moment came for parting with a
slxpence, new light dawned upon me,
and I slipped the silver back into my
pocket. My square in summer contains
a number of Americans, and the bands
men had learned that national airs
stirred them up and opened their
purses. 1t was only little commercial
patriotism. Afterward / took pains to
see what they would play in Russell
square, inhabited almost wholly by
English. No Star spangled Banner"
there; no Yankee Doodle;" nothing
but God Save the Queen" And it was
the same in the other squares. Those
fellows knew we'll what they were
about In the French settlement they
would play the .'Marsellaise.
A few minutes ago the sound of mems
voices trying to sing fioated up the
street, followed shortly by the men
themselves. They were two of the most
detected specimens of humanity imag-
Unable, ragged, half-starved and hum-
BILE as Uriah Heep with their hands
meekly held in front of them. They
walked close together in the middle of
the street, barely moving their feet
slower than any funeral march. When
they reached the center of the block
they stopped, and one Of them made
this address to the houses:
Kind friends, we have walked all the
way from Yorkshire, and are tired and
hungry. We are not ordinary beggars,
and you will never see US again. We
want work, but cannot get it. Take
pity on u.s. kind sirs, and give us a tri-
file to buy food"
Their words We're well studied, but
they had the true professional voice
and manner Nevertheless, they reaped
a good harvest of pennies.
Then there are the minstrels-young
fellows dressed in harlequin suits, gen.
orally four together, two to fiddle and
two to dance and sing. Their perfor-
nance Is always so bad that their col
lections are small. And the men who
seat themselves on the sidewalks and
draw really good pictures on the stones
with colored chalk. And the almost
countless men and women who go about
bearing signs, Il am blind" or Help
less" or Crippled" But these people
make no noise.
The neighborhood of ''the squares in
Bloomsbury is a favorite haunt of or
gan-grinders This square that the
Duke of Bedford and 1 have between
US, he owning it and l living in 1t, is
particularly blessed with them. The
solitary organ-grinder as we know him
in New York is seldom or never seen
here. They travel in pairs, in triplets,
in quartets; man and woman, a
man and two women, man and two
boys, sometimes a man and two girls.
They approach silently enough, but
make up for it before they go. You sit
by the window writing, look up for
moment, and there is a yellow Italian
woman grinning at you from the street.
The man with her, who has hold of the
organ, is also grinning; and as soon as
they catch your eye they smile harder
than ever, and bow and grimace. 1t
does no good to shake your head and
turn away. They have seen you, and
you may as well make up your mind to
bear the infection of a concert. They
uncover the organ to begin-for the
street organs are invariably covered
with waterproof cloths on account of
the frequent rains-and play tune or
two. Do not think to escape; they are
bound to capture your coin sooner or
later In desperation you throw them a
penny to be rid of them, and then they
keep on playing to give you the worth
of your money. The thing becomes I'M
beara bic, and you go up to the window
and ask:
Say will you go away for another
penny?"
They smile harder than ever, and bow
themselves to pieces, but pick up your
second penny and go on playing. Per-
haps they do not Observation-Disclosures
Letter in the New York Times.