Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1899-11-25
BATTLING THE BONES.
u Was One OF the Accomplishments OF 20
Years Ago.

| some unusual demand ~ th,. n,rt If !,
regular patron set the proprietor of il va
rirty store to rumaSing among the accu-
mutations of the Years since h, had first
started his business. II brought to lighi
various kinds ~ odds ana ends. but not
the article sought
That's dead stock fnr fair" h,. said
without any though, Of a pun as he threw
small parcel on thu. counter. for it Wa
! 4 pair Of bones" These bones were If
rosewood. neatly finished. ana each
wrapped carefully u Soft paper They
Were Just uS good us amy that even. DR.
nAmentcd the northeast end Of III. s-m
circle of III" san Francisco Ministries in
the days when negro miuStrels had NOT
dreamed NJ putting on frilS ana hrcom
ing lark f1cr comedians. Nowadays th,-
only sort seen are the patent rattirrs ii
wood with metal springs.
That pair at bones must haze bccu un
!nN hands these twenty years. The. dealer
continued II haven't hal i Ella! fur Inv.
thing vi tine ~urt in d dozen years that I
can remember Yet II used 70 be that +
had not only L. carry a fu1l line nf bones
but had to put them i'm tho showcase to
attract custom. How long Is il Sur"
you heard 4 boy going along tar street
with 4 rtir w bones III each hInd ANA
making an the sorts ut noise that th-
weapons are capable OF? don't know =
boy now that would know how To hold
the things in his fingers much less play
them
Just as soon a. hpy Eot through VITA
baby games he had t. have the bones ami
tn, liz nj,
| remember the first ones had were. real
bones. the kind that come lin rib roasts Of
beef. ! must have traded off something
for them with the buhhcr boy. OF course
| could ha'c had the bones out Of our
good they had To be dried In the sun H.
make them right. Some boys could whit
tie out wooden bones if they haa the luck
to get hold Of the right kind Of hard
wood ANA hJd Il good knife for il was
no good to make your bones out of an
old brUDmstick, there was no ring t.
them. That's how YOU learned 10 play N
the things. ana YOU Were 10 sort Of a bay
until YOU could play with both hands at
once The crowd wouldn't have anything
IL do with you until YOU could. and even
quite small girls had no hesitation about
asking YOU To keep pin stores with them
ana made YOU feel like 4 baby You bet
YOU lost no time in learning to rattle
the bones That's the phrase I've been
trying 10 think of and now its Just com"
to me: PLAYING the bones didn't seem
right to me: we ratified them.
There were two pair Of bones. such aS
that YOU have there in set. ANA III
more costly ones were always sold in sets.
\ set like that must have sold for -
much as a dollar ana half. for YOU srp
its fine rosewood with a real piano tiI-
iSh Mahogany bones Were little b.t
cheaper. say about Il dollar set. From
that down YOU could get them for almost
any price know what killed the trade
in bones It WAS ingenuity. " men every
body was rafting the bones there wtr-
some people who never could learn INV
WAY. | guess their early cducdtions must
have been neglected. So an lnNentlN'
genius made a patent bone that anybody
! could play 1t had a metal tongue ana 4
| bob that hit the bone itself and made tht
nnis, that way. That killed the bones
| \Vho was going to work hard to learn the
| Train Coming into the Station on TN
real bone when any baby could do II Just
| rs we'll on the patent bone?