Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1901-11-28


why | should have so long neglected
the law of acoustics; but better late
than never"
Il think it sounds all right" she
ventured to observe after a silence.
"Um! Very likely you do. as you
have anything but musical ear; but
few more such jars as received half
all hour ago would make me scream
out | presume you have heard or read
of acousticsT'
ut is something about sounds, isn't
TT"
at is good deal about sounds, Mrs.
Bowser. 1t Is the life of oratory or
music. You must study a room or hall
to find the best spot for either effort
A curtain, a fireplace. q picture even,
may defect and ruin the softest, sweet
est notes of the piano ever made.
Clay, Calhoun and Webster always
turned their backs to window when
speaking and Patti always stood in the
center of the stage to warble. 1t won't
take me fifteen minutes to find the spot
for our piano"
MIS-. DONStI Sdlu uO ulOre. 0uG knew
that piano would be moved If it took
twenty horses do ii, and she finished
her meal in silence and wondered what
the damages would amount to. Mr..
Bowser expatiated at length on acous-
ties and the benefits to be derived by
student of them, and as dinner was
ended he removed bis coat and vest,
collar and cuffs. and stood in the mid
die of the room and said:
"It's no wouder there is a discord.
The tones of the piano strike the wall
and rebound. We have got the book
case where the piano ought to be. I'll
make the change In five minutes"
But you ought to have help" pro-
tested Mrs. Bowser.
"Never mind the help. The first thing
Is to haul that bookcase out of the
way. You'd better take care of that
blamed old cat or she'll get hurt"
1t was an old fashioned bookcase
with couple of hundred books in it.
Instead of removing the books. Mr..
Bowser tackled the job at wholesale.
and of course he hadn't got the thing
fairly clear of the wall, where 1t had
rested for years. when caster fell out
and the case toppled over with crash
that shook the house from top to bot
tom. He escaped by jumping over a
chair, and the cat just missed it by
long leap, and when Mrs. Bowser sug-
gested calling in man to help she was
net with:
"When / don't know enough to run a
bookcase, I'll apply for admission to an
idiot asylum! If you hadn't been fool
ing around here it never would have
happened. Go up stairs and let me
conduct this job in my own way"
The cook came to the head of the
basement stairs to see IL the roof had
fallen in, and she seized the opportu-
nifty to whisper to Mrs. Bowser:
'Is it powder or dynamite this time,
ma'am? II we are to be blown up or
scattered in pieces I'll take kindly to
ye to give me time enough to pronounce
my mothers name before die!'
When Mr.. Bowser had the room to
himself, he gave the old bookcase sew
eral sturdy kicks and then dragged it
aside and tossed the books after 1t.
In a quarter of an hour he was ready
to tackle the piano. When he jumped
for it, he hadn't the slightest doubt in
his mind that it would prove an easy
customer, but after tug and a pull
which broke both suspenders he real
ized that 1t had settled down to stay.
He took a rest for minute and then
braced himself for n push. After an
effort that bulged his eyes and redden
ed his face to a seashore sunburn he
effected a move of two inches, but
could not gain another hairs breadth.
Mrs. Bowser came down and suggested
that she call in n passing pedestrian,
and the cook called up from the base
ment that she was used to toying with
ice chests and barrels of ashes, but Mr.. /
Bowser yelled at them:
Didn't say | was bossing this job? |
It's simply that the blamed old thing !
has settled down In the quicksand or |
something"
Then he seized it by n corner and /
braced his feet against the wall and
heaved, but there was no give.
He worked his way in behind 1t and 1
gave IL mighty push, out only tue Drlck ]
wall behind him seemed to give way.
lie crawlcd under it and sought to |
move 1t by humping up his back, but |
though he persisted till his spinal col /
umn was twisted out of plumb nothing |
moved
The law of mechanics ought to APP |
ply to piano, but 1t doesn't. Mr.
Bowser sat painting and studying for I
five minutes before he decided that it |
didn't and that he had got to spring
sudden surprise or acknowledge his |
defeat. He got up and walked about
in careless way, and when the cook
called up that she had once moved an
Ice chest weighing 900 pounds with her
own hands he didn't reply. He was
giving that piano time TO dissipate its
suspicious and relax its guard. Ii was
only twenty minutes before he felt that