The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1911-02-23

ft1
1ONT VEST YIRG
rare thing 70 see d negro on the;
streets especially after dars Who was
not CARRYING b tune. either whistlingt
pr singing q scpFe 81 years ago ey,
cry boy, with very few exceptions,
could whistle; today II is not known
whether any Of them can DO 50. for,
they seldom whistle while at work or.
walking along the streets. But there
is one thing they can do-to the dis
gust OF the greater part OF the people
Is giving out shrlll short whistles rs
u they were calling a dog when sig.
mailing a;companion. and IN many cases
calling to an adult In this way. That's
about al the kind Of whistling that Is
being done by the youths oftthls age.
This assertion does not only apply to
Fairmont but to- every place in the
country audit appears that the larger
the city Is the more OF the shrill whist.
lers are TO be found.
There Is a whole lot OF difference be.
tween the lad who used to carry q tune
TO perfection and which was actual
music and the youngster who FUCKERS.
up his tongue or places his fingers in
his mouth and gives out a screech that
sounds like small Fairmont fire wills.
tie.
The older men and even the elderly
women a well recall the days when
a man felt rather proud to be a good
whistler, and 1t was not a rare thing
for one to whistle in the home accom-.
panied on the piano by some female OF
the family. The youngsters Of today
would think this funny" Is their
father or uncle should stand In the
parlor and whistle a tune while some
one followed his tune on the plano.
1t never was and 1t is not expected
that men and boys will go along the
principal streets lwhistling, but at that
at was no unusual thing to hear men
whistling while at work on buildings
and boys carrying a tune while re.
turning from school, as they did In the
years gone by.
There was nothing disrespectful
about whlstling even on the streets in
those days and even drivers Of teams
were prone to whistle as they drove
along the thoroughfares. especially II
they were on the outskirts OF the city.
One might go on the country roads
on a pretty day now and watch team
after team pass along the highways
and byways and there would be no
whistling. Then turn back the leaves
in the Book OF Time and II such re
cords were kept It would show that all
men with whip In; hand on the coun-
try roads whistled as they passed by
whistled some old.time campmeetIng
tune or a love tune that appealed to
their hearts, and when. one entered the
woods there he found a man Telling
tree he would also fndthat mar beat
ing time to his whistling with the
stroke OF the AK. Then let him re.
turn to the city and after darkness had
fallen and all had retired for the night
he might hear a late home.comer in
the street whistling a tune; let him
go upon a2building and he would there
find the brick and stone mason whist.
ling as he laid the mortar. As Charles
Dickens said: "Such are the changes
a few years bring about and 80 do the
things pass away like a tale that IS
told" The whistling age seems to
have passed away and no longer one
hears natures music instrument in
action.
A large music dealer in this State,
who enjoys an unusually heavy coun.
try patronage and who has been in
business for more than two score
years. said last summer that the sale
OF French harps had dropped of fully
Is per cent. during the past Is years;
that he used to have a large run on
month organs, but that II the sale kept
getting smaller and smaller as the
years go by that he would stop keep
ing them. He was asked. why this
was, and the old gentleman said that
the people were getting too stylish for
such music. The French harp is in
hand with the whistlers. 1t was in
those days that the majority Of the
youth, and not a few Of the men. could
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