A GOOD
OLD
t CUSTOM
( By Elizabeth Cole, Acting Pub
licity Director National Tubercu
losis Association.)
Old customs, old costumes, pom]
and circumstance were glowingl;
recalled last spring at the elabor
ate Coronation of King GeorgeVl
Ditch digger and banker alik
read newspapers and heard radii
broadcasts describing details 0
this ceremony, centuries old.
At this Christmas season anoth
er reminder of customs of tb
olden days is appearing in ou
own country. The penny Christ
mas Sea] this year depicts a joll;
and colorful town crier. Garbe<
in his warm caped cloak of blu
and his three cornered hat h<
brings to mind one of the mos
popular and ancient characters o
many lands—the man who wen
from house to house in the smal
towns and villages to warn o
dangers,spread the news,and pro
tect the house holders.
The earliest settlers in all part
of our country brought from thei
various homelands this custom o
having a bell ringer, a town criei
or a night watchman go about a
night to guard their homes am
warn against Indians or maraud
ing bandits. The Dutch folk wh
settled New Amsterdam abou
the middle of the seventcentl
century observed the custom o
their home country with'the rip
ing of curfew from the churcl
belfrey at eight o’clock. Thi
was the signal for all hausfrau
to cover their fires with ashes
then all the family retired. Cos;
and warm in their huge feathe
beds they had every feeling o
safety, for each night througl
the lanes of the town (now Nev
York City) boldly marched th
sturdy “Kloppermann,” or rattl
watch. This he was called be
cause of the large Klopper or rat
tie he carried and whirled loudl;
at each door. The shrill crackin
sound re-echoing in the stillnes
of the night made known he wa
there to protect them. In hi
other hand he carried a strop
staff, a lighted lanthorn and
brass bound hourglass by whicl
he told the time. He called ou
the hours throughout the nigh
and at break of day he would cr>
“A fair morning and all’s well.
In the Boston town records fo
1638 is a notice of the custom o
crying lost animals “a stray sov
that had ibaen taken in the corn!
and often Cryed” but without su
cess in finding its owner. In Nev
England the town crier was pai<
to make announcements and onl;
those licensed by the selectmei
could cry wthout paying fines
TAropence was paid the “cryer
for each announcement made ii
the meeting house and sixpenc
for those ‘up and down the streei
Noted in Boston was James Wil
son for his jovial temperame.n
and his facetious comments. Ove
the entrance of the Exchang
Coffee House building is a hand
bell with the date 1705 on it, ai
ancient tavern symbol of “Oli
Wilson.” "One can hear now th
clang of Wilson’s ponderous bell
writes Robert Means Lawrence ii
New England Colonial Liife,
"and the hoarse, thick tones o
his voice, as clad in a purpl
cloak and wearing a cocked hat
he perambulated the streets, cry
ing Sales at Auction and 'Chili
Lost, 25 cent reward.’ He alway
drew a crowd of people, read;
and willing to chaff with him
but they often got more than the
bargained for. As when annou
cing a Fourth of July dinner i
Charlestown, certain denizens c
that ancient place pestered hir
with enquiries as to the bill o
fare, and elicited the reply tha
the dinner would be ample wit
a pig at every plate.”
Rev. Edward G. Porter in Ram
bles in Old Boston” wrote, ‘Na
ture had endowed him with
ready wit, a good flow of langt
age, and an imposing presence.”
“Child lost! Four years old. Sh
wore a blue and white calic
diress” and other announcemenl
were made by these town criei
in New England. They did nc
combine their duties with thos
of the night watchmen. In 163
Boston appointed a night watc
“from sunset, an hour after th
I I
i beating of the drumbe." When I
I any lights were observed after
'ten o’cl'ek. the constables, or j
night watchmen, were “to inquire |
discree*ly if th re was any ex- j
cuse warranting the no se." They ,
must e ■pecially check dancing, or j
1 singing, and admonish the revel
. lers for disturbing the public
peace. During this period there
wer. also two bellmen who went
( about to call out the hours of the
, night and other interesting infer- 1
mati-on.
The bellman came to New Eng
> land from England and we have
, mention of him in the “Diary of
f Samuel Johnson” of Boswell. He 1
write?. “I staid up till the bell
man cam by with his bell, just
, und >r my window, as I was writ
. ing this very line, and cried, ‘Past
one of the clock and a cold, fros- j
, ty, windy morning.’ ”
I Some criers waxed poetic and
, shouted their messages in verse.
, YISZZ .u mick.t .:pilld.e
t One of them from “Old Street
^ Crirs of London" by Oscar E.
j Norman was:
1 List good people all! Past ten
f o’clock the houre I call.
Now say your prayers and take
your rest
With conscience clear and sins ■
:! confessed. ,,
r I bid you all good night; Good
night!
’ j The criers went about proclaim
j ing ordinances, summoning the
citizens to meetings, and to re
mind people of such duties as "to
’ have all cattle and hogs out of
the fields,” or, “Have water at
’ your doors for rear of fires.”
Only last spring we found a
’ notice in a N:,w York newspaper
(Sun, March 16) telling how the
town crier ran through the streets
of the ancient village of Hadden-1
ham, England, ringing his bell
and summoning “all able bodied
j. men to report on the river bank
to aid in combating flood waters
which threatened to overwhelm
a one hundred square miles of the
' richest farm land in Great Bri
' tain.” The account went on to
say how Town Crier George
Chapman broke all precedent by
’ donning ordinary clothes instead
’ of his regular crier’s uniform to
’ run through the streets calling
* “Volunteers are urgently needed
’ at the river banks.”
’ In this country the town of
1 Provincetown on Cape Cod, Mass
1 \ achusetts, still has its town crier,
one Amos Kubik. He made his;
* first appearance at the time of i
;: the tercentenary in 1933 when in
a new uniform with spangles,
r wide belt, large buckles, and
f black hat he walked down the
' street ringing his brass bell and
< booming out the news of the day. '
: Children and grownups trailed‘
’ him down the street to hear this :
* sort of an announcement: “Hear
' ye! Hear ye! The first whale;
’ seen in Provincetown for twenty j
; years is on exhibition today be- j
hind Matheson’s store. Come and !
’ see the monster of the deep! And j
; bring the children for a lesson in
zoology. Ten cents admission.”
"I This 'town crier came to New
1 York in 1935 and the ‘Times' in
r!a write up May 2 said ;,f him
. . “Arros is the only town
‘ j crier extant and he takes his role
11 seriously. He will cry up any
* thing but wants it written out in
'advance. His present method is *
I to begin all announcements with
1: throe ‘Hark ye’s,’ each preceded
by two clangs on his dinner bell.”
f . . . . He has learned to re
1 fer to himself as a better medium
> than newspapers.because of some
• thing he calls “instant effect.”
I .
HE SPOILED A BEAR STORY circulated before !
this year’s football season began that Baylor would not go far toward
the southwest championship. Behind the brilliant passing and strat
egy of 19-year-old Billy Patterson, the Bears completed the first half
;f their schedule undefeated and untied.
I
Amos is a far cry from the digni
fied bellman of former days.
The curfew, or covering bell
because it meant all fires should'
be covered, was of Norman origin
and has been rung in various
states in the Union. In 1880 Om-i
aha, Nebraska, passed the “Cur
few Law’’ for children under 15
years of age, and over 3,000 oth
er cities and towns had this law
during the latter part of the nine
teenth century. In several places
curfew still is rung. Chicago re
vived the law in 1926 for 10 o’
clock. but many ridiculous diflfi- :
culties arose because that was
the era of the short short skirts
and ladies well over fifteen were j
mistaken for youngsters—much to ■
the amusement of the latter and ■
the chagrin of the policemen. i
But there were no policemen
in, those early days—po clocks
and no newspapers. The town
crier was all three in some com
munities. And he was a most re
spected and necessary citizen.
Tha rattle or bell is now the po
liceman’s whistle and his staff,
later a cane, is his billy of the
present day. The megaphone at
the college football game has re
placed the town crier’s bell for
announcements and our newspa
pers bring us all our notices and
news. The church bell, as well
as the radio, has been substituted
for the “12 o’clock and all’s well.”
It is plesant, however, to recall
the good old customs of our fore
father's. In buying and using
our Christmas S als on holiday I
letters and packages we may
know that this friendly Town
Crier was chosen for its subject
to symbolize protection of our
homes from Tuberculosis. The
house in the background on the
• ?al stands for all homes, and the
sturdy old Town Crier is ringing
in health for 1988.
PRINTING BLANKS CARRIED
|
—
j
The Nome Daily Nugget earrie.- !
several forms of printing blanks j
for your convenience — Dredge j
Logs, thawing and drill reports,
Mining Deeds, Placer and Lode
Location Notices. Vouchers,
Ernest Simpson
Will Marry The
Mrs. Raff ray
- !
RENO, Nevada, Nov. {IP)—In a
arief private divorce hearing,
Judge Curler recently gave Mrs.
Wary Kirk RafTray her freedom
lo become the next wife of Ern-‘
?st Simpson, former husband of
:he Duchess of Windsor.
In New York Simpson confirm
:d reports that he is to marry
Wrs. RafTray.
FOR SALE—Medium sized coal
heating stove, in good condition.
Inquire at Nugget Office.
Notice of Hearing and Settlement'
of Final Account and Petition
for Distribution
No. 539
—
In the Probate Court for the
Cape Nome Precinct, Territory of
Alaska, Second Division.
In the matter of the Estate of
JOHN LEPRI. Deceased.
Notice is hereby given to whom
it may concern: That the under
signed administrator of the es
tate of John Lepri, deceased, has
filed in the said court his final
account and report and petition
for the distribution of said estate
and that the 15th day of January,
1938, at the hour of 11 o’clock
A. M. of said date in the court
room of said Court at Nome, Al
aska, has been fixed by the order
of said court as the time and
place for the hearing of the same
and objections thereto and the
settlement thereof and that at
said time and place the Court
will adjudicate and determine
who are the heirs and distribu
tees of said deceased.
Dated, this the 12th day of
November 1937.
CHAS. ALEXANDER
Administrator of the Estate of
John Lepri, Deceased.
Publish: Nov. 12, 19, 26, Dec. 3,
1937. |
5| GOING TO TOWN ON AN ELK HUNT, this pack train is fording the Hob River
h in northwestern Washington, returning from the wilderness with a load of slaughtered animals. Seven
e1 hundred elk were killed in the week of open season,
I • —
NOME MOTOR CO.
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Come in and see us and let us show
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I For Your Personal
Taste!! ^
Here is one of the many Jj
brilliant coiffures designed
by Phyllis. It is to be seen *
at my Salon.—Watch This
space for future announce*
ments.
I PHYLLIS’ BEAUTY SALON |
Licensed Operator
Located Over Polet’s Branch Store on Front Street
Sjy?
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