The Labor Signal. (Oklahoma City, Okla. Terr.), Vol. 3, No. 18, Ed. 1 Friday, February 13, 1903 Page: 7 of 16
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SLANG IN TIIE V\EST
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SOME PICTURESQUE EXPRES-
SIONS IN GENERAL USE.
j
Many Have a Queer Sound to the Ear
i of the Uninitiated, but the Idea
| Conveyed Is Easily Intelligible—
Hobo Phrases.
I "How are you feeling, old man?"
Asked a traveler from the East of an
acquaintance in Kansas City the oth-
er day.
"Not very well. I'm all shot to
pieces," was the reply.
The West is both picturesque and
original in slang. "All shot to pieces"
to indicate that one is below par,
physically, smacks of the untrammel-
ed West, is full of local color, and in
a few words tells a good deal.
' Another new expression to the
touring Easterner was "good Indian."
Somebody once said that the only
good Indians were the dead Indians;
but a "good Indian" in its newest
use in the West means a good fellow.
Westerners use the word "line" a
good deal in a slang sense. "A line of
talk," for Instance, tells its own story.
Likewise In the West when one per-
son gets ahead of another, either by
action or in conversation, he "beats
him to it." "To pass him up," mean-
ing to give him up or perhaps have
nothing more to do with him, was
heard a long time in the West before
It was heard hereabouts.
Appropriateness and brevity are
combined to a telling degree in a
Western phrase for those whose hab-
it it is to patronize the free lunch.
In Missouri these individuals are
known as the "nosebag bunch."
But slang in its highest develop-
ment is not to be found among respec-
table citizens, but in the under world.
Now and then the professional hobos
work, and a man who for three
months is thrown in with a party of
them on a ranch in Wyoming not long
ago made a note of what he consider-
ed their most effective expressions.
In supplying slang the hobo is prog-
ressive. He is constantly replenish-
ing his vocabulary, and some of his
latest achievements along this line
are appended.
"Say, Jack; go out and boost a
gump, will yer?"
The requst to "Jack"—"Jack" be-
ing the general name used by tramps
in address—to "boost a gump" means
to steal a chicken.
When the professional wanderer
would seek "nature's sweet restorer,
balmly sleep," he does not declare his
intentions quite so poetically. On the
contrary, he says: "Hully gee! I
guess I'll flemish meself down and
take me flopping's."
"Plingin' along the main stem" is
hoboese for begging along the main
line, and when he has been put off a
train by some unfeeling brakeman, or
"shack," and is forced to hoof it for
awhile, he "hits the grit."
Whatever the hobo likes to eat is a
"tomat." A "tomat" is almost any-
thing good to eat, and a stew, at the
making of which some of the "bos"
are adepts, is a "mullig£.*."
"Throw out your goose and take
neckin's" means to look around, to
reconnolter. It is analogous to "rub-
bering."
As the hobo rides a good deal on
trains, it Is natural that he should
try to get a pass. His "pass" is a
stout stick, so adjusted to the brake
rod that he can sit on it and be whirl-
ed across the country as long as not
detected. The hobo argues that his
"pass" is the most desirable of all
free transportation, since it is "good
on any road."
There are various sorts of cripples
in the domain of the hobo. He who
has a lame leg is a "flat wheel," and
the hobo with a crippled arm becomes
a "bum mit."
In trampdom "salve" is butter, a
"meg" is a cent, "sand" is sugar, and
"dump" is a lodging-house, a "rod" is
ft gun, and so on without limit.
"Th«rs are different terms for peni-
tentiary among crool s," said an a*
sis. prosecuting attorney of a Wee*
em city the other day, "but the ex
pression I heard most is 'big house.
Crooks refer to a pawnshop is a 'vil
lage' and a handkerchief as a 'snarl
ing,' but what struck me most forciblj
of their peculiarities of conversation
is the way they express their bravadt
when sentenced to the pen. 'Why, I
can stand on my head tnat long,' 1*
the common way of proclaiming theii
indifference to the length of their oen
tence."
SISTERS OF CHARITY
RELY ON PE-RU-NA TO FIGHT I
CATARRH, COUGHS, COLDS AND GRIP.
Spider Fancies.
An elderly lady who lives in her own
house at Buttes Chaumont, Paris, and
who is the daughter of one of the func-
tionaries under the late empire, has
discovered that spiders are peculiarly
appreciative of music. She has made
great pets of them, and the house ir
fuil of spiders of all kinds, on whon
she spends her time and fortune.
Her proteges are lodged in a large,
airy room, where she has provided
every necessary support for their dif-
ferent webs. Her great favorites are
immense black spiders, which, with
their hairy legs and great bodies, look
very repulsive to others.
When she is inclined to show off
their capabilities for music she sur-
rounds herself with a circle of water
to keep off their too delicate attentions
and plays slowly, softly and in a minor
key on the harp. From all corners of
the room the spiders run toward her,
listening with evident pleasure; but
should she strike up a noisy, gay. in-
harmonious strain they scamper back
to their holes as though disgusted.
A curious fact in connection with
this story is that the lady bears the
birthmark of a spider.
Young Inventors the Rule.
That rare quality of the mind which
enables a man to be a real inventor
seems to pronounce itself more in
youth than in middle life. Youth is
the time of application, and there are
certain elements in the ordinary make-
up of a young man that may be fos-
tered in his probationary period. To
Marconi's tenacity of purpose the
world will owe much. He is now only
30. It is now five years since he sent
Queen Victoria's memorable message
from ashore by wireless telegraph to
the prince of Wales on his yacht. The
young Italian has never faltered in
his ambition. "Tom" Edison, the king
of all inventors, and the first to con-
gratulate Marconi, was 26 when he
devised the wonderful quadruplex sys.
tem of telegraphy. At 34 he had two
salons of the Paris electrical exhibi-
tion filled with his inventions. The
old-timers, too, with the divine gift of
invention, were all young men. Ellas
Howe, at 26, had invented the sew-
ing machine. Sir Henry Bessemer at
25 was one of the "forty immortals"
of the French academy.
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fi§
SISTER BEATRIX. !
lilllili lUllimillliUiiliiitii il_iAA_i^ AAlliiAli A-1A-A_A1AA1.A.A11.1aA illlHUiHtititliilUUilllUilliUi
A letter recently received by Dr. Hartman from Sister Beatrix, 410 W. 30th street,
New York, reads as follows :
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L
She With the Violin.
A strain of music 'mid the trees.
Set forth by dimpled hands,
More sweet than all the melody
Of unseen fairy bands
Comes out to me to charm my ear;
I hearken, then begin
To know the old familiar tunes
Played on her violin.
I hold my breath to listen;
'Tls faint, but oh. how sweet!
I'd go the world around to hear
And worship at her feet.
I wish that all the winds would cru<
And warblers hush their din,
That I might feast my soul the wbil«
She plays her violin.
Enchanted by the tuneful spell,
I follow in its train;
I catch one glimpse of her fair face,
I hear one glad refrain,
And, as she draws her bow acrosa
The strings beneath her chin,
I long to kiss the lips of her
Who plays the violin.
Dr. S. B. Hartman, Columbus, Ohio:
Dear Sir:—" I cannot say too much In praise of Pertina. Eight bottles
of It cured me of catarrh of the lungs of four years standing', and I would {
not have been without It for anything. It helped several Sisters (if Cougha
and colds and I have yet to find one case of catarrh that it does not cure." \
SISTER BEATRIX.
nHHilHillllllllllliflilllHll^iHiUl IliliitlAliiiilliiililiAAiiAUli LilUlili t ii lil li-iA.li.AAi iAli,
the Peruna was suffering from laryngi
tis, and loss of voice. The result of thi
treatment was most satisfactory. Shi
found great relief, and aftir farther usi
of the medicine we hope to be able ti
say she Is entirely cured."—Sisters a
Charity.
This young girl was under the care of th«
Sisters of Charity and used Peruna foi
catarrh of the throat, with good results a:
the above letter testifies.
f rom a Catholic Institution In Cen
tral Ohio comes the following recom
mend from the Sister Superior.
If you do not derive prompt and satis
factory results from the use of Peruna,
write at once to Dr. Hartman, giving <
full statement of your case, and he will tx
pleased to give you his valuable advict
gratis.
Address Dr. Hartman, President of Th<
Hartman Sanitarium, Columbus, Ohio.
Interesting Letters from
Catholic Institutions.
In every country of the civilized world
the Sisters of Charity are known. Not only
do they minister to the
spiritual and intellectual
needs of the charges com-
mitted to their care, but
they also minister to their
bodly needs. With so
many children to take care
of and to protect from climate and disease,
these wise and prudent sisters have found
Peruna a never-failing safeguard.
Dr. Hartman receives many letters from
Catholic Sisters from all over the United
States. A recommend recently received
from a Catholic institution in Detroit, Mich.,
reads a1? follows:
Dr. S. B. Hartman, Columbus, Ohio:
Dear Sir:—"The young girl who used
GOOD
WORK
Ask your druggist for a free Pe-ru-na Almanac.
PILES
NO MONEY TILL CURED. 23 vt4ks establish!^
We send FREE and postpaid ■ 200 page treatise on Piles, Fistala and Diseases of tha
Rectum; also 100 page illus. treatise on Diseases of Women. Of the thousands car nil
by our mild method, none paid a cent till cured—we furnish their names on application.
DPS. 1 HOHWTOW A MINOR, into Oak St., Kansas«fl""Ml'
Literary Diseases.
Many occupations have diseases
which are more or less incidental to
them, and literature is not exempt
The two most prevalent literary
maladies are writer's cramp and
swelled head. The unfortunate
thing about writer's cramp is that
it i* never cured. The unfortunate
thing about swelled head is that it
never kill*.
Bromo-Seltzer
Promptly cures all
Headaches
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The Labor Signal. (Oklahoma City, Okla. Terr.), Vol. 3, No. 18, Ed. 1 Friday, February 13, 1903, newspaper, February 13, 1903; (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc119087/m1/7/: accessed April 25, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.