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Not long ago, while writing
wistfully of things long gone,
we mentioned the Italian organ
grinders who used to visit New
Bern with their clever little
monkeys.
Until fairly recently, organ
grinders still made the rounds
In New York City. However,
authorities have banned them
from streets of the metropolis
at the insistence of folks who
concern themselves with pre
venting cruelty to animals.
Don’t jump to the conclusion
that the organ grinders were
guilty of such cruelty, although
a few may have been. What the
monkeys needed protection
from was the public—or a vic
ious segment of the public.
Warped individuals with a
sadistic sense of humor seemed
to think it was fun to crush a
lighted cigarette in the palm of
a velvet-coated monkey when
he reached for unexpected coin.
Man’s inhumanity to man in
a world of violence is as re
volting as it is commonplace,
but there’s something particu
larly terrifying about a mind
that finds delight in the tor
ture of an animal.
Zoo keepers are familiar with
the habits of such mortals. One
of the big reasons for signs
telling you not to feed caged
animals is to protect the im
prisoned beasts. Your own
safety is involved too, of course.
Many people--children es
pecially—have nothing but
goodness in their hearts when
they want to feed the zoo’s
inhabitants. Unfortunately,
there are others who think It’s a
joke to feed harmful objects to
the unsuspecting animals.
Getting back to those Italian
organ grinders, we used to won
der as a boy just how a hand
organ worked. At long last we
know. It’s a barrel or piano
organ—a box with pipes or
metal reeds Inside.
Inside the box is a roll or
cylinder on which pegs are ar
ranged. The pegs open the
valves of the various pipes, as
the cylinder is turned by a
crank. Air enters the pipes and
makes the music.
Until we learned differently
from the World Book Encyclo
pedia, we thought as millions
still do that a hand organ and a
hurdy-gurdy are the same thing.
It just shows how wrong you can
be when you accept popular be
lief without question.
The hurdy-gurdy is a very old
stringed musical instrument
which is seldom played today.
Most hurdy-gurdies are shaped
rather like lutes. They have
from lour to six strings. The in
strument is played with keys
and a wooden wheel.
The keys control the notes to
be played, and the wooden wheel
rubs the notes to produce music.
The wheel is covered with rosin,
and is turned by a handle at the
end. The hurdy-gurdy orig
inated in Europe many centur
ies ago.
Getting back to the organ
grinder’s hand organ, for most
older New Bernians it lives in
memory as a symbol of child
hood. Blended with its notes are
the lilting strains of carnival
merry-go-rounds and the dis
tant sound of a circus callope--
playing outside the Bit Top to
invite customers for the eve
ning performance.
It was this steam piano that
captured our heart completely
in early boyhood, and made us
(Continued on Page 2)
The
PUBLISHED WEEKLY
IN THE HEART OP
EASTERN^RTH
CAROLINA
5^ Per Copy
VOLUME 7
NEW BERN, N. C., FRIDAY, APRIL 10, 1964
NUMBER 2
WHO IS HE—Quite a few years back (we have no idea
how many) this Craven county farm boy posed for his
photograph with a couple of pigs. The pigs appear
to be camera shy and the lad somewhat suspicious. We
have no clue to the kid’s identity, but he looks an
awful lot like Deputy Sheriff Obed Pate must have
looked at that age. l^at is your guess?
ARE YOU HERE—This is another of our old pictures,
and you may be in it. Apparently, somebody was stag
ing a barbecue on one of our Craven county farms. As
you can see, there is only one woman in the photo
graph, but she seems intent on making sure that things
are done just right. The old codger seated near the
barrel typifies real relaxation, or is he miffed over
something?