Not long ago, while writing
wistfully of things long gone,
we menUoned 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 tuuined them
flrom streets of the metropolis
at the insistence of folks who
concern themselves with pre
venting cruelty to animals.
Dtm'.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 an expected 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-
prisQped beasts, Your own
safety is involvedtoo, of course.
Many people—children es
pecially—have nothing but
goodness in their hearts when
they want to feed the zm)’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 bow 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 four 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 c«)vered 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 Bernlans 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
(Continued on page 8)
COUNTY
The NEW BERN
PUBLI9HID WIIKLY
IN THI HIAItT OP
lASTBRN NORTH
CAROLINA
VOLUME 10
NEW BERN. N. C.. FRIDAY. MAY 10. iOA7
KINGDOM—One of the happiest events
for The Mirror each year is our pubiication of a de-
picture of the Christ Church kindergarten
ROW, left to right: Kevin Burton, Greg Leister, Ml
getting
their moppets temporarily subdued for the camerX
t Delongs of course to John R, Bax-
chele Creelman, Sylvia Hobson, Susan Chitty, Debbie
Woodruff, Carolyn Sasser, Emma Dunn Latham, Char-
Koonce, Gregory Karam. SECOND
Taylor, Kennon Cumbo,
Some of the credit
. y. xnuvi.r ivv/W, leil lU
right: ^Standing) Robert Ipock, Hunter Tayloe^ (Seat-
V T„U_ - T.-
to have the privUege of being‘'under"'Anna's ‘and
etent supervision for a year, or maybe
Celias compel^... « yc«i, ui mayuc
two. Many outstanding coUege students say these dedi-
cated kindergarten teachers gave them the founda
tion that led to later scholastic excellence. FRONT
Jv T i *^*^^* •' nuiHcr ictyioe. (oGal*
ed) John Conner, Kenny Morris, Lewis Howell, Sam
Howell, Mark Anderson, BiUy Martin, Johnny Pitts,
^ris Bennett, Lee Whitley, (Standing) Corky Safley.
Brooks Coleman. FOURTH ROW, left to right: Robin
Lewis, Jill Williams, Leslie Freeman, Penny Register,
Beth ^ncaster, Meredith Harley, Carolyn Tuthill.
Union, Monika Smith, Tressie
Marshall, Lavon Ainsworth, Kelly Moore.