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Author Topic:   1893 Jeweler's sing out
Scott Martin
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Posts: 11520
Registered: Apr 93

iconnumber posted 01-23-2012 09:14 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Scott Martin     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
    JCK
    February 15, 1893
    pg 25
At the conclusion of 1893 Banquet of the Chicago Jewelers’ Association variety was introduced by a solo of thirty-two verses sung by " Old Shady " Hubbard in which the many hits at the firms comprising the association were heartily enjoyed. The entire assembly joined" with a will in the chorus after each third verse, and the hall fairly trembled from the volume of song poured forth. The song was a feature of the evening and made a pronounced hit.

The words follow:

    1
I was given a kind invitation
By a dear friend on Washington Street,
He said, “Just come down to our banquet,
And see how the jewelers can eat."
I said, “My dear friend, I am with you,
I never refuse such a call, "
And that's how I happen to be here;
I greet you, my friends one and all.
    2
I see round the glittering table,
The men who have taken a part
In making the trade what it now is,
The pride of the jeweler‘s heart.
So fill up your glass to the brim, boys,
And drink to its health here with me,
“To the Jewelry Trade of Chicago,
And its members, wherever they be."
    3
The first man to toast is Al Sercomb,
Our President, smiling and bland,
A man feels at home in a moment.
By the genial grasp of his hand.
“Our Al" has a curious habit-
At least it has been so with me-
You can’t drive the man in the corner,
For he’s out of your grasp like a flea.
    Chorus
Sauterne Sherry, Claret and Monopole,
Cognac, Coffee, " Your health in a flowing bowl,"
Good cheer, this year, Eighteen ninety-three,
We‘ll never forget the men that we met.
At the Jewelers’ sixteenth spree.
    4
About Mister Thomas M. Avery,
My love for that man is sublime.
It will only be honor that’s due him,
To call him “ The Father of Time."
Now, what shall I say of Ben Allen?
He’s quiet, progressive and game,
He‘s driving his team single-handed,
But is getting there just the same.
    5
And Pairpoint‘s good manager, Corey,
Who dislikes political strife,
We'll find that man voting for Cleveland
The rest of his natural life.
The veterans, Juergens and Andersen,
Though hale and hearty and sound,
They pay two dollars and fifty a month,
But don’t think of coming around.
    6
I can hear the two Giles Brothers whisp’ring,
And muttering under their breath,
While their dictionary, Jim Ridgeway,
Is talking some drummer to death.
And Hahn, with his little game rooster,
The trade-mark that all of us know,
If Herman has brought the bird with him,
You can bet he is too full to crow.
    — Chorus —
    7
I made Gorham’s people a visit,
With a lady to pick out a brush,
I'll never forget how quick Prentiss,
Got us out through the door with a rush,
And Dennison's man, Mr. Talbot,
I’ll give him a jab, that’1l hurt.
In case he gets loaded this evening,
Send him home by the tag on his shirt.
    8
Why give Mr. Todd any trouble'?
His courtesy never grows dim,
He may be a little bit slender,
But the Towle people lean upon him.
The next man is Louis Manheimer,
He’s larger than all of the rest;
He ought to sit up on the mantel.
With a little round clock in his vest.
    9
The live, active firm, Lapp & Flershem,
That run a ranch over the way,
"The Busiest House in America,"
Was the bluff that came here to stay.
"The Hustler," is what we know Lem by,
While Lapp sits and clips in his seat,
Till he‘s known all over the city
As "Scissors and catalog Pete."
    — Chorus —
    10
Maurice A. Mead’s a great hunter,
He’s always out looking f or bear,
He promised a skin to the boys once
But brought back the hide of a hare.
In speaking of Morse, the orator,
I'll try hard to say nothing rude,
But Papa’s not in it with sonny,
The one they call " Johnnie, the dude."
    11
Ah! there sits O. W. Wallis,
A person can see at a glance,
He’s the only man in the business
Who is giving the poor wind a chance.
The Norris, Alister Com-pan-y
Are a sleepless and restless pair,
They’ll cut a great swath in the business,
And boom up their Spoons for the Fair.
    12
Globe Trotter Knights’ been to Europe,
And knows ev’ry tongue that’s in vogue,
With him our respectable English,
Is a split twixt a French and a brogue.
In Hirsch and Company’s "Dromios"
I found I had struck something new,
I'll designate these lively persons,
As Napoleons one and two.
    — Chorus —
    13
Dodgshun, the garrulous clock man,
Is one of the humorous ones,
Think of the World’s Fair Committee
Selecting a man who makes puns.
With Barnum, Church, Strickland and Sackett.
Who form a smooth clockmakers’ clique,
For all of them make the best clock in the world,
If you’ll take their word for in on tick.
    14
G. W. Marquardt and Sons,
From Iowa’s liquorless State,
When these men drink here in Chicago,
They look around town for a slate.
That "Marq" has a great gift of gabble,
That makes even Ingersoll squirm,
The whole State of Iowa knows him,
He does talking for all of the firm.
    15
Simpson, Hall, Miller and Company,
I'll give a tip under my breath :
Just put a smoke nuisance on Thatcher,
Or he'll smoke himself slowly to death.
And there’s steady Happel and Company,
They’re steadily forging ahead,
They’ll be in the jewelry business
When the rest of us all are dead.
    — Chorus —
    16
When Howard sends Clergue on a coast trip.
He gets there and back on the run,
I don’t understand how, unless Harry,
Shoots him out there with his gun.
The Western Watch Company quit us,
Went out in the cold, the poor thing,
It cost them another cool hundred
To come back in under our wing.
    17
The Wallace Manufacturing people.
Have had politics on the brain,
You know Wallace voted for Cleveland,
He hasnt’ got over the strain.
I saw Frank M. Sproehnle on Monday,
Wandering around at the Fair,
I'll tell you just what he was there for:
To purchase a baby's high chair.
    18
And Knight, the watchmaker from Rockford,
May his lucky star never fade,
There’s a wild statement made (it needs proving)
He’s the handsomest man in the trade.
Stein and Ellbogen are dandies,
Aesthetic and always polite,
They both thank the help very kindly,
For taking pay Saturday night.
    — Chorus —
    19
At all of the New York meetings,
The four Keystone Bantams appear,
First Lowry, then Roberts, then Fogg comes.
While Carle trots along in the rear.
I guess Shepherd taught them that lock-step;
Where he got it I don’t dare to say,
I surmise that he learned it at “Libby "
In the only and regular way.
    20
I see I have caused a commotion.
They have sent in a tip on the side.`
'Twas Reed, of the Regular Army,
Who taught them that soldierly stride.
Hugh has demanded retraction.
I’m sorry, ’twas no fault of mine,
‘Twas he. and his great bool: on tactics,
That forced the Crown Pen into line.
    21
Fahys’ Cook, Sherry and “Weidig "
Have praised their filled case near and far.
To pronounce the name “ Weidig" correctly,
Go somewhere and catch the catarrh.
For Crescent Watch Cases see Babcock.
Or Whiting might do at a pinch,
For Bah might be out to a fire---
On fires Babcock has a cinch.
    — Chorus —
    22
There's a man that the whole trade has heard of ;
That’s Otto Young, active and fair,
He‘s one of our business leaders,
He’s one of the men that “gets there."
His right bower, “Schnering, the riddle,"
Is a man you can’t understand ;
He‘s always so smiling and pleasant,
That it makes Otto‘s business expand.
    23
Watch that man Smith who sells “Optics "
And "Hardy," with two pairs of eyes ;
They're handling their glasses so freely,
That comments are bound to arise.
For Rogers and Hamilton's Burchard,
The men with three great big R‘s
Say they may take toddy this evening.
And neednt‘ go home in the cars.
    24
H. Muhr‘s Sons form a great trio,
Of Simon, and Jakey and Phiz,
They made the Muhr Case so successful,
The old gent was proud of the biz.
Davidson stays in Chicago,
The great World*s Fair City to rob,
And Gubbins drums trade here with "Davie."
just to help the man out with his job.
    — Chorus —
    25
Hurrah for the Royal Mr. Purple!
The trouble he causes is great ;
Who does this “Bishop" belong to--
Holmes, Edwards or Manhattan Plate?
When Purple gets credit make two bills,
Both of those firms will pay half ;
Why each of ’em pays for a leg of his pants ;
It's enough to make any one laugh.
    26
There’s Simon’s great peddler, Dorrance.
A good man he is, too, and bright,
In joining the order on Tuesday,
And eating here Wednesday night.
I find no excuse for this action,
Of eating with vigor and vim,
Unless Adolphe Schwob, the Swiss watchman,
Selected his dinner for him.
    27
I can’t overlook Mr. Crawley,
Who represents Schwob ln the West,
If weighed in the scale of politeness,
This man above all is the best,
The Alfred H. Smith Company people,
Have a good man to pick flaws for them,
Their Elmer T. Rich is a dandy-
He can sell you a rock for a gem.
    — Chorus —
    28
Tom Benton’s a prince of good fellows,
And Sammy Cliff Payson is, too,
But lend me your ear, just a moment,
And I’ll whisper a secret to you :
Benton has got a boy baby,
And Sam won"t have his boy outdone;
They’ll both feed the boys on gold cases.
And then leave them the business to run.
    29
Here’s health to the Meriden Silver,
I hope my friend Walton is here ;
He says it takes one silver dollar
To plate all their stock for a year.
That honest man Kelley, from Rockford,
Rises to let us all know
They both of ’em make the best plate in the world,
And that what Walton says doesn’t go.
    30
There’s a mild, quiet firm in Chicago
Who dropp’d in a short time ago.
They knuckled down strictly to business,
And achieved success from the word go.
The Wilkinson men who makes boxes,
Have been quite a boom to the trade,
They’ve filled a large want in the business,
And make the best trays that are made.
    — Chorus —
    31
The Waltham Watch Works have a Kettle,
Whose troubles boil up to the brim,
This Kettle's unsettled and homeless,
Since the Calumet Club "fired" him.
His side partner, Cutter, of Elgin,
Now leads a respectable life,
"Ket" and the boys never see him,
He‘s at home making love to his wife.
    32
And now I must bid you good evening,
I've told about all I could learn,
I hope that I haven't offended,
I got all the tips from John Byrne.
Johnny’s with Lyon & Healy,
The firm with the big slashing "L,"
You can lay all the blame on their music,
For the mean things that I've had to tell.
    --------------
ECHOES OF THE BANQUET.
The genial warmth of George E. Eager’s smile attracts friends to him as his noble proportions attract strangers. Mr. Eager was with the Lapp & Flershem party.

It is noticeable that even at a jewelers’ banquet on full dress occasions their wares are "out of sight."

Old Sol’s face was concealed by clouds throughout the day, while Young Sol’s beamed bright and ruddy through a cloud of his own making in the early morning.

M. N. Burchard yielded his seat at the table of honor in favor of his friend and guest, Congressman J. Frank Aldrich.

Overheard at 2 A. M.:
Member of Banquet Committee (to other of committee) —Wasn’t it great?

CHORUS — Magnificent !
MEMBER — Finest we ever had.
CHORUS — Finest we ever had.
MEMBER — We did ourselves proud.
CHORUS — We did; we did.
MEMBER — But I’m glad lt’s over.
CHORUS (yawning)—So’m I.

"The diamond fields of this country exceed in area those of all other countries combined," remarked Will Juergens to a circle of friends, and when his friends looked incredulous and Partner Andersen disagreed with hIm, he added, " The baseball diamonds, I speak of."

To the members of the banquet committee, — Lem. W. Flershem, chairman, M. A. Mead, H. F. Hahn, J. A. Todd, T. H. Purple and A. L. Sercomb, ex-officio — is due great credit for the successful conduction of the affair. It is a bright page in the Association’s history.

During the progress of the feast Valisi’s mandolins tinkled to the following compositions: The Dude’s March, by Metro; Mandolin Serenade, Elenberg; Cavallerla Rusticana, Mascagni; One Night in Havana, Liszt; Tipico Polka, Curtis; Rosebud Waltz, Arditi; Spring Song, Mendelssohn; potpourri. Neapolitan Songs. Valisi; One Night in Florence, Bellinger; Galop; All Aboard, Strauss.

ANXIOUS INQUIRER. — NO, Davidson is not married. For particulars as to his happiness, see Chicago Notes.

LOST. — Joe Kasper and a pointed stick did yeoman’s work in a vain endeavor to pry from some cranny of hidden obscurity a black pearl ring. He thinks it was lost in removing his gloves, as it was missed shortly after his arrival.

Harry Schimpf was expected at the banquet, but was detained at his home in Philadelphia by an injured foot.

Silas Balwin, of Baldwin, Miller & Co., I Indianapolis, and R. E. Burdick, of the Bowler & Burdick Co., Cleveland, were interested guests of Robbins & Appleton.

Jacob Muhr between two giants reminded a gentleman from the southwest of a section of the Sierras. Nevertheless Mr. Muhr did his duty.

Judge Grosscup, the new United States Circuit judge and successor to Judge Blodgett, favorably impressed his near associates by his geniality.

Holmes Hoge, cashier of the First National Bank, dispensed invitations to his friends to attend the bankers’ dinner, held Saturday. He thinks the jewelers’ dinner better than the bankers’, there being more of frolic than of dignity.

Elmer Rich said he couldn’t help it, but the boys admired those diamond studs just the same. Benj. Allen did well in taking a position where he could keep those frisky youngsters Drlpps and Cox under surveillance. Mischief brews when they’re turned loose.

The trade were pleased to meet as guests, Joseph Sanborn, David N. Smith and C. C. Offerman, of New York; C. Oskamp, Cincinnati, and Frank Le Brun, Keokuk, Iowa.

Lem W. Flershem originated the idea of the "Original Song" The "poem" was constructed by Geo. F. Lyman, of Lyman & Co., to whom Mr. Flershem furnished the pointers for the puns and witticisms. The words were set to the music of the "Party at Odd Fellows' Hall," the Harvard Glee Club song. The laurel wreath belongs to Lyman.

Jacob Muhr visited Chicago specially to attend the banquet, and left for Philadelphia the following day.

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